HOSPITALS LOTTERIES

(1) A board to be called the Hospitals Lotteries Board, hereinafter referred to as “the board “, shall be established for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The board shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal and may by its name sue and be sued.

(1) The board shall consist of not more than seven members appointed by the Minister two of whom shall be persons nominated for the purpose by the Minister of Finance.

(2) The Minister shall appoint one of the members of the board to be the chairman of the board.

(3) The Minister may, if he thinks it expedient to do so, remove, by Order published in the Gazette, any member of the board from office without reason stated:

Provided, however, that no member of the board who was nominated for appointment as a member by the Minister of Finance shall be removed from office except with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance.

(4) A member of the board in respect of whom an Order under subsection (3) of this section is made by the Minister shall vacate his office on the date of the publication of such Order in the Gazette.

(5) A member of the board who has been removed from office shall not be eligible for reappointment as a member of the board.

(6) A member of the board may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the Minister.

(7) If the chairman or any other member of the board is temporarily unable to discharge the duties of his office on account of ill health or absence from Ceylon or any other cause, the Minister may appoint some other person to act in his place as the chairman or as a member of the board, as the case may be.

(8) Every member of the board shall, unless he earlier vacates office by resignation or removal, hold office for a period of five years. Any member of the board who vacates office by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment.

(9) No act or proceeding of the board shall be invalid by reason only of the existence of any vacancy among its members or any defect in the appointment of any of its members.

(1) The staff necessary for the discharge of the board’s duties under this Act shall be determined by the board with the approval of the Minister of Finance, and every appointment to such staff shall be made by the board.

(2) The officers and servants of the board shall be remunerated in such manner and at such rates, and shall be subject to such conditions of service as may be determined by rules made under section 11. Such remuneration shall be paid out of the fund of the board.

(3) The board may, in accordance with rules made under section 11, establish and maintain a provident fund for the benefit of its officers and servants, make contributions out of its fund to such provident fund, regulate the management and investment thereof, and fix the contributions to be made thereto by, and the payments to be made therefrom to, or in respect of, such officers and servants.

(1) The board may acquire, hold and dispose of any movable or immovable property, and enter into contracts and otherwise do all such acts as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(2) All sums payable by the board under any contract entered into by the board or in respect of any movable or immovable property acquired or held by the board shall be paid out of the fund of the board. All sums received by the board under any such contract or in respect of any such property shall be paid to the fund of the board.

(3) All sums payable by the board for the purpose of defraying any expenditure incurred in the management of the affairs or the transaction of the business of the board, or the exercise of the powers or the performance of the duties of the board under this Act shall be paid out of the fund of the board.

(1) The board shall have its own fund.

(2) There shall be paid to the fund of the board all sums required by this Act to be so paid.

(3) There shall be paid out of the fund of the board all sums required by this Act to be so paid.

(4) All cheques for the payment of moneys out of the fund of the board shall be signed by a member of the board and by any such officer employed by the board as may be authorized in that behalf by the board.

(1) The Minister of Finance may, under the authority of a resolution of the House of Representatives, grant out of the Consolidated Fund to the board, free of interest, a loan not exceeding such sum as may be specified in the resolution for the purpose of enabling the board to meet the initial expenses incurred by the board in the discharge of its duties under this Act.

(2) Any sum granted to the board by way of loan under subsection (1) of this section-

(a) be kept in the prescribed manner,

(b) be audited annually by, or under the direction of, the Auditor-General, and

of, the Auditor-General, and
(c) in respect of each financial year, be laid, together with the report of the Auditor-General thereon, before the Senate and the House of Representatives.

(1) The board may make rules in respect of all
or any of the following matters : –

(2) No rule made under subsection (1) of this section shall have effect until it has been approved by
the Minister.

(3) The Minister shall not, without the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, approve of any rule made by the board for the purposes of subsection (2) or subsection (3) of section 5 or in respect of any matter referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section.

(1) No suit or prosecution shall lie-

(2) Any expense incurred by the board in any suit or prosecution brought by or against the board before any court shall be paid out of the fund of the board, and any costs paid to, or recovered by, the board in any such suit shall be credited to such fund.

(3) Any expense incurred by any such person as is referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) in any suit or prosecution brought against him before any court in respect of any act done or purported to be done by him under this Act or on the direction of the board shall, if the court holds that such act was so done or purported to be done in good faith, be paid out of the fund of the board, unless that expense is recovered by him in such suit or prosecution.

(1) The board shall conduct lotteries for the purposes of this Act. Every such lottery is in this Act referred to as a ” hospitals lottery “.

(2) There shall be such number of hospitals lotteries in each year as may be prescribed. Every hospitals lottery shall be conducted by the board in accordance with the provisions of this Act and of any regulations made thereunder.

(1) The number of the prizes to be awarded in each hospitals lottery and the value of each of such prizes shall be as prescribed.

(2) Every prize awarded in a hospitals lottery shall consist of a sum of money.

(3) The prize winners in every hospitals lottery shall be determined by the drawing of lots in public in the prescribed manner.

(4) After the expiration of a period of six months reckoned from the date of the drawing of lots for the prizes in any hospitals lottery, any prize in such lottery which has not been granted to the person entitled thereto by reason of the fact that such person is not to be found shall be forfeited and paid to the fund of the board:

Provided, however, that where any action or proceeding arising out of any claim made in respect of such prize is pending before any court at the expiration of the period aforesaid, such forfeiture shall not be made, and if in the final determination of that action or proceeding any person is declared to be entitled to such prize, the board shall grant such prize to that person, and if no person is so declared, such prize shall be forfeited and paid to the fund of the board.

(1) The proceeds of every hospitals lottery shall be paid to the fund of the board.

(2) The board shall pay to the Hospitals Fund established under this Act the balance of the proceeds of every hospitals lottery after the deduction from such proceeds of an amount approved by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance as the amount necessary for the purpose of-

(1) The Minister may make regulations in respect of matters stated or authorized by this Act to be prescribed and of other matters relating to hospitals lotteries.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1) of this section, regulations made under this section may make provision in respect of all or any of the following matters:-

(3) No regulation made by the Minister under this section shall have effect until it has been approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives and published in the Gazette.

(1) A fund to be called the Hospitals Fund shall be established and maintained at the General Treasury.

(2) The Hospitals Fund shall consist of the sums of money required by subsection (2) of section 16 to be paid to that fund.

(1) The Deputy Secretary to the Treasury shall administer the Hospitals Fund.

(2) The accounts of the Hospitals Fund shall be audited annually by, or under the direction of, the Auditor-General, and shall, in respect of each financial year, be laid, together with the report of the Auditor-General thereon, before the Senate and the House of Representatives.

(1) Every person who-

(2) All sums paid or recovered as fines imposed for offences under this section shall be paid to the fund of the board.