Haryana Municipal Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1974

(1) This Act may be called the Haryana Municipal Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1974. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Haryana. (3) It shall come into force at once.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— (a) “Collector” means the Collector of the district in which the municipal area is situated and includes any officer not below the rank of an Extra Assistant Commissioner appointed by the State Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act; (b) “Common purposes” has the same meaning as assigned to it in the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, as applicable to the State of Haryana; (c) “Municipal common lands” means land which is not in the exclusive possession of any person and has been reserved for the use of the inhabitants of the municipal area or for common purposes; (d) “Municipal Committee” means a committee constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, as applicable to the State of Haryana; (e) “Prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act.

Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument or decree or order of any court, all rights, title and interest in the shamilat deh or any other common land situated within the municipal area shall vest in the Municipal Committee concerned.

All municipal common lands shall be used and managed for the benefit of the inhabitants of the municipal area in such manner as may be prescribed.

The Municipal Committee may, with the prior approval of the State Government, regulate, sell, lease or transfer any municipal common land in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.

If the Collector is of the opinion that any person is in unauthorized occupation of any municipal common land, he may, after giving such person an opportunity of being heard, order the eviction of such person.

Any person who is in unauthorized occupation of any municipal common land shall be liable to pay such damages for the use and occupation thereof as may be assessed by the Collector.

Any person aggrieved by an order of the Collector under section 6 or 7 may prefer an appeal to the Commissioner within such time and in such manner as may be prescribed.

No civil court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceeding in respect of any matter which the Collector or any other officer is empowered by or under this Act to determine.

(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for— (a) the manner in which municipal common lands shall be managed; (b) the procedure to be followed by the Collector in proceedings under this Act; (c) the fees to be paid for appeals; (d) any other matter which is required to be or may be prescribed.

If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State Government may, by order, do anything which appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of removing the difficulty.