Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
(1) Upon the seizure of a motor vehicle under sub-section (1) of section 11, the officer, other than the police officer, who seizes the motor vehicle shall issue a notice upon the owner through the driver of the motor vehicle to make payment to the Taxing Officer of the area in which the motor vehicle has been seized, of the dues calculated at the rate specified in clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 10 within fifteen days from the date of issue of the notice. (2) where the driver leaves the motor vehicle, the officer who seizes the motor vehicle shall issue a notice in the prescribed form to the owner of the motor vehicle by registered post with acknowledgement due, calling upon him to pay the dues calculated at the rate specified in clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 10 together with a further penalty equivalent to ten per cent. of the amount so calculated to the Taxing Officer within whose area the vehicle has been seized. 144 The West Bengal Additional Tax and One-time Tax on Motor Vehicles Act, 1989. XIX of 1989.] (Section 12.) (3) Where the officer who seizes the vehicle, is a Police Officer of the area where the vehicle has been seized, the Officer seizing the vehicle shall immediately send a report with all the particulars to the Taxing Officer of the area in which the vehicle has been seized. (4) Upon receipt of the report under sub-section (3), the Taxing Officer shall proceed in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of this section, as the case may be. (5) As soon as a motor vehicle is seized in accordance with the provisions of seciton 11, the authority which seizes the motor vehicle shall issue a seizure list and bring the motor vehicle to the nearest police-station where the officer-in-charge, upon receipt of the report of seizure, shall take the motor vehicle into custody after preparation of an inventory, in triplicate, in the presence of the officer seizing the motor vehicle and the driver or the owner of the motor vehicle, if available, or, in their absence, in the presence of two disinterested persons of the locality as may be available. The officer-in-charge of the police-station, the officer who seized the motor vehicle, and the driver or the owner of the motor vehicle or the witnesses, as the case may be, shall sign the inventory and the officer-in-charge of the police-station shall issue one copy of the inventory to the officer who seized the motor vehicle and one copy to the driver or the owner of the motor vehicle, if available, and shall retain one copy or, in the absence of the driver or the owner of the motor vehicle, two copies and shall issue a receipt in the prescribed form. (6) If the owner fails to make payment of any dues within one mouth of the demand, the motor vehicle shall be liable to be sold in auction by the Taxing Officer or the District Magistrate in whose jurisdiction the vehicle has been seized or the Director, Public Vehicles Department, if the motor vehicle is seized within the jurisdiction of the Calcutta Metropolitant district. (7) If the driver leaves the motor vehicle as soon as it is seized and the owner is not immediately available and his address cannot be ascertained despite enquiry from the registering authority, the notice of demand together with the particulars of the motor vehicle shall be published in at least two newspapers having wide circulation, of which one must be in Bengali, specifying therein the date on which the motor vehicle shall be sold in auction in the event of failure of the owner to make payment of the dues. In such case, the date of auction shall not be earlier than three months from the date on which the seizure is made. 145 The West Bengal Additional Tax and One-time Tax on Motor Vehicles Act, 1989. [West Ben. Act Disposal of commodi- ties. Issue of receipt. Release of motor vehicle. Declaration. Endorse- ment on tax token. (Sections 13-17.) (8) If in any auction under sub-section (2), the price realised falls short of the dues, the balance shall be recoverable from the owner of the motor vehicle, as if it is a public demand under the Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913. If the price obtained at the auction is higher than the dues together with the incidental cost as may be assessed by the officer conducting the auction, the excess shall be payable to the registered owner of the motor vehicle. If the owner is not available on notice, the amount shall remain in deposit for three years from the date on which it is refundable and shall thereafter be forfeited to the State.