1[7A. Reinstatement in civil employ of persons required to perform military service.-

(1) It shall be the duty of every employer by whom a person who is required to perform military service under section 7 was employed to reinstate him in his employment on the termination of the military service in an occupation and under conditions not less favourable to him than those which would have been applicable to him had his employment not been so interrupted: Provided that if the employer refuses to reinstate such person or denies his liability to reinstate such person, or if for any reason reinstatement of such person is represented by the employer to be impracticable, either party may refer the matter to the prescribed authority and that authority shall, after considering all matters which may be put before it and after making such further inquiry into the matter as may be prescribed, pass an order-

(a) exempting the employer from the provisions of this section, or

(b) requiring him to re-employ such person on such terms as he thinks suitable, or

(c) requiring him to pay to such person by way of compensation for failure or inability to re-employ a sum not exceeding an amount equal to six months' remuneration at the rate at which his last remuneration was payable to him by the employer.

(2) If any employer fails to obey the order of any such authority as is referred to in the proviso to sub-section (1), he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, and the court by which an employer is convicted under this section shall order him (if he has not already been so required by the said authority) to pay to the person whom he has failed to re-employ a sum equal to six months' remuneration at the rate at which his last remuneration was payable to him by the employer, and any amount so required to be paid either by the said authority or by the court shall be recoverable as if it were a fine imposed by such court.

(3) In any proceeding under this section it shall be a defence for an employer to prove that the person formerly employed did not apply to the employer for reinstatement within a period of two months from the termination of his military service.

(4) The duty imposed by sub-section (1) upon an employer to reinstate in his employment a person such as is described in that sub-section shall attach to an employer who, before such person is actually required to perform military service under section 7, terminates his employment in circumstances such as to indicate an intention to evade the duty imposed by that sub-section, and such intention shall be presumed until the contrary is proved if the termination takes place after the issue of orders requiring him to perform military service under this Act.]