17. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 37, the following sections:“Service of summons, notice, etc. |
37A.—(1) Any summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be served on any person may be served —(a) | by delivering it to the person or by delivering it at his usual or last known place of residence to some adult member or employee of his family; | (b) | by leaving it at his usual or last known place of residence or business in a cover addressed to him; or | (c) | by forwarding it by post in a pre-paid letter addressed to him at his usual or last known place of residence or business. |
(2) Any summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be served on any incorporated company or body, it may be served —(a) | by delivering it to the secretary of the company or body at its registered or principal office; or | (b) | by sending it by registered post addressed to the company or body at its registered or principal office. |
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(3) Any summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises may be served by delivering it or a true copy thereof to some adult person on the premises or, if there is no such person on the premises to whom it can with reasonable diligence be delivered, by affixing the summons, notice, order or document to some conspicuous part of the premises. |
(4) Any summons, notice, order or document required or authorised by this Act or any regulations made thereunder to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises shall be deemed to be properly addressed if addressed by the description of the owner or occupier of the premises without further name or description. |
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Appeal to Minister against notice, order or decision |
37B.—(1) Subject to section 37C(13), any person who is aggrieved by any notice, order or decision of the Director-General may, within 7 days of the notice, order or decision, appeal in writing to the Minister whereupon the execution of the notice, order or decision shall be stayed.(2) The Minister may confirm, vary or rescind the notice, order or decision or direct that the thing shall be proceeded with, varied or abandoned, as the case may be, or make any order which the Director-General is competent to make and the decision of the Minister shall be final. |
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37C.—(1) The grant or renewal of any licence —(a) | shall be in the discretion of the Director-General; | (b) | may be granted, renewed or refused without any reason for the grant, renewal or refusal being assigned therefor; and | (c) | may be granted or renewed subject to such restrictions and conditions as the Director-General may think fit. |
(2) The Director-General may require any applicant for a licence to furnish such information and evidence as he may reasonably require for a full and proper consideration of the application and, in the event of a refusal to furnish the information, shall refuse to grant or renew the licence. |
(3) The Director-General may, before granting or renewing any licence, require the applicant to give security, either in the form of a cash deposit or by entering into a bond, that the provisions of this Act and the conditions of the licence will be duly observed. |
(4) Where an applicant is required to enter into a bond, the Director-General may require not more than 2 sureties to enter into the bond with the applicant. |
(5) Any sum deposited or bond entered into under this section shall be liable to forfeiture in whole or in part at the discretion of the Director-General on cancellation of the licence. |
(6) Any person who wilfully furnishes any false information in any application for a licence shall be guilty of an offence and any licence granted shall be void and of no effect. |
(7) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any licence may be for such period as the Director-General thinks fit. |
(8) There shall be charged for the grant or renewal of any licence such fee, if any, as may be prescribed. |
(9) Where a licence is granted for a period of less than 12 months, the Director-General may charge a proportionate fee therefor; and in charging such proportionate fee, any part of a month shall be reckoned as one month. |
(10) No licensee shall be entitled to any refund of any fee paid by him in respect of any licence. |
(11) No person shall in any manner transfer any licence or permit any licence to be used by any other person without the approval in writing of the Director-General. |
(12) Where a licensee —(a) | is in breach of any restriction or condition subject to which the licence was granted; or | (b) | has contravened any provision of this Act or any regulations made thereunder, |
the Director-General may — |
(i) | suspend or cancel the licence; and | (ii) | in the case of paragraph (a), in lieu of or in addition to sub-paragraph (i), impose a financial penalty of such amount, not exceeding $5,000, as the Director-General thinks fit. |
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(13) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any person who is aggrieved by —(a) | the refusal by the Director-General to grant or renew a licence; | (b) | the suspension or cancellation by the Director-General of any licence; | (c) | the imposition of any financial penalty by the Director-General; or | (d) | the forfeiture of any sum deposited or bond entered into under this section, |
may, within 14 days of such refusal, suspension, cancellation, imposition of financial penalty or forfeiture, appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final. |
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(14) In this section, “licence” includes any approval, permit, permission, authority, authorisation or licence which may be granted or renewed by the Director-General under this Act or any regulations made thereunder. |
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Receipts and notices may be given by authorised officer |
37D.—(1) All notices, orders, receipts, warrants and other documents which the Director-General is empowered to give by this Act or any regulations made thereunder may be given by any other authorised officer.(2) Where any such notice, order, receipt, warrant or document requires authentication, the signature or a facsimile thereof of the Director-General or an authorised officer affixed thereto shall be sufficient authentication. |
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Police officers and authorised officers may demand names and addresses in certain cases |
37E.—(1) Any person who is charged by any police officer or authorised officer with any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall on demand give his name and address and other proof of identity to the police officer or authorised officer, if so required.(2) The occupier of any premises shall, if required by any police officer or authorised officer, give his name and other proof of identity and the name and address of the owner of the premises, if known. |
(3) Any person who contravenes this section or wilfully mis-states his name and address or the name and address of the owner of any premises shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $300. |
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37F. Any person who is guilty of an offence under this Act for which no penalty is expressly provided shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both. |
37G.—(1) The Director-General may, in his discretion, compound any offence under this Act or any regulations made thereunder as may be prescribed as being an offence which may be compounded by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding $1,000.(2) On payment of such sum of money, no further proceedings shall be taken against that person in respect of the offence. |
(3) The Minister may make regulations to prescribe the offences which may be compounded and the method and procedure by which those offences may be compounded under this section. |
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Inaccuracies in documents |
37H.—(1) No misnomer or inaccurate description of any person, premises, building, street or place named or described in any document prepared, issued or served under or for the purposes of this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall in any way affect the operation of this Act or any such regulations as respects that person or place if that person or place is so designated in the document as to be identifiable. (2) No proceedings taken under this Act or any such regulations shall be invalid for want of form. |
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37I.—(1) The contents of any document prepared, issued or served under or for the purposes of this Act shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to be correct.(2) All records, registers and other documents kept by any authorised officer for the purposes of this Act or any regulations made thereunder shall be deemed to be public documents, and copies thereof or extracts therefrom certified by the officer responsible for the custody thereof to be true copies or extracts, as the case may be, and subscribed by such officer with his name and his official title shall be admissible in evidence as proof of the contents of the documents or extracts therefrom. |
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37J. The Director-General may design and utilise such forms as he may think fit for any of the purposes of this Act and any regulations made thereunder, and may require any person to complete any of the forms for any such purpose. |
37K. The Minister may, from time to time, by order published in the Gazette, add to, alter or amend any of the Schedules. |
37L. The Director-General may, subject to the general or special directions of the Minister, either permanently or for such period as he may think fit, exempt any person or premises or any class of persons or premises from any of the provisions of this Act.”. |
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