I. Indian Forest Act, 1927
THE
INDIAN FOREST ACT, 1927
(16
of 1927)
(21st
September, 1927)
An
Act to consolidate the law relating to forests, the transit of forest-produce
and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce.
WHEREAS
it is expedient to consolidate the law relating to forests, the transit
of forest-produce and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
CHAPTER
1
PRELIMINARY
1.
Short title and extent - (1) This Act may be called
the Indian Forest Act, 1927.(1)(2) It
extends to the whole of India except the territories which, immediately
before the 1st November, 1956, were comprised in Part B States.
(3)
It a plies to the territories which, immediately before the 1st November,
1956, were comprised in the States of Bihar, Bombay, Coorg, Delhi, Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal; but the Government
of any State may by notification in the Official Gazette bring this
Act into force(2)
in
the whole or any specified part of that State to which this Act extends
and where it is not in force.]
2.
Interpretation clause - In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant
in the subject or context, -
(1)
"cattle" includes elephants, camels, buffaloes, horses, mares,
geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep,
lambs, goats and kids;
(2)
"Forest-officer" means any person whom (3)[***]
the State Government or any office empowered by the State Government
in this behalf, may appoint to carry out all or any of the purposes
of this Act or to do anything required by this Act or any rule made
thereunder to be done by a Forest-officer;
(3)
"forest-offence" means an offence punishable under this Act
or under any rule made thereunder;
(4)
"forest-produce" includes -
(a)
the following whether found in, or brought from, a forest or not, that
is to say - timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, resin,
natural varnish, bark, lac, mahua flowers, mahua seeds,(4)
and myrabolams, and
(b)
the following when found in, or brought from a forest, that is to say
-
(i)
trees and leaves, flowers and fruits, and all other parts or produce
not hereinbefore mentioned, of trees,
(ii)
plants not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss),
and all parts or produce of such plants,
(iii)
wild animals and skins, tusks, horns, bones, silk, cocoons, honey and
wax, and all other parts or produce of animals, and
(iv)
peat, surface soil, rock and minerals (including lime-stone, laterite,
mineral oils, and all products of mines or quarries);
(5)[(4A)
"owner" includes a Court of Wards in respect of property under
the superintendence or charge of such Court;]
(5)
"river" includes any stream, canal, creek or other channels,
natural or artificial;
(6)
"timber" includes trees when they have fallen or have been
felled, and all wood whether cut up or fashioned or hollowed out for
any purpose or not; and
(7)
"tree" includes palms, bamboos, skumps, brush-wood and canes.
CHAPTER
II
OF
RESERVED FORESTS
3.
Power to reserve forests - The State Government may
constitute any forest-land or waste-land which is the property of Government,
or over which the Government has proprietary rights, or to the whole
or any part of the forest-produce of which the Government is entitled,
a reserved forest in the manner hereinafter provided.
4.
Notification by State Government - (1) Whenever it
has been decided to constitute any land a reserved forest, the State
Government shall issue a notification in the Official Gazette -
a)
declaring that it has been decided to constitute such land a reserved
forest;
b)
specifying, as nearly as possible, the situation and limits of such
land; and
- appointing
an officer (hereinafter called "the Forest Settlement - officer")
to inquire into and determine the existence, nature and extent of
any rights alleged to exist in favour of any person in or over any
land comprised within such limits or in or over any forest-produce,
and to deal with the same as provided in this Chapter.
Explanation
- For the purpose of clause (b), it shall be sufficient to describe
the limits of the forest by roads, rivers, ridges or other well-known
or readily intelligible boundaries.
(2)
The officer appointed under clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall ordinarily
be a person not holding any forest-office except that of Forest Settlement-officer.
(3)
Nothing in this section shall prevent the State Government from appointing
any number of officers not exceeding three, not more than one of whom
shall be a person holding any forest-office except as aforesaid, to
perform the duties of a Forest Settlement-officer under this Act.
5.
Bar of accrual of forest-rights. - After the issue
of a notification under section 4, no right shall be acquired in or
over the land comprised in such notification, except by succession or
under a grant or contract in writing made or entered into by or on behalf
of the Government or some person in whom such right was vested when
the notification was issued; and no fresh clearings for cultivation
or for any other purpose shall be made in such land except in accordance
with such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf.
6.
Proclamation by Forest Settlement-officer.- When a
notification has been issued under section 4, the Forest Settlement-officer
shall publish in the local vernacular in every town and village in the
neighborhood of the land comprised therein, a proclamation-
a)
specifying, as nearly as possible, the situation and limits of the proposed
forest;
- explaining
the consequences which, as hereinafter provided, will ensue on the
reservation of such forest; and
- fixing
a period of not less than three months from the date of such proclamation,
and requiring every person claiming any right mentioned in section
4 or section 5 within such period either to present to the Forest
Settlement-officer a written notice specifying or to appear before
him and state, the nature of such right and the amount and particulars
of the compensation (if any) claimed in respect thereof.
7.
Inquiry by Forest Settlement-officer. - The Forest Settlement-officer
shall take down in writing all statements made under section 6, and
shall at some convenient place inquire into all claims duly preferred
under that section, and the existence of any rights mentioned in section
4 or section 5 and not claimed under section 6 so far as the same may
be ascertainable from the records of Government and the evidence of
any persons likely to be acquainted with the same.
8.
Powers of Forest Settlement-officers.- For the purpose
of such inquiry, the Forest Settlement-officer may exercise the following
powers, that is to say:-
a)
power to enter, by himself or any officer authorised by him for the
purpose, upon any land, and to survey, demarcate and make a map of the
same; and
b)
the powers of a Civil Court in the trial of suits.
9.
Extinction of rights - Rights in respect of which no
claim has been preferred under section 6, and of the existence of which
no knowledge has been acquired by inquiry under section 7, shall be
extinguished, unless before the notification under section 20 is published,
the person claiming them satisfies the Forest Settlement-officer that
he had sufficient cause for not preferring such claim within the period
fixed under section 6.
10.
Treatment of claims relating to practice of shifting cultivation
- (1) In the case of a claim relating to the practice of shifting
cultivation, the Forest Settlement-officer shall record a statement
setting forth the particulars of the claim and of any local rule or
order under which the practice is allowed or regulated, and submit the
statement to the State Government, together with his opinion as to whether
the practice should be permitted or prohibited wholly or in part.
(2)
On receipt of the statement and opinion, the State Government may make
an order permitting or prohibiting the practice wholly or in part.
(3)
If such practice is permitted wholly or in part, the Forest Settlement-officer
may arrange for its exercise -
a)
by altering the limits of the land under settlement so as to exclude
land of sufficient extent, of a suitable kind, and in a locality reasonably
convenient for the purposes of the claimants, or
b)
by causing certain portions of the land under settlement to be separately
demarcated, and giving permission to the claimants to practise shifting
cultivation therein under such conditions as he may prescribe.
(4)
All arrangements made under sub-section (3) shall be subject to the
previous sanction of the State Government.
(5)
The practice of shifting cultivation shall in all cases be deemed a
privilege subject to control, restriction and abolition by the State
Government.
11.
Power to acquire land over which right is claimed. - (1) In
the case of a claim to a right in or over any land, other than a right
of way or right of pasture, or a right to forest-produce or a water-course,
the Forest Settlement-officer shall pass an order admitting or rejecting
the same in whole or in part.
(2)
If such claim is admitted in whole or in part, the Forest Settlement-officer
shall either -
i.
exclude such land from the limits of the proposed forest; or
ii.
come to an agreement with the owner thereof for the surrender of his
rights; or
iii.proceed
to acquire such land in the manner provided by the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894 (1 of 1894).
(3)
For the purpose of so acquiring such land -
a)
the Forest Settlement-officer shall be deemed to be a Collector proceeding
under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894)
b)
the claimant shall be deemed to be a person interested and appearing
before him in pursuance of a notice given under section 9 of that Act;
c)
the provisions of the preceding sections of that Act shall be deemed
to have been complied with; and
d)
the Collector, with the consent of the claimant, or the Court, with
the consent of both parties, may award compensation in land, or partly
in land and partly in money.
12.
Order on claims to rights of pasture or to forest-produce.
- In the case of a claim to rights of pasture or to forest-produce,
the Forest Settlement-officer shall pass an order admitting or rejecting
the same in whole or in part.
13.
Record to be made by Forest Settlement-officer. - The
Forest Settlement-officer, when passing any order under section 12,
shall record, so far as may be practicable.-
a)
the name, father's name, caste, residence and occupation of the person
claiming the right; and
14.
Record where he admits claim. - If the Forest Settlement-officer
admits in whole or in part any claim under section 12, he shall also
record the extent to which the claim is so admitted, specifying the
number and description of the cattle which the claimant is from time
to time entitled to graze in the forest, the season during which such
pasture is permitted, the quantity of timber and other forest produce
which he is from time to time authorised to take or receive, and such
other particulars as the case may require. He shall also record whether
the timber or other forest-produce obtained by the exercise of the rights
claimed may be sold or bartered.
15.
Exercise of rights admitted.- (1) After making such
record the Forest Settlement-officer shall, to the best of his ability,
having due regard to the maintenance of the reserved forest in respect
of which the claim is made, pass such orders as will ensure the continued
exercise of the rights so admitted.
(2)
For this purpose the Forest Settlement-officer may
a)
set out some other forest-tract of sufficient extent, and in a locality
reasonably convenient, for the purposes of such claimants, and record
an order conferring upon them a right of pasture or to forest-produce
(as the case may be) to the extent so admitted; or
- so alter
the limits of the proposed forest as to exclude forest-land of sufficient
extent, and in a locality reasonably convenient, for the purposes
of the claimants; or
c)
record an order, continuing to such claimants a right of pasture or
to forest-produce, as the case may be, to the extent so admitted, at
such seasons, within such portions of the proposed forest, and under
such rules, as may be made in this behalf by the State Government.
16.
Commutation of rights. - In case the Forest Settlement-officer
finds it impossible having due regard to the maintenance of the reserved
forest, to make such settlement under section 15 as shall ensure the
continued exercise of the said rights to the extent so admitted, he
shall, subject to such rules as the State Government may make in this
behalf, commute such rights, by the payment to such persons of a sum
of money in lieu thereof, or by the grant of land, or in such other
manner as he thinks fit.
17.
Appeal from order passed under section 11, section 12, section
15 or section 16. - Any person who has made a claim under this
Act, or any Forest-officer or other person generally or specially empowered
by the State Government in this behalf, may, within three months from
the date of the order passed on such claim by the Forest Settlement-officer
under section 11, section 12, section 15 or section 16, present an appeal
from such order to such officer of the Revenue Department, of rank not
lower than that of a Collector, as the State Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, appoint to hear appeals from such orders:
Provided
that the State Government may establish a Court (hereinafter called
the Forest Court) composed of three persons to be appointed by the State
Government, and when the Forest Court has been so established, all such
appeals shall be presented to it.
18.
Appeal under section 17. - (1) Every appeal under section
17 shall be made by petition in writing, and may be delivered to the
Forest Settlement-officer, who shall forward it without delay to the
authority competent to hear the same.
(2)
If the appeal be to an officer appointed under section 17, it shall
be heard in the manner prescribed for the time being for the hearing
of appeals in matters relating to land-revenue.
(3)
If the appeal be to the Forest Court, the Court shall fix a day and
a convenient place in the neighbourhood of the proposed forest for hearing
the appeal, and shall give notice thereof to the parties, and shall
hear such appeal accordingly.
(4)
The order passed on the appeal by such officer or Court, or by the majority
of the members of such Court, as the case may be, shall, subject only
to revision by the State Government, be final.
19.
Pleaders. - The State Government, or any person who
has made a claim under this Act, may appoint any person to appear, plead
and act on its or his behalf before the Forest Settlement-officer, or
the appellate officer or Court, in the course of any inquiry or appeal
under this Act.
20.
Notification declaring forest reserved. - (1) When
the following events have occurred, namely:-
a)
the period fixed under section 6 for preferring claims have elapsed
and all claims (if any) made under that section or section 9 have been
disposed of by the Forest Settlement-officer.
b)
if any such claims have been made, the period limited by section 17
for appealing from the orders passed on such claims has elapsed, and
all appeals (if any) presented within such period have been disposed
of by the appellate officer or Court; and
c)
all lands (if any) to be included in the proposed forest, which the
Forest Settlement-officer has, under section 11, elected to acquire
under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894), have become vested
in the Government under section 16 of that Act.
the
State Government shall publish a notification in the Official Gazette,
specifying definitely, according to boundary-marks erected or otherwise,
the limits of the forest which is to be reserved, and declaring the
same to be reserved from a date fixed by the notification.
(2)
From the date so fixed such forest shall be deemed to be a reserved
forest.
21.
Publication of translation of such notification in neighborhood
of forest. - The Forest-officer shall, before the date fixed
by such notification, cause a translation thereof into the local vernacular
to be published in every town and village in the neighborhood of the
forest.
22.
Power to revise arrangement made under section 15 or section
18. - The State Government may, within five years from the
publication of any notification under section 20, revise any arrangement
made under section 15 or section 18, and may for this purpose rescind
or modify any order made under section 15 or section 18, and direct
that any one of the proceedings specified in section 15 be taken in
lieu of any other of such proceedings, or that the rights admitted under
section 12 be commuted under section 16.
23.
No right acquired over reserved forest, except as here provided. - No
right of any description shall be acquired in or over a reserved forest
except by succession or under a grant or contract in writing made by
or on behalf of the Government or some person in whom such right was
vested when the notification under section 20 was issued.
24.
Rights not to be alienated without sanction - (1) Notwithstanding anything
contained in section 23, no right continued under clause (c) of sub-section
(2) of section 15 shall be alienated by way of grant, sale, lease mortgage
or otherwise, without the sanction of the State Government:
Provided
that, when any such right is appendant to any land or house, it may
be sold or otherwise alienated with such land or house.
(2)
No timber or other forest-produce obtained in exercise of any such right
shall be sold or bartered except to such extent as may have been admitted
in the order recorded under section 14.
25.
Power to stop ways and water-courses in reserved forests.
- The Forest-officer may, with the previous sanction of the State Government
or of any officer duly authorised by it in this behalf, stop any public
or private way or water-course in a reserved forest, provided that a
substitute for the way or water-course so stopped, which the State Government
deems to be reasonably convenient, already exists, or has been provided
or constructed by the Forest-officer in lieu thereof.
26.
Acts prohibited in such forests. - (1) Any person who
-
a)
makes any fresh clearing prohibited by section 5, or
b)
sets fire to a reserved forest, or, in contravention of any rules made
by the State Government in this behalf, kindles any fire, or leaves
any fire burning, in such manner as to endanger such a forest; or who,
in a reserved forest -
- kindles,
keeps or carries any fire except at such seasons as the Forest-officer
may notify in this behalf.
d)
trespasses or pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass;
e)
causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or cutting or dragging
any timber;
f)
fells, girdles, lops, or burns any tree or strips off the bark or leaves
from, or otherwise damages, the same;
g)
quarries stone, burns lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects to any
manufacturing process, or removes, any forest-produce;
h)
clears or breaks up any land for cultivation or any other purpose;
i)
in contravention of any rules made in this behalf by the State Government
hunts, shoots, fishes, poisons water or sets traps or snares; or
j)
in any area in which the Elephant's Preservation Act, 1879 (6 of 1879),
is not in force, kills or catches elephants in contravention of any
rules so made,
shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months,
or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both,
in addition to such compensation for damage done to the forest as the
convicting Court may direct to be paid.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit -
a)
any act done by permission in writing of the Forest-officer, or under
any rule made by the State Government; or
b)
the exercise of any right continued under clause (c) of sub-section
(2) of section 15, or created by grant or contract in writing made by
or on behalf of the Government under section 23.
(3)
Whenever fire is caused willfully or by gross negligence in a reserved
forest, the State Government may (notwithstanding that any penalty has
been inflicted under this section ) direct that in such forest or any
portion thereof the exercise of all rights of pasture or to forest-produce
shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.
27.
Power to declare forest no longer reserved. - (1) The State Government
may, by (6)[***] notification in the Official Gazette, direct
that, from a date fixed by such notification, any forest or any portion
thereof reserved under the Act shall cease to be a reserved forest.
(2)
From the date so fixed, such forest or portion shall cease to be reserved,
but the rights (if any) which have been extinguished therein shall not
revive in consequence of such cessation.
CHAPTER
III
OF
VILLAGE-FORESTS
28.
Formation of village-forests. - (1) The State Government
may assign to any village-community the rights of Government to or over
any land which has been constituted a reserved forest, and may cancel
such assignment. All forests so assigned shall be called village-forests.
(2)
The State Government may make rules for regulating the management of
village-forests, prescribing the conditions under which the community
to which any such assignment is made may be provided with timber or
other forest-produce or pasture, and their duties for the protection
and improvement of such forest.
(3)
All the provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall (so
far as they are not inconsistent with the rules so made) apply to village-forests.
CHAPTER
IV
OF
PROTECTED FORESTS
29.
Protected forests. - (1) The State Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, declare the provisions of this Chapter applicable
to any forest-land or waste land which is not included in a reserved
forest but which is the property of Government, or over which the Government
has proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest-produce
of which the Government is entitled.
(2)
The forest-land and waste-lands comprised in any such notification shall
be called a "protected forest".
(3)
No such notification shall be made unless the nature and extent of the
rights of Government and of private persons in or over the forest-land
or waste-land comprised therein have been inquired into and recorded
at a survey or settlement, or in such other manners as the State Government
thinks sufficient. Every such record shall be presumed to be correct
until the contrary is proved:
Provided
that, if, in the case of any forest-land or waste land, the State Government
thinks that such inquiry and record are necessary, but that they will
occupy such length of time as in the meantime to endanger the rights
of Government, the State Government may, pending such inquiry and record,
declare such land to be a protected forest, but so as not to abridge
or affect any existing rights of individuals or communities.
30.
Power to issue notification reserving trees, etc. -
The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette:
a)
declare any trees or class of trees in a protected forest to be reserved
from a date fixed by the notification;
b)
declare that any portion of such forest specified in the notification
shall be closed for such term, not exceeding thirty years, as the State
Government thinks fit, and that the rights of private persons, if any,
over such portion shall be suspended during such terms, provided that
the remainder of such forest be sufficient, and in a locality reasonably
convenient, for the due exercise of the right suspended in the portion
so closed; or
c)
prohibit, from a date fixed as aforesaid, the quarrying of stone, or
the burning of lime or charcoal, or the collection or subjection to
any manufacturing process, or removal of, any forest-produce in any
such forest, and the breaking up or clearing for cultivation, for building,
for herding cattle or for any other purpose, of any land in any such
forest.
31.
Publication of translation of such notification in neighbourhood.
- The Collector shall cause a translation into the local vernacular
of every notification issued under section 30 to be affixed in a conspicuous
place in every town and village in the neighbourhood of the forest comprised
in the notification.
32.
Power to make rules for protected forests. - The State
Government may make rules to regulate the following matters, namely:-
a)
the cutting, sawing, conversion and removal of trees and timber, and
the collection, manufacture and removal of forest-produce, from protected
forests;
b)
the granting of licences to the inhabitants of towns and villages in
the vicinity of protected forests to take trees, timber or other forest-produce
for their own use, and the production and return of such licences by
such persons;
c)
the granting of licences to persons felling or removing trees or timber
or other forest-produce from such forests for the purposes of trade,
and the production and return of such licenses by such persons;
d)
the payments, if any, to be made by the persons mentioned in clauses
(b) and (c) for permission to cut such trees, or to collect and remove
such timber or other forest-produce;
- the
other payments, if any, to be made by them in respect of such trees,
timber and produce, and the places where such payment shall be made;
f)
the examination of forest-produce passing out of such forests.
g)
the clearing and breaking up of land for cultivation or other purposes
in such forests;
h)
the protection from fire timber lying in such forests and of trees reserved
under section 30;
i)
the cutting of grass and pasturing of cattle in such forests;
j)
hunting, shooting, fishing, poisoning water and setting traps or snares
in such forests and the killing or catching of elephants in such forests
in areas in which the Elephants' Preservation Act, 1879, (6 of 1879),
is not in force;
k)
the protection and management of any portion of a forest closed under
section 30; and
l)
the exercise of rights referred to in section 29.
33.
Penalties for acts in contravention of notification under section
30 or of rules under section 32. - (1) Any person who commits
any of the following offences, namely:-
a)
fells, girdles, lops, taps or burns any tree reserved under section
30, or strips of the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, any
such tree;
b)
contrary to any prohibition under section 30, quarries any stone, or
burns any lime or charcoal or collects, subjects to any manufacturing
process, or removes any forest-produce;
c)
contrary to any prohibition under section 30, breaks up or clears for
cultivation or any other purpose any land in any protected forest;
- sets
fire to such forest, or kindles a fire without taking all reasonable
precautions to prevent its spreading to any tree reserved under section
30, whether standing fallen or felled, or to say closed portion of
such forest;
e)
leaves burning any fire kindled by him in the vicinity of any such tree
or closed portion;
f)
fells any tree or drags any timber so as to damage any tree reserved
as aforesaid;
g)
permits cattle to damage any such tree;
h)
infringes any rules made under section 32.
shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months,
or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
(2)
Whenever fire is caused wilfuly or by gross negligence in a protected
forest, the State Government may, notwithstanding that any penalty has
been inflicted under this section, direct that in such forest or any
portion thereof the exercise of any right of pasture or to forest-produce
shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.
34.
Nothing in this Chapter to prohibit acts done in certain cases.
- Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to prohibit any act done with
the permission in writing of the Forest-officer, or in accordance with
rules made under section 32, or, except as regards any portion of a
forest closed under section 30, or as regards any rights the exercise
of which has been suspended under section 33, in the exercise of any
right recorded under section 29.
CHAPTER
V
OF
THE CONTROL OVER FOREST AND LANDS NOT BEING THE PROPERTY OF GOVERNMENT
35.
Protection of forests for special purposes. - (1) The State
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, regulate or
prohibit in any forest or waste land -
a)
the breaking up or clearing of land for cultivation;
b)
the pasturing of cattle; or
c)
the firing or clearing of the vegetation;
when
such regulation or prohibition appears necessary for any of the following
purposes:-
(i)
for protection against storms, winds, rolling stones, floods and avalanches;
(ii)
for the preservation of the soil on the ridges and slopes and in the
valleys of hilly tracts, the prevention of landslips or of the formation
of ravines, and torrents, or the protection of land against erosion,
or the deposit thereon of sand, stones or gravel;
(iii)
for the maintenance of a water-supply in springs, rivers and tanks;
(iv)
for the protection of roads, bridges, railways and other lines of communication;
(v)
for the preservation of the public health.
(2)
The State Government may, for any such purpose, construct at its own
expense, in or upon any forest or waste-land, such work as it thinks
fit.
(3)
No notification shall be made under sub-section (1) nor shall any work
be begun under sub-section (2), until after the issue of a notice to
the owner of such forest or land calling on him to show cause, within
a reasonable period to be specified in such notice, why such notification
should not be made or work constructed, as the case may be, and until
his objections, if any, and any evidence he may produce in support of
the same, have been heard by an officer duly appointed in that behalf
and have been considered by the State Government.
36.
Power to assume management of forests. - (1) In case
of neglect of, or wilful disobedience to, any regulation or prohibition
under section 35, or if the purposes of any work to be constructed under
that section so require, the State Government may, after notice in writing
to the owner of such forest or land and after considering his objections,
if any, place the same under the control of a Forest-officer, and may
declare that all or any of the provisions of this Act relating to reserved
forests shall apply to such forests or land.
(2)
The net profits, if any, arising from the management of such forest
or land shall be paid to the said owner.
37.
Expropriation of forests in certain cases. - (1) In
any case under this Chapter in which the State Government considers
that, in lieu of placing the forest or land under the control of a Forest-Officer,
the same should be acquired for public purposes, the State Government
may proceed to acquire it in the manner provided by the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894 (1 of 1894).
(2)
The owner of any forest or land comprised in any notification under
section 35 may, at any time not less than three or more than twelve
years from the date thereof, require that such forest or land shall
be acquired for public purposes, and the State Government shall acquire
such forest or land accordingly.
38.
Protection of forests at request of owners. - (1) The
owner of any land, or if there be more than one owner thereof, the owners
of shares therein amounting in the aggregate to at least two-thirds
thereof may, with a view to the formation or conservation of forests
thereon, represent in writing to the Collector their desire -
- that
such land be managed on their behalf by the Forest-officer as a reserved
or a protected forest on such terms as may be mutually agreed upon;
or
b)
that all or any of the provisions of this Act be applied to such land.
(2)
In either case, the State Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, apply to such land such provisions of this Act as it thinks
suitable to the circumstances thereof and as may be desired by the applicants.
CHAPTER
VI
OF
THE DUTY ON TIMBER AND OTHER FOREST-PRODUCE
39.
Power to impose duty on timber and other forest-produce.
- (1) The (7)Central Government may levy
a duty in such manner, at such places and at such rates as it may declare
by notification in the Official Gazette on all timber or other forest
produce-
a)
which is produced in (8)[the territories
to which this Act extends], and in respect of which the Government has
any right;
b)
which is brought from any place outside 8[the territories to which this
Act extends].
(9)[***]
(2)
In every case in which such duty is directed to be levied ad valorem
the 7[Central Government] may fix by like notification the value on
which such duty shall be assessed.
(3)
All duties on timber or other forest-produce which, at the time when
this Act comes into force in any territory, are levied therein under
the authority of the State Government, shall be deemed to be and to
have been duly levied under the provisions of this Act.(10)[(4)
Notwithstanding anything in this section, the State Government may,
until provision to the contrary is made by (11)[Parliament] continue to levy any duty which
it was lawfully levying before the commencement(12)
of (13)[the Constitution], under this section as then
in force.
Provided
that nothing in this sub-section authorises the levy of any duty which
as between timber or other forest-produce of the State and similar produce
of the locality outside the State, discriminates in favour of the former,
or which, in the case of timber or other forest-produce of localities
outside the State, discriminates between timber or other forest-produce
of one locality and similar timber or other forest-produce of another
locality.
40.
Limit not to apply to purchase-money or royalty - Nothing
in this chapter shall be deemed to limit the amount, if any, chargeable
as purchase money or royalty on any timber or other forest -produce,
although the same is levied on such timber or produce while in transit,
in the same manner as duty is levied.
CHAPTER
VII
OF
THE CONTROL OF TIMBER AND OTHER FOREST-PRODUCE IN TRANSIT
41.
Power to make rules to regulate transit of forest produce
- (1) The control of all rivers and their banks as regards the floating
of timber, as well as the control of all timber and other forest-produce
in transit by land or water, is vested in the State Government, and
it may make rules to regulate the transit of all timber and other forest-produce.
(2)
In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
power such rules may-
(a)
prescribe the routes by which alone timber or other forest-produce may
be imported, exported or moved into, from or within (14)[the
State];
(b)
prohibit the import or export or moving of such timber or other produce
without a pass from an officer duly authorised to issue the same, or
otherwise than in accordance with the conditions of such pass;
(c)
provide for the issue, production and return of such passes and for
the payment of fees therefor;
(d)
provide for the stoppage, reporting, examination and marking of timber
or other forest-produce in transit, in respect of which there is reason
to believe that any money is payable to the Government on account of
the price thereof, or on account of any duty, fee, royalty of charge
due thereon, or, to which it is desirable for the purposes of this Act
to affix a mark;
(e)
provide for the establishment and regulation of depots to which such
timber or other produce shall be taken by those in charge of it for
examination, or for the payment of such money, or in order that such
marks may be affixed to it, and the conditions under which such timber
or other produce shall be brought to, stored at and removed from such
depots;
(f)
prohibit the closing up or obstructing of the channel or banks of any
river used for the transit of timber or other forest-produce, and the
throwing of grass, brushwood, branches or leaves into any such river
or any act which may cause such river to be closed or obstructed;
(g)
provide for the prevention or removal of any obstruction of the channel
or banks of any such river, and for recovering the cost of such prevention
or removal from the person whose acts or negligence necessitated the
same;
(h)
prohibit absolutely or subject to conditions, within specified local
limits, the establishment of sawpits, the converting , cutting, burning,
concealing or making of timber, the altering or effacing of any marks
on the same, or the possession or carrying of marking hammers or other
implements used for marking timber;
(i)
regulate the use of property marks for timber, and the registration
of such marks; prescribe the time for which such registration shall
hold good; limit the number of such marks that may be registered by
any one person, and provide for the levy of fees for such registration.
(3)
The State Government may direct that any rule made under this section
shall not apply to any specified class of timber or other forest-produce
or to any specified local area.(15)[41A.
Powers of Central Government as to movements of timber across customs
frontiers.- Notwithstanding anything in section 41, the Central Government
may make rules to prescribe the route by which alone timber or other
forest-produce may be imported, exported or moved into or from (16)[the territories to which this Act extends] across
any customs frontier as defined by the Central Government, and any rules
made under section 41 shall have effect subject to the rules made under
this section.]
42.
Penalty for breach of rules made under section 41.
- (1) The State Government may by such rules prescribe as penalties
for the contravention thereof imprisonment for a term which may extend
to six months, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.
(2)
Such rules may provide that penalties which are double of those mentioned
in sub-section (1) may be inflicted in cases where the offence is committed
after sunset and before sunrise, or after preparation for resistance
to lawful authority, or where the offender has been previously convicted
of a like offence.
43.
Government and Forest-officers not liable for damage to forest-produce
at depot. - The Government shall not be responsible for any
loss or damage which may occur in respect of any timber or other forest-produce
while at a depot established under a rule made under section 41, or
while detained elsewhere, for the purposes of this Act; and no Forest-officer
shall be responsible for any such loss or damage, unless he causes such
loss or damage negligently, maliciously or fraudulently.
44.
All persons bound to aid in case of accidents at depot. - In
case of any accident or emergency involving danger to any property at
any such depot, every person employed at such depot, whether by the
Government or by any private person, shall render assistance to any
Forest-officer or Police-Officer demanding his aid in averting such
danger or securing such property from damage or loss.
CHAPTER
VIII
OF
THE COLLECTION OF DRIFT AND STRANDED TIMBER
45.
Certain kinds of timber to be deemed property of Government
until title thereto proved, and may be collected accordingly. - (1)
All timber found adrift, beached, stranded or sunk; all wood or timber
bearing marks which have not been registered in accordance with the
rules made under section 41, or on which the marks have been obliterated,
altered or defaced by fire or otherwise; and in such areas as the State
Government directs, all unmarked wood and timber, shall be deemed to
be the property of Government, unless and until any person establishes
his right and title thereto, as provided in this Chapter.
(2)
Such timber may be collected by any Forest-officer or other person entitled
to collect the same by virtue of any rule made under section 51 and
may be brought to any depot which the Forest-officer may notify as a
depot for the reception of drift timber.
(3)
The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exempt
any class of timber from the provisions of this section.
46.
Notice to claimants of drift timber. - Public notice
shall from time to time be given by the Forest-officer, of timber collected
under section 45. Such notice shall contain a description of the timber,
and shall require any person claiming the same to present to such officer,
within a period not less than two months from the date of such notice,
a written statement of such claim.
47.
Procedure on claim preferred to such timber. - (1) When any
such statement is presented as aforesaid, the Forest-officer may, after
making such inquiry as he thinks fit, either reject the claim after
according his reasons for so doing, or deliver the timber to the claimant.
(2)
If such timber is claimed by more than one person, the Forest-officer
may either deliver the same to any of such persons who he deems entitled
thereto, or may refer the claimants to the Civil Courts, and retain
the timber pending the receipt of an order from any such Court for its
disposal.
(3)
Any person whose claim has been rejected under this section may, within
three months from the date of such rejection, institute a suit to recover
possession of the timber claimed by him; but no person shall recover
any compensation or costs against the Government, or against any Forest-officer
on account of such rejection, or the detention or removal of any timber,
or the delivery thereof to any other person under this section.
(4)
No such timber shall be subject to process of any Civil, Criminal or
Revenue Court until it has been delivered, or a suit has been brought,
as provided in this section.
48.
Disposal of unclaimed timber. - If no such statement
is presented as aforesaid, or if the claimant omits to prefer his claim
in the manner and within the period fixed by the notice issued under
section 46, or on such claim having been so preferred by him and having
been rejected, omits to institute a suit to recover possession of such
timber within the further period fixed by section 47, the ownership
of such timber shall vest in the Government, or, when such timber has
been delivered to another person under section 47, in such other person
free from all encumbrances not created by him.
49.
Government and its officers not liable for damage to such timber.
- The Government shall not be responsible for any loss or damage which
may occur in respect of any timber collected under section 45, and no
Forest-officer shall be responsible for any such loss or damage, unless
he causes such loss or damage negligently, maliciously or fraudulently.
50.
Payments to be made by claimant before timber is delivered to
him. - No person shall be entitled to recover possession of
any timber collected or delivered as aforesaid until he has paid to
the Forest-officer or other person entitled to receive it such sum on
account thereof as may be due under any rule made under section 51.
51.
Power to make rules and prescribe penalties. - (1) The State
Government may make rules to regulate the following matters, namely:-
(a)
the salving, collection and disposal of all timber mentioned in section
45;
(b)
the use and registration of boats used in salving and collecting timber;
(c)
the amounts to be paid for salving, collecting, moving, storing or disposing
of such timber; and
(d)
the use and registration of hammers and other instruments to be used
for marking such timber.
(2)
The State Government may prescribe, as penalties for the contravention
of any rules made under this section, imprisonment for a term which
may extend to six months, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees,
or both.
CHAPTER
IX
PENALTIES
AND PROCEDURE
52.
Seizure of property liable to confiscation. - (1) When
there is reason to believe that a forest-offence has been committed
in respect of any forest-produce, such produce, together with all tools,
boats, carts or cattle used in committing any such offence, may be seized
by any Forest-officer or Police-officer.
(2)
Every officer seizing any property under this section shall place on
such property a mark indicating that the same has been so seized, and
shall, as soon as may be, make a report of such seizure to the Magistrate
having jurisdiction to try the offence on account of which the seizure
has been made:
Provided
that, when the forest-produce with respect to which such offence is
believed to have been committed is the property of Government, and the
offender is unknown, it shall be sufficient if the officer makes, as
soon as may be, a report of the circumstances to his official superior.
53.
Power to release property seized under section 52.
- Any Forest-officer of a rank not inferior to that of a Ranger who,
or whose subordinate, has seized any tools, boats, carts or cattle under
section 52, may release the same on the execution by the owner thereof
a bond for the production of the property so released, if and when so
required, before the Magistrate having jurisdiction to try the offence
on account of which the seizure has been made.
54.
Procedure thereupon - Upon the receipt of any such
report, the Magistrate shall, with all convenient despatch, take such
measures as may be necessary for the arrest and trial of the offender
and the disposal of the property according to law.
55.
Forest-produce, tools, etc., when liable to confiscation.
- (1) All timber or forest-produce which is not the property of Government
and in respect of which a forest-offence has been committed, and all
tools, boats, carts and cattle used in committing any forest-offence,
shall be liable to confiscation.
(2)
Such confiscation may be in addition to any other punishment prescribed
for such offence.
56.
Disposal on conclusion of trial for forest-offence, of produce
in respect of which it was committed. - When the trial of any
forest-offence is concluded, any forest-produce in respect of which
such offence has been committed shall, if it is the property of Government
or has been confiscated, be taken charge of by a Forest-officer, and,
in any other case, may be disposed of in such mannner as the Court may
direct.
57.
Procedure when offender not known or cannot be found,
- When the offender is not known or cannot be found, the Magistrate
may, if he finds that an offence has been committed, order the property
in respect of which the offence has been committed to be confiscated
and taken charge of by the Forest-officer, or to be made over to the
person whom the Magistrate deems to be entitled to the same:
Provided
that no such order shall be made until the expiration of one month from
the date of seizing such property, or without hearing the person, if
any, claiming any right thereto, and the evidence, if any, which he
may produce in support of his claim.
58.
Procedure as to perishable property siezed under section 52.
- The Magistrate may, notwithstanding anything herein before contained,
direct the sale of any property seized under section 52 and subject
to speedy and natural decay, and may deal with the proceeds as he would
have dealt with such property if it had not been sold.
59.
Appeal from orders under section 55, section 56 or section 57.
_ The officer who made the seizure under section 52, or any of his official
superiors, or any person claiming to be interested in the property so
seized, may, within one month from the date of any order passed under
section 55, section 56, or section 57, appeal therefrom to the Court
to which orders made by such Magistrate are ordinarily appealable, and
the order passed on such appeal shall be final.
60.
Property when to vest in Government. - When an order
for the confiscation of any property has been passed under section 55
or section 57, as the case may be, and the period limited by section
59 for an appeal from such order has elapsed, and no such appeal has
been preferred, or when, on such an appeal being preferred, the Appelate
Court confirms such order in respect of the whole or a portion of such
property, such property or such portion thereof, as the case may be,
shall vest in the Government free from all incumbrances.
61.
Saving of power to release property seized. - Nothing
hereinbefore contained shall be deemed to prevent any officer empowered
in this behalf by the State Government from directing at any time the
immediate release of any property seized under section 52.
62.
Punishment for wrongful seizure. - Any Forest-officer
or Police-officer who vexatiously and unnecessarily seizes any property
on pretence of seizing property liable to confiscation under this Act
shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or
with both.
63.
Penalty for counterfeiting or defacing marks on trees and timber and
for altering boundary marks. - Whoever, with intent to cause
damage or injury to the public or to any person, or to cause wrongful
gain as defined in the Indian Penal Code -
a)
knowingly counterfeits upon any timber or standing tree a mark used
by Forest-officers to indicate that such timber or tree is the property
of the Government or of some person, or that it may lawfully be cut
or removed by some person; or
b)
alters, defaces or obliterates any such mark placed on a tree or on
timber by or under the authority of a Forest-officer; or
c)
alters, moves, destroys or defaces any boundary-mark of any forest or
waste-land to which the provisions of this Act are applied,
shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years,
or with fine, or with both.
64.
Power to arrest without warrant. - (1) Any Forest-officer
or Police-officer may, without orders from a Magistrate and without
a warrant, arrest any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists
of his having been concerned in any forest-offence punishable with imprisonment
for one month or upwards.
(2)
Every officer making an arrest under this section shall, without unnecessary
delay and subject to the provisions of this Act as to release on bond,
take or send the person arrested before the Magistrate having jurisdiction
in the case, or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station.
(3)
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorise such arrest for
any act which is an offence under Chapter IV unless such act has been
prohibited under clause (c) of section 30.
65.
Power to release on a bond a person arrested. - Any Forest-officer
of a rank not inferior to that of a Ranger, who, or whose subordinate,
has arrested any person under the provisions of section 64, may release
such person on his executing a bond to appear, if and when so required,
before the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case, or before the
officer in charge of the nearest police station.
66.
Power to prevent commission of offence. - Every Forest-officer
and Police-officer shall prevent, and may interfere for the purpose
of preventing, the commission of any forest-offence.
67.
Power to try offences summarily. - The District Magistrate
or any Magistrate of the first class specially empowered in this behalf
by the State Government may try summarily, under the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1898, any forest-offence punishable with imprisonment for
a term not exceeding six months, or fine not exceeding five hundred
rupees, or both.
68.
Power to compound offences. - (1) The State Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, empower a Forest officer
-
a)
to accept from any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists
that he has committed any forest-offence, other than an offence specified
in section 62 or section 63, a sum of money by way of compensation for
the offence which such person is suspected to have committed, and
b)
when any propety has been seized as liable to confiscation, to release
the same on payment of the value thereof as estimated by such officer.
(2)
On the payment of such sum of money, or such value, or both, as the
case may be, to such officer, the suspected person, if in custody, shall
be discharged, the property, if any seized shall be released, and no
further proceedings shall be taken against such person or property.
(3)
A Forest-officer shall not be empowered under this section unless he
is a Forest-officer of a rank not inferior to that of a Ranger and is
in receipt of a monthly salary amounting to at least one hundred rupees,
and the sum of money accepted as compensation under clause (a) of sub-section
(1) shall in no case exceed the sum of fifty rupees.
69.
Presumption that forest-produce belongs to Government
- When in any proceedings taken under this Act, or in consequence of
anything done under this Act, a question arises as to whether any forest-produce
is the property lof the Government, such produce shall be presumed to
be the property of the Government until the contrary is proved.
CHAPTER
X
CATTLE-TRESPASS
70.
Cattle-trespass Act, 1871, to apply, - Cattle trespassing in
a reserved forest or in any portion of a protected forest which has
been lawfully closed to grazing shall be deemed to be cattle doing damages
to a public plantation within the meaning of section 11 of the Cattle-trespass
Act, 1871 (1 of 1871), and may be seized and impounded as such by any
Forest-officer or Police-officer.
71.
Power to alter fines fixed under that Act, - The State
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that,
in lieu of the fines fixed under section 12 of the Cattle-trespass Act,
1871 (1 of 1871), there shall be levied for each head of cattle impounded
under section 70 of this Act such fines as it thinks fit, but not exceeding
the following, that is to say:-
For
each elephant ten rupees
For
each buffalo or camel two rupees
For
each horse, mare, gelding, pony, colt, filly, mule,
bull,
bullock, cow, or heifer one rupee
For
each calf, ass, pig, ram, ewe, sheep, lamb, goat or kid eight annas
CHAPTER
XI
OF
FOREST-OFFICERS
72.
State Government may invest Forest-officers with certain powers.
- (1) The State Government may invest any Forest-officer with all or
of the following powers, that is to say:-
- power
to enter upon any land and to survey, demarcate and make a map of
the same;
- the
powers of a Civil Court to compel the attendance of witnesses and
the production of documents and material objects;
- power
to issue a search-warrant under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898
(5 of 1898); and
- power
to hold an inquiry into forest-offences, and, in the course of such
inquiry, to receive and record evidence.
- Any
evidence recorded under clause (d) of sub-section (1) shall be admissible
in any subsequent trial before a Magistrate, provided that it has
been taken in the presence of the accused person.
73.
Forest officers deemed public servants. - All Forest-officers
shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860).
74.
Indemnity for acts done in good faith. - No suit shall
lie against any public servant for anything done by him in good faith
under this Act.
75.
Forest-officers not to trade. - Except with the permission
in writing of the State Government, no Forest-officer shall, as principal
or agent, trade in timber or other forest produce, or be or became interested
in any lease of any forest or in any contract for working any forest,
whether in or outside (17)[ the territories
to which this Act extends].
CHAPTER
XII
SUBSIDIARY
RULES
76.
Additional powers to make rules. - The State Government
may make rules_
a)
to prescribe and limit the powers and duties of any Forest-officer under
this Act;
- to regulate
the rewards to be paid to officers and informers out of the proceeds
of fines and confiscation under this Act;
- for
the preservation, reproduction and disposal of trees and timber belonging
to Government, but grown on lands belonging to or in the occupation
of private persons; and
d)
generally, to carry out the provisions of this Act.
77.
Penalties for breach of rules, - Any person contravening
any rule under this Act, for the contravention of which no special penalty
is provided, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to one month, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees,
or both.
78.
Rules when to have force of law, - All rules made by
the State Government under this Act shall be published in the Official
Gazette, and shall thereupon, so far as they are consistent with this
Act, have effect as if enacted therein.
CHAPTER
XIII
MISCELLANEOUS
79.
Persons bound to assist Forest-officers and Police-officers.
- (1) Every person who exercises any right in a reserved or protected
forest, or who is permitted to take any forest-produce from, or to cut
and remove timber or to pasture cattle in, such forest, and every person
who is employed by any such person in such forest, and every person
in any village contiguous to such forest who is employed by the Government
or who receives emoluments from the Government for services to be performed
to the community, shall be bound to furnish without unnecessary delay
to the nearest Forest-officer or Police-officer any information he may
possess respecting the commission of, or intention to commit, any forest-offence,
and shall forthwith take steps, whether so required by any Forest-officer
or Police officer or not, -
- to extinguish
any forest fire in such forest of which he has knowledge or information;
- to prevent
any lawful means in his power any fire in the vicinity of such forest
of which he has knowledge or information from spreading to such forest,
and shall assist any Forest-officer or Police officer demanding his
aid -
c)
in preventing the commission in such forest of any forest-offence; and
- when
there is reason to believe that any such offence has been committed
in such forest in discovering and arresting the offender.
- Any
person who, being bound so to do, without lawful excuse (the burden
of proving which shall lie upon such person) fails -
- to furnish
without unnecessary delay to the nearest Forest-officer or Police-officer
any information required by sub-section (1);
- to take
steps, as required by sub-section (1), to extinguish any forest fire
in a reserved or protected forest;
- to prevent,
as required by sub-section (1), any fire in the vicinity of such forest
from spreading to such forest; or
- to assist
any Forest-officer or Police officer demanding his aid in preventing
the commission in such forest of any forest-offence, or, when there
is reason to believe that any such offence has been committed in such
forest, in discovering and arresting the offender,
shall
be punishable with imprisonment for a term which extend to one month,
or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both.
80.
Management of forests the joint property of Government and other
persons. (1) If the Government and any person be jointly interested
in any forest or waste-land, or in the whole or any part of the produce
thereof, the State Government may either -
- undertake
the management of such forest, waste-land or produce, accounting to
such person for his interest in the same; or
- issue
such regulations for the management of the forest, waste-land or produce
by the person so jointly interested as it deems necessary for the
management thereof and the interests of all parties therein.
- When
the State Government undertakes under clause (a) of sub-section (1)
the management of any forest, waste-land or produce, it may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, declare that any of the provisions contained
in Chapters II and IV shall apply to such forest, waste-land or produce,
and thereupon such provisions shall apply accordingly.
81.
Failure to perform service for which a share in produce of Government
forest is employed. - If any person be entitled to a share
in the produce of any forest which is the property of Government or
over which the Government has proprietary rights or to any part of the
forest-produce of which the Government is entitled upon the condition
of duly performing any service connected with such forest, such share
shall be liable to confiscation in the event of the fact being established
to the satisfaction of the State Government that such service is no
longer so performed;
Provided
that no such share be confiscated until the person entitled thereto,
and the evidence, if any, which he may produce in proof of the due performance
of such service, have been heard by an officer duly appointed in that
behalf by the State Government.
82.
Recovery of money due to Government. - All money payable
to the Government under this Act, or under any rule made under this
Act, or on account of the price of any forest-produce, or of expenses
incurred in the execution of this Act in respect of such produce, may,
if not paid when due, be recovered under the law for the time being
in force as if it were an arrear of land-revenue.
83.
Lien on forest-produce for such money. - (1) When any such
money is payable for or in respect of any forest-produce, the amount
thereof shall deemed to be a first charge on such produce, and such
produce may be taken possession of by a Forest-officer until such amount
has been paid.
- If such
amount is not paid when due, the Forest-officer may sell such produce
by public auction, and the proceeds of the sale shall be applied first
in discharging such amount.
- The
surplus, if any, if not claimed within two months from the date of
the sale by the person entitled thereto, shall be forfeited to Government.
84.
Land required under this Act to be deemed to be needed for a
public purpose under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. - Whenever
it appears to the State Government that any land is required for any
of the purposes of this Act, such land shall be deemed to be needed
for a public purpose within the meaning of section 4 of the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894 (1 of 1894).
85.
Recovery of penalties due under bond,_When any person, in accordance
with any provision of this Act, or in compliance with any rule made
thereunder, binds himself by any bond or instrument to perform any duty
or act or covenants by any bond or instrument that he, or that he and
his servants and agents will abstain from any act, the whole sum mentioned
in such bond or instrument as the amount to be paid in case of a breach
of the conditions thereof may, notwithstanding anything in section 74
of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (9 of 1872), be recovered from him
in case of such breach as if it were an arrear of land revenue.
(18)[85A.
Saving for rights of Central Government. - Nothing
in this Act shall authorize a Government of any State to make any order
or do anything in relation to any property not vested in that State
or otherwise prejudice any rights of the Central Government or the Government
of any other State without the consent of the Government concerned].
86.
Repeals. - [Rep. by Repealing and Amending Act, 1947
(2 of 1948), sec. 2 and Sch]
THE
SCHEDULE. - [Enactments Repealed] Rep. by sec. 2 and Sch.,
ibid.
1.
Subs. by the Adaption of Law (No.3) Order, 1956, for sub-sections(2)
and (3)
2.
This Act has been declared to be in force in the Khondmals District
by the Khondmals Laws Regulation, 1936(4 of 1936), sec.3 and Sch; and
in the Angul District by the Angul Laws Regulation, 1936 (5 of 1936),
sec.3 and Sch.
This
Act has been extended to:-
(1)Berar(partially)
by the Berar Laws Act, 1941 (4 of 1941)
(2)The
Province of Coorg, see Coorg Gazette, 1930, Pt.I,p.94
(3)The
DelhiProvince, see Gazette of India, 1933, Pt.IIA, p.293
(4)The
whole of Madhya Pradesh, by M.P. Act 23 of 1958
(5)Dadra
and Nagar Haveli, by Reg. 6 of 1963, sec.2 and Sch. I(w.e.f. 1.7.1965)
(6)Pondicherry
by Reg. 7 of the 1963, sec.3 and Sch.(w.e.f.1.10.1963)
(7)Goa,
Daman and Diu by Reg.11 of 1963, sec.3 and Sch; and
(8)Laccadive,
Minicoy and Amindivi Islands by the Reg 8 of 1965, sec.3 and Sch.(w.e.f.1.10.1967)
(9)Sikkim
by S.O.1138(E), dated 1st December, 1988(w.e.f.20.4.1989)
3.
The words"the G.G. inC., or" omitted by the A.O. 1937.
4.
Ins. by Act 26 of 1930, sec. 2.
5.
Ins. by Act of 1933, sec.2
6.
The words "subject to the control of the G>G. In C.,"
omitted by the A.O.1937.
7.
Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for "L.G.".
8.
Subs. by the Adaptation of Laws (No.3) Order, 1956, for "Part
A states and Part C States".
9.
The proviso omitted by the A.O. 1937
10.
Ins. by the A.O. 1937 as amended by para 2 and Sch. To the Government
of India(Adaptation of Indian
Laws)
Supplementary Order, 1937.
11.
Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for "the Central Legislature".
12.
i.e. the 26th January, 1950
13.
Subs. by the A.O. 1950,f or "Part III of the Government of
India Act, 1935".
14.
Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for "British India".
15.
Ins. by the A.O. 1937
16.
Subs. by the Adaptation of Laws (No.3) order, 1956, for "Part
A States and Part C States".
17.
Subs. by the Adaptation of Laws (No.30 other, 1956, for "Part
A States and Part C States".
18.
Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for the former section 85A which had been
inserted by the A.O. 1937