Sections 10 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 10 gives persons empowered by the Central Government the right to enter a place, inspect, search and seize. Since 1 April 2024 it also requires those handling hazardous substances to assist, and makes wilful delay or obstruction a matter for a civil penalty. Section 11 sets out how samples must be taken, and why a faulty procedure can make the analysis inadmissible.
This article is current as amended up to the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 (in force for this Act from 1 April 2024). Section 10(2) to (4) were substituted by that Act; section 11 was not changed. Later amendments and notifications should be checked. If you have an inspection notice or a sampling report in hand, our reply to legal notice team can help you respond.
Section 10(1) lets a person empowered by the Central Government enter any place at reasonable times to perform functions, check compliance, examine and test equipment and records, search and seize. Section 10(2) and (3) make failure to assist, and wilful delay or obstruction, liable to the penalty in section 14B. Section 11 says the result of an analysis is not admissible in evidence unless the sampling steps in sub-sections (3) and (4) were followed.
Section 10(1): the right of entry
An empowered person has "a right to enter, at all reasonable times with such assistance as he considers necessary, any place" for three purposes.
| Clause | Purpose |
|---|---|
| (a) | Performing any of the Central Government's functions entrusted to him |
| (b) | Determining whether and how those functions are to be performed, or whether the Act, the rules, or any notice, order, direction or authorisation is being or has been complied with |
| (c) | Examining and testing equipment, industrial plant, record, register, document or other material object, or searching a building where he has reason to believe an offence under the Act or the rules "has been or is being or is about to be committed", and seizing material that may furnish evidence of an offence or whose seizure is necessary to prevent or mitigate pollution |
Three limits are in the text. The entry must be at "reasonable times". The person must be "empowered by the Central Government" (see section 4). And the right to enter is "subject to the provisions of this section".
The right covers "any place", not only factories. Clause (c) allows seizure not only of evidence but also where seizure "is necessary to prevent or mitigate environmental pollution".
Section 10(2): the duty to assist
Section 10(2) was substituted in 2024. It says every person carrying on any industry, operation or process of handling any hazardous substance "shall render assistance, as may be required" to the empowered person in carrying out the functions under section 10(1). If he fails to do so "without any reasonable cause, he shall be liable to penalty provided under section 14B".
"Reasonable cause" is a defence on the face of the text. A plant that refuses assistance should be able to say why.
Section 10(3): wilful delay or obstruction
If any person "willfully delays or obstructs" a person empowered under section 10(1) in the performance of his functions under section 10(1) or (2), he "shall be liable to penalty provided under section 14B". The test here is wilfulness. An honest delay in locating a record is different from holding an inspector at the gate.
Section 10(4): search and seizure procedure
Section 10(4) says that "the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), shall, so far as may be, apply to any search or seizures under this section as they apply to any search or seizures made under the authority of a warrant issued under section 94 of that Code." The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 has replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Check how that replacement applies to a search that concerns you.
Section 11: taking samples
Section 11(1). The Central Government, or an officer empowered by it, may take samples of "air, water, soil or other substance" from any factory, premises or other place "for the purpose of analysis", in the manner prescribed. The manner is in the rules; see the sister explainer on rules 6 to 11 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986.
Section 11(2). The most important rule for a defence lawyer. The result of an analysis "shall not be admissible in evidence in any legal proceeding unless the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4) are complied with."
Section 11(3). The person taking the sample shall:
- serve on the occupier or his agent or person in charge of the place, "then and there", a notice in the prescribed form of his intention to have the sample analysed;
- collect the sample in the presence of the occupier, agent or person;
- place it in a container or containers that are marked and sealed and signed both by the person taking the sample and the occupier, agent or person; and
- send the containers "without delay" to the laboratory established or recognised under section 12.
Section 11(4). Two special cases:
- Wilful absence. If the occupier, agent or person wilfully absents himself, the sampler collects the sample in marked and sealed containers signed by the sampler.
- Refusal to sign. If the person present refuses to sign the sealed container, the sampler signs it.
In both cases the sampler must "inform the Government Analyst appointed or recognised under section 13 in writing" about the wilful absence or the refusal to sign.
The rule on admissibility does not say a sample is wrong if a step is missed; it says the result cannot be received in evidence. That is a matter for the proceeding, such as an inquiry before an adjudicating officer.
Practical points for a plant
- Be present, with someone authorised. Section 11(3)(b) assumes the occupier or his agent is present. Nominate the agent in advance.
- Insist on the notice. The notice "then and there" in the prescribed form is the first step.
- Check the seals and signatures. Both parties sign the container. Read what you sign.
- Keep a parallel sample record. Note the time, place, point of collection, containers and who was present.
- Do not refuse assistance without a reason. A recorded reasonable cause protects you under section 10(2).
- Never obstruct. A wilful delay is a ground for the section 14B penalty.
An example
An empowered officer visits Sahyadri Tanneries Private Limited at 11 a.m. and asks to see the effluent register and to draw a sample from the outlet. The plant manager arranges assistance, and the officer serves the notice, collects the sample in the manager's presence, seals and signs the containers and has the manager sign them. The company keeps its own record of the process. If the analysis report later shows an exceedance, the company can check the notice, the seals and the dispatch against section 11(3) before the inquiry. If the officer had not served the notice, section 11(2) would make the result inadmissible.
Need help with an inspection or sample report?
Inspections and sample reports move quickly into penalty proceedings. Our reply to legal notice team can review the sampling steps, the report and the notice, and help you prepare a response. For the penalty that follows, see sections 14A and 14B and sections 15C and 15D.
Key takeaways
- Section 10(1) allows entry at reasonable times, inspection, testing, search and seizure by persons empowered by the Central Government.
- Persons handling hazardous substances must assist; failure without reasonable cause, and wilful delay or obstruction, attract the section 14B penalty.
- Search and seizure follow the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 as printed, which the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 has replaced.
- A sample analysis is inadmissible unless the section 11(3) and (4) steps were followed.
- Be present at sampling, check the notice, seals and signatures, and keep your own record.
Read next
- Section 9: accidental discharge, intimation and remedial measures
- Sections 12 to 14: environmental laboratories and Government Analysts
- Sections 14A and 14B: the civil penalties
- Sections 15C and 15D: the adjudicating officer and the appeal to the NGT
Disclaimer: Based on the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 as amended by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 (in force for these Acts from 1 April 2024), the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 as amended by its Amendment Act of 2024 (which applies only in the States and Union territories it names and in States that adopt it), and the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 as amended by the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, as consulted on 3 October 2026. Later amendments, rules and notifications should be checked. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.