Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (1) " appoint " includes to appoint temporarily or in an officiating capacity and " appointment " shall be construed accordingly ; (2) " building " includes- (a) a house, out-house, stable, latrine, godown, shed, hut, wall and any other structure whether of masonry, bricks, mud, wood, metal or any other materials whatsoever ; (b) a structure on wheels or simply resting on the ground without foundations ; and (c) a ship, vessel, boat, tent, van and any other structure used for human habitation or used for keeping or storing any article or goods ; (3) " building line " means a line which is in rear of the street-alignment and to which the main wall of a building abutting on a street may lawfully extend and beyond which no portion of the building may extend except as prescribed in the building rules ; (4) " carriage " means any wheeled vehicle with springs or other appliances acting as spring and includes any kind of bicycle, tricycle and cycle-rickshaw but does not include any motor vehicle within the meaning of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 ; (5) " casual vacancy " means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by efflux of time and " mid-term election " means an election held on the occurrence of a casual vacancy ; (6) " Chairperson " and " Deputy Chairperson " means,- (a) in relation to a municipal corporation, the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, respectively : (b) in relation to a municipality, the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, respectively ; and (c) in relation to a town panchayat, the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, respectively ; (7) " Commissioner " means- (a) in relation to a municipal corporation and municipality, the Commissioner of the municipal corporation or municipality, as the case may be ; and (8) " committee " means the Standing Committee, wards Committee or any other committee constituted under this Act ; (9) " company " means- (a) a company defined in the Companies Act, 1956, including any Central foreign company within the meaning of section 591 of the said Act ; (b) any body corporate ; or (c) any firm or association, whether incorporated or not, carrying on business in the State of Tamil Nadu whether or not its principal place of business is situated in the said State ; (10) " council " means the council of the municipal corporation, municipality or town panchayat, as the case may be; (11) " councillor " means the councillor elected to a municipal corporation, municipality or town panchayat, as the case may be ; (12) " date of the commencement of this Act " means the date appointed under sub-section (3) of section 1 ; (13) " Director " means,- (a) in relation to a municipal corporation, the Director appointed by the Government for the corporations and if there is no Director for any Corporation, the Government ; (b) in relation to a municipality, the Director of Municipal Administration, appointed by the Government : and (c) in relation to a town panchayat, the Director of Town Panchayats appointed by the Government ; (14) " Finance Commission " means the Finance Commission referred to in section 72 . (15) " food " includes,- (a) every article (other than drugs and water) used as food or drink for human consumption ; (b) all materials used or admixed in the composition or preparation of such articles ; and (c) flavouring or colouring matter, confectionery, spices and condiments; (16) " Government " means the State Government; (17) " infectious disease " shall have the same meaning as in section 52 of the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939 ; (18) " latrine " means a place set apart for defecating or urinating or both; (19) " municipality " with its grammatical variation means the municipal corporation or the municipality or the town panchayat constituted or deemed to have been constituted under this Act ; (20) " municipal area " means the territorial area of the municipality as notified by the Governor under clause (d) of Article 243-P of the Constitution ; (21) " municipal office " means the principal office of the municipality ; (22) " nuisance " includes any act, omission, place or thing which causes or is likely to cause injury, danger, annoyance or offence to the sense of sight, smell or hearing or disturbance to rest or sleep or which is or may be dangerous to life or injurious to the health or property of the public or the people in general who dwell or occupy property in the vicinity, on persons who may have occasion to use public place as a right ; (23) " occupier " includes,- (a) any person for the time being paying or liable to pay to the owner the rent or any portion of the rent of the land or building or part of the same in respect of which the word is used or damaged on account of the occupation of such land, building or part; and (b) a rent-free occupant ; (24) " open space " means any land whether enclosed or not belonging to the Government or any local authority, on which there are no buildings or of which not more than one-twentieth part is covered with buildings and the whole or the remainder of which is used for purpose of recreation, air or light ; (25) " ordinary vacancy " means a vacancy occurring by efflux of time and " General election " means an election held on the occurrence of an ordinary vacancy ; (26) " owner " includes- (a) the person for the time being receiving or entitled to receive whether on his own account or as agent, trustee, guardian, manager or receiver for another person, or for any religious or charitable purpose the rent or profits of the property in connection with which the word is used; and (b) the person for the time being in charge of the animal or vehicle, in connection with which the word is used ; (27) " park " means a piece of land on which there are no buildings or of which not more than one-twentieth part is covered with buildings and the whole or the remainder of which is laid out as a garden with trees, or flower-beds or as a lawn or as a meadow and maintained as a place for the resort of the public for recreation, air or light ; (28) " play-field " means a place of land adapted for the purpose of play, game or sport and used by schools or colleges or clubs; (29) " private street " means any street, road, square, court, alley, passage or riding-path which is not a " public street " but does not include a pathway made by the owner of premises on his own land to secure access to or the convenient use of such premises ; (30) " public street " means any street, road, square, court, alley, passage or riding-path over which the public have a right of way, whether a thoroughfare or not, and includes- (a) the roadway over any public bridge or causeway; (b) the footway attached to any such street, public bridge or causeway; (c) the drains attached to any such street, public bridge or causeway and the land, whether covered or not by any pavement, verandah or other structure, which lies on either side of the roadway up to the boundaries of the adjacent property whether that property is private property or property belonging to the Central or any State Government or public undertaking; (31) " public water-course, spring, well and tank " include those used by the public to such an extent as to give a prescriptive right to such use ; (32) " reconstruction " of a building includes- (a) the re-erection wholly or partially of any building after more than one-half of its cubical contents has been taken down or burnt down, or has fallen down whether at one time or not; (b) the re-erection wholly or partially of any building of which any external wall has been taken down or burnt down or has fallen down to or within three metres of, the ground adjoining the lowest storey of the building, and of any frame building which has so far been taken down or burnt down or has fallen down as to leave only the frame work of the lowest storey; (c) the conversion into a dwelling-house or a place of public worship of any building not originally constructed for human habitation or for public worship, as the case may be, or the conversion into more than one dwelling-house of a building originally constructed as one dwelling-house only or the conversion of a dwelling-house into a factory ; (d) the re-conversion into a dwelling-house or a place of public worship or a factory of any building which has been discontinued as, or appropriated for any purpose other than a dwelling-house or a place of public worship or a factory, as the case may be ; (33) " Regional Director " means,- (a) in relation to municipality, the Regional Director of Municipal Administration having jurisdiction over the municipality and appointed by the Government ; and (b) in relation to town panchayat, the Assistant Director or Zonal Director of Town Panchayat having jurisdiction over the town panchayat and appointed by the Government ; (34) " residence "--" reside "-a person is deemed to have his " residence " or to " reside " in any house or hut if he sometimes uses any portion thereof as a sleeping apartment, and a person is not deemed to cease to reside in any such house or hut merely because he is absent from it or has elsewhere another dwelling in which he resides, if he is at liberty to return to such house or hut at any time and has not abandoned his intention of returning ; (35) " rubbish " means dust, ashes, broken bricks, mortar, broken glass and refuse of any kind which is not " solid waste " ; (36) " salary " means pay and acting pay or payment by way of commission and includes exchange compensation allowances, but not allowances for house-rent, carriage-hire or travelling expenses ; (37) " sanitary-worker " means a person employed in collecting or removing rubbish or solid waste or in cleansing drains, latrines, or slaughter-houses or in driving carts used for the removal of rubbish or solid waste ; (38) " Scheduled Caste " shall have the same meaning as defined in the Constitution ; (39) " Scheduled Tribe " shall have the same meaning as defined in the Constitution ; (40) " solid waste " means- (a) nightsoil and other contents of latrines, cesspools and drains ; (b) dung and refuse or useless or offensive material thrown out in consequence of any process of manufacture, industry or trade ; (c) putrid and putrefying substances ; (e) the solid waste discharged from the hospitals, and all such other solid waste which are detrimental to public health ; (41) " Standing Committee " means the Standing Committee referred to in section 36 ; (42) " street-alignment " means a line dividing the land comprised in and forming part of a street from the adjoining land ; (43) " Tamil Nadu State Election Commissioner " means the Tamil Nadu State Election Commissioner referred to in section 5 ; (44) " Tamil Nadu State Election Commission " means the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission referred to in section 5 ; (45) " urban local body " or " local authority " means the municipal corporation or municipality or town panchayat, as the case may be : (46) " ward " means the ward of a municipal corporation or municipality or town panchayat as may be notified under 8 ; (47) " ward office " means an office established in relation to a wards committee ; (48) " Ward Officer " means the officer appointed by the Government for the ward office of the municipal corporation or municipality ; (49) " wards committee " means the wards committee referred to in section ; (50) " water-course " includes any river, stream or channel whether natural or artificial ; (51) " year " means the financial year.