(1)Any agreement with the crew may contain a stipulation for payment to a seaman, conditional on his going to sea in pursuance of the agreement of a sum not exceeding the amount of one month's wages payable to the seaman under the agreement.(2)Save as aforesaid, an agreement by or on behalf of the employer of a seaman for the payment of money to or on behalf of the seaman, conditional on his going to sea from any port in India shall be void, and no money paid in satisfaction or in respect of any such agreement shall be deducted from the seaman's wages, and no person shall have any right of action, suit or set-off against the seaman or his assignee in respect of any money so paid or purporting to have been so paid.(3)No seaman, who has been lawfully engaged and has received under his agreement an advance payment, wilfully or through misconduct shall fail to attend his ship or desert therefrom before the payment becomes really due to him.(4)Where it is shown to the satisfaction of a shipping master that a seaman lawfully engaged has wilfully or through misconduct failed to attend his ship, the shipping master shall report the matter to the Director General who may direct that any of the seaman's certificates of discharge referred to in sections 119 and 120 shall be withheld for such period as he may think fit; and while a seaman's certificate of discharge is so withheld, the Director General or any other person having the custody of the necessary documents may, notwithstanding anything in this Act, refuse to furnish copies of any such certificate or certified extracts therefrom.
