Section 12
Section 12
Any person who, with intent to evade this Act, or with intent to prevent the sale of price-controlled goods at lawful prices to customers in the normal course of business, removes any price-controlled goods or causes or permits any price-controlled goods to be removed from any licensed business premises or stores any price-controlled goods or causes or permits any price-controlled goods to be stored in any premises other than licensed business premises or premises approved for such storage by the Price Controller, or who deals in price-controlled goods otherwise than in the normal course of business, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.
(2)
The Price Controller, or any person authorized in writing by him, the Deputy Price Controller, any Assistant Price Controller, or
Police Officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector, if he suspects that any price-controlled goods are being stored, or dealt in, in residential or in any other premises in contravention of this section, may, notwithstanding any written law to the contrary, without a search warrant enter upon those premises for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not any such goods are in the premises.
(3)
In any prosecution for an offence under this section it shall be sufficient for the prosecution to prove that price-controlled goods, to the ownership or possession of which the defendant was entitled, were found in premises other than licensed business premises or premises approved by the Price Controller, and the burden of proving that the defendant is not guilty of an offence against this section shall then lie upon the defendant.
(4)
Any price-controlled goods found, in the course of a search under subsection (2), upon premises other than licensed business premises or premises approved by the Price Controller, in regard to which an offence against this section is reasonably suspected to have been committed, may be removed by the Price Controller, Deputy
Price Control 13
Price Controller, Assistant Price Controller or other person duly authorized to carry out the search; and, if not claimed within one month of the removal, may be sold by order of the Price Controller, and the proceeds of any such sale shall be paid into the Consolidated
Fund. If the goods are of a perishable nature, they may be sold forthwith and the proceeds of the sale shall be retained by the Price
Controller and, if not claimed within one month, shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.