Forest Deposits

171. The following transactions of the department may be treated as forest deposits:

(i) Amounts deducted from the pay of subordinates on account of security deposits under the rules in Appendix I, which for any reason it may not be possible to pay into the post office savings bank for credit to the deposit account of the subordinate; these should be adjusted as soon as possible and not later than one month.

(ii) Fees received in advance with applications for shooting permits; these should be re-adjusted as soon as the person for whom a permit in respect of the particular shooting area should be issued has been selected, the amount deposited by the successful party being credited to the appropriate revenue head by debit to "Forest deposits" and other amounts refunded in cash as "Forest deposits".

(iii) Sums due to a contractor on the settlement of his accounts for a departmental work which he may refuse to accept, or delay in taking, after the final bill has been passed; such items should be settled with all expedition and a report submitted to the Principal Auditor once a quarter explaining why any case could not be settled.

(iv) Amounts of advances received by the Divisional Forest Officers from the Military Department in connection with the supplies of timber, etc., to the Defence Department.

"NOTE—For account rules regarding the execution of words by the Forest Department on behalf of local bodies, see Appendix V."

172. The amounts treated as forest deposits under paragraph 171 should, if realized in cash, be added to the cash balance of the forest officer concerned and used for current expenses as if they were drawn on cheques from the treasury. They should be classified in the cash-book as "Forest deposits—receipts." Amounts treated as deposits under clause (iii) of paragraph 171 should be adjusted in the cash-book by debit to the head of expenditure on account of the work concerned and credit to "Forest deposits—Receipts." When repayments have to be made the amount should, if necessary, be drawn on cheques from the treasury and debited in the cash-book to "Forest deposits—payments."

173. Rules regarding the maintenance of the register of deposits will be found in paragraphs 198 and 199.

174. The amounts of deposits which lapse to Government under paragraph 351 of Volume V of the Handbook are adjusted by the Principal Auditor by credit to forest revenue under "X—Forests—Miscellaneous—Other sources." The Principal Auditor will communicate to the divisional officer the items so credited, and the latter will then make necessary entries in his cash-book for March and in the deposit register, (see paragraph 198), against the items concerned.

175. Deposits which lapse to Government should not be repaid without pre-audit by the Principal Auditor. Claims for such deposits should be prepared on form no. 18(E. 21) with full details of the month and year of original credit and of adjustment as forest revenue. The bill should be submitted for pre-audit to the Principal Auditor, who will authorize payment on ascertaining (i) that the item was really received; (ii) that it was credited to the Forest Revenue as lapsed; and (iii) that the claimant’s identity and title to the money are certified by the divisional officer. The amount will then be paid by the divisional officer in the ordinary way and charged in the cash-book as a refund of revenue and not debited to deposits, but the repayment should, however, be noted in the deposit register against the entry of its credit to the Forest Revenue so as to guard against a second repayment.