Section 40
Penalty for obstructing any authority in its duty
Any person who at any time hinders or obstructs any local authority or any of its officers, employees, agents or contractors in the performance and execution of its duty or of anything which it is respectively empowered or required to do by virtue or in consequence of this Ordinance, or removes any mark set up for the purpose of indicating any level or direction necessary to the execution of works authorized by this Ordinance, shall be guilty of an offence and shall upon conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than five thousand ringgit and not exceeding fifteen thousand ringgit or imprisonment for six months, or to both.
Recovery of expenses and costs payable by owners 41.—
(1)
All and any sum payable by or recoverable from the owner or owners in respect of expenses and costs incurred by the local authority in or about the execution of any work which are, under this
Ordinance, recoverable from the owner or owners of any premises shall, subject and without prejudice to any other rights of the local authority, be a first charge on the premises in respect of which such expenses or costs have been incurred.
(2)
In addition to any other remedies conferred by this
Ordinance any such sum may be recovered in the manner hereinafter provided, and the person or persons liable to pay the same shall be the owner or owners at the time when the work was completed.
(3)
Any occupier who when requested by or on behalf of the local authority to state the name of the owner of the premises refuses or wilfully omits to disclose or wilfully mis-states the same shall, unless he shows cause to the satisfaction of the Court for his refusal or mis-statement, be guilty of an offence and shall upon conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than one thousand ringgit and not exceeding five thousand ringgit.
(4)
If any such sum remains unpaid at the expiration of the prescribed time, a notice shall be served upon the person or any one of the persons, if more than one, liable to pay the same, calling on him to pay the same together with a fee of such amount as may be prescribed for the cost of the notice, within fifteen days of the service of such notice.
(5)
If no person liable to pay the same can be found, such notice shall be deemed to have been duly served by the posting thereof at the office of the local authority and by fixing a copy thereof on some conspicuous part of the premises in respect of which such expenses or costs have been incurred.
(6)
At the expiration of the said period of fifteen days or such further period as may be allowed by the local authority, if any such sum or any part thereof remains due and unpaid, it shall be deemed to be in arrears and may be recovered in the manner hereinafter provided.
(7)
The charge hereinbefore mentioned shall attach, and the powers and remedies hereinbefore conferred shall become exercisable as from the date of completion of the work, and thereafter such powers and remedies may be exercised against the premises or against any movable property or crops for the time being found thereon, notwithstanding any change or changes in the ownership or occupation of the premises subsequent to the said date.
Proceedings for recovery of arrears 42.—
(1)
For the recovery of arrears the local authority shall have and may exercise, either successively or concurrently, in addition to any other remedies conferred by this Ordinance, either or both of the powers following, that is to say—
(a)
the local authority may issue a warrant of attachment and may seize by virtue thereof any movable property and crops of any person liable to pay the arrears and may also seize any movable property or any crops to whomsoever belonging which are found on the premises in respect of which the arrears are due and may, after service of the prescribed notice, sell the same by public auction in the prescribed manner;
(b)
the local authority may, by notice of sale to be served or published in the prescribed manner, declare its intention of selling, at the expiration of three months from the date of such notice of sale, the premises in respect of which the arrears are due and, if, at the expiration of such period, such arrears have not been paid or satisfied, the local authority may sell by public auction, in lots or otherwise, the whole of such premises or such portion thereof or such interest therein as it deems sufficient for recovery of such arrears and costs:
Provided that the local authority shall not proceed under paragraph
(b)
to sell the premises in respect of which the arrears are due, or any portion thereof or interest therein, where there is or are upon the premises and liable to be seized and sold under paragraph (a) movable property or crops belonging to the owner of a value estimated by the local authority to be sufficient to realize the sum required to satisfy the arrears and costs.
(2)
Any tenant, sub-tenant, or occupier, who, in order to avoid the seizure or sale of his property for non-payment of arrears payable by the owner of the premises, pays such arrears and costs may thereafter, in the absence of any written agreement to the contrary, deduct the amount so paid by him from the rent due or to become due by him to his immediate landlord on account of the premises or such part thereof as is held or occupied by him, and may retain possession until such amount has been fully reimbursed to him whether by deduction from the rent or otherwise. Any tenant or sub-tenant who has reimbursed, whether by allowing a deduction from his rent or otherwise, any sub-tenant or occupier holding or occupying under him the amount so paid by such sub-tenant or occupier shall have a similar right to deduct the amount from the rent due or to become due to his immediate landlord and to retain possession until similarly reimbursed.
(3)
The receipt of any duly authorized public officer for any amount so paid by any such tenant, sub-tenant or occupier shall be deemed an acquittance in full for the like amount of rent.
(4)
If any premises in respect of which arrears are due, or any such movable property or crops as are mentioned in subsection (1) or the proceeds of sale thereof are already in the custody of the law under any process of execution whereby the local authority is unable to exercise the remedies hereinbefore conferred, the local authority may notify the sheriff or the bailiff of the Court concerned of the amount of the arrears, and shall be entitled without obtaining a judgment to be paid such amount out of the proceeds of sale of such premises or property in priority to the judgment debtor and to the judgment creditor and to any other creditor.
(5)
A certificate from the local authority shall, unless the same be disputed by the judgment debtor, be prima facie evidence of the amount of such arrears, and, in case of dispute, the amount shall be summarily determined by the Court.
Attachment 43.—
(1)
The attachment mentioned in section 42(1)(a) may be made by a person appointed for the purpose by the local authority who shall publicly notify the attachment and shall take an inventory of the property attached.
(2)
Such person shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code [Act 574].
(3)
Such person may break open in daytime any house or building for the purpose of effecting such attachment.
Application of proceeds 44.—
(1)
The proceeds of a sale under section 42(1) shall be applied in the first place in satisfaction of the arrears together with interest thereon at the rate of six per centum and costs.
(2)
In the event of there being any surplus remaining the local authority shall, if satisfied as to the right of any person claiming such surplus, pay the amount thereof to such person or, if not so satisfied, shall hold the amount in trust for the person who may ultimately succeed in due course of law in establishing his title thereto.
(3)
If no title is established to such surplus within a period of two years from the date of the sale, it shall be paid into the general revenue of the local authority concerned.
Title conferred by purchase at sale under section 42 45.—
(1)
The purchaser at a sale held under section 42(1)(b)
shall be deemed to have acquired the right offered for sale free from all subordinate interests derived from it except such as are expressly reserved by the local authority at the time of sale.
(2)
The local authority shall notify in such manner as it deems fit the result of the sale and the conveyance to the purchaser of the property or right offered for sale.