The Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited ( Acquisition And Transfer Of Assets ) Act, 1993

GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL 
LAW DEPARTMENT 
Legislative 
West Bengal Act XVIII of 1993 
THE GANGES PRINTING INK FACTORY LIMITED 
(ACQUISITION AND TRANSFER OF ASSETS) 
ACT, 1993. 
[Passed by the West Bengal Legislature.] 
[Assent of the President of India was first published in the Calcutta 
Gazette, Extraordinary, of the 11th February, 1994.] 
[11th February, 1994.] 
An Act to provide for the acquisition and transfer, in the public interest, 
of the assets of the Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited, and for 
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 
WHEREAS the Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited had been engaged 
in the manufacture of quality printing ink; 
AND WHEREAS an order has been made for the winding up of the 
Company and proceedings for its liquidation are pending in the High 
Court at Calcutta; 
AND WHEREAS for the purpose of utilising the production facilities 
and equipment of the Company with a view to increasing the production 
of printing ink and generating employment in the interest of the general 
public, it is necessary to acquire the assets of the Company; 
It is hereby enacted in the Forty-fourth Year of the Republic of India, 
by the Legislature of West Bengal, as follows:- 
1. (1) This Act may be called the Ganges Printing Ink Factory 
Limited (Acquisition and Transfer of Assets) Act, 1993. 
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government 
may, by notification, appoint. 
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 
(a) "appointed day" means the date on which this Act comes 
into force; 
(b) "assets of the Company" includes all property, movable and 
immovable, including lands, factory sheds, office buildings, 
plant and machinery, equipments, furniture and fixtures, 
electrical installations and all other rights and interests in, 
or arising out of, such property as were immediately before 
the appointed day in the ownership, power or control of the 
Company within West Bengal; 
Short title 
and commence-
ment. 
Definitions. 
179 
The Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited (Acquisition and 
Transfer of Assets) Act, 1993. 
[West Ben. Act 
(Sections 3, 4.) 
(c) "Company" means the Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited, 
being a Company as defined in the Companies Act, 1956, 
and having its registered office at 8, Netaji Subhas Road, 
Calcutta; 
(d) "existing Government Company" means a Government 
Company which is carrying on business on the appointed 
day; 
(e) "Joint Sector Company" means a Company, by whatever 
name called, formed and registered under the Companies 
Act, 1956, on or after the appointed day; 
(f) "notification" means a notification published in the Official 
Gazette; 
(g) words and expressions used herein and not defined, but 
defined in the Companies Act, 1956, shall have the meanings 
respectively assigned to them in that Act. 
1 of 1956. 
Transfer to, 
and vesting 
in, State Government 
of the assets 
of the 
Company. 
General effect 
of vesting. 
3. On the appointed day, the assets of the Company, and right, title 
and interest of the Company in relation to its assets, shall, by virtue of 
this Act, stand transferred to, and vest in, the State Government. 
4. (1) All assets which have vested in the State Government under 
section 3 shall, by force of such vesting, be freed and discharged from 
any trusts, obligations, mortgages, charges, liens and other encumbrances 
affecting them, and any attachment, injunction or any decree or order of 
any court restricting the use of such assets in any manner shall be deemed 
to have been withdrawn. 
(2) Every liability of the owner, agent, manager or managing 
contractor of the Company, in respect of any period prior to the appointed 
day, shall be the liability of such owner, agent, manager or managing 
contractor, as the case may be, and shall be enforceable against him and 
not against the State Government or the existing Government Company. 
Explanations.—For the purposes of this sub-section,— 
(a) "owner", when used in relation to the Company, and "agent" 
shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in 
section 2 of the Mines Act, 1952, the provisions of which 35 of 1952. 
shall apply mutatis mutandis; 
(b) "meaning contractor" shall have the meaning assigned to it 
in section 2 of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973, 26 of 1973. 
the provisions of which shall apply mutatis mutandis. 
180 
The Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited (Acquisition and 
Transfer of Assets) Act, 1993. 
XVIII of 1993.] 
(Sections 5, 6.) 
5. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3, the State 
Government may, if it is satisfied that an existing Government Company 
is willing to comply, or has complied, with such terms and conditions as 
that Government may think fit to impose, direct, by notification, that the 
assets of the Company, and the right, title and interest of the Company 
in relation to its assets which have vested in the State Government under 
section 3, shall, instead of continuing to vest in the State Government, 
vest in that existing Government Company either on the date of 
publication of the notification or on such earlier or later date (not being 
a date earlier than the appointed day) as may be specified in the 
notification. 
(2) Where the right, title and interest of the Company in relation to 
its assets vest under sub-section (1) in an existing Government Company, 
on and from the date of such vesting,— 
(a) that existing Government Company shall be deemed to have 
become, and shall be deemed to be, the owner in relation to 
such assets, and 
(b) the rights and liabilities of the State Government in relation 
to such assets shall be deemed to have become, and shall be 
deemed to be, the rights and liabilities, respectively, of that 
existing Government Company. 
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions 
of this section or elsewhere in this Act, the State Government may utilise 
the assets of the Company in such manner and for such purpose as it 
may deem fit, if it is satisfied that such utilisation of the assets of the 
Company shall increase the production facilities of the Company and 
shall generate employment in the interest of the general public. 
Power of 
State 
Government 
to direct 
vesting of the 
assets of the 
Company in 
an existing 
Government 
Company. 
6. (1) The State Government shall, within sixty days from the Payment of 
appointed day, pay, in cash, to the Official Liquidator of the Company, amount. 
an  amount equal to the sum of rupees eighteen lakhs seventy-six thousand 
seven hundred and six for payment to the Company for the transfer to, 
and vesting in, the State Government, under section 3, of the assets of 
the Company. 
(2) For the avoidance of doubts, it is hereby declared that the liabilities 
of the Company in relation to the assets which have vested in the State 
Government under section 3, shall be met from the amount referred to in 
sub-section (1). 
(3) Every person having a claim to the amount as aforesaid or any 
part thereof shall prefer such claim before the Official Liquidator within 
such period as the High Court at Calcutta may specify and the amount 
may be disbursed in accordance with such order or direction as may be 
made or issued by the High Court. 
181 
The Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited (Acquisition and 
Transfer of Assets) Act, 1993. 
[West Ben. Act 
(Sections 7, 8.) 
Management 
etc. of the 
assets of the 
Company. 
Transfer of 
the assets of 
the Company 
from an 
existing 
Government 
Company to 
a Joint 
Sector 
Company. 
7. (1) The general superintendence, direction, control and 
management of the assets of the Company, the right, title and interest in 
relation to which have vested in the State Government under section 3, 
shall, when a direction has been given by the State Government under 
sub-section (1) of section 5, vest, on and from the date specified in such 
direction, in the existing Government Company specified therein, and 
thereupon the existing Government Company so specified shall be entitled 
to exercise, to the exclusion of all other persons, all such powers and do 
all such things as the Company is authorised to exercise and do in relation 
to its assets. 
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the 
existing Government Company as aforesaid may, on such terms and 
conditions as it may determine and with the prior approval of the State 
Government, nominate, for management of the assets, any co-operative 
society registered or deemed to be registered under the West Bengal 
Co-operative Societies Act, 1983, and thereupon such co-operative society 
shall carry on the management on behalf of the existing Government 
Company in accordance with such regulations as may be made by the 
State Government in this behalf. 
8. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 3 and 7, 
where the assets of the Company have been directed under sub-section 
(I) of section 5 to vest in an existing Government Company, the State 
Government may, if it is satisfied that a Joint Sector Company is willing 
to comply, or has complied, with such terms and conditions as that 
Government may think fit to impose, declare, by notification, that the 
assets of the Company be transferred to that Joint Sector Company, and 
on the issue of such declaration, the right, title and interest of the Company 
in relation to its assets which had been directed under sub-section (1) of 
section 5 to vest in an existing Government Company, shall, instead of 
continuing to vest in that existing Government Company, vest in that 
Joint Sector Company with effect from the date on which such declaration 
is made. 
(2) Where the right, title and interest of the existing Government 
Company in relation to the assets of the Company vest under sub-
section (1) in a Joint Sector Company, that Joint Sector Company shall, 
on and from the date of such vesting, be deemed to have become the 
owner in relation to such assets and all the rights and liabilities of the 
existing Government Company in relation to such assets shall, on and 
from the date of such vesting, be deemed to have become the rights and 
liabilities, respectively, of that Joint Sector Company. 
West Ben. 
Act XLV of 
1983. 
182 
The Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited (Acquisition and 
Transfer of Assets) Act, 1993. 
XVIII of 1993.] 
(Sections 9-12.) 
(3) Upon the vesting of the right, title and interest of the Company 
in relation to its assets in a Joint Sector Company under sub-section (1), 
that Joint Sector Company shall be entitled to exercise, to the exclusion 
of all other persons, all such powers and do all such things as the Company 
is authorised to exercise and do in relation to its assets. 
9. (1) Notwithstanding any decree, judgement or order of any court 
or anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the 
Official Liquidator or any other person, in whose possession or custody 
or under whose control the assets of the Company (which have vested 
in the State Government or in any existing Government Company, or 
the right, title and interest in relation to which have vested in any 
Joint Sector Company, under this Act) or any part thereof may be, shall 
deliver possession of the assets of the Company or such part thereof as 
may be in his possession, custody or control to the State Government or 
the existing Government Company or the Joint Sector Company, as the 
case may be. 
(2) The State Government or the existing Government Company or 
the Joint Sector Company may take, or cause to be taken, all necessary 
steps for securing the possession of the assets which have vested in the 
State Government or the existing Government Company or the Joint 
Sector Company under this Act. 
10. The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding 
anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time 
being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law 
other than this Act or in any decree or order of any court, tribunal or 
other authority. 
11. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against 
the State Government or any officer of that Government or the existing 
Government Company or the Joint Sector Company for anything which 
is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act. 
12. (1) The State Government may, by notification, make regulations 
with regard to the matter specified in sub-section (2) of section 7. 
(2) Every regulation made by the State Government under this Act 
shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the State 
Legislature, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which 
may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, 
and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session 
Duty to 
deliver 
possession of 
the assets. 
Act to have 
overriding 
effect. 
Protection of 
action taken 
in good faith. 
Power to 
make 
regulations. 
183 
The Ganges Printing Ink Factory Limited (Acquisition and 
Transfer of Assets) Act, 1993. 
[West Ben. Act XVIII of 1993.] 
(Section 13.) 
Power to 
remove 
difficulties. 
or the successive session aforesaid, the State Legislature agrees in making 
any modifications in the regulation or the State Legislature agrees that 
the regulation should not be made, the regulation shall thereafter have 
effect only in such modified form or be pf 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 
regulation. 
13. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this 
Act, the State Government may, by order, not inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act, remove the difficulty: 
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a 
period of two years from the date of publication of this Act in the Official 
Gazette. 
    
184 

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