Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— (1) ‘land’ includes benefits to arise out of land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth; (2) ‘person interested’ includes all persons claiming or entitled to claim an interest in compensation payable on account of the acquisition of land under this Act; and a person shall be deemed to be interested in land if he is interested in an easement affecting the land; (3) ‘Collector’ means the Collector of the district and includes any officer appointed by the Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act; (4) ‘company’ means a company as defined in section 3 of the Companies Act, 1956 (Central Act 1 of 1956) and includes a foreign company within the meaning of section 591 of that Act, a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (Central Act 21 of 1860) as in force in the Malabar district referred to in sub-section (2) of section 5 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 or under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 (Act XII of 1955) and a registered society within the meaning of the Co-operative Societies Act for the time being in force; (5) ‘Court’ means a Land Acquisition Court established, or any civil court invested with the jurisdiction of a Land Acquisition Court, under section 58; (6) ‘Government’ means, in relation to the acquisition of land for the purposes of the Union, the Central Government, and, in relation to the acquisition of land for any other purposes, the State Government; (7) the following persons shall be deemed ‘persons entitled to act’ as and to the extent hereinafter provided, that is to say— (a) trustees for other persons beneficially interested shall be deemed to be the persons entitled to act with reference to any such case, and that to the same extent as the persons beneficially interested could have acted, if free from disability; and (b) the guardians of minors and the managers of lunatics or idiots shall be deemed respectively the persons so entitled to act, to the same extent as the minors, lunatics or idiots themselves, if free from disability, could have acted: Provided that— (i) no person shall be deemed ‘entitled to act’ whose interest in the subject-matter shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Collector or Court to be adverse to the interest of the person interested for whom he would otherwise be entitled to act; (ii) in every such case the person interested may appear by a next friend, or, in default of his appearance by a next friend, the Collector or Court, as the case may be, shall appoint a guardian for the case to act on his behalf in the conduct thereof; (iii) the provisions of Order XXXII of the First Schedule to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall mutatis mutandis, apply in the case of persons interested appearing before a Collector or Court by a next friend, or by a guardian for the case in proceedings under this Act; and (iv) no person ‘entitled to act’ shall be competent to receive the compensation money, payable to the person for whom he is entitled to act, unless he would have been competent to alienate the land and receive and give a good discharge for the purchase-money on a voluntary sale.