The Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007
Chapter X Offences
and Penalties
43. Offences and
penalties. -
1. Any
warehouseman knowingly issuing a negotiable warehouse receipt without taking
the actual physical delivery of the goods in his warehouse or a warehouseman or
an agent or servant of the warehouseman who issues a warehouse receipt without
reasonably satisfying himself that the goods for which such warehouse receipt
is issued have actually been received or the number, weight or grade of the
goods corresponds to the number, weight or grade specified in the warehouse
receipt or the goods are under his actual control at the time of issuing such
warehouse receipt, commits an offence and shall be punishable with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to
four times the value of the goods or with both.
2. A
warehouseman or an agent or servant of the warehouseman, who knowingly issues a
duplicate negotiable warehouse receipt without substantially following the
procedure for the issue of a duplicate warehouse receipt, commits an offence
and shall be punishable for such offence with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or
with both.
3. A
warehouseman or an agent or servant of the warehouseman, who, knowingly that
the negotiable warehouse receipt in respect of such goods is outstanding and is
uncancelled, delivers the goods without obtaining possession of such negotiable
warehouse receipt at or before the time of such delivery and thereby causes unlawful
loss or gain to any person, commits an offence and shall be punishable for such
an offence by imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with
fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
4. A
warehouseman who fails, on surrender of a negotiable warehouse receipt by the
depositor or endorsee and payment of all his lawful charges and cancellation of
encumbrances endorsed on the receipt, within the declared shelf-life of the
goods, as mentioned therein to deliver the goods represented by the receipt
commits an offence and shall be punishable for such offence with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to
three times the value of the goods or with both.
5. Any
depositor, who declared as the value of the goods delivered by him for storage
with a warehouseman an amount which he does not believe to be the proper value,
commits an offence and shall be punishable for such an offence with fine which
may extend to one lakh rupees.