Chapter I Preliminary

1. (1) This Act may be cited as 1[the Maharashtra Prohibition Act.] 2(2) It extends to the whole of the 3[State of Maharashtra] 4(3) It shall come into force 5[in the area comprising the pre-Reorganisation State of Bombay] on such date as the 6[State] Government may by notification in the Official Gazette 7[specify]. In those areas of the State to which it is extended by the Bombay Prohibition (Extension and Amendment) Act, 1959 (Bom.XII of 1959), it shall come into force on such other date as that Government may, by like notification appoint : Provided that having regard to the nature of the outstill area of the Chanda District, the general backwardness of the people residing therein, and the necessity of preparing an adequate background before the introduction of prohibition therein, the State Government may, if it thinks fit, fix a different date for bringing the Act into force in that area. Explanation.- In this sub-section the expression "outstill area of the Chanda District" means the areas of the Chanda District specified in Schedule I-A.] 8[(4) On the commencement of this Act in the manner provided in sub-section (3) in any area to which this Act is extended by the Bombay Prohibition (Extension and Amendment) Act, 1959 (Bom. XII of 1959), all rules, regulations, orders and notifications made or issued or deemed to be made or issued under this Act and inforce in the pre-Reorganisation State of Bombay excluding the transferred territories immediately before such commencement, shall also extend to, and be in force in that area.]

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

1. (1) "authorization" means an authorization granted under section 45 for the use of liquor for sacramental purposes;
2. (2) "to bottle" with its various grammatical variations, means to transfer any article from a cask or other vessel to a bottle, jar, flask, pot or similar receptacle for the purpose of sale, whether any process of manufacture be employed or not; bottling includes re-bottling; 1 * * * * * * * * 2[(4) "Collector" includes an officer appointed by the State Government to exercise all or any of the powers and to perform all or any of the duties or functions of a Collector under this Act; 3](5) "Commissioner" means an officer appointed as the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise under section 3 of this Act and includes any officer on whom the State Government may confer all or any of the powers of the Commissioner under this Act;] ]
3. (6) "Committee 4[or board]" means 5[a committee or board] appointed by the 6[State] Government under section 7;
4. (7) "Common drinking house" means a place where the drinking of liquor or consumption of any intoxicating drug is allowed for the profit or gain of the person owning, occupying, using, keeping or having the care of management or control of such place whether by way of charge for the use of the place or for drinking facilities provided, or otherwise howsoever and includes the premises of a club or any other place which is habitually used for the purpose of drinking liquor or consuming any intoxicating drug by more than one person without a licence granted under this Act;. (8) "country liquor" includes all liquor produced or manufactured in India; 7[(9) "cultivation" means raising a plant from seed and includes the tending or protecting of a plant during its growth; ]
5. (10) "denatured" means subjected to a process prescribed for the purpose of rendering unfit for human consumption; 8[(10a) "denatured spirituous preparation" means any preparation made with denatured spirit9[or denatured alcohol] and includes lacquers, French Polish and varnish prepared out of such spirit or alcohol; ] 9* * * * * * * *
6. (12) "to drink" with its grammatical variations means to drink liquor or to consume any intoxicating drug;
7. (13) "excisable article" means-
   • (a) any alcoholic liquor for human consumption,
   • (b) an intoxicating drug 10[or hemp],
   • (c) opium, 11[(d) other narcotic drugs and narcotics which the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be an excisable article];
8. (14) "excise duty" and "countervailing duty" means such excise duty or countervailing duty, as the case may be, as is mentioned in 12[entry 51 in List II in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution];
9. (15) "excise revenue" means revenue derived or derivable from any duty, fee, tax, fine (other than a fine imposed by a court of law) or confiscation or forfeiture imposed or ordered under the provisions of this Act, or of any other law for the time being in force relating to intoxicants;
10. (16) "export" (except in section 147) means to take out of the 13[State ] otherwise than across a customs frontier 14* * * ;
11. (17) "foreign liquor" 15[means all liquor produced or manufactured outside India ]: Provided that the 16[State ] Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that any specified description of country liquor shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be foreign liquor ; 17[(17A) "Gram Rakshak Dal" means Gram Rakshak Dal established under section 134A ;]
12. (18) "hemp" means any variety of the Indian hemp plant from which intoxicating drugs can be produced;
13. (19) "hotel licence" means a licence granted under section 35; 18[(19a) "household" means a group of persons residing and messing jointly as members of one domestic unit, but does not include their servants; ]
14. (20) "import" (except in section 147) means to bring into the 19[State ] otherwise than across a customs forntier 20* * * *
15. (21) "interim permit" means a permit granted under section 47;
16. (22) "intoxicant" means any liquor, intoxicating drug, opium or any other substance, which the 21[State ] Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be an intoxicant;
17. (23) "intoxicating drugs" means-
    • (a) the leaves, small stalks and flowering or fruiting tops of the Indian hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa L.) including all forms known as bhang, sidhi or ganja;
    • (b) charas, that is, the resin obtained from the Indian hemp plant, which has not been submitted to any manipulations other than those necessary for packing and transport;
    • (c) any mixture, with or without natural materials of any of the above forms of intoxicating drug, or any drink perpared therefrom; 22 * 23[(d) any other intoxicating or narcotic drug or substance together with every preparation or admixture of the same which the State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be an intoxicating drug for the purposes of the Act, such drug, substance, preparation or admixture, not being opium, coca leaf or a manufactured drug as defined in section 2 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930];
18. (24) "liquor" includes-
    • (a) 24[spirits], 25[denatured spirits], wine, beer, toddy and all liquids consisting of or containing alcohol; and
    • (b) any other intoxicating substance which the 26[State] Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be liquor for the purposes of this Act;
19. (25) "manufacture" includes-
    • (a) every process whether natural or artificial by which any liquor or intoxicating drug is produced, prepared or blended and also redistillation and every process for the 27rectification, flavouring, or colouring of liquor or intoxicating drug but does not include flavouring, blending or colouring of liquor or intoxicating drug lawfully possessed for private consumption; and
    • (b) every process of producing and drawing of toddy from trees;
20. (26) "Medical Board" means a board constituted under section 8;
21. (27) "mhowra flower" does not include the berry or seed of the mhowra tree; 28(28) "molasses" means the heavy, dark coloured viscous liquid produced during the manufacture of gur or sugar containing in solution or suspension, sugars which can be fermented, and includes the solid form of such liquid and also any product formed by the addition to such liquid or solid of any ingredient which does not substantially alter the character of such liquid or solid; and shall also include substances containing sugars obtained from sugarcane known as black coloured gur and residual substances obtained from khandsari known as third sugar or raskat or sayar and irrespective of its colour rotten gur or rotten rab which conform to the following analytical standards on dry weight basis,-
    • (i) total sugars (expressed as invert sugar) less than 85 per cent. and sucrose less than 57 per cent.; or
    • (ii) extraneous matter insoluble in water more than 2 per cent; or
    • (iii) total ash more than 6 per cent.; or
    • (iv) ash insoluble in Hydrochloric acid (HCL) more than 0.5 per cent.; or
    • (v) more than 10 per cent. of moisture; but does not include any article which the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare not to be molasses, for the purposes of this Act.]
22. (29) "Officer in charge of a Police Station" includes -
    • (a) in the Greater Bombay, the Officer in charge of a police station as provided under the provisions of the 29,30Bombay Police Act, 1951(Bom. XXII of 1951); and
    • (b) elsewhere the Officer in charge of a police station as defined in the 31Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898);
23. (30) "opium" means -
    • (a) the capsules of the poppy (Papaver Somaniforum L), 32whether in their original form or cut, or crushed or powdered and whether or not the juice has been extracted therefrom;
    • (b) the spontaneously coagulated juice of such capsules which has not been submitted to any manipulation other than those necessary for packing and transport; and
    • (c) any mixture with or without neutral materials of any of the above forms of opium; but does not include any preparations containing not more than 0.2 per cent of morphine, or a manufactured drug as defined in section 2 of the Dangerous Drugs of Act, 1930 (II of1930). 33 * * * * * *
24. (32) "permit" means a permit granted under 34[the provisions of this Act] and the expression permit holder shall be construed accordingly;
25. (33) "police station", means in the Greater Bombay a police station as provided under the provisions of the 35,36[Bombay Police Act, 1951(Bom. XXII of 1951)] and else where any place declared to be a police station for the purposes of the 37Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898);
26. (34) "prescribed" means prescribed by the rules, orders or regulations under this Act;
27. (35) "Prohibition officer" includes the 38Commissioner, Collector or any officer or person appointed to exercise any of the powers or to perform any of the duties and functions under the provisions of this Act 39and also includes any officer or person invested with any such powers and on whom any such functions, or duties are imposed, and any member of a committee, board or medical board; 40(36) "State" means the 41State of Maharashtra including the space within the limits of the territorial waters appertaining to it; 42(37) "rectification" includes every process whereby liquor is purified or refined; 43(38) "registered medical practitioner" means a person who is entitled to practise any system of medicine in the State under any law for the time being in force relating to medical practitioners, and includes registered dentists as defined in the Dentists Act, 1948 (XVI of 1948) and a veterinary practitioner registered under the 44Bombay Veterinary Practitioners Act, 1953 (XVI of 1948) or under any law corresponding thereto in any part of the State;
28. (39) "regulations" means regulations made under this Act;
29. (40) "rules" means rules made under this Act;
30. (41) "sell" with its grammatical variations includes-
    • (a) any transfer whether such transfer is for any consideration or not,
    • (b) any supply or distribution for mutual accommodation, and
    • (c) any supply by a club to its members on payment of price or of any fees or subscription, but does not include selling of opium for export across the customs frontier; 45* * * * The word "buy" with its grammatical variations shall be construed accordingly; 46* * * * * * *
31. (43) "spirit" means any liquor containing alcohol and obtained by distillation (whether it is denatured or not);
32. (44) "sweet toddy or nira or neera" means unfermented juice drawn from a coconut, barb, date or any kind of palm tree into receptacles treated in the prescribed manner so as to prevent fermentation; 47[(45) "territorial waters" with reference to the State, means any part of the open sea within a distance of six nautical miles measured from the appropriate base line according to the President's proclamation published in this behalf in the Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Notification No. SRO-669, dated the 22nd March 1956, or such other distance as may be fixed from time to time by the President hereafter;]
33. (46) "toddy" means fermented or unfermented juice drawn from a coconut, barb, date or any kind of palm tree and includes sweet toddy or nira or neera;
34. (47) "to tap" means to prepare any part of a tree, or to use any means, for the purpose of causing juice to exude from the tree; 48(47A) "tourist" means a person who is not a citizen of India and who is either born or brought up or domiciled in any country outside India, but who visits India on a tour for a temporary period; (47B) "tourist permit" means a permit granted under section 46-A;
35. (48) "trade and import licence" means a licence granted under section 33;
36. (49) "transport" means to move from one place to another within the 49State;
37. (50) "vendor's licence" means a licence granted under section 34;
38. (51) "visitor's permit" means a permit granted under section 46; 50(52) any reference to the 51Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898), the 52Bombay Village Panchayats Act, 1933 (Bom.VI of1933), or the 53Bombay Police Act, 1951(Bom. XXII of 1951), includes a reference to any law corresponding to those Acts, respectively, in force in any part of the State.