Arunachal Pradesh Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1994

Short title, extent and commencement :—

1. (1) This Act may be called the Arunachal Pradesh Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1994.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Arunachal Pradesh.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

Definitions :— In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

1. (a) "defacement" includes impairing or interfering with the appearance or beauty, damaging, disfiguring, spoiling or injuring in any other way whatsoever and the word "deface" shall be construed accordingly;
2. (b) "public place" means any place (including a road, street, way, arch, bridge, subway, drive, lane, square, court, alley or passage whether a thoroughfare or not and whether used by the public or not) to which the public have access;
3. (c) "public view" means anything visible to a person while present in or passing through a public place;
4. (d) "writing" includes printing, painting, decoration, lettering, ornamentation etc. produced by stencil, decoration or other means.

Penalty for defacement of property. —

1. (1) Whoever defaces any property in public view by writing or marking with ink, chalk, paint or any other material, except for the purpose of indicating the name and address of the owner or occupier of such property, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
2. (2) Where any offence committed under sub-section
3. (1) is for the benefit of some other person or a company or other association of persons (whether incorporated or not), then, such person and every person in charge of any company or association shall be deemed to be guilty of such offence, unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or consent.

Penalty for abettors. —

Penalty for offences by companies Penalty for offences by companies:

1. (1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in this Act if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
2. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Explanation: For the purpose of this section:
   • (a) "company" means a body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
   • (b) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.

Offences to be cognizable:

Power of Government to remove defacement Power of Government to remove defacement -

1. (1) Where any property in any public place is defaced by writing or marking in contravention of the provisions of this Act, it shall be competent for the Government to get such defacement erased or removed at the cost of the defaulter in such manner as may be prescribed.
2. (2) The cost of erasure or removal of such defacement shall be recovered from the defaulter as arrears of land revenue.

Act to override other laws - The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force.

Power to make rules.

1. (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
2. (2) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid the Legislative Assembly agrees in making any modification in the rule or the Legislative Assembly agrees that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.