Preamble
The Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954 is an Act to provide the displaced persons and the matters connected in addition to that, with the payment of compensation and rehabilitation grants.
There are five chapters and forty sections in this Act.
Provisions
- Chapter II deals with payment of compensation and rehabilitation grants to displaced persons, the appointment of chief settlement commissioner, application for payment of compensation and determination of the amount of compensation. The central government can appoint chief settlement commissioner, deputy commissioner, other settlement commissioner and managing officer by notification in the official gazette for performing functions assigned to them. Further displaced persons are required to make an application for payment of compensation in the prescribed form. Additionally, this chapter deals with form and manner of payment of compensation, payment of compensation in case of mortgaged properties, a special procedure in few cases and rehabilitation and other grants for displaced persons. Net compensation of the amount of compensation pool should be paid to the displaced persons. Similarly, the government may direct payment to provide them with relief and rehabilitation out of the compensation pool.
- Chapter III deals with the compensation pool for payment of compensation and rehabilitation grants, the power to acquire the property of evacuee first rehabilitation of displaced persons. If it is necessary to acquire any evacuee property for a purpose connected to providing relief and rehabilitation, the Central Government may do so by publishing in the Official Gazette. It further deals with the compensation pool and management of the compensation pool; if the government thinks there's the necessity for custody management and disposal of the compensation pool, it may take such measures. It additionally deals with functioning and desolation of managing corporations, restriction on the restoration of certain property. The Central Government may appoint managing officers or constitute managing corporations.
- Chapter IV deals with appeal, revision, and powers of officers under this Act. It further deals with an appeal to the settlement commissioner and chief settlement commissioner, review and amendment of orders, and powers of the appointed officers. Any person can appeal to the chief settlement officer within 30 days who is aggrieved by order of settlement officer or managing officer. If the Settlement Officer, an Assistant Settlement Officer, an Assistant Settlement Commissioner, an Additional Settlement Commissioner, a Settlement Commissioner, a managing officer or a managing corporation have passed an order to satisfy himself as to the legality or decency of any such order and may pass such order in relation thereto as he thinks fit the Chief Settlement Commissioner may call for the record of any proceeding under this Act. Similarly, under this Act they have the power to appoint to make any inquiry or hear any appeal under this Act have the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908) when trying a suit, in respect of the following matters, namely: summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath; requiring the discovery and production of any document; requisitioning any public record from any court or office;(d) issuing commission for examination of witnesses, etc.
- Chapter V deals with power to transfer cases, special protection of ejectment, exemption from arrest, advisory board and power to give direction. It additionally deals with a penalty, bar of jurisdiction, protection of action taken, the power to make rules and so on. By order in writing at any time, the Central Government or the Chief Settlement Commissioner may transfer any pending case before an officer appointed under this Act to another officer and the officer to whom the case is so transferred may be subjected to any special direction in the order of transfer, proceed from the stage at which it was so transferred.
