The S.K.V.A. CO-OPERATIVE PHARMACY AND STORES (ACQUISITION AND TRANSFER OF UNDERTAKING) ACT, 1976

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THE S.K.V .A. CO-OPERATIVE PHARMACY AND STORES 
(ACQUISITION AND TRANSFER OF UNDERTAKING) 
ACT, 1976
(Act 29 of 1976)
CONTENTS
Preamble.
Sections.
  1.   Short title and commencement.
  2.  Definitions.
  3.   Undertaking of Society to vest in Government.
  4.   General effect of vesting.
  5.   Power of Government to direct vesting of undertaking in Company .
  6.   Duty to deliver possession of  property acquired and documents relating thereto.
  7.   Duty to furnish particulars.
  8.   Transfer of service of existing employees.
  9.   Provident, superannuation, welfare and other funds.
10.  Payment of amount.
11.  Payment of undisbursed dividend.
12.  Penalties.
13.  Offences by companies.
14.  Protection of action taken in good faith.
15.  Power to make rules.
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THE S.K.V .A. CO-OPERATIVE PHARMACY AND STORES 
(ACQUISITION AND TRANSFER OF UNDERTAKING) 
ACT, 1976
(Act 29 of 1976)
An Act to provide for the acquisition of the undertaking of the S.K.V .A. Co-operative
Pharmacy and Stores and the transfer of the undertaking to the Pharmaceutical Corporation
(Indian Medicines) Kerala Ltd.
Preamble.—WHEREAS  it  is  expedient  to  provide  for  the  acquisition  of  the
undertaking  of  the  S.K.V .A.  Co-operative  Pharmacy  and  Stores  and  the  transfer  of  the
undertaking to the Pharmaceutical Corporation (Indian Medicines) Kerala Ltd.;
BE it enacted in the Twenty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
1.  Short title and commencement .—(1) This Act may be called the S.K.V .A. Co-
operative Pharmacy and Stores (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Act, 1976.
(2) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Society;
(b) "appointed day" means the date on which this Act comes into force;
(c) "Company" means the Pharmaceutical Corporation (Indian Medicines) Kerala
Ltd., being a Government Company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956
(Central Act 1 of 1956) and having its registered office at Trichur in the State of Kerala;
(d)  "Society"  means  the  S.K.V .A.  Co-operative  Pharmacy  and  Stores,  a  co-
operative society deemed to be registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969
(21 of 1969) and having its registered office at Trichur;
(e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(f) "share" means a share in the capital of the Society.
3.  Undertaking  of  Society  to  vest  in  Government.—On  the  appointed  day,  the
undertaking of the Society shall, by virtue of this Act, stand transferred to and vested in the
Government and the Society shall be deemed to have been dissolved.
4. General effect of vesting. —(1) The undertaking of the Society shall be deemed to
include all assets, rights, powers, authorities and privileges; and all property movable and
immovable,  including  lands,  buildings,  workshops,  stores,  instruments,  machinery  and
equipment, cash balances, cash on hand, reserve fund, investments and book debts; and all
other  rights  and  interests  arising  out  of  such  property  as  were  immediately  before  the
appointed day in the ownership, possession, power or control of the Society in relation to its
undertaking, and all books of account, registers, and all other documents of whatever nature
relating thereto and shall also be deemed to include all borrowings, liabilities and obligations
of whatever kind then subsisting of the Society in relation to its undertaking.
(2) All contracts and working arrangements which are subsisting immediately
before the appointed day and affecting the Society shall, in so far as they relate to the
undertaking of the Society, cease to have effect or be enforceable against the Society or any
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person who was surety, or had guaranteed the performance thereof, and shall be of as full
force  and  effect  against  or  in  favour  of  the  Government  and  enforceable  as  fully  and
effectually as if, instead of the Society, the Government had been named therein or had been
a party thereto.
(3) Any proceeding or cause of action pending or existing immediately before the
appointed day by or against the Society in relation to its undertaking may, as from such
commencement, be continued and enforced by or against the Government as it might have
been enforced by or against the Society if this Act had not been passed and shall cease to be
enforceable by or against the Society, its surety or guarantor.
5.  Power  of  Government  to  direct  vesting  of  undertaking  in  Company.—(1)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 3 and 4, the Government may, by order in
writing, direct that the undertaking of the Society together with all its properties, assets,
liabilities and obligations specified in sub-section (1) of section 4 shall, instead of continuing
to vest in the Government, vest in the Company either on the date of publication of the
direction or on such earlier or later date (not being a date earlier than the appointed day) as
may be specified in that direction.
(2) Where an order vesting the undertaking of the Society in the Company is
made under sub-section (1), all the rights, liabilities and obligations of the Government in
relation to the undertaking of the Society shall, on and from the date of such vesting, be
deemed to have become the rights, liabilities and obligations, respectively of the Company.
(3) The Company shall, in the management and administration of the undertaking
of the Society, act in accordance with such directions, if any, as may be issued by the
Government in this behalf.
6. Duty to deliver possession of property acquired and documents relating thereto. —
(1) Where any property has vested in the Government or the Company under this Act, every
person in whose possession or custody or under whose control the property may be, shall
deliver the property to the Government or the Company, as the case may be, forthwith.
(2) Any person who, on the appointed day, has in his possession or under his
control, any books, documents or other papers relating to the undertaking of the Society,
which have vested in the Government or the Company under this Act shall be liable to
account for the said books, documents and papers to the Government or the Company, as the
case may be, and shall deliver them up to the Government or the Company.
(3)  The  Government  or  the  Company  may  take,  or  cause  to  be  taken,  all
necessary  steps  for  securing  possession  of  all  properties  which  have  vested  in  the
Government or the Company under this Act.
7. Duty to furnish particulars. —The administrator shall, within one month from the
appointed day or such further period as the Government may allow in this behalf, furnish to
the  Government  or  the  Company,  as  the  case  may  be,  a  complete  inventory  of  all  the
properties and assets of the Society on the appointed day, all the liabilities and obligations of
the Society subsisting on that day and also all agreements entered into by the Society and in
force  on  that  day  (including  agreements  whether  express  or  implied,  relating  to  leave,
pension, gratuity and other terms of service of any officer or other employee of the Society),
under which, by virtue of this Act the Government or the Company has, or will have, or may
have liabilities or obligations, and for this purpose, the Government or the Company shall
afford the Society all reasonable facilities.
8.  Transfer of service of existing employees .—(1) Every officer or other employee
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employed,  immediately  before  the  appointed  day,  in  connection  with  the  affairs  of  the
undertaking of the Society shall, as from that day, become an officer or other employee of the
Government and shall, as from the date of publication of the direction made under sub-
section (1) of section 5 or the date specified therein, become an officer or other employee of
the Company and shall hold his office by the same tenure, at the same remuneration and upon
the same terms and conditions and with the same rights and privileges as to pension, gratuity
and other matters as he would have held under the Society, if this Act had not been passed
and shall continue to do so, unless and until his employment in the Government or, as the
case may be, in the Company, is terminated or until his remuneration, terms and conditions
are duly altered by the Government or the Company:
Provided  that  if  the  alteration  so made  is not acceptable  to  any  officer  or  other
employee, his employment shall be terminated on payment to him by the Government or the
Company, as the case may be, of an amount equivalent to three months’ remuneration in the
case of permanent employees and one month’s remuneration in the case of other employees:
Provided further that nothing contained in this sub-section shall apply to any officer
or other employee, who has, by notice in writing given to the Government within thirty days
from the appointed day, intimated his intention of not becoming an officer or other employee
of the Government or the Company:
Provided also that nothing contained in this sub-section shall apply to an officer or
other employee referred to in sub-section (2).
(2)  Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  sub-section  (1)  any  officer  of
Government deputed for employment in connection with the affairs of the undertaking of the
Society and employed as such immediately before the appointed day shall, as from that day,
revert to the service of the Government.
(3)  Notwithstanding  anything  contained  in  the  Industrial  Disputes  Act,  1947
(Central Act 14 of 1947), or in any other law for the time being in force, the transfer of the
services of any officer or other employee of the Society to the Government or the Company
under  sub-section  (1)  shall  not  entitle  any  such  officer  or  other  employee  to  any
compensation under that Act or other law, and no such claim shall be entertained by any
court, tribunal or other authority.
9.  Provident, superannuation, welfare and other funds .—(1) Where the Society has
established a provident, superannuation, welfare or any other fund for the benefit of its
officers or other employees and constituted a trust in respect thereof, the moneys relatable to
the officers or other employees, whose services have become transferred, by or under this Act
to the Government or the Company, shall, out of the moneys standing on the appointed day,
to the credit of such provident, superannuation, welfare or other fund, stand transferred to,
and vested in, the Government or the Company, as the case may be, free from any such trust.
(2) The moneys which stand transferred under sub-section (1) to the Government
or the Company shall be dealt with by the Government or the Company, as the case may be,
in such manner as may be prescribed.
10. Payment of amount .—(1) For the transfer under section 3, of the undertaking of
the Society to the Government there shall be paid by the Government to each shareholder of
the  Society  an  amount  equal  to  the  value  of  the  shares  held  by  him  in  the  Society
immediately before the appointed day.
(2)  The  amount  payable  under  sub-section  (1)  shall  be  paid  by  the  District
Collector, Trichur, in cash, within a period of three months from the appointed day:
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Provided  that  if  the  amount  is  not  paid  within  the  period  aforesaid,  the  District
Collector shall pay interest on the amount at the rate of four per cent per annum from the date
of expiry of the said period.
11.  Payment of undisbursed dividend .—The District Collector, Trichur, shall pay to
every shareholder of the Society any amount due to him as dividend immediately before the
appointed day, within a period of three months from that day:
Provided that if such amount is not paid within the period aforesaid, the District
Collector shall pay interest on the amount at the rate of four per cent per annum from the date
of expiry of the said period.
12. Penalties.—(1) Any person, who—
(a) having in his possession, custody or control any property forming part of
the undertaking of the Society, wrongfully withholds such property from the Government or
the Company; or
(b)  wrongfully  obtains  possession  of  any  property  forming  part  of  the
undertaking of the Society which has vested in the Government or the Company under this
Act; or
(c) wilfully withholds or fails to furnish to the Government or the Company as
required by sub-section (2) of section 6, any document which may be in his possession,
custody or control,
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with
fine, or with both:
Provided that the court trying any offence under clause (a) or clause (b) or clause (c)
of this sub-section may, at the time of convicting the accused person, order him to deliver up
or refund, within a time to be fixed by the court, any property or cash wrongfully withheld or
obtained or any document wilfully withheld or not furnished.
(2) No court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this section
except with the previous sanction of the Government or of an officer authorised by the
Government in this behalf.
13. Offences by companies.—(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed
by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of, and
was responsible, to the company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as
the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded
against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable
to any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or
that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence
under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been
committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to, any neglect on the part of,
any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager,
secretary or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be
proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—
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(a) "company" means any body and includes a firm or other association of
individuals; and
(b) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.
14. Protection of action taken in good faith .—(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal
proceeding shall lie against the Government or the Company or any of its officers or other
employees for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
(2) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government or the
Company or any of its officers or other employees for any damage caused or likely to be
caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.
15. Power to make rules .—(1) The Government may, by notification in the Gazette,
make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(2) Every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is
made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of fourteen
days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions and if, before the
expiry  of  the  session  in  which  it  is  so  laid  or  the  session  immediately  following,  the
Legislative Assembly makes any modification in the rule or decides that the rule should not
be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as
the case may be; so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

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