LexThe Punjab State Commission for Non Resident Indians Act 2011
Punjab · state statute
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this actGOVERNMENT OF PUNJAB
DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
THE PUNJAB STATE COMMISSION FOR NON-RESIDENT
INDIANS ACT, 2011
(PUNJAB ACT 33 OF 2011)
(As amended upto the 15th June, 2025)
2025
THE PUNJAB STATE COMMISSION FOR NON-RESIDENT
INDIANS ACT, 2011
Section CONTENTS
1. Short title and commencement
2. Definitions
3. Constitution of the Commission
4. Headquarter of the Commission
5. Appointment of Chairperson and other Members of the
Commission
6. Term of office of Chairperson and Members
7. Resignation and removal of Chairperson or Member
8. Member to act as Chairperson or to discharge his functions in
certain circumstances
9. Terms and conditions of service of Chairperson and Members
10. Officers and other staff of Commission
11. Vacancies etc. not to invalidate proceedings of the
Commission
12. Powers and functions of the Commission
13. Government to consult the Commission
14. Power of the Commission to utilize the services of certain
officers and investigating agencies for conducting
investigation
15. Statement made bypersons to the Commission
16. Protection of acts done in good faith
17. Grants by the State Government
18. Accounts and Audit
19. Annual Report
20. Annual Report and Audit report to be laid before the State
Legislature
21. Chairperson, Members and staff of the Commission to be
public servants
22. Penalty
23. Cognizance of the offences
24. Power to make rules
25. Power to remove difficulties
THE PUNJAB STATE COMMISSION FOR NON-RESIDENT
INDIANS ACT, 2011
(Punjab Act No. 33 of 2011)
[Received the assent of the Governor of Punjab on the 21st
November, 2011, and was first published for general information
in the Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary ), Legislative
Supplement, dated the 29th November, 2011.]
1 2 3 4
Year No. Short title Whether repealed or
otherwise affected by
the legislation
2011 33 The Punjab
State
Commission for
Non-Resident
Indians Act,
2011
Amended by Punjab
Act No. 30 of 2015
An Act to provide for the Constitution of a Commission for
Non‑resident Indians with a view to protecting and safeguarding
the interests of theNon‑resident Indians in the State of Punjab,
and to recommend remedial measures for their welfare and for
the matters connected therewithor incidental thereto.
BE it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Punjab in the
Sixty-second Year of the Republic of India, as follows: -
1. (1) This Act may be called the Punjab State Commission
for Non-resident Indians Act, 2011.
(2) It shall come into force on and with effect from the
date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a) “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Commission ;
(b) “Commission” means the Punjab State Commission for
Non‑Resident Indians constituted under section 3;
(c) “complaint” means all petitions or communications received
in the Commission from a Non-resident Indian or from any
other person on his behalf, in person or by post or by
telegram or by fax or by any other means whatsoever,
alleging, disputes
Short title and
commencement.
Definitions.
or violations or abetment thereof or negligence in the
prevention of such dispute or violation, by a public servant
or
a private person or providing material on the basis of which
the Commission takes suo-motu cognizance;
(d) “Government” means the Government of State of Punjab in
the Department of Non‑Resident Indians Affairs.
1[(e) “Member” means a Member of the Commission and
includes the Honorary Member, the Chairperson and the
Secretary;]
(f) “Non‑resident Indian” means a person of Indian origin , who
is either permanently or temporarily s ettled outside India, in
either case-
(i) for or on taking up employment outside India;
or
(ii) for carrying on a business or vocation outside
India; or
(iii) for any other purpose, in such circumstances, as
would indicate his intention to stay outside
India for an uncertain period; and
(g) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act.
3. (1) The Government shall, by notification, constitute a
body tobe known as the Punjab State Commission for Non -resident
Indians toexercise the powers conferred upon and perform the
functions assigned to itunder this Act.
(2) The Commission shall consist of-
(a) a Chairperson, who shall be a retired judge of
the HighCourt;
(b) one Member who is, or has been an IAS
Officer, not belo wthe rank of Principal
Secretary or Financial Commissionerto be
appointed by the Government;
(c) one Member who is, or has been an IPS Officer,
not belowtherank of Additional Director
General of Police to beappointed by the
Government;
(d) two members shal l be nominated by the
Governmentfromamongst the persons having
knowledge of, orpracticalexperience in matters
1 Substituted by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 2
Constitution of the
Commission.
and issues relating to Non -residentIndians;
1[**]
2[(dd) minimum one Honorary Member and maximum
two Honorary Members, who may be
nominated by the Government f rom amongst
the persons of Indian origin, who are
permanently settled abroad and have acquired
the citizenship of any other country, other than
India, and who are holders of Persons of Indian
Origin card or Overseas Citizen of India card
issued by the Government of India and have
knowledge of difficulties of Non -resident
Indians and matters relating to them which need
resolution in India; and]
(e) there shall be a Secretary (ex -cadre from PCS
Executive),who shall be the Chief Executive
Officer of the Commissionand shall exercise
such powers and discharge such functions
of the Commission as it may delegate to him.
4. The Headquarters of the Commission shall be located at
Chandigarh.
5. The Chairperson and other Members shall be appointed by
the Government.
3[6. (1) The Chairperson and Members, excluding the
Honorary Member(s), shall hold office for a term of three years
from the date on which they enter upon their office or until they
attain the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier:
Provided that the Government may extend the term of
office of the Chairperson or the Members, excluding the Ho norary
Member(s), for a further period of two years, but the term shall not
be extended beyond a period of five years.
1 Omitted by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 3
2 Inserted by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 3
3Substituted by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 4
Headquarter of the
Commission.
Appointment of
Chairperson and other
Members of the
Commission.
Term of office of
Chairperson and
Members.
(2) The Honorary Member(s) shall hold office for a term
of one year from the date on which he enters upon his office or
until he attains the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier:
Provided that the Government may extend the term of
office of Honorary Member(s) for further period of two years.]
7. (1) The Chairperson or Member may, by way of notice in
writingunder his hand addressed to the Government, resign his
office.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub -section
(1), theGovernment may by order remove from the office of the
Chairperson or anyother Member, as the case may be, if he-
(a) is adjudged an insolvent; or
(b) engages during his term of office in any paid
employmentoutside the duties of his office; or
(c) is unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of
mind orbody; or
(d) is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a
competentcourt; or
(e) is convicted and sentenced toimprisonment for an
offencewhich in the opinion of the Government,
involves moralturpitude.
8. (1) In the event of the occurrence of any vacancy in the
office ofthe Chairperson by reason of his death, resignation or
otherwise, the Governmentmay, by notification, authorize one
ofthe Members to act as the Chairpersonuntil the appointmentof a
new Chairperson.
1[(2) When the Chairperson is unable to discharge his
functions owing to absence or leave or otherwise, such one of the
Members, who is not a Honorary Member, as the Government may,
by notification, authorise in this behalf, shall discharge the
functions of the Chairperson until the date on which the
Chairperson resumes his duties.]
9. The salaries and allowances payable to, and other terms and
conditions of service of, the Chairperson an d Members shall be
such, as maybe prescribed:
1Substituted by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 5
Resignation and
removal of
Chairperson or
Member.
Member to act as
Chairperson or to
discharge his
functions in certain
circumstances.
Terms and
conditions of
service of
Chairperson and
Members.
Provided that neither the salary and allowances nor the other
terms and conditions of service of the Chairperson or Member shall
be varied to hisdisadvantage after his appointment:
1[Provided further that the Honorary Member shall not be
paid any salary or allowances and his terms and conditions of
services shall be such, as may be prescribed.]
10. (1) The Government shall make available to the
Commission anofficer ofPCS (Executive) cadre, who shall be the
Secretary of the Commission.
(2) Subject to such rules as may be made by the
Government in thisbehalf, the Commission may appoint such other
administrative and technicalstaff, as it may consider necessary.
(3) The salaries, allowances and conditions of service of
the officersand other staff appointed under sub -section (2), shall be
such as may beprescribed.
11. No act or proceeding of the Commissi on shall be questioned
orshall be invalid merely on the ground of existence of any
vacancy in, or defectin the constitution of the Commission or any
defect in the appointment of aperson acting as Chairperson or a
member or any irregularity in the procedure of the Commission,
including issuing of notice for holding of a meeting, notaffecting
merits of the matter.
12. (1) TheCommission shall, while investigating any matter
underthis Act, have all the powers of a civi l court trying a suit and,
in particular, inrespect of the following matters, namely: -
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any
person andexamining him on oath;
(b) requiring the discovery and production of any
documents;
(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d) requisitioning any public record or copy ther eof from
any courtor office;
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses
anddocuments; and
(f) any other matter which may be prescribed.
1Added by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 6
Officers and other
staff of
Commission.
V acancies etc. not to
invalidate
proceedings of the
Commission.
Powers and
functions of the
Commission.
(2) TheCommission shall perform its functions by
holding "sittings"and "meetings" at any place within the State of
Punjab.
(3) The Members of the Commission including the
Chairperson shallfunction in accordance with the rules framed
under this Act.
13. The Government shall consult the Commission on all major
policy matters affecting Non-resident Indians.
14. The Commission may conduct inquiry or investigation into
thematters falling within its authority: -
(a) either directly; or
(b) through an investigating team constituted by the
Commission;
or
(c) through the Deputy Commissionerofthe district
concerned;
or
(d) through the Government:
1[Provided that no Honorary Member shall be associated by
the Commission in conduct of inquiry or investigation into the
matters falling within its authority.]
15. No statement made by a pers on in the course of giving
evidencebefore the Commission, shall be used against him in any
civil or criminalproceedings, except for prosecuting him for giving
false evidence:
Provided that the statement, -
(a) is made in reply to a question, which is required by
the
Commission to answer, or
(b) is relevant to the subject matter of the inquiry.
16. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie
againstany Member or any officer or othe r em ployee of the
Commission or any personacting under the direction either of the
Government or of the Commission, inrespect of anything, which is
1Added by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 7
Government to
consult the
Commission.
Power of the
Commission to
utilize the services
of certain officers
and investigating
agencies for
conducting
investigation.
Statement made
by persons to the
Commission.
Protection of acts
done in good faith.
in good faith done or intended to be done inpursuance of this Act
or, any rule or order made there under.
17. (1) The State Government shall, after due appropriation
made bythe State Legislature by law in this behalf, pay to the
Commission by way ofgrants from the Consolidated Fund of the
State, such sums of money, as theState Governmentmay consider
appropriate for being utilized for the purposesof this Act.
(2)The Commission may utilize such sums of money as it
considersappropriate for performing the functions under this Act
and such sums ofmoney shall be treated as expenditure payable out
ofthe grants referred to insub-section (1).
18. (1) The Commission shall maintain proper accounts and
otherrelevant record and prepare annual statement of accounts in
such form, asmay be prescribed.
(2) The accounts of the Commission shall be audited by
the LocalFunds Examiner, Punjab, within three months after the
close of each-financialyear and any expenditure in connection with
such audit, shall be payable by theCommission to the Local Funds
Examiner, Punjab.
(3) The acc ounts of the Commission, as certified by the
Local FundExaminer, Punjab, together with the audit report
thereon, shall be forwardedannually to the Government by the
Commission.
19. The Commission shall prepare, in such form and at such
time,
for each financial year, as may be prescribed, its annual report,
giving a fullaccount of its activities during the previous financial
year and forward a copythereof to the Government.
20. The Government shall cause the annual report togetherwith a
memorandum of action taken on the recommendations
containedtherein, in sofar as they relate to the Government and the
reasons for the non -acceptance,if any, of any of such
recommendations, and the audit report, to be laid, as soonas may
be, after the reports, are received, before the State Legislature.
1[21. The Chairperson, Members, other than Honor ary
Member(s), officers and other employees of the Commission shall
1Substituted by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 8
Grants by the State
Government.
Accounts and Audit.
Annual Report.
Annual Report and
Audit report to be
laid before the
State Legislature.
Chairperson,
Members and staff of
the Commission to be
public servants.
be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21
of the Indian Penal Code.]
22. Whoever being legally bound to obey any order of the
Commissionunder section 12 or theorder of an officer or
investigating agency referred toin section 14, intentionally omits to
do so or furnishes false information, shall,on conviction, be
punished under sections 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179 and 180of
the Indian Penal Code, as the case may be.
1[23. No court shall take cognizance of any offence specified in
section 22, except on a complaint in writing of the Chairperson or
an officer, authorized by the Chairperson in this behalf.]
24. (1) The Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette,make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) Every rule made under this section, shall be laid,
assoon asmaybe, after it is made, before the House of the State
Legislature while it is insession for a total period often days, which
may be comprised in one sessionor in two or more successive
sessions and if, before the expiry of the session inwhich it is so laid
or the successive sessions as aforesaid, the House agrees inmaking
any modification in the rule or the House agrees that the rule.
should
not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such
modified form orbe of no effect, as the case may be, howeverany
such modification or annulmentshall be without prejudice to the
validity of anything previously done or omittedto be done under
that rule.
25. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of
this
Act, the Government may, by order, make such provision including
an adoptionor modification of any provision of this Act, as appears
to the Government tobe necessary or expedient for the purpose of
removing the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of
a periodof six months from the date of the commencement of this
Act.
1Substituted by Punjab Act No.30 of 2015, Section 9
Penalty.
Cognizance of
the offence.
Power to make
rules.
Power to remove
difficulties.