Chapter I PRELIMINARY

(1) This Act may be called the Karnataka Decriminalisation (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2025. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the Government of Karnataka may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for amendments relating to different enactments. (3) The amendment of any enactment by this Act shall not affect any other enactment in which the amended enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to. (4) This Act shall not affect the validity, invalidity, effect or consequences of anything already done or suffered, or any right, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred or any remedy or proceeding in respect thereof, or any release or discharge of, or from any debt, penalty, obligation, liability, claim or demand or any indemnity already granted, or the proof of any past act or thing; (5) This Act shall not affect any principle or rule of law, or established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure, or existing usage, custom, privilege, restriction, exemption, office or appointment, notwithstanding that the same respectively may have been in any manner affirmed, or recognised or derived by, in or from any enactment hereby amended. (6) The amendment of any enactment by this Act shall not revive restore any jurisdiction, office, custom, liability, right, title, privilege, restriction, exemption, usage, practice, procedure or other matter or thing not now existing or in force.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— (a) “co-operative society” means a society registered or deemed to be registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1959); (b) “depositor” means a person who tenders his goods to the warehouseman for storing in his warehouse and includes any person who lawfully holds the receipt issued by the warehouseman in respect of such goods and derives title thereto by a proper endorsement or transfer thereof to him by the depositor or the depositor’s lawful transferee; (c) “goods” means any of the articles specified in the schedule to this Act; (d) “licensed warehouse” means a warehouse licensed under this Act; (e) “notification” means a notification published in the official Gazette; (f) “person” includes any company or association or body corporate; (g) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (h) “prescribed authority” means in relation to any provision of this Act, the authority prescribed by rules to carry out such provision; (i) “receipt” means a warehouse receipt in the prescribed form issued by a warehouseman to a person depositing goods in the warehouse; (j) “rules” means rules made by the State Government under this Act; (k) “warehouse” means any building, structure or other protected enclosure which is or may be used for the purpose of storing goods on behalf of depositors but does not include cloak rooms attached to hotels, railway stations, the premises of other public carriers, and the like; and the expression ‘warehousing’ shall be construed accordingly; (l) “warehouseman” means a person, who has obtained licence under this Act in respect of his warehouse. In the Karnataka Warehouses Act, 1961 (Karnataka Act 11 of 1962), in section 33 in clause (a), for the words, “with simple imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both”, the words, “with penalty which may extend to ten thousand rupees”, shall be substituted.