Gujarat Vacant Lands in Urban Areas (Prohibition of Alienation) Act, 1972

Short title, extent and commencement.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Gujarat Vacant Lands in Urban Areas (Prohibition of Alienation) Act, 1972.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat.
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) "City" means a city constituted under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949 (Bom. LIX of 1949);
2. (b) "Collector" means a Collector appointed under the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879 (Bom. V of 1879) and includes any officer appointed by the State Government to exercise the powers and perform the duties of a Collector under this Act;
3. (c) "Compact block" means such area as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify as a compact block for the purposes of this Act;
4. (d) "Municipal borough" means a municipal borough constituted or deemed to be constituted under the Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 (Guj. 34 of 1964);
5. (e) "Trust" means a public trust registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 (Bom. XXIX of 1950);
6. (f) "Urban area" means—
   • (i) any area within the limits of a city or a municipal borough; and
   • (ii) any other area which the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be an urban area for the purposes of this Act having regard to the extent and density of the population and the need for planned development of the area;
7. (g) "Vacant land" means land, not being land mainly used for the purpose of agriculture, in an urban area, whether or not it is assessed to land revenue, which is not built upon or on which construction is not in progress; Provided that any land on which a building is being constructed, or is proposed to be constructed, in accordance with the prior permission of the local authority, or where such permission is not required, in accordance with the law for the time being in force, shall not be deemed to be vacant land.

Prohibition of alienation of vacant land

1. (1) On and from the appointed day, no person shall, save as otherwise provided in this Act, transfer any vacant land by way of sale, mortgage, gift, lease or otherwise.
2. (2) Any transfer of vacant land made in contravention of the provisions of sub-section
3. (1) shall be null and void.

Penalty Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 3 shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both.

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 purposes 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.

Cognizance of offences.—

Power of State Government to exempt Power of State Government to exempt.

1. (1) If the State Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient in the public interest so to do, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exempt any vacant land or any class of vacant lands from all or any of the provisions of this Act, subject to such conditions as it may deem fit to impose.
2. (2) The State Government may, at any time, by a like notification, withdraw any exemption granted under sub-section (1), and upon such withdrawal, the provisions of this Act shall apply to the land in respect of which the exemption was granted.

Savings. The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not, save as expressly provided, in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force including the Gujarat Vacant Lands in Urban Areas (Prohibition of Alienation) Ordinance, 1972, repealed hereby, and anything done or any action taken (including any order made, notification issued or permission granted) under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act as if this Act had been in force on the date on which such thing was done or such action was taken.

Protection of action taken in good faith. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the State Government or any officer or person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rules or orders made thereunder.

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) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
   • (a) the procedure to be followed by the Collector in making an inquiry under section 5;
   • (b) the form of application for permission under sub-section
3. (2) of section 6 and the particulars which such application shall contain;
   • (c) any other matter which is to be or may be prescribed under this Act.
4. (3) The power to make rules conferred by this section shall be subject to the condition of the rules being made after previous publication.
5. (4) All rules made under this section shall be laid for not less than thirty days before the State Legislature as soon as may be after they are made and shall be subject to such modifications as the State Legislature may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following.