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REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99
The Gazette of India
CG-UP-E-21062024-254840
EXTRAORDINARY
PART II-Section 3-Sub-section (i)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 313]
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2024/JYAISHTHA 29, 1946
MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 19th June, 2024
G.S.R.336(E)-The following draft rules, which the Central Government proposes to make in exercise of the
powers conferred by section 436A of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958) are hereby published as required
by section 436A of the said Act for the information of all persons likely to be affected thereby and notice is hereby
given that the said draft rules shall be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date
on which copies of this notification as published in the Official Gazette, are made available to the public;
Objections or suggestions, if any, may be addressed to the Additional Secretary (Ports, Shipping &
Waterways), Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Government of India, Transport Bhavan, 1, Parliament Street,
New Delhi-110 001;
The objection or suggestion which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft rules
before the expiry of the aforesaid period shall be taken into consideration by the Central Government.
1. Short title and commencement. - (1) These rules may be called the Merchant Shipping (Form and Manner of
Appeal) Rules, 2023.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Definitions. — (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, —
(a) "Act" means the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958);
(b) "appellant" means whoever prefers an appeal under sub-section (3) of Section 436 of the Act;
(c) "Appellate Authority” means the Director-General of Shipping appointed under section 7 of the Act;
(d) "form" means the Form annexed to these rules;
(e) "penalty" means the penalty prescribed in Section 436 of the Act.
(2) Words and expressions used in these rules and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the same meaning as
assigned to them in the Act.
3. Period of Limitation of Appeal. -Whoever aggrieved by an order of the Principal Officer under sub-section (3)
of Section 436 of the Act, may, within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of such order, prefer an appeal
before the Appellate Authority:
Provided that the Appellate Authority may admit any appeal after the expiry of the period aforesaid, if the appellant
satisfies the Appellate Authority that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal in time:
Provided further that no appeal may be admitted after a period of one hundred and eighty days from the date of the
receipt of such Order.
4. Form and Content of Appeal. — (1) An application to the Appellate Authority under sub-section (3) of Section
436 of the Act shall be made in English or Hindi, in the manner specified in the Form.
(2) An application made in sub-rule (1) shall be accompanied by a copy of the order appealed against.
(3) Every appellant shall ensure that an application made in sub-rule (1) fulfils the following particulars, namely: —
(a) the application contains all material statements, arguments and grounds relied on by the appellant;
(b) the application contains no disrespectful or improper language;
(c) The appeal shall clearly state the grounds on which it is made, including any errors of fact or legal or
administrative process, proportionality of the penalty, any new admissible information, changed
circumstances, conflict of interest or breach of constitutional right.
(d) the application contains specific prayers;
(e) the application is complete in itself.
5. Consideration of the Appeal. — (1) In the case of any application made under sub-rule (1) of rule 4, the Appellate
Authority shall consider the following matters, namely: —
(a) whether the procedure laid down in these rules has been complied with, and, if not, whether such non
compliance has resulted in the violation of any provision of the Act or these rules or the Constitution of
India or in the failure of justice;
(b) whether the penalty imposed in the order of the Principal Officer under sub-section (3) of Section 436 of
the Act is proportionate or not;
(c) whether all the circumstances of the case have been considered to pass such orders as it may deem just and
equitable.
(d) whether the appeal has been preferred in accordance with item (c) of sub rule 3 of rule 4.
(e) disposal of appeal shall be in accordance with this sub-rule.
(2) No application made under sub-rule (1) of rule 4 shall be disposed without giving the appellant a reasonable
opportunity of being heard.
(2) The Appellate Authority shall be guided by the principles of natural justice and subject to other provisions of this
Act and of any rules made thereunder, shall have powers to regulate its own procedure, including the places at which
it shall conduct its business for the purpose of considering any appeal preferred under this rule.
(5) An application made under sub-rule (1) of rule 4 shall be disposed of as expeditiously as possible and the disposal
of such application shall not exceed a period of six months from the date of filing such application.
6. Powers of the Appellate Authority. — (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being
in force while exercising powers under this rule, the Appellate Authority, while deciding any application made under
sub-rule (1) of rule 4, shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure,
1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of the following matters, namely:
(a) the discovery and production of books or any documents, at such place and such time as may be specified
by the Appellate Authority and examining them on oath;
(b) inspection of any books, registers and other documents of any person;
(c) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents;
(d) subject to the provisions of sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872),
requisitioning any public record or document or a copy of such record or document, from any office and
production of such documents;
(e) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(f) dismissing an application for default or deciding it, ex parte;
(g) setting aside any order of dismissal of any application for default or any order passed by it, ex parte;
(h) granting interim relief;
(i) reviewing its decision; and
(j) any other matter as the Appellate Authority may deem fit.
(2) Every proceeding before the Appellate Authority shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning
of sections 193 and 228, and for the purposes of section 196, of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and Appellate
Authority shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
7. Orders passed by the Appellate Authority. -Subject to rule 4, the Appellate Authority may—
(a) confirm or modify or set aside or reverse the order appealed against under sub-section (3) of Section 436
of the Act;
(b) confirm or reduce or enhance or set aside the penalty imposed by the order or impose any penalty where
no penalty has been imposed:
Provided that no order imposing an enhanced penalty shall exceed the amount of penalty prescribed in sub-
section (2) of Section 436:
Provided further that no order imposing an enhanced penalty shall be made unless the appellant has been
given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation against such enhanced penalty and reasons for such
enhancement have been recorded in writing;
(c) pass such orders for penalising any frivolous appeals as a deterrence to the abuse of any administrative or
legal procedures:
Provided any penalty imposed shall not exceed amount of maximum penalty prescribed in sub-section (2) of
Section 436; or,
(d) pass such orders as it may deem fit in the circumstances of the case.
8. Effect of Orders passed by the Appellate Authority. — (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (1) of rule 6,
every order passed by the Appellate Authority under rule 5 shall be final.
(2) Every order passed by the Appellate Authority under rule 5 shall, as soon as practicable, be submitted to the
Central Government.
9. Fee. Every application under sub-rule (1) of rule 4 shall be made along with fees payable as specified in the
following table:
+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Sr. No. | Amount of Penalty prescribed under Section under | Fees payable for application |
| | sub-rule (2) of rule 436 of the Act | under sub-rule (1) of rule 4 |
+--------+=============================================================+=====================================================+
| (1) | (2) | (3) |
+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| 1. | Penalty which may extend to fifty thousand rupees | 3,000/- rupees |
+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| 2. | Penalty which may extend to one lakh rupees | 5,000/- rupees |
+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| 3. | Penalty which may extend to two lakh rupees | 10,000/- rupees |
+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| 4. | Penalty which may extend to five lakh rupees or more | 20,000/- rupees |
+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
10. Award of costs in the proceedings. — (1) Whenever the Appellate Authority deems fit, it may award cost for
meeting the legal expenses of the respondent or defaulting party.
(2) The Appellate Authority may, where it determines that there has been an abuse of process under these rules,
impose exemplary costs on the defaulting party.
FORM
APPLICATION TO THE APPELLATE AUTHORITY
(See sub-rule (1) of rule 4)
1. Details of the Appellant:
1.1. Name of the Appellant:
1.2. Designation of the Appellant:
1.3. Address of the Appellant:
1.4. Telephone/Mobile No. of the Appellant:
1.5. Email Id. of the Appellant:
1.6. Name, Address, Telephone/Mobile No. & Email Id. of the Legal Representative of the Appellant:
2. Details of the Order appealed against under sub-section (3) of Section 436 of the Merchant Shipping
Act, 1958:
2.1. Date:
2.2. Number:
2.3. Name of Principal officer:
2.4. Address of Mercantile Marine Department:
2.5. Section of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 to which the Offence has reference:
2.6. Penalty imposed by the Principal Officer:
3. Details of Appeal:
3.1. Statement of Facts: (Provide a concise statement of facts in a chronological order and with paragraph
numbers containing an elaboration of issues, including the question of law arising in the appeal. Each
paragraph should deal with, as far as possible a separate issue.)
3.2. Description of Grievance: (Provide a concise description of grievance elaborating issues with the
order of the Principal Officer under sub-section (3) of Section 436 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958)
3.3. Grounds for Appeal: (Provide a clear ground of the appeal and concise description of the appeal and
the relevant legal provisions, if any, relied upon. See para 4(3)(c))
3.4. Evidence: (Provide evidence for the justification/grounds for appeal and in case of more than one
evidence, an indexed chronological list thereof.)
3.5. Prayer: (Clearly stipulate the reliefs sought)
3.6. Particulars of fees payable under rule 9:
Place:
Date:
(Signature of Appellant)
[F. No. L-11020/1/2022-MG(PART-I) CN. 354601]
RAJESH KUMAR SINHA, Addl. Secy.
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.
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