40.
| (1) There shall be for the purposes of this Act a Board of Review consisting of not more than seven persons appointed by the Minister. Such persons shall be persons who hold or have held judicial office or are advocates or proctors. The Minister shall nominate one of the members so appointed to be the Chairman of the Board of Review and may nominate another member of the Board of Review to be the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Review who shall in the absence of the Chairman perform the functions and exercise the powers vested in the Chairman under this Act. |
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| (2) Every member of the Board of Review shall, unless he earlier vacates the office by resignation or revocation of appointment, hold office for a period of two years commencing on the date of his appointment. Any member vacating office by effluxion of time shall be eligible for reappointment. |
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| (3) There may be appointed, by name or by office, a secretary to the Board of Review. |
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| (4) Any person who is aggrieved by any order made by any Rent Board under this Act may, before the expiry of a period of twenty-one days after the date of the receipt by him of a copy of the order, appeal against the order to the Board of Review : |
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| (5)
| | (a) Every appeal to the Board of Review shall be heard at a meeting of not less than three members of that Board selected by the secretary to the Board by the drawing of lots. The decision made on such appeal at such meeting shall be deemed to be the decision of the Board of Review on such appeal. | | |
| | (b) The members of the Board hearing any appeal may request the secretary to summon a meeting of the whole Board. The quorum for such a meeting shall be five. | | |
| | (c) Where the decision of the members of the Board of Review who hear any appeal is not unanimous, the decision of the majority of them shall be deemed to be the decision of that Board. | | |
| | (d) The Chairman of the Board of Review, if he is one of the members of the Board hearing any appeal to that Board, or, if he is not one of them, one of those members chosen by the members present shall preside at a meeting of those members. | | |
| | (e) The powers conferred on the Board of Review by the succeeding provisions of this section may be exercised by the members of that Board who hear any appeal to that Board. | | |
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| (6) At the hearing of any appeal by the Board of Review, the appellant and the respondent shall each be entitled to be heard in person or by an advocate or by a proctor, but, save with the express consent of the Board, shall not be entitled to adduce any evidence whether oral or documentary. |
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| (7) In any case where the Board of Review thinks lit so to do, whether of its own motion or on the application of any party to an appeal, the Board may examine any witness on oath, and may summon any person to appear before it, and may require any person to produce any document which it considers relevant, including any document of title. |
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| (8) All documents, notices and summonses issued under the hand either of the Chairman of the Board of Review or of the Secretary to the Board shall be deemed to be issued by the Board. |
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| (9) The proceedings of the Board of Review shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning and for the purposes of Chapter XI of the Penal Code, and the members of the Board shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of that Code. |
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| (10) The Board of Review may in disposing of any appeal under this section award Costs against any party. The provisions of sub-section (6) of section 39 shall apply mutatis mutandis where any costs are awarded under this sub-section. |
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| (11) The decision of the Board of Review on any appeal under this section shall be reduced to writing and signed by the members of the Board who heard the appeal. They shall set out the reasons for the decision. Such decision shall be final and conclusive and-
| | (a) shall, in so far as it annuls or varies the order of the Rent Board against which the appeal was preferred, be substituted for and take the place of that order for the purposes of this Act; and | | |
| | (b) shall be binding on and followed by every Rent Board. | | |
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| (12) Regulations may be made-
| | (a) prescribing the fees to be paid by persons preferring appeals to the Board of Review and the time and mode of the payment of such fees; | | |
| | (b) prescribing the form and the manner in which such appeals shall be preferred; | | |
| | (c) requiring the record of the proceedings before the Rent Board to be transmitted to the Board of Review in the event of any appeal; and | | |
| | (d) providing generally (but without prejudice to the provisions of sub-sections (5) to (11)) for the hearing and disposal of appeals and for the procedure to be followed at any such hearing. | | |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts