Section 16 in The Orissa Minerals (Prevention of theft, Smuggling & Illegal Mining and Regulation of Possession, Storage, Trading and Transportation) Rules, 2007
16. Compounding of Offences.
(1)On receipt of written application from the accused person, the Competent Authority may, in exercise of its powers conferred under Sub-section (1) of Section 23A of the Act, compound the offence either before or after the institution of prosecution, on payment of such sum, as the Competent Authority may specify with prior approval of the Director of Mines/any officer authorized by the Director. The amount so collected shall be credited to the Government under the head of account specified under Sub-rule (2) of Rule 4.(2)After the offence is compounded and the accused person is not interested to pay for the property seized or the Competent Authority is of the opinion that such property shall not be released in favour of the accused, he shall not compound the offence and take charge of the seized property and dispose it of by public auction or as per the directions of the Government.(3)Where an offence is compounded under Sub-rule (1), no proceeding or further proceedings as the case may be, shall be taken against the offender in respect of the offence so compounded and the offender, if in custody, shall be released forthwith.(4)The Competent Authority shall maintain a register in Form O mentioning therein the details of every offence compounded by him under these rules and submit a monthly return to the Director of Mines.Chapter-7
