Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com ANDHRA PRADESH MINOR FOREST PRODUCE (REGULATION OF TRADE IN ABNUS LEAVES) RULES, 1970 CONTENTS 1. Short title 2. Definitions 3. Appointment of agent 4. Transport Permits 4A. . 4B. Issue of transport permits and penalty for violation 4C. Import from outside 5. Manner of transacting the business of the committee 6. Manner of publication of price lists under Section 7 7. Procedure for holding enquiry of appeals under Section 9 7A. Officers Competent to give directions to agent 8. Registration of Growers 9. Registration of manufacturers of beedies and exporters of abnus leaves 10. . 11. . ANDHRA PRADESH MINOR FOREST PRODUCE (REGULATION OF TRADE IN ABNUS LEAVES) RULES, 1970 In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 19 of the A.P. Minor Forest Produce (Regulation of Trade) Ordinance, 1970 (Andhra Pradesh Ordinance 5 of 1970), the Government of Andhra Pradesh hereby makes the following rules, the same having been previously published at pages 1 to 28 of the Rules Supplement to Part II of the Extraordinary issue of the A.P. Gazette dated 23rd November, 1970, as required by sub section (1) of Section 19 of the Said Ordinance. 1. Short title :- These rules may be called the Andhra Pradesh Minor Forest Produce (Regulation of Trade in Abnus Leaves) Rules, 1970, 2. Definitions :- In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Chairman" means the Chairman of Committee appointed as such under Rule 5: (2) "Conservator concerned" means the Conservator of Forests who is the immediate superior of the Divisional Forest Officer; (3) "Conservator of Forests, State Trading Circle" means the Conservator of Forests posted as such by the Government. (4) "Convenor" means the Convenor of the Committee appointed as such under Rule 5; (4A). "deport" means a place where abnus leaves are purchased by or delivered to the Government or agent of authorised Officer or where the raw abnus leaves are cured; (5) "Divisional Forest Officer" means the Divisional Forest Officer having territorial jurisdiction over the unit concerned; (6) "Exporter" means any person who exports abnus leaves for sale or for manufacture of beedies at any place outside the State, by himself or through others on his behalf; (7) Form , means a Form appended to these rules; (7-A) "godown" means a place where cured abnus leaves are stored. (8) "Manufacturer of beedies" means any person who manufactures or causes to be manufactured beedies in the State using abnus leaves for the purpose of trade therein; (9) "Ordinance" means the Andhra Pradesh Minor Forest Produce (Regulation of Trade) Ordinance, 1970 (Andhra Pradesh Ordinance 5 of 1970); (10) "Purchaser" means any person to whom abnus leaves have been sold or otherwise disposed of by the Government; (11) "Section" means a section of the Ordinance; (12) "Standard bag" means a quantity of one thousand standard bundles, whether bagged or not; (13) "Standard bundle" means a bundle (or a katta) containing * [fifty] abnus leaves; (14) "Trade bag" means a bag used by the purchaser for packing and transporting abnus leaves displaying conspicuously the number of standard bundles contained therein; (15) "transport permit" means a permit for the transport of abnus leaves issued under clause (b) of sub section (2) of Section 5. 3. Appointment of agent :- (1) The Government shall, for the purpose of enabling them to appoint person as an agent in any unit or units under sub section (1) of Section 4, publish a notice in Andhra Pradesh Gazette [x x x] specifying the terms and conditions of appointment of agents and inviting applications therefor. Copies of the said notice shall also be affixed on the notice boards at the Offices of all the Divisional Forest Officers in the specified area for information of the public and the particulars as to the date, page of the Andhra Pradesh Gazette in which the notice is published shall be published in an English daily (Newspaper) and in atleast one daily in each of the local languages, namely Telugu and Urdu as may be specified by the Government. (2) A separate application for appointment of an agent for each unit shall be made in Form A"; (3) A fee of Rs. 10 shall be paid either in cash or through a treasury challan to the Divisional Forest Officer in respect of each application for appointment of an agent and the fee so paid is not refundable. (4) (a) Every such application shall be accompained by a Treasury Challan or receipt showing a cash deposit by the applicant of rupees five hundred, made under the head of account, "Revenue Deposits" in favour of the Divisional Forest Officer or by a demand draft for the same sum on State Bank of India, State Bank of Hyderabad or any Scheduled Bank, in favour of the Divisional Forest Officer, as earnest money. (b) In addition to the amount of earnest money referred to in clause (a) the applicant shall by way of additional earnest money either deposit in cash an additional sum of rupees five hundred or furnish a surety bond of an independent surety holding a solvency certificate for rupees five hundred which has been issued not earlier than six months in form. The solvency certificate issued by a competent authority in any State other than the State of Andhra Pradesh may however be in the form approved by the Government of that other State. The surety bond shall be in form 1. (5) No person shall be allowed to apply on behalf of another person unless he holds a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by the Registrar or Sub Registrar within whose district or sub district, a principal resides from such other person empowering to act on his behalf. A copy of such power of attorney shall accompany the application and the original thereof shall be produced before the Divisional Forest Officer on demand by him. (6) The application for appointment of an agent duly completed in all respects shall be submitted to the Government before such date and in such manner as may be specified in the notice published under sub rule (1). (7) No applicant shall withdraw his application, except with the permission of the Government. If any applicant withdraws his application without such permission the earnest money deposited by him under clause (a) of sub rule (4) and the amount of additional earnest money, if any, deposited in cash under clause (b) of sub rule (4) shall be forfeited and the bond if furnished under that clause shall be enforced. (8) (a) The Government may accept the application or reject it without assigning any reasons therefor. The earnest money shall be refunded to the applicant whose application is rejected and the surety bond, if any, shall stand cancelled. The amount deposited under sub rule (4) by the applicant on his appointment as an agent shall, subject to the provisions of sub rule (10), be adjusted against the security deposit required to be deposited under sub rule (11). (b) The order of appointment as an agent or any other communication addressed to the agent shall either be delivered to him in person or be forwarded to him by registered post to the address furnished by the agent in item 3 of his application for appointment as an agent and it shall be the responsibility of the agent to make his own arrangements to receive all communications sent to the said address. (9) Where, in the opinion of the Government, it is not possible to select a suitable agent for any unit from amongst the applicants for appointment as agent, or where an appointment of an agent is terminated and it is considered necessary to make a fresh appointment immediately in the interest of the trade in abnus leaves or where there are no applications for appointment of an agent for any unit, the Government may appoint any person as agent who, in their opinion, is suitable for such appointment. (10) (a) Every person on his appointment as an agent shall execute an agreement in Form 2 within 15 days from the date of desptach of the order by registered post. Where any such person fails to so execute the agreement, his appointment shall be liable for cancellation without any further notice and on such cancellation: (i) the earnest money and the additional earnest money deposited by him under sub rule (4) shall be forfeited, and the bond, if any furnished under clause (b) of that sub rule shall be enforced; and (ii) He shall pay the loss, if any, incurred by the Government, as a result of the cancellation of the appointment. The loss shall be calculated according to the formula L=D x R where:- 'L' is loss to the Government; 'D' is the difference between the number of standard bags which have been specified in the notice published under sub rule (1) for the units and the numbers of standard bags which may be subsequently collected and delivered from the unit, and 'R' is a royalty per standard bag which shall be the rate per standard bag at which the abnus leaves of the unit are sold or otherwise disposed of minus cost of collection, handling and pruning charges and remuneration fixed for the unit in the notice issued under sub rule (1). (b) For any breach of the terms and conditions of the agreement detailed in the notice published under sub rule (1) on the part of the agent, the Government shall be at liberty to terminate the agreement or to levy penalty and assess the damages specified in the agreement without issuing any further notice to the agent. On the termination of the agreement, the Government shall be entitled (a) to forfeit the security deposit in full (b) to deem the collection and or purchase of abnus leaves to have been stopped by the agent on the date of termination of the agreement and to recover the damages for short collection as fixed under the agreement; (c) to recover the cost of collection and purchase of abnus leaves rejected by the Government as unsuitable for beedi making; (d) to recover the compensation fixed by the competent authority to be paid to the aggrieved person or persons because of the improper rejection of abnus leaves by the agent; and (e) to recover penalties imposed and damages assessed earlier but not paid by the agent by the date of termination of the agreement". (11) (a) Every agent appointed under this rule for any unit or units shall before executing the agreement, deposit as security for the proper execution and performance of the agency, a sum to be calculated according to the following formula:- BR .S--------------------- 20 Where: (i) 'S' is the security deposit; (ii) 'B' is the number of standard bags of abnus leaves mentioned against the unit in the notice issued under sub rule (1) of Rule 4: (iii) 'R' is the royalty per standard bag which shall be the rate at which the abnus leaves of the unit are sold or otherwise disposed of minus cost of collection, handling and pruning charges, and remuneration fixed for the unit in the notice issued under sub rule (1) of Rule 4]. (b) In the event of the agent not being able to deposit the amount of such security, any other person may be allowed to deposit the amount on his behalf subject however, to the condition that the amount so deposited shall, for the purposes of these rules and the agreement, be subject to the same terms and conditions as if such amount had been deposited by the agent himself. (c) The security deposit shall be either in the form of a treasury challan for the amount credited in the Government treasury under the head "Revenue Deposit" or in the form of a bank draft or post office savings bank account pledged in the name of the Divisional Forest Officer or in the form of a bank guarantee bond in Form 3 issued by any Scheduled Bank in favour of Divisional Forest Officer. (d) (i) All amounts payable by the agent under the agreement detailed in the notice published under sub rule (1) shall be paid by the agent within fifteen days from the date of despatch of the order by registered post. (ii) If the agent fails to pay the amount, the same shall be recovered from the security deposit and such recovery shall be made good by the agent depositing equivalent amount within fifteen days of the despatch of the notice by registered post regarding such adjustment from the security deposit. (e) If the dues to be recovered from any agent exceeds the amount of the security deposit, then unless the amount in excess is made good within the period referred to in clause (d) the same shall be recovered in the manner provided for in the agreement. (f) The security deposit or the balance, as the case may be, shall be refunded to the agent or to the person who has been allowed to deposit it under clause (b) on behalf of the agent, after the Divisional Forest Officer is satisfied that the agent has satisfactorily performed his duties and obligation in accordance with the terms and conditions of his agreement and the provisions of these rules, and that no amount whatsoever is due from him. (g) In addition to security deposit mentioned in clause (a) of this sub rule, the agent shall before the date of the execution of the agreement furnish a certificate of personal solvency or a surety bond of an independent surety holding such certificate, equal to twice the cash security provided for by said clause (a). (12) (a) Unless otherwise directed by the Government, the agent shall purchase abnus leaves from persons mentioned in item (b) of sub clause (ii) of sub section (4) of Section 2 and collect abnus leaves from Government lands at the depot or depots set up in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement entered into by the agent under these rules. The Government may, from time to time, give him appropriate directions in this behalf, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Ordinance, these rules and the said agreement. (b) The agent shall also, if so required do pruning of the abnus plants within the unit only in accordance with the instructions issued to him by the Divisional Forest Officer concerned in this behalf. (c) The agent shall not slacken or stop the work of purchase and collection in any of the depots within the unit except under in accordance with the prior orders in writing of the Divisional Forest Officer or an officer authorised by him in this behalf. (13) Subject to any orders of the Divisional Forest Officers in writing directing the agent to withhold the delivery to the purchaser or to deliver to any other person, any specified quantity of abnus leaves from specified depots the agent shall deliver immediately and in the manner directed by the Divisional Forest Officer abnus leaves purchased or collected by him to the purchaser: Provided that no such delivery shall be made unless the agent has ensured that necessary payment had been made for the abnus leaves to be so delivered. (14) The agent shall maintain such accounts and submit such returns as may be directed by the Government. Such accounts shall be submitted to the Divisional Forest Officer or to any other officer authorised by him in this behalf for check or inspection and certification. (15) Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall be construed to confer on the agent the exclusive right to purchase and collect abnus leaves in the unit for which he is appointed as an agent and the Government shall have the right to purchase and collect abnus leaves in the unit through any authorised officer. (16) The agent may, if he so desires, employ any person or persons to help him to carry out his duties provided that prior approval of the Divisional Forest Officer is obtained for such employment, after furnishing the specimen signatures of the persons to be so employed and the agent shall be responsible for the omissions and commissions of all the persons so employed. 4. Transport Permits :- (1) Every person desiring to transport abnus leaves whether for use within the State or for sale outside the State shall make an application in Form C to the Divisional Forest Officer or any Officer authorised by him in that behalf (hereinafter referred to as "the permit officer".) (2) On receipt of an application under sub rule (1) the permit officer may make such enquiries as he may deem necessary and if he is satisfied that there is no objection to grant the permit applied for, he may issue to the applicant any one or more of the following permits namely: (a) for transport of abnus leaves from any depot set up in any unit under Section 8 to a storage godown of the manufacturer or exporter within or outside the unit. (i) a permit in form T.P.I (Main) if the quantity is to be transported in only one consignment, or (ii) a permit in Form T.P.I. (Main) and permit or permits in Form T.P.I. (Subsidiary) if the quantity permitted under Form T.P.I. (Main) is to be transported in more than one consignment; and it shall be incumbent on the applicant to render account of Form T.P.I. (Subsidiary) permits granted to him with reference to Form T.P.I. (Main) permit issued by the permit officer. (b) for transport of abnus leaves from one storage godown to another storage godown a permit or permits in Form T.P.II. (c) for transport of abnus leaves from storage godown either to main distribution centre or for export, a permit in T.P. III. Provided that, if the permit officer has reason to believe that the abnus leaves, in respect of which the application for transport permit has been made, have not been purchased from the Government or the authorised officer or agent, he may, after giving the applicant an opportunity of making his representation, reject such application by an order in writing after recording his reasons therefor. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub rule (2), the Divisional Forest Officer may authorise any person, not being a forest officer, to issue permits in Form T.P.I. (Subsidiary) and T.P.II and may for good and sufficient reasons cancel such authorisation to issue the permits. (4) All transport permits of abnus leaves shall be subject to the following conditions, namely: (a) Each consignment of abnus leaves during movement by any mode of transport, that is to say, by road, water, air or rail, shall be accompanied by an appropriate permit; (b) The abnus leaves shall be transported only by the route specified in the permit. [ x x x ] (c) The permit shall be for such quanity and for such period as may be specified therein; (d) Any forest officer not below the rank of a Range Officer, having jurisdiction over the place, may in case of grave emergency, such as breakdown of a vehicle carrying abnus leaves, extend the period of validity of the permit for a period not exceeding two days by an endorsement on the permit under his signature with date, designation and the headquarters clearly indicated thereon and intimate the fact forthwith to the permit officer concerned. (e) The permit shall be considered invalid if there is any doubt as to its genuineness by reason of containing any erasure, over writing, alteration, or omission of filling any columns thereof. (f) The permit shall be liable to be cancelled by the Divisional Forest Officer if he has reason to believe that it has been misused or is likely to be misused. (g) All permits, after transporting abnus leaves or after the expiry of the period mentioned therein, whichever is earlier, shall be returned within a fortnight therefrom to the Divisional Forest Officer that issued the permits or concerned Range Officer. (h) (i) Whenever any forest officer or any officer of the Police Department not below the rank of a Sub Inspector or any officer of the Revenue Department not below the rank of Dy. Tahsildar requires any boat, vehicle or receptacle used or intended to be used for transport of abnus leaves, to stop the driver of the boat or vehicle for the carrier of the receptacle shall stop the same and take the vehicle, boat or receptacle so stopped to the nearest office of the Forest Department or to the police station or the Village Officer or the magistrate having jurisdiction, as the officer stopping the vehicle may direct, for search; and where the driver or the carrier refuses to do so, the said officer may cause removal of the boat, vehicle or receptacle to any such place by appropriate means; (ii) No person shall take any abnus leaves on any route or river past any check post or barrier without producing the abnus leaves for check at the check post or barrier, as the case may be: (iii) The Officer in charge of the check post or barrier shall, after satisfying himself that the abnus leaves so transported is covered by a valid permit in Form T.P. (Main) T.P.I. (Subsidiary) or T.P.II. ; or T.P.III T.P.IV. indicate the fact of checking and time of checking before allowing the boat, vehicle or receptacle to proceed further. (5) The provisions of sub rules (iii) to (ix) of Rule 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis in respect of issue of permits in Forms T.P.I. (Subsidiary) and T.P.II and the voilation or irregularities committed in relation to those permits. 4A. . :- (i) Any manufacturer or exporter may sell the cured abnus leaves to the Government in the Division in which he is registered as a manufacturer or exporter, at a rate that may be agreed to between himself and the Government. (ii) In all such cases, the Divisional Forest Officer concerned shall fix the rate and purchase abnus leaves; Provided that there is a manufacturer or exporter ready to purchase the stock of abnus leaves so purchased by the Government at a rate which is more than the rate paid by the Government by one rupee per eighty kilograms. 4B. Issue of transport permits and penalty for violation :- (i) To cover the transit of abnus leaves from the main distribution centre to any branch thereof or a subsidiary distribution centre in stages, permits in Form T.P. IV shall be issued separately for each stage. (ii) Permits or permit books of T.P.IV shall be issued by the Divisional Forest Officer in whose jurisdiction the manufacturer has registered himself as such. (iii) All communications addressed to the manufacturer shall be sent by registered post to the address, furnished by him in the application for registration as manufacturer or shall be served on the person of the manufacturer after obtaining his acknowledgment. It shall be incumbent on the part of the manufacturer to promptly receive all such communications. (iv) The permits may also be issued by the manufacturer or his authorised agent who has been approved by the Divisional Forest Officer and whose specimen signature is kept in the records of the Divisional Forest Officer who shall have the power to withdraw such approval for good and sufficient reasons. (v) The manufacturer shall account for the permits given to him by the Divisional Forest Officer to be issued by him or his agent. Each month, the manufacturer shall submit a return to the Divisional Forest Officer, indicating the permits issued by him at various centres and enclosing the duplicates of the same for record in the Divisional Forest Office. The monthly return should reach the Divisional Forest Officer before the close of the first week of the succeeding month. (vi) If any irregularities are noticed, it shall be open to the Divisional Forest Officer to call for the explanation of the manufacturer and, if the explanation is not received within fifteen days from the date of despatch of notice by Registered post or if the Divisional Forest Officer is not satisfied with the explanation offered, then he shall be competent to impose a penalty upto Rs. 200 for each irregularity in the issue of permits, in addition to recovering the cost of the abnus leaves involved at the prevailing market rate. The manufacturer shall pay the penalty within 7 days from the date of issue of the order by the Divisional Forest Officer. (vii) Penalty imposed by the Divisional Forest Officer upto Rs. 100 shall be final. For penalties above Rs. 100 an appeal shall lie to the Conservator of Forests concerned whose decision shall be final. The appeal shall be preferred within 15 days from the date of despatch of order by registered post. (viii) For proper compliance of the rules, the manufacturer shall deposit a sum of Rs. 500 by way of security deposit. (ix) All cases irregularities booked by the Divisional Forest Officer in whose jurisdiction the permits are actually utilised shall be reported by him to the Divisional Forest Officer in whose jurisdiction the manufacturer has registered and notwithstanding any rules or provisions contained in this regard in the Andhra Pradesh Forest Produce Transit Rules. 1970 and in the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act, 1967, the concerned Divisional Forest Officer shall be competent to compound all such cases. In all such cases the investigation shall be completed by the Divisional Forest Officer and the file shall be transferred to the Divisional Forest Officer concerned for compounding and final disposal. 4C. Import from outside :- (i) No person shall bring or cause to bring abnus leaves from outside the State into the State of Andhra Pradesh, unless the consignment is accompanied by a permit issued by the competent authority of the State from which the leaves are to be brought into the State. Provided that such permit is signed by an authorised person whose specimen signature has been registered in the office of the Divisional Forest Officer into whose jurisdiction, the abnus leaves are sought to be brought from the State. (ii) It shall be open to the Divisional Forest Officer to refuse to register any specimen signature for reasons to be recorded in writing. (iii) Any person aggrieved by such refusal may prefer an appeal to the concerned Conservator of Forests within 15 days from the date of despatch of such order by registered post. (iv) On being brought from outside the State of Andhra Pradesh the rules that apply to the abnus leaves grown in the State shall also apply to the abnus leaves brought from outside the State. 5. Manner of transacting the business of the committee :- (1) The Government may while notifying under Section 6, the names of the members of each Advisory Committee, appoint one member as the Chairman and another as the Convenor of the Committee. (2) Every meeting of the committee shall be presided over by the Chairman, and in his absence, by the Convenor. If both the Chairman and the Convenor are absent, the members present shall elect one of the members to preside thereat. (3) The Chairman of the committee shall fix the date, time and place of the meeting. Notice of the meeting of not less than seven days in case of ordinary meeting and not less then three days in case of an emergent meeting, shall be given to all the members of the committee. (4) Four members of the Committee shall constitute the quorum. (5) The proceedings of the meeting shall be drawn up immediately after the close of the meeting, and shall be authenticated by the signatures of the members present at such meeting. (6) The Committee advice shall conveyed to Government through the proceedings of the meetings which shall be sent so as to reach the Secretary to the Government incharge of the Forest Department before the expiry of the period specified by the Government under sub section (5) of Section 6, or within the further period extended by the Government under proviso to Section 7. The request for extension of period on behalf of the committee shall be made well in advance by the Convenor. (7) (a) The non official members of the committee shall be entitled to draw travelling and daily allowance as admissible to a Grade I Officer of the Government. (b) The travelling allowance bills shall be presented to the Convenor who shall after scrutiny thereof countersign the bills, and disburse the allowances. 6. Manner of publication of price lists under Section 7 :- The price fixed in respect of abnus leaves under Section 7 shall be published also in such daily newspapers having circulation in the locality as the Government may consider appropriate. 7. Procedure for holding enquiry of appeals under Section 9 :- (1) On receipt of an appeal against the orders of refusal to purchase the abnus leaves by the authorised officer or agent under sub section (1) of Section 9, the officer holding the inquiry shall, as soon as possible, intimate the appellant the place, date and time fixed for holding such inquiry. (2) On the date fixed or any subsequent date to which the inquiry may be adjourned, the inquiry officer shall, after hearing the appellant or his duly authorised representative who may appear before the inquiry officer and making such further inquiry as he may deem necessary, pass such orders, in terms of sub section (3) of Section 9 as he may consider fit. (3) If the appellant does not appear either personally or through his duly authorised representative, the inquiry officer shall take decision exparte after making such inquiry as he may deem necessary. Provided that, if the inquiry officer is satisfied that the non appearance of the appellant was on sufficient cause, he may, after such further inquiry, as he may deem fit, pass suitable order in supersession of the exparte orders. (4) Any compensation ordered to be paid as a result of the enquiry or any collection charges so ordered to be paid, under sub section (3) or sub section (4) of Section 9, shall be paid to the person concerned within one month from the date of despatch of orders by registered post. 7A. Officers Competent to give directions to agent :- The Divisional Forest Officer, the Sub Divisional Forest Officer, and the Assistant Conservator of Forests having jurisdiction over the unit only shall issue directions to the agent regarding the number and the place at which the depots are to be set up. 8. Registration of Growers :- (1) Every grower of abnus leaves shall, if the quanity of leaves grown by him in a season is likely to exceed one standard bag, get himself registered under Section 10. (2) An application for registration as a grower shall be in Form and be presented to the Range Officer within whose jurisdiction, the grower land is situate by 31st December preceding the season and the application received thereafter shall not be considered for that season. Separate applications shall be made for each village and by each pattadar. The Range Officer, shall after due verification forward the application to the Divisional Forest Officer Sub Divisional Forest Officer or Assistant Conservator of Forests, who after making such enquiry as he may deem necessary may grant a certificate in Form E or reject the application after recording the reasons therefor by 1st March preceding the season. An appeal against the order of rejection of the Divisional Forest Officer or Sub Divisional Forest Officer or Assistant Conservator of Forests may be preferred within fifteen days from the date of despatch of the order by registered post, to the Conservator of Forests concerned whose decision thereon shall be final. (3) The certificate of registration shall be valid for three years from the date of issue or till such time as it is cancelled by the Divisional Forest Officer or Sub Divisional Forest Officer or Assistant Conservator of Forests for reasons to be recorded by him in writing, or till the time the applicant is in possession of the land in respect of which the certificate of registration has been obtained, whichever is earlier. (4) If the certificate is lost,destroyed or multilated, a certified copy thereof may be obtained from the Divisional Forest Officer on payment of rupee one. (4A). Raw leaves made into standard bundles shall be offered for sale on the same day on which they are collected from the abnus plants. (5) Every grower shall produce the certificate of registration before the authorised officer or agent purchasing the abnus leaves whenever he offers abnus leaves for sale under sub section (3) of Section 5 and it shall be incumbent upon the authorised officer or the agent purchasing the abnus leaves to make an entry on the back of the certificate showing the date of purchase, the quantity purchased and the amount paid. (6) [x x x] Every grower of abnus leaves holding a certificate of registration shall furnish, not later than the 15th day of July each year, information as to the total quantity of abnus leaves in standard bags collected by him and their disposal during the plucking season ending on the 30th day of June, in such manner as the Government may direct. In the event of failure to submit the said information on or before the aforesaid date, the certificate of registration shall stand cancelled in addition to being liable to the penalty provided for under the Act. (7) If any grower wishes to cure the abnus leaves grown and collected by him so as to make use of them for himself he shall intimate his intention to do so to the Divisional Forest Officer before 31st December, preceding the season of collection. He shall also furnish every day immediately after the close of the day collection, the particulars, as to the day collection in standard bundles to the Divisional Forest Officer. 9. Registration of manufacturers of beedies and exporters of abnus leaves :- (1) Every manufacturer of beedies and every exporter of abnus leaves shall get himself registered under Section 11 forest starting the manufacture or export, as the case may be, in the manner hereinafter provided on payment of a registration fee of fifty rupees. (2) An application for registration [x x x x] shall be in Form F and be presented to the Divisional Forest Officer within whose jurisdiction the manufacturer of beedies or the exporter of abnus leaves resides or the principal place of his business is situated. If the applicant resides outside the state, he may submit his application to any Divisional Forest Officer within the State. The application shall specify the calendar year for which registration is required, and shall be accompained by evidence of payment of the registration fee. The Divisional Forest officer may, after making such enquiry as he deems necessary, grant a certificate of registration in Form G or reject the application, after recording the reasons therefor. An appeal against the orders of rejection of the Divisional Forest Officer shall lie to the Conservator concerned, within one month from the date of despatch by registered post of the order rejecting the application. (3) The registration shall be valid for the calendar year for which the certificate of registration is issued. (4) Every registered manufacturer of beedies or exporter of abnus leaves shall keep the stock of abnus leaves in the godown notified to the Divisional Forest Officer before hand. He shall maintain accounts of abnus leaves in Form H for each godown. He shall submit to the Divisional Forest Officer the half yearly returns of stocks of abnus leaves in Form I as on 31st March and the 30th September not later than one month from those dates; (5) If a certificate is lost, destroyed or mutilated, a certified copy thereof may be obtained from the Divisional Forest Officer on payment of rupees five for each copy thereof. (6) (a) Where any manufacturer of beedies or exporter of abnus leaves has committed any breach of these rules, or has been prosecuted under Section 15 and found guilty, the certificate of registration granted to him shall be liable to be cancelled by the Divisional Forest Officer. Provided that, before the certificate of registration is cancelled on the ground of breach of any rule, the manufacturer or exporter concerned shall be given an opportunity of making his representation. (b) An appeal from the order of cancellation of certificate of registration issued by the Divisional Forest Officer shall lie to the Conservator of Forests concerned within three months from the date of despatch of such order by registered post to the manufacturer or exporter concerned: 10. . :- x x x x x ] 11. . :- The Andhra Pradesh Forest Offences (Compounding and Prosecution) Rules, 1969 shall, as far as may be, apply to the compounding of, and prosecution for, the offences under the Act.