Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (1) “annual value” means,- (1) double the land revenue for the time being assessed on any land, whether the assessment is leviable or not; or (ii) where the land revenue has been permanently assessed, or has been wholly or in part compounded or redeemed, double the amount which, but for such permanent assessment, composition or redemption, would have been leviable; or (iii) where no land revenue has been assessed, double the amount which, would have been assessed if the average village rate had been applied: Provided that, in any tract in which, under the settlement for the time being in force, the improvement of the land due to canal irrigation has been excluded from account in assessing the land revenue and rate has been imposed in respect of such improvement, that rate shall be added to the land revenue for the purpose of computing the annual value: (2) “backward classes” means such classes of citizens other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as may be identified and notified for the purposes of reservation for appointments or posts in the services under the State Government; (3) “block” means such area in a district as may be declared by the Government by notification to be a block; (4) “building” means any shop, house, out-house, hut, shed, stable, whether used for the purpose of human habitation or otherwise and whether of stone, concrete, bricks masonry, wood, mud, thatch, metal or any other material whatever and includes a wall; (5) “bye-laws” means bye-laws made by a Panchayat under this Act and includes model bye-laws framed by the State Government under section 188; (6) “case” means ‘criminal proceedings’ in respect of an offence triable by a Gram Panchayat; (6-A). “cattle” means domestic animals and includes elephants, camels, buffaloes, cows, oxen, horses, mares, geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs, goats and kids; (7) “collector”, “Magistrate” or “Sub-Judge” with reference to a “Gram Sabha” or a “Gram Panchayat” means a Collector, a Judicial Magistrate or a Sub Judge of the District or the Sub Division, as the case may be, in which such Gram Sabha, or Gram Panchayat is constituted; (8) “complaint” means any allegation made orally or in writing to the Gram Panchayat, with a view to its taking action under Chapter-IV of this Act, that some person, whether known or unknown has committed an offence; (8-A) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX; (9) “common land” means the land which is not in the exclusive use of any individual and has, by usage, custom, prescription or by law, been reserved for the common purposes of village community or has been acquired for such purposes; (10) “decree”, “decree holder”, “judgment debtor” and “legal representative” shall have the same meanings as are assigned to them in section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908( 5 of 1908); (11) “Deputy Commissioner” means the Deputy Commissioner of a district and includes any officer specially appointed by the Government to perform the functions of a Deputy Commissioner under this Act: Provided that such officer shall not perform any function in respect of which the decision of the Deputy Commissioner under this Act is final; (11-A) “Divisional Commissioner” means the Divisional Commissioner of a Division and includes any officer specially appointed by the State Government to perform function of Divisional Commissioner; (12) “Director” means the Director of Panchayati Raj appointed under this Act and includes any other officer specially appointed by the Government to perform the functions of the Director under this Act; (13) “district” means a revenue district; (13-A) “Chief Executive Officer” means Chief Executive Officer of Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad appointed under section 134 of this Act; (13-B) “family” means a joint family of all persons descended from common ancestor including adoption, who live, worship and mess together permanently as shown in the parivar register of the Gram Panchayat; (13-C) “Financial Commissioner” means the Financial Commissioner (Appeal) to the Government of Himachal Pradesh; (14) “Government” or “State Government” means the Government of Himachal Pradesh; (15) “Gram Panchayat” means the Executive Committee of the Gram Sabha established under section 8 of this Act; (16) “Gram Sabha” or “Sabha” means a Gram Sabha established under section 4 of this Act and ‘Sabha area’ means an area declared to be a ‘Sabha area’ under section 3 of this Act; (17) “land” means land assessed to land revenue and includes land whereof the land revenue has been wholly, or in part released, compounded for, redeemed or assigned; (18) “land holder” means any person responsible for the payment of the land revenue, if any, assessed on land and includes the proprietor of land, the land revenue of which has been wholly, or in part, released, compounded for, redeemed or assigned; (19) “land revenue” includes tirni or grazing dues levied for grazing on Government land; (19-A) “Mahila Gram Sabha” means a Mahila Gram Sabha constituted under section 5-B of this Act; (20) “member” means a member of the Gram Panchayat, Gram Sabha, Panchayat Samiti or Zila Parishad, as the case may be; (21) “municipality” means an institution of self-Government constituted under article 243-Q of the Constitution of India and includes a Cantonment Board set up under the Cantonments Act, 1924( 2 of 1924); (21-A) “near relative” means any person who is related to the office-bearer of the Panchayat which includes father, mother, grand-father, grand-mother, wife, husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, maternal or paternal uncle, son, grand-son, daughter, grand-daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, nephew, niece, sister or sister’s husband; (22) “offence”, “bailable offence”, “non-bailable offence”, “cognizable offence”, “Officer-in-charge of a police station” and “police station” shall have the same meanings as are assigned to them in section 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973(2 of 1974; (23) “office-bearer” means a Member, Pradhan or Up-Pradhan of a Gram Panchayat and a Member, Chairman or Vice-Chairman of a Panchayat Samiti or of a Zila Parishad, as the case may be; (24) “Official Gazette” or “Gazette” means the Rajpatra of Himachal Pradesh; (25) “panch” means a member of Gram Panchayat while discharging the judicial functions of the Gram Panchayat under this Act and includes a Pradhan or Up-Pradhan; (26) “panchayat” means a Gram Panchayat, a Panchayat Samiti or a Zila Parishad, as the case may be; (27) “panchayat forest” means a forest which has been so declared by the State Government by notification issued in this behalf; (27-A) “Panchayat Sahayak” means a person appointed as Panchayat Sahayak by the Panchayat under section 135 or an official deputed by the State Government under section 136, as the case may be, to perform the functions of Secretary of Gram Panchayat under this Act; (28) “Panchayat Samiti” means a Panchayat Samiti constituted under section 78 of this Act and having jurisdiction over the block area; (29) “population” means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published; (30) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (31) “prescribed authority” means the authority notified as such by the Government under this Act; (32) “proceedings” means a revenue matter triable by a Gram Panchayat; (33) “public place” means a space not being private property which is open to use or enjoyment of the public whether such space is vested in a Panchayat or not; (34) “public street” means any road, street, bridge, lane, square, court, alley or passage which the public has a right to pass along and includes on either side, the drains or gutters and the land up to defined boundary of any abutting property, notwithstanding any projection over such land of any varandah or other superstructure; (35) “public servant” means a public servant as defined in section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860(45 of 1860); (36) “schedule” means a schedule appended to this Act; (37) “scheduled areas” means the areas specified and declared as scheduled areas in the State of Himachal Pradesh under para-graph 6 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of India for the purposes of clause(1) of Article 244 of the Constitution; (38) “Scheduled Castes” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (24) of article 366 of the Constitution of India; (39) “Scheduled Tribes” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (25) of article 366 of the Constitution of India; (40) “section” means the section of this Act; (41) “Secretary” means a person, by whatever name called, appointed under section 133 and sub-section (1) of section 134 to discharge the functions of the Secretary of the Gram Panchayat, the Panchayat Samiti and the Zila Parishad concerned; (42) “Sub-Divisional Officer” means the officer-in-charge of a Sub-Division of a District constituted for revenue and general purposes and where a Sub-Division does not exist such other officer as may be declared by the Government as Sub-Divisional Officer, for the purposes of this Act; (43) “suit” means a civil suit triable by a Gram Panchayat; (44) “tax” includes a cess, duty, fee, rate or toll, leviable under this Act; (45) “tenant”, “rent”, and “rates and cesses” shall have the same meanings as are assigned to them in section 4 of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954( 6 of 1954); (46) “village” means any local area, recorded as a revenue estate in the revenue records of the district in which it is situated or any other local area which the Government may, by general or special order, declare to be a village; (46-A) “ward” means a single member territorial constituency in a Panchayat area as determined under section 124 of the Act; (47) “water-courses” means a Kuhal or channel which is used for irrigation or providing drinking water and the management whereof has been partly or wholly entrusted to a Panchayat; and (48) “Zila Parishad” means a Zila Parishad constituted under section 89 of this Act.