Chapter I PRELIMINARY

1. (1) This Act may be called the Punjab Warehouses Act, 1957.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Punjab.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

a) "Cooperative Society" means a society registered or deemed to be registered under the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1954, or the Cooperative Societies Act 1912, as in force in the territories which, immediately before the 1st November 1956, were comprised in the State of Patiala and East Punjab States Union;

b) "depositor" means a person who has deposited goods with a warehouseman for storing 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;

Provided that the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette add to or omit from the Schedule any article;

d) "Government" means the Government of Punjab;

e) "licensed warehouse" means a warehouse licensed under this Act;

f) "person" includes any company or association or body corporate;

g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

h) "receipt" means warehouse receipt in the prescribed form issued by a warehouseman to a person depositing goods in the warehouse;

i) "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;

j) "warehouseman" means a person who has obtained licence under this act in respect of this warehouse.