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THE PUBLIC RECORDS ACT, 1993 No. 69 of 1993
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Delhi
Gazette
| No.3 DELHI, THURSDAY, JANUARY21, 1999/ Magha 1, 1920 NCTD10
PART IV GOVERNMENT OF NCT
OFDELHI
| DEPARTMENT OF DELHI
ARCHIVES NOTIFICATIONS
| New Delhi,
the 13th January, 1999 Pausa 1, 1915 (Saka)
| No.F. 9(25)/97-Archives-The following is published for general
information: - MINISTRY OF LAW JUSTICE AND COMPANY AFFAIRS
(Legislative Department) New Delhi, 22nd December,
1993
| The following Act of Parliament received the
assent of the President on the21st, December, 1993 and is hereby
published for general information:-
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| [22nd December
1993.] |
| An Act to
regulate the management, administration and preservation of
publicrecords of the Central Government, Union territory
Administration, public sectorundertakings, statutory bodies and
corporations, commissions and committeesconstituted by the Central
Government or a Union territory Administration andmatters connected
therewith or incidental thereto. BE it enacted by Parliamentin the
Forty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
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| 1. | This Act may be called the Public Records Act, 1993.
It shall come intoforce on such date as the Central
Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.
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| | 2. | In this Act, unless
the context otherwise requires,- - "Board"
means the Archival Advisory Board constituted under sub-section (1)of
section 13;
- "Director General" means the Director
General of Archives appointed by theCentral Government and includes any
Officer authorised by that Government toperform the duties of the
Director General;
- "head of the Archives" means a
person holding the charge of the Archives ofthe Union territory
Administration;
- "prescribed" means prescribed by
rules made under this Act;
- "public records"
includes-
- any document, manuscript and
file;
- any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy
of a document;
- any reproduction of image or images
embodied in such microfilm (whetherenlarged or not); and
- any other material produced by a computer or by
any other device, of anyrecords creating agency;
- records creating agency
includes,-
- in relation to the Central
Government, any ministry, department or office ofthat Government;
- in relation to any statutory body or corporation
wholly or substantiallycontrolled or financed by the Central Government
or commission or any committeeconstituted by that Government, the
offices of the said body, corporation,commission or committee;
- in relation to a Union territory Administration,
any department or office ofthat Administration;
- "records officer" means the officer nominated by
the records creating agencyunder sub-section (1) of section 5.
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| Definitions. | 3. | - The Central Government shall have the power to
coordinate, regulate andsupervise the operations connected with the
administration, management,preservation, selection, disposal and
retirement of public records under thisAct.
- The
Central Government in relation to the public records of the
recordscreating agencies specified in sub-clause (i) and (ii) of clause
(f) of section2 and the Union territory Administration in relation to
the public records ofthe records creating agencies specified in
sub-clause (iii) and (iv) of the saidclause, may, by order, authorise
the Director General or the head of theArchives, as the case may be,
subject to such conditions as may be specified inthe order, to carry
out all or any of the functions, namely:-
- supervision, management and control of Archives;
- acceptance for deposit of public records of
permanent nature after suchperiod as may be prescribed;
- custody, use and withdrawal of public records;
- arrangement, preservation and exhibition of public
records;
- preparation of inventories, indices,
catalogues and other reference media ofpublic records;
- analysing, developing, promoting and coordinating
the standards, proceduresand the techniques for the improvement of
records management system;
- ensuring the
maintenance, arrangement and security of public records in theArchives
and in the offices of the records creating agency;
- promoting utilisation of available space and
maintenance of equipments forpreserving public records;
- tendering advice to records creating agencies on
the compilation,classification and disposal of records and application
of standards, proceduresand techniques of records management;
- survey and inspection of public records;
- organising training programmes in various
disciplines of Archivesadministration and records management;
- accepting records from any private source;
- regulating access to public records;
- receiving records from defunct bodies and making
arrangement for securingpublic records in the event of national
emergency;
- receiving reports on records management
and disposal practices from therecords officer;
- providing authenticated copies of, or extracts
from, public records;
- destroying or disposal of
public records;
- obtaining on lease or purchasing
or accepting as gift any document ofhistorical or national importance.
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| 4. | No person shall take
or cause to be taken out of India any publicrecords without the prior
approval of the Central Government: Provided that nosuch prior approval
shall be required if any public records are taken or sentout of India
for any official purpose.
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| 5. | - Every records
creating agency shall nominate one of its officers as recordsofficer to
discharge the functions under this Act.
- Every
records creating agency may set up such number of record rooms in
suchplaces as it deems fit and shall place each record room under the
charge of arecords officer.
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| 6. | The records officer shall be
responsible for - - proper arrangement,
maintenance and preservation of public records under hischarge;
- periodical review of all public records and
weeding out public records ofephemeral value;
- appraisal of public records which are more than
twenty five years old inconsultation with the National Archives of
India or, as the case may be, theArchives of the Union territory with a
view to retaining public records ofpermanent value;
- destruction of public records in such manner and
subject to such conditionsas may be prescribed under sub-section (1) of
section 8;
- compilation of a schedule of retention
for public records in consultationwith the National Archives of India
or, as the case may be, the Archives of theUnion territory;
- periodical review for downgrading of classified
public records in suchmanner as may be prescribed;
- adoption of such standards, procedures and
techniques as may be recommendedfrom time to time by the National
Archives of India for improvement of recordmanagement system and
maintenance of security of public records;
- compilation of annual indices of public records;
- compilation of organisational history and annual
supplement thereto;
- assisting the National
Archives of India or, as the case may be, theArchives of the Union
territory for public records management;
- submission of annual report to the Director
General or, as the case may be,head of the Archives in such manner as
may be prescribed;
- transferring of records of any
defunct body to the National Archives ofIndia or the Archives of the
Union territory, as the case may be, forpreservation.
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| Responsibilities
of records officers. | 7. | - The records officer shall, in the event of any
unauthorised removal,destruction, defacement or alteration of any
public records under his charge,forthwith take appropriate action for
the recovery or restoratie may deem necessary subject to the
directionsif any given by the Director General or, as the case may be,
head of theArchives.
- on of such publicrecords.
- The records officer shall submit a report in
writing to the Director Generalor as the case may be, the head of the
Archives without any delay on anyinformation about any unauthorised
removal, destruction, defacement oralteration of any public record
under his charge and about the action initiatedby him and shall take
action as h
- The record officer may seek assistance
from any Government officer or anyother person for the purpose of
recovery or restoration of public records andsuch officer or person
shall render all assistance to the records officer.
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| Records officer to take appropriate action
in theevent of unauthorised removal, destruction, etc., of public
records in hiscustody. | 8.
| - Save as otherwise provided in
any law for the time being in force, no publicrecord shall be destroyed
or otherwise disposed of except in such manner andsubject to such
conditions as may be prescribed.
- No record created
before the year 1892 shall be destroyed except where inthe opinion of
the Director General or, as the case may be, the head of theArchives,
it is so defaced or is in such condition that it cannot be put to
anyarchival use.
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| Destruction or disposal of
public records | 9.
| Whoever contravenes
any of the provisions of section 4 or section 8 shall bepunishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or withfine
which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
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| Penalty for
contraventions | 10
| No
public records bearing security classification shall be transferred to
theNational Archives of India or the Archives of the
Unionterritory. |
| Public records bearing
security classification. | 11
| - The National Archives
of India or the Archives of the Union territory mayaccept any record of
historical or national importance from any private sourceby way of
gift, purchase or otherwise.
- The National Archives
of India or as the case may be, the Archives of anyUnion territory may,
in such manner and subject to such conditions as may beprescribed, make
any record referred to in sub-section (1) available to any bonafide
research scholar.
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| Receipt of records from private source
| 12.
| - All unclassified
public records as are more than thirty years old and aretransferred to
the. National Archives of India or the Archives of the Unionterritory
may be, subject to such exceptions and restrictions as may beprescribed
made available to any bona fide research scholar. Explanation. -Forthe
purposes of this sub-section, the period of thirty years shall he
reckonedfrom the year of the opening of the public record.
- Any records creating agency may grant to any
person access to any publicrecord in its custody in such manner and
subject to such conditions as may beprescribed.
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| Access to public records.
| 13.
| - The
Central Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette,constitute an Archival Advisory Board for the purposes of this
Act.
- The Board shall consist of the following
members, namely:-
a.
Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of
CentralGovernment dealing with culture | Chairman ex-officio;
| b. one officer
not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government ofIndia, each
from the Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry
ofDefence, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance and
Ministry ofPersonnel, Public Grievances and Pension | Members
ex-officio | c.two
representatives not below the rank of Joint Secretary in the
Unionterritory Administrations to be nominated by the Central
Government | Members | d.nbsp; three persons to be nominated by the Central
Government for a periodnot exceeding three years, one being an
Archivist and two being Professors inthe Post-graduate Department of
History in any recognised University. | Members | d. &nbdp; Director General | Member- Secretary ex-officio
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- The
members nominated under clause (d) of sub-section (2) shall be paid
suchallowances as may be prescribed.
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| 14
| The Board shall perform the
following functions, namely:- - advise the Central Government
and Union territory Administrations on mattersconcerning the
administration, management, conservation and use of -publicrecords;
- lay down guidelines for training of Archivists;
- give directions for acquisition of records from
private custody;
- deal with such other matters as
may be prescribed.
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| Functions of the Board.
| 15.
| The
Director General shall have the power to lay down norms and standards
forcourses curricula, assessment and examinations relating to the
training inarchival science and other ancillary
subjects. |
| Power of the
Director General to lay down norms and standards for courses inarchival
science. | 16.
| No suit, prosecution
or other legal proceedings shall lie against any personin respect of
anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done inpursuance
of this Act or the rules made
thereunder. |
| Protection
of action taken in good
faith. | 15.
| The
Director General shall have the power to lay down norms and standards
forcourses curricula, assessment and examinations relating to the
training inarchival science and other ancillary
subjects. |
| Power of the
Director General to lay down norms and standards for courses inarchival
science. | 16.
| No suit, prosecution
or other legal proceedings shall lie against any personin respect of
anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done inpursuance
of this Act or the rules made
thereunder. |
| Protection
of action taken in good
faith. | 17.
| - The
Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
makerules to carry out the provisions of this Act.
- In particular and without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoingpower, such rules may provide for all or any
of the following matters, namely:-
- the
period after which public records of permanent nature may be
acceptedunder clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 3;
- the manner in which and the conditions subject to
which public records canbe destroyed under clause (d) of sub-section
(1) of section 6;
- the manner in which periodical
review of classified public records fordowngrading shall be undertaken
under clause (f) of sub-section (1) of section6;
- the manner in which the records officer will
report to the Director Generalor the head of the Archives under clause
(k) of sub-section (1) of section 6;
- the manner in
which and the conditions subject to which public records maybe
destroyed or disposed of under sub-section (1) of section 8;
- the manner in which and the conditions subject to
which records ofhistorical or national importance may be made available
to research scholarunder sub-section (2) of section 11;
- exceptions and restrictions subject to which
public records may be madeavailable to a research scholar under
sub-section (1) of section 12;
- the manner in which
and the conditions subject to which any records creatingagency may
grant to any person access to public records in its custody
undersub-section (2) of section 12;
- the allowances
payable to members of the Board under sub-section (3) ofsection 13;
- the matters with respect to which the Board may
perform its functions underclause (d) of section 14;
- any other matter which is required to be, or may
be, prescribed.
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| Power to
make rules. | 18.
| Every rule made
under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it ismade, before
each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a totalperiod of
thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or
moresuccessive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session
immediatelyfollowing the session or the successive sessions aforesaid,
both Houses agree inmaking any modification in the rule or both Houses
agree that the rule shouldnot be made, the rule shall thereafter have
effect only in such modified form orbe of no effect, as the case may
be, so, however, that any such modification orannulment shall be
without prejudice to the validity of anything previously doneunder that
rule.
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| Laying of
rules before
Parliament. |
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| K. L. MOHANPURIA, Sec. To the Govt. of
India |
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