Section 16: Compulsory acquisition of movable antiquities

16. Compulsory acquisition of movable antiquities.—(1) If the Federal Government is of the opinion that any movable antiquity should, by reason of its cultural, historical or archaeological importance, be acquired for the purpose of preservation, the Federal Government may, by order in writing addressed to the owner, acquire such antiquity: Provided that the power to acquire under this sub-section shall not extend to— (a) any image or symbol in actual use for the purpose of any religious observance ; and (b) anything which the owner desires to retain on any reasonable ground personal to himself or to any of his ancestors or to any member of his family. (2) When an order under sub­section (1) has been served upon the owner, the antiquity to which the order relates shall immediately vest in the Federal Government free from all encumbrances and the owner shall be entitled to compensation, the amount of which shall be determined in the manner, and in accordance with the principles, hereinafter set out, that is to say,— (a) where the amount of compensation can be fixed by agreement, it shall be paid in accordance with such agreement ; (b) where no such agreement can be reached, the Federal Governme nt shall appoint as arbitrator a person who has been, or is qualified for appointment as, a Judge of a High Court; (c) at the commencement of the proceedings before the arbitrator, the Federal Government and the person to be compensated shall state what in their respective opinions is a fair amount of compensation ; (d) the arbitrator in making his award shall have regard to the price which the antiquity is likely to fetch on a sale in open market between a buyer and a seller independent of each other; (e) an appeal shall lie to the High Court against any award of an arbitrator except in case where the amount thereof does not exceed an amount prescribed in this behalf by rules ; and (f) save as provided in this sub-section and in any rules made in this behalf, nothing in any law for the time being in force shall apply to arbitrations under this sub- section. 1Subs. Ibid., s. 2, or “; or”. 2Clause(c) omitted ibid., (w.e.f. 2­8­76).

Effective date: 1975-01-01

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