Chapter 1 Preliminary

1. This Act may be called the Goa, Daman and Diu Ancient Monuments and Archaeological sites and Remains Act, 1978. 2. It extends to the whole of the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. 3. It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- 1. ‘ancient monument’ means any structure, erection or monument, or any tumulus or place of internment or any cave, rock sculpture, inscription or monolith which is of historical. archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for not less than one hundred years, and includes,- (i) the remains of an ancient monument, (ii) the site of an ancient monument, (iii) such portion of land adjoining the site of an ancient monument as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise preserving such monument , and (iv) the means of access to, and from, and convenient inspection of, an ancient monument, but does not include any ancient monument declared by or under law made by Parliament to be a national importance: 2. ‘antiquity’ includes- (i) any coin, sculpture, manuscript, epigraph, or work of art or craftsmanship, (ii) any article, object or thing detached from a building or cave, (iii) any article, object or thing illustrative of science, art, crafts, literature, religion, customs, morals or politics in bygone ages, (iv) any article, object or thing of historical interest, and (v) any article, object or thing declared by the Government, by notification, to be an antiquity for the purposes of this Act, which has been in existence for not less than one hundred years; 3. ‘archaeological officer’ means an officer of Government appointed for the purpose of exercising the powers conferred on, and performing the functions assigned to, an archaeological officer under this Act, and includes any other officer authorized by the Government to exercise or perform all or any of such powers and functions; 4. ‘archaeological site and remains’, means any area which contains or is reasonably believed to contain ruins or relics of historical or archaeological importance which have been in existence for not less than one hundred years, and includes,- (i) Such portion of land adjoining the area as may be required for fencing, or covering in, or otherwise preserving it, and (ii) the means of access to and from, and convenient inspection of, the area but does not include any archaeological sites or remains declared by or under law made by Parliament to be of national importance; 5. ‘Director’ means the Director of Archives and Archaeology (Museum) appointed by the Government and includes any officer authorized by the Government to exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Director under this Act; 6. ‘Government’ means the Government of the Union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu; 7. ‘maintain’ with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions includes the fencing, covering in, repairing, restoring and cleaning of a protected monument, and the doing of any act which may be necessary for the purpose of preserving a protected monument or for securing convenient access thereto; 8. ‘notification’ means a notification in the Official Gazette; 9. ‘owner’ includes,- (i) a joint owner, invested with powers of management on behalf of himself and other joint owners, and the successor in title of any such owner, and (ii) any manager or trustee exercising powers of management and the successor-in-office of any such manager or trustee. 10. ‘prescribed’ means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 11. ‘protected area’ means any archaeological site and remains which is declared to be a protected area by or under this Act; 12. ‘protected monument’ means an ancient monument which is declared to be a protected monument by or under this Act,

1. Where the Government is of opinion that any ancient monument or archaeological site and remains, which has not been declared by or under law made by Parliament to be of national importance, requires protection under this Act, it may, by notification, give two months’ notice of its intention to declare such ancient monument or archaeological site and remains to be protected monument or a protected area, as the case may be, and a copy of every such notification shall be affixed in a conspicuous place near the monument or the site and remains, as the case may be. 2. Any person interested in any such ancient and historical monument or archeological site and remains may, within two months after the issue of the notification under sub-section (1), object to the declaration of the monument or the archaeological site and remains to be a protected monument or a protected area. 3. On the expiry of the said period of two months the Government may , after considering the objections, if any, received by it, declare, by notification, the ancient monument or the archaeological site and remains, as the case may be , to be a protected monument or a protected area. 4. A notification published under sub-section (3) shall, unless and until it is withdrawn, be conclusive evidence of the fact that the ancient monument or the archaeological site and remains, to which it relates, is a protected monument or a protected area for the purposes of this Act.