The Cencus Act,1948
11. Penalties.
(1) 1[(a) Any cencus-officer or any person lawfully required to give assistance towards the taking of cencus who refuses to perform any duty imposed upon him by this act or any rule made thereunder, or any person who hinders or obstructs another person in performing any such duty, or
(aa) any cencus-officer or any person lawfully required to give assistance towards the taking of a cencus who neglect to use reasonable diligence in performing any duty imposed upon him or in obying any order issued to him in accordance with this act or any rule made thereunder, or any person who hinders or obstructs another person in performing any such duty or obying any such order, or;
(b) any cencus-officer who intentionally puts any offensive or improper question or knowingly makes any false return or, without the previous sanction of the Central Government or the State Government, disclose any information which he has received by means of, or for the purposes of, a cencus return, or
(c) any sorter, complier or other member of the cencus staff who removes, secretes, damages or destroyes any cencus documents or deal with any cencus document in a manner likely to falsify or impair the tabulations of cencus results, or
1[(ca) any local authority which fails to comply with an order made under section 4A, or;]
(d) any person who intentionally gives a false answer to,or refuses to answer to the best of his knowledge or belief, any question asked of him by a cencus-officer which he is legally bound by section 8 to answer, or
(e) any person occupying any house, enclosure, vessel or other place who refuses to allow a cencus-officer such reasonable access thereto as he is required by section 9 to allow, or
(f) any person who removes, obliterates, alters, or damages any letters, marks or numbers which have been painted or affixed for the purposes of the cencus, or
(g) any person who, haveing been required under section 10 to fill up a schedule, knowingly and without sufficient cause fails comply with the provisions of that section, or makes any false return therunder, or
(h) any person who trespasses into a cencus office,
shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees and in case of a conviction under part 1[(a), (b) or (c) shall also be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to & three years.]
(2)Whoever abets any offence under sub-section (1) shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees.
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1. Subs. by Act 11 of 1994, S.8.
