The Punjab General Clauses Act, 1898

1. (1) This Act may be called 1 [The Punjab Riverain Boundaries Act, 1899.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of 1 [Haryana]; and
3. (3) It shall come into force at once 2 [in the principal territories and on the 24th July, 1957, in the transferred territories].

After section 101 of the Punjab Land-Revenue Act, 1887, the following sections shall be added, namely :- 101-A.

1. (1) When any two or more estates are subject to river action and the limits of any such estates are, by any law, custom, decree or order applicable thereto, liable to vary according as variations may from time to time occur in the course or action of such river, the 3 [State Government] may, 4 [* * * *] order a permanent boundary line to be fixed between any such estates or such portions thereof as are liable to river action.
2. (2) Upon an order being made under subsection (1), the Collector shall fix a boundary line between such estates or portions of such estates accordingly, and shall demarcate the same, in accordance with the rules (if any) made under section 100 and the provisions of section 101.
3. (3) Every such boundary line shall be fixed with due regard to the history of the estates, and the interests of the persons respectively owning them or possessing rights therein, in such manner as may be just and equitable in the circumstances of each case. No such boundary line shall be deemed to have been permanently fixed until it has been approved by the Financial Commissioner. 101-B
4. (1) Every boundary line fixed in accordance with the provisions of section 101-A, shall, notwithstanding any law or custom, or any decree or order of any Court of Law, to the contrary, be the fixed and constant boundary between the estates affected thereby, and the proprietary and all other rights in every holding, field or other portion of an estate situate on each side of the boundary line so fixed, shall subject to the following proviso, vest in the land-owners of the estate which lies on that side of the boundary line on which such holding, field or other portion of an estate is situate : Provided that if, by the operation of this section, the proprietary or any other rights in any land which at the time a boundary line is fixed, is under cultivation or reasonably fit for cultivation or yields any produce of substantial value, would be transferred from the land-owners and other right-holders of any one estate to the land-owners of any other estate, the Collector shall, by written order, direct that the rights in such land shall, subject to the provisions of section 101-C and section 101-D, not be so transferred unless and until the land, in respect of which any such order is made, ceases to be reasonably fit for cultivation, or to yield any produce of substantial value, and, upon any such order being made the transfer of the rights in such land shall be suspended accordingly : Provided further that when any portion of the land specified in any such order ceases to be reasonably fit for cultivation or to yield any produce of substantial value, the order shall, when the Collector, in writing, so direct, cease to operate as to that portion.
5. (2) The decision of the Collector, as to whether for the purposes of the proviso to subsection
6. (1) of this section any land is or is not reasonably fit for cultivation or does or does not yield any produce of substantial value, shall be final. 101-C.
7. (1) When any order has been made under the proviso to subsection
8. (1) of section 101-B, the land-owners (or any of them) in whom, but for such order, the rights in the land specified therein, would vest, may apply, in writing, to the Collector to forthwith transfer the rights, the transfer of which has been suspended by such order, upon payment of compensation for the same.
9. (2) When an application under sub-section
10. (1) is made, the Collector shall-
    • (a) fix a day for the hearing of the application;
    • (b) cause notice of the application, and of the day fixed for the hearing thereof, to be served on, or proclaimed for the information of all persons recorded as having rights in the land specified in the order made under the proviso to sub-section
11. (1) of section 101-B, and all other persons interested or claiming to be interested therein;
    • (c) upon the day so fixed for hearing, or any day to which the hearing may be adjourned, inquire into the rights in the land and award compensation in respect of all rights found established therein, to the persons severally entitled thereto;
    • (d) inform the applicant of the aggregate amount of compensation so awarded and require him to deposit the amount with the Collector on or before a day to be fixed by him in that behalf: Provided that, notwithstanding anything in this sub-section contained, it shall be lawful for the Collector, in his discretion, and at any time before an award of compensation thereon has been made, to reject any application made under sub-section (1).
12. (3) In awarding compensation under sub-section (1), the Collector shall be guided by the provisions of section 23, and section 24 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, so far as the same may be applicable to circumstances of the case.
13. (4) Upon the fifteenth day of May next after the whole amount of compensation so awarded has been deposited with the Collector, the order made under the proviso to subsection
14. (1) of section 101-B, shall cease to operate and the rights specified therein shall be transferred and vest in the manner prescribed in subsection
15. (1) of section 101-B, notwithstanding anything in the proviso thereof contained, and the Collector shall proceed to tender the compensation to the persons severally entitled to receive the same under his award. If any such person shall refuse to accept the sum so awarded and tendered to him, it shall be placed to his credit in the public treasury.
16. (5) When any order made under the proviso to subsection
17. (1) of section 101-B, shall, under the provisions of subsection
18. (4) of this section, cease to operate and determine, all rights reserved to any person by such order, shall be extinguished. 101-D. When any person possessing any rights in any land, in regard to the rights in which an order has been made under the proviso to subsection
19. (1) of section 101-B, voluntarily transfers such rights to any land-owner of the estate, in the land-owners of which, but for such order, such rights would vest under the operation of sub-section
20. (1) of section 101-B, the rights so transferred shall forthwith cease to be subject to such order. 101-E. In every case in which, by the operation of section 101-B, or section 101-C or section 101-D, proprietary or other rights in land are transferred from the land-owners and other right-holders of any one estate to the land-owners of any other estate, such rights shall be subject to all the incidents of tenure and liabilities, which, under any law or custom for the time being in force, apply to the rights of the land-owners of the estate to which such rights are so transferred. 101-F. For the purposes of sections 101-A, 101-B and 101-C, respectively, the expression "Collector" shall be deemed to include any Revenue Officer appointed by the 1 [State Government] to perform all or any of the functions of a Collector under any of the provisions thereof.

After clause (xviii) of subsection

1. (2) of section 158 of the Punjab Land-Revenue Act, 1887, the following clause shall be added, namely :- (xviii-a) Any question connected with or arising out of or relating to any proceeding for the determination of boundaries of estates subject to river action under sections 101-A, 101-B, 101-C and 101-D, respectively, of Chapter VIII.

1. (1) In section 2 of the Bengal Regulation No. XI of 1825 (a Regulation for declaring the rules to be observed in determining claims to lands gained by alluvion or by the dereliction of a river or the sea) after the words "usage so established shall," the words following shall be inserted, namely :-- "unless and until a boundary is fixed under the provisions of section 101-A of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, as amended by the Punjab Riverain Boundaries Act, 1899."
2. (2) In section 3 of the same Regulation, after the word "where" the words following shall be inserted, namely :- "no boundary has been fixed under the provisions of section 101-A of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, as amended by the Punjab Riverain Boundaries Act, 1899, and."

A. Where any Punjab Act made after the commencement of this [* * *] repeals any amendment by which the text of any Punjab Act [* * *] was amended by the express omission, insertion or substitution of any matter, then, unless a different intention appears, the repeal shall not affect the continuance of any such amendment made by the enactment so repealed and in operation at the time of such repeal.

In any Punjab Act [* * *] it shall be necessary for the purpose of reviving either wholly or partially, any enactment wholly or partially repealed, expressly to state that purpose.

Where this Act or any other Punjab Act [* * *] repeals and re-enacts, with or without modification, any provision of a former enactment, then references in any other enactment or in any instrument to the provision so repealed, shall unless a different intention appears, be construed as references to the provision so re-enacted.

In any Punjab Act, [* * *] it shall be sufficient, for the purpose of excluding the first in a series of days or any other period of time, to use the word "from" and, for the purpose of including the last in a series of days or any other period of time to use the word "to".

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] any act or proceeding is directed or allowed to be done or taken in any Court or office on a certain day or within a prescribed period, then, if the Court or office is closed on that day or the last day of the prescribed period, the act or proceeding shall be considered as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken on the next day afterwards on which the Court or office is open :

Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any act or proceeding to which the Indian Limitation Act, 1877 applies.

In the measurement of any distance, for the purposes of any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] that distance shall, unless a different intention appears, be measured in a straight line on a horizontal plane.

Where, by any enactment now in force or hereafter put in force, any duty of customs or excise, or in the nature thereof, is leviable on any given quantity, by weight, measure or value of any goods of merchandise, then a like duty is leviable according to the same rate on any greater or less quantity.

In all Punjab Acts, [ * * * ] unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

1. (1) words importing the masculine gender shall be taken to include females ; and
2. (2) words in the singular shall include the plural and vice versa.

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] any power is conferred [ * * * ] then that power may be exercised from time to time as occasion requires.

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] a power to appoint any person to fill any office or execute any function is conferred, then, unless it is otherwise expressly provided, any such appointment may be made either by name or by virtue of office.

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] a power to make any appointment is conferred, then, unless a different intention appears, the authority having [for the time being] power to make the appointment shall also have power to suspend or dismiss any person appointed [whether by itself or any other authority] by it in exercise of that power.

In any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] it shall be sufficient, for the purpose of indicating the application of a law to every person or number of persons for the time being executing the functions of an office, to mention the official title of the officer at present executing the functions, or that of the officer by whom the functions are commonly executed.

In any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] it shall be sufficient, for the purpose of indicating the relation of a law to the successors of any functionaries or of corporations having perpetual succession, to express its relation to the functionaries or corporations.

In any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] it shall be sufficient, for the purpose of expressing that a law relative to the chief or superior of an office shall apply to the deputies or subordinates lawfully performing the duties of that office in the place of their superior, to prescribe the duty of the superior.

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] a power to issue any [notification], order, scheme, rule, form, or bye-law is conferred, then expressions used in the [notification], order, scheme, rule, form or bye-law, shall unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context, have the same respective meaning as in the Act, conferring the power.

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] a power to [issue notifications or] make orders, rules or bye-laws is conferred, then that power includes a power exerciseable in the like manner and subject to the like sanction and conditions (if any), to add to, amend, vary or rescind any [notifications], orders, rules or bye-laws so [issued or] made.

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] which is not to come into force immediately on the passing thereof, a power is conferred to make rules or bye-laws, or to issue orders with respect to the application of the Act, or with respect of the establishment of any court or office or the appointment of any Judge or officer thereunder, or with respect to the person by whom, or the time when, or the place where, or the manner in which, or the fees for which, anything is to be done under the Act, then that power may be exercised at any time after the passing of the Act, but rules, bye-laws or orders so made or issued shall not take effect till the commencement of the Act.

Where, by any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] a power to make rules or bye-laws is expressed to be given subject to the condition of the rules or bye-laws being made after previous publication, then, unless such Act, otherwise provides, the following provisions shall apply, namely :-

1. (1) the authority having power to make the rules or bye-laws shall, before making them, publish a draft of the proposed rules or bye-laws for the information of persons likely to be affected thereby;
2. (2) the publication shall be made in such manner as that authority deems to be sufficient, or, if the condition with respect to previous publication so requires, in such manner as the [Government concerned] prescribes ;
3. (3) there shall be published with the draft a notice specifying a date on or after which the draft will be taken into consideration ;
4. (4) the authority having power to make the rules or bye-laws, and, where the rules or bye-laws are to be made with the sanction, approval or concurrence of another authority, that authority also, shall consider any objection or suggestion which may be received by the authority having power to make the rules or bye-laws from any person with respect to the draft before the date so specified ;
5. (5) the publication in the [Official Gazette] of a rule or bye-law purporting to have been made in exercise of a power to make rules or bye-laws after previous publication shall be conclusive proof that the rule or bye-law has been duly made.

Where any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] is repealed and re-enacted with or without modification, then, unless it is otherwise expressly provided, any [appointment notification], order, scheme, rule, form or bye-law, [made or] issued under the repealed Act, shall, so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions re-enacted, continue in force, and be deemed to have been [made or] issued under the provisions so re-enacted, unless and until it is superseded by any [appointment notification], order, provision so re-enacted.

Sections 63 to 70 of the Indian Penal Code and the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the time being in force in relation to the issue and the execution of warrants for the levy of fines shall apply to all fines imposed under any Act, rule or by-law, unless the Act, rule or bye-law contains an express provision to the contrary.

Where an act or omission constitutes an offence under two or more enactments, then the offender shall be liable to be prosecuted and punished under either or any of those enactments, but shall not be liable to be punished twice for the same offence.

Where any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] authorises or requires any document to be served by post, whether the expression "serve" or either of the expressions "give" or "send" or any other expression is used, then, unless a different intention appears, the service shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting by registered post, a letter containing the document, and, unless the contrary is proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

1. (1) In any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] and in any rule, bye-law, instrument or document, made under, or with reference to any such Act, any enactment may be cited by a reference to the title or short title (if any) conferred thereon or by reference to the number and year thereof, and any provision in any enactment may be cited by a reference to the section or sub-section of the enactment in which the provision is contained.
2. (2) In any Punjab Act, [ * * * ] a description or citation of a portion of another enactment shall, unless a different intention appears, be construed as including the word, section or other part mentioned or referred to as forming the beginning and as forming the end of the portion comprised in the description or citation.

1. (1) The provisions of this Act shall apply,-
   • (a) in relation to any Ordinance promulgated by the Governor of the Punjab under section 88 or section 89 of the Government of India Act, 1935, or by the Governor of East Punjab, under section 88 of the said Act, as they apply in relation to Punjab Acts made under the said Act by the Governor, and, in relation to any Regulation made by the Governor of Punjab, under section 92 of the said Act, as they apply in relation to Punjab Acts, made by the Provincial Legislature ; and
   • (b) in relation to any Ordinance promulgated by the Governor of Punjab, under article 213 of the Constitution or any Regulation made by the Governor under paragraph 5 of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, as they apply in relation to Punjab Acts made by the State Legislature.
2. (2) The provisions of section 4 and section 4-A of this Act shall apply on the expiry, withdrawal or repeal of any Ordinance promulgated by the Governor of the Punjab, under section 88 or section 89 of the Government of India Act, 1935, or by the Governor of East Punjab, under section 88 of the said Act, or by the Governor of Punjab, under Article 213 of the Constitution, as if such Ordinance had been an enactment repealed by a Punjab Act.

The provisions of this Act shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to a Haryana Act or an Ordinance promulgated by the Governor of Haryana under article 213 of the Constitution as they apply respectively in relation to a Punjab Act or an Ordinance promulgated by the Governor of Punjab under that article.