Chapter I PRELIMINARY

(1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976. (2) Chapter VII and Chapter VIII-A extend only to Brihan Mumbai, and the rest of the Act extends to the whole State of Maharashtra including Brihan Mumbai. (3) This Act shall come into force in such area, from such date, as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act for different areas. (4) [Deleted]

It is hereby declared that this Act is for giving effect to the policy of the State towards securing the principle specified in clause (b) of article 39 of the Constitution of India and the execution of the proposals, plans or projects therefor and the acquisition therefor of the lands and buildings and transferring the lands, buildings or tenements therein to the needy persons and the co-operative societies of occupiers of such lands or buildings.

In this Act, unless the context requires otherwise,— (1) “amenity” includes road, bridge, any other means of communication, transport, supply of water and electricity, any other source of energy, street lighting, drainage, sewerage, educational and welfare projects, markets and conservancy, and any convenience which the State Government may, in consultation with the Authority, from time to time by notification in the Official Gazette, specify to be an amenity required for leading a wholesome civic life for the purposes of this Act ; (2) “appointed day” means the day on which the Authority is duly constituted under section 6 ; (3) “Authority” means the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority established under section 3 ; (4) “Authority premises” means any premises belonging to, or vesting in, the Authority, or taken on lease by the Authority, or entrusted to, or placed at the disposal of, the Authority for management and use for the purposes of this Act. Explanation.— In this clause “Authority premises” includes any premises taken by persons from the Authority under hire-purchase agreement, during the period any payments are to be made by such person to the Authority under such agreement or until such agreement is duly terminated ; (5) “betterment charges” means charges payable under section 53 ; (6) “Board” means a Board established under section 18 ; (7) “Building” for the purposes of Chapter VIII, means building in respect of which the cess is levied under that Chapter and includes a tenement let or intended to be let or occupied separately and a house, out-house, stable, shed, hut and every other such structure but does not include any such building or structure which as a whole is unauthorised or any building which is a temporary building as defined in clause (sb) of section 3 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act (Bom. III of 1888) ; (8) “bye-laws” means bye-laws made under section 186 ; (9) “cess” means a tax on lands and buildings levied or leviable under Chapter VIII of this Act ; (10) “Chairman” and “Vice-Chairman” means the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, respectively of a Board ; (11) “Competent Authority” means an officer appointed to be the Competent Authority under section 65 ; (12) “co-operative society” means a co-operative housing society registered or deemed to be registered under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (Mah. XXIV of 1961) ; (13) “development”, with its grammatical variations, means the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, or over, or under, any land (including land under sea, creek, river, lake or any other water) or the making of any material change in any building or land, and includes re-development and layout and sub-division of any land, also the provision of amenities and “to develop” shall be constructed accordingly ; (14) “existing Board” means,— (i) the Maharashtra Housing Board constituted under the Bombay Housing Board Act, 1948 (Bom. LXIX of 1948), (ii) the Vidarbha Housing Board constituted under the Madhya Pradesh Housing Board Act, 1950 (M.P. XLIII of 1950), (iii) the Bombay Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board constituted under the Bombay Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board Act,1969 (Mah. XLVII of 1969), (iv) the Maharashtra Slum Improvement Board constituted under the Maharashtra Slum Improvement Board Act, 1973 (Mah. XXIII of 1973), (v) [Deleted] functioning in the State or any part thereof immediately before the appointed day ; (15) “fund of the Authority” means the fund of the Authority referred to in section 34 ; (16) “land” includes open sites and land which is being built upon or is already built upon, benefits to arise out of land and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth; and also include land under sea, creek, river, lake or any other water ; (17) “Land Acquisition Officer” means an officer appointed as such under section 49 of this Act ; (18) “member”— (i) in relation to the Authority, means a member of the Authority including the President and the Vice-President thereof, (ii) in relation to a Board, means a member of the Board including the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman thereof, (iii) in relation to a Panchayat, means a member of a Panchayat including the Sarpanch and Upa-Sarpanch thereof ; (19) “Metropolitan Act” means the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority Act, 1974 (Mah. IV of 1975) ; (20) “Metropolitan Authority” means the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority established under the Metropolitan Act ; (21) “Metropolitan Region” has the meaning assigned to it in the Metropolitan Act ; (22) “Municipal Commissioner” means the Municipal Commissioner of a Municipal Corporation ; (23) “Municipal Corporation” means a Municipal Corporation established or constituted under any law for the time being in force in the State ; (24) “Municipal Council” means a Municipal Council established under the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965 (Mah. XL of 1965) ; (25) “occupier” includes— (a) any person who for the time being is paying or is liable to pay to the owner the rent or any portion of the rent of the land or building in respect of which such rent is paid or is payable ; (b) an owner in occupation of, or otherwise using, his land, or building ; (c) a rent-free tenant of any land or building ; (d) a licensee in occupation of any land or building ; and (e) any person who is liable to pay to the owner damages for the use and occupation of any land or building ; (26) “owner”, when used with reference to any building or land or a part thereof, let or intended to be let or occupied separately, means the person who receives the rent of such building or land or a part thereof, or who will be entitled to receive the rent thereof if the building or land or a part thereof were let and includes— (a) an agent or trustee who receives such rent on account of the owner, (b) an agent or trustee, who receives the rent of, or is entrusted with, or concerned for, any building, land or part thereof devoted to religious or charitable purposes, or (c) a receiver, sequestrator, or manager appointed by any court of competent jurisdiction to have the charge of or to exercise the rights of an owner of the said building, land or part thereof, (d) a mortgagee in possession ; (27) “premises” means any land or building, or part of a building, whether authorises or otherwise, and includes— (a) gardens, grounds and out-houses, if any, appertaining to such building or part of a building ; (b) any fitting affixed to such building or part of a building for the more beneficial enjoyment thereof ; and (c) building or a part of building let or intended to be let or occupied separately ; (28) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules ; (29) “President” and “Vice-President” means the President and Vice-President, respectively, of the Authority ; (30) “rateable value”, in relation to a building in any area, has the meaning assigned to it in the relevant municipal law in force in such area ;

The State Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish for securing the objectives and purposes of this Act, an Authority to be called the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority for the areas in which this Act may be brought into force, from time to time.

(1) The Authority shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal and may sue or be sued in its corporate name and shall be competent to acquire and hold property, both moveable and immoveable, and to contract and do all things, necessary for the purposes of this Act. (2) The Authority shall be deemed to be a local authority for the purposes of this Act.

Notwithstanding anything contained in the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 or any other law corresponding thereto, the provisions of this Act shall prevail. The Rent Act or any law corresponding thereto for the time being in force in any area to which this Act extends,— (a) shall not apply to any land or building belonging to, or vesting in, the Authority under or for the purpose of this Act ; (b) shall not apply as against the Authority to any tenancy, license or other like relationship created by any existing Board or the Authority in respect of any such land or building; (c) but shall apply to any land or building let, or given on license, to any existing Board or the Authority.

(1) The Authority shall consist of a President, a Vice-President and seven other members—all appointed by the State Government. (2) The President may be either a full-time President or part-time President. If the President is a part-time President then the State Government shall appoint a full-time Vice-President. The President and Vice-President shall be persons who, in the opinion of the State Government, have administrative and management experience necessary for conducting and managing the affairs of the Authority under this Act. The Authority shall consist of the following other members, namely :— (a) two official members who, in the opinion of the State Government, have special knowledge of, or practical experience in, public administration, finance, structural engineering, architecture, town and country planning or public housing ; (b) five non-official members, of whom one shall be a representative of the employees of the Authority. (3) The names of the President, Vice-President and other members appointed under this section shall be published in the Official Gazette, and upon such publication, the Authority shall be deemed to be duly constituted.

The term of office of the members of the Authority shall be such as may be prescribed. The President, Vice-President and every non-official member shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, hold office for a period of three years from the date of publication of his appointment in the Official Gazette: Provided that, the State Government may, by a notification in the Official Gazette, extend the said period by a further period not exceeding one year as may be specified in the notification: Provided further that, after the expiry of the period or extended period of his appointment, a person shall, unless disqualified, be eligible for re-appointment as the President, the Vice-President or such member, so, however, that he does not hold office for a period of more than seven years in the aggregate.

(1) Remuneration and other conditions of service of the President and Vice-President who is a non-official shall be such as the State Government may by order determine. (2) Every non-official member shall receive such allowances for the purpose of meeting personal expenditure incurred in attending the meetings of the Authority or for attending to any other business of the Authority as such member, as the State Government may by order determine. (3) The remuneration of the President, Vice-President and the allowances to the non-official members shall be paid from the fund of the Authority. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, if a member of the State Legislative is appointed as a member of the Authority (including the President or the Vice-President thereof), he shall not be entitled to receive any remuneration other than travelling allowance, daily allowance or such other allowance which is paid to a member of the Authority for the purpose of meeting the personal expenditure incurred in attending the meeting of the Authority or in performing any other functions as such member.

The President, Vice-President or any non-official member may at any time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the State Government, and upon the acceptance thereof, the office of the member shall become vacant.

If any member is by infirmity or otherwise rendered temporarily incapable of carrying out his duties as a member or is absent on leave or otherwise, not involving the vacation of his appointment, the State Government may appoint another person to officiate for him and carry out his functions under this Act or any rules or regulations made thereunder.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person shall be disqualified for being appointed or continuing as the President, the Vice-President or the non-official member of the Authority, if he — (a) holds any office of profit under the Authority, (b) is of unsound mind, and stands so declared by a competent court, (c) is an uncertificated bankrupt or an undischarged insolvent, (d) has directly or indirectly by himself or by any partner, any share or interest in any contract or employment with, by or on behalf, of the Authority, (e) is a Director or a Secretary, Manager or other salaried officer of any incorporated company which has any share or interest in any contract or employment with, by or on behalf of, the Authority, or (f) has been or is convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude. (2) A person shall not be disqualified under clause (a) of sub-section (1), by reason only of being a President or a Vice-President, and, in the case of a representative of the employees by reason only of being an employee of the Authority. (3) A person shall not, however, be disqualified under clause (d) or (e) of sub-section (1), or be deemed to have any share or interest in any contract or employment within the meaning of these clauses, by reason only of his, or the incorporated company of which he is a Director, Secretary, Manager or other salaried officer having a share or interest in any newspaper in which any advertisement relating to the affairs of the Authority is inserted. (4) A person shall not also be disqualified under clause (d) or (e) of sub-section (1) or be deemed to have any share or interest in any incorporated company which has any share or interest in any contract or employment with, by or on behalf of, the Authority, by reason only of his being a shareholder of such company ; Provided that, such person discloses to the State Government the nature and extent of the shares held by him.

(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, remove from office the President, Vice-President or any non-official member who — (a) is, or has become, subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in section 11; or (b) in the opinion of the State Government, has been guilty of any misconduct whether before or after the appointment or neglect, or has so abused his position as to render his continuance as member detrimental to the interests of the Authority or of the general public, or is otherwise unfit to continue as member ; or (c) is absent without permission of the Authority for two consecutive meetings of the Authority : Provided that, no person shall be so removed from office unless he has been given an opportunity to show cause against his removal. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 7 or other provisions of this Act, the President, the Vice-President and other members shall hold office during the pleasure of the State

(1) In the event of a vacancy in the office of any member, the vacancy may be filled by the State Government, and the person so appointed shall hold office so long only as the member in whose place he is appointed would have held office. (2) A vacancy of a member shall be filled as early as practicable : Provided that, during any such vacancy, the continuing members may act as if no vacancy had occurred.

No disqualification of, or defect in, the appointment or continuation of any person acting as a member of the Authority shall be deemed to vitiate any act or proceeding of the Authority, if such act or proceeding is otherwise in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Until the Authority is duly constituted under section 6, the existing Board shall continue to function in the area of its jurisdiction and fields of activity; and on the constitution of the Authority, the existing Board shall stand dissolved and members including the office bearers thereof shall vacate their office.