TAMIL NADU MERGED STATES (LAWS) ACT, 1949

TAMIL NADU MERGED STATES (LAWS) ACT, 1949

(Tamil Nadu Act 35 of 1949)

Received the assent of the Governor on the 29th December 1949 and first published in the Fort St. George Gazette on the 30th December 1949.

An Act to extend certain laws to the States of Pudukkottai, Banganapallee and Sandur which are administered as parts of the Province of Madras

Whereas by an order made under section 290-A of the Government of India Act, 1935, provision has been made for the administration of the States of Pudukkottai, Banganapallee and Sandur as if they formed part of the [Province of Madras];

And Whereas it is expedient to provide that certain laws should be extended to, and by virtue of such extension, should be in force in the said States; It is hereby enacted as follows : -

1. Short title and commencement. - (1) This Act maybe called the [Tamil Nadu] Merged States (Laws) Act, 1949.

(2) It shall come into force on the 1st day of January 1950.

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

(1) the expression "merged States" means the States of Pudukkottai, Banga-napallee and Sandur, and the expression "merged State" means any of those States;

(2) the expression "new Provinces" means the Chief Commissioners Provinces constituted by the States Merger (Chief Commissioners Provinces) Order, 1949, as amended by the States Merger (United Provinces) Order, 1949.

3. Extension of enactments. - So much of the enactments specified in the First Schedule as extends to the [[Province] of Madras] and relates to matters with respect to which the [Provincial] Legislature has power to make laws for the [Province] is hereby extended to, and shall be in force in, the merged State or States specified in the corresponding entry in the first column thereof.

4. Interpretation of enactments as extended. - In any enactment specified in the First Schedule, notwithstanding anything contained in the General Clauses Act, 1897 (Central Act X of 1897), or in the [Tamil Nadu] General Clauses Act, 1867 [Tamil Nadu] Act 1 of 1867), or in the [Tamil Nadu] General Clauses Act, 1891 [Tamil Nadu] Act 1 of 1891) -

(a) any reference, by whatever form of words, to the Acceding States shall be construed as not including a reference to any of the merged States or to any of the States (other than the United State of Saurashtra) mentioned in the States Merger (Chief Commissioners Provinces) Order, 1949, as amended by the States Merger (United Provinces) Order, 1949;

(b) any reference, by whatever form of words, to Indian British subjects shall be deemed to include a reference to persons who, immediately before the 1st day of August 1949, were subjects of any of the merged States or of any of the States (other than the United State of Saurashtra) mentioned in the States Merger (Chief Commissioners Provinces) Order, 1949, as amended by the States Merger (United Provinces) Order, 1949;

(c) any reference, by whatever form of words, to the Provinces generally or to the Chief Commissioners Provinces generally shall be construed as including a reference to the new Provinces; and

(d) any reference, by whatever form of words, to the Province of Madras shall be construed as including a reference to the merged State or States concerned.

5. Repeal of corresponding laws. - If, immediately before the commencement of this Act, there is in force in any merged State, an Act, Ordinance, Regulation or other law corresponding to an enactment specified in the First Schedule, whether such Act, Ordinance, Regulation or other law is in force by virtue of an Order under the Extra-Provincial Jurisdiction Act, 1947 (Central Act XLVII of 1947), or by virtue of any other Legislative power, such corresponding law shall, upon the commencement of this Act, stand repealed to the extent to which the law relates to matters with respect to which the [Provincial] Legislature has power to make laws for the [Province]:

Provided that nothing contained in this section shall affect the operation of the transitional provisions contained in the Schedule to Local Administration Department Notifications Nos. 253 and 254, dated 29th March 1949, published at pages 125 and 126 of Part I-A of the [Fort St. George Gazette], dated the 29th March 1949.

6. Savings. - (1) The repeal by section 5 of this Act of any corresponding law in force in any merged State immediately before the commencement of this Act shall not affect -

(a) the previous operation of any such law, or

(b) any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any offence committed against any such law, or

(c) any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment,

and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced and any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed as if this Act had not been passed.

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), anything done or any action taken, including any appointment or delegation made, notification, order, instruction or direction issued, rule, regulation, form, by-law or scheme framed, certificate, patent, permit or licence granted or registration effected, under such corresponding law shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provision of the enactment as now extended to, and in force in, the merged State and shall continue in force accordingly unless and until superseded by anything done or any action taken under the said enactment [or by virtue of the operation of section 16].

7. Powers of Courts and other authorities for purposes of facilitating application of laws. - For the purpose of facilitating the application in any merged State of any enactment specified in the First Schedule, any Court or other authority may construe such enactment with such alterations not affecting the substance as may be necessary or proper to adapt it to the matter before the Court or other authority.

8. Extension of [Tamil Nadu] Act III of 1931. - (1) The [Tamil Nadu] Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1931 [Tamil Nadu] Act III of 1931) as amended by subsection (2), is hereby extended to, and shall be in force in the merged States; and sections 4 to 7 shall apply in relation to that Act as if it had been included in the First Schedule.

(2) The Act aforesaid shall be amended as follows : -

(a) To section 2, clause (iii), the following words shall be added at the end, namely : -

"and includes in the area which formerly formed part of the State of Pudukkottai, a panchayat constituted under any enactment for the time being in force in that area."

(b) To section 19, the following Explanation shall be added, namely :-

"Explanation. - The provisions of this section shall apply in relation to any area which formerly formed part of the State of Pudukkottai, Banganapallee or Sandur as if the [Provincial] Government had power to pay such compensation to the local bodies in the said area as the [Provincial] Government may, by order determine."

9. Extension of Madras Act VI of 1932. - (1) The Madras Co-operative Societies Act, 1932 (Madras Act VI of 1932), amended by sub-section (2), is hereby extended to, and shall be in force in, the merged States; and sections 4 to 7 shall apply in relation to that Act as if it had been included in the First Schedule.

(2) To sub-section (1) of section 62 of the Act aforesaid, the following paragraph shall be added, namely : -

"Every society which has been registered under the law applicable to cooperative societies in the areas which formerly formed part of the State of Pudukkottai, Banganapallee or Sandur and the by-laws of which are not in consistent with the express provisions of this Act or any rule made thereunder, shall, if the Registrar by an order in writing so declares, be deemed to be registered under this Act and its by-laws shall continue in force until they are altered or rescinded.".

10. Extension of Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937. - (1) The [Tamil Nadu] Prohibition Act, 1937 [Tamil Nadu] Act X of 1937), as amended by sub-section (3), is hereby extended to, and shall be in force in, the States of Pudukkottai and Banganapallee; and sections 4 to 7 shall apply in relation to that Act as if it had been included in the First Schedule.

(2) The Act aforesaid as amended by sub-section (3), is hereby extended to the State of Sandur; and when the whole of that Act is brought into force in that State, sections 4 to 7 shall apply in relation to that Act as if it had then been included in the First Schedule.

(3) To section 2 of the Act aforesaid, the following Explanation shall be added, namely : -

"Explanation. - For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that if a notification is issued in pursuance of the foregoing proviso, in respect of any area which formerly formed part of the State of Pudukkottai, Banganapallee or Sandur, the enactments mentioned in the Schedule with any subsequent statutory modifications thereof shall come into force in such area with effect on and from such date as may be specified in the notification."

11. Extension of [Madras Acts] II of 1948 and XXII of 1948. - The [Tamil Nadu] Silkworm Diseases (Prevention and Eradication) Act, 1948 [Tamil Nadu] Act II of 1948), and the Madras Weights and Measures Act, 1948 [Madras Act] XXII of 1948), are hereby extended to the merged States; and when the whole of either of the said Acts is brought into force in any merged State, sections 4 to 7 shall apply in relation to that Act as if it had then been included in the First Schedule.

12. Extension of [Tamil Nadu] Act VII of 1949. - The Madras City Police and Gaming (Amendment) Act, 1949 [Tamil Nadu] Act VII of 1949), is hereby extended to the merged States.

13. Special provision in respect of Banganapallee. - Any judgment delivered, order made or sentence passed before the 1st day of April 1949, by any Court, civil or criminal, having jurisdiction in respect of the State of Banganapallee or any part thereof shall, for all purposes including execution, appeals and the like, take effect and shall be deemed always to have taken effect, as if it had been delivered, made or passed by the Court which would have been competent to deliver, make or pass such judgment, order or sentence on the said date.

14. Special provisions in respect of Sandur. - (1) Sections 15, 15-A, 16, 30, 31 and 32 of the Police Act, 1861 (Central Act V of 1861), as in force in the [Province of Madras] are hereby extended to, and shall be in force in, the State of Sandur.

(2) (a) So much of the Sandur State Railways (Jurisdiction) Proclamation, 1947, issued by the Rule of the State of Sandur on the 15th day of August 1947 as relates to the exercise of powers by the police force belonging to that State in the railway lands in that State shall stand repealed.

(b) Any action taken by any member of the police force belonging to the [Province of Madras] on or after the 15th day of August 1947 and before the commencement of this Act in the railway lands in the State of Sandur shall be deemed to have been taken by a member of the police force belonging to that State in pursuance of the power conferred by the Proclamation aforesaid.

(3) (a) In regard to the first reconstitution in accordance with the provisions of the [Tamil Nadu] [Local Boards Act, 1920] [Tamil Nadu] Act XIV of 1920) as extended to the State of Sandur by this Act, of panchayats in existence at the commencement thereof, and otherwise in first giving effect to the said provisions, they shall be read subject to the rules in the Second Schedule.

(b) The [Provincial] Government shall have power by notification in the [Fort St. George Gazette] to amend, add to or repeal the rules in the said Schedule.

(4) (a) Any judgment delivered, order made or sentence passed, before the commencement of this Act by any Court, civil or criminal, having jurisdiction in respect of the State of Sandur or any part thereof shall, for all purposes, including execution, appeals and the like, take effect and shall be deemed always to have taken effect as if it had been delivered, made or passed by the Court which would have been competent to deliver, make or pass such judgment, order or sentence immediately after such commencement.

(b) The High Court may, by general or special order, transfer any proceeding pending immediately before the commencement of this Act in any of the Courts, civil or criminal, having jurisdiction in respect of the State of Sandur or any part thereof, to any Court which would have jurisdiction to entertain such proceeding if it were instituted immediately after such commencement; and the Court to which the proceeding may be so transferred, shall have full power to dispose of the same as if it had been originally instituted in that Court.

15. Power to remove difficulties. - If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act or of any enactment extended to any merged State by this Act, the [Provincial] Government, as occasion may require, may, by order, do anything which appears to them necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty.

[16. Extension of subsidiary laws to the merged States. - (1) All subsidiary laws which, immediately before the 1st day of January 1952, extend to, or are in force in, the taluk specified in column (1) of the table below but do not extend to, or are not in force in, the merged State specified in the corresponding entry in column (2) of that Table, shall, as from that day, extend to, or as the case may be, come into force in such merged State : -

(2) Sections 4, 7 and 15 shall be construed as if the reference to "enactment" occurring in them included also a reference to the subsidiary laws mentioned in sub-section (1).

Explanation. - In this section "subsidiary law" means -

any rule, regulation, by-law, form, notification, order, instruction or direction issued,

any scheme framed,

any certificate, patent, permit or licence granted,

any registration effected, or

any other thing done or action taken,

under any of the enactments extended to any merged State or States by this Act.]

First Schedule

(See section 3)

Second Schedule

[See section 14(3)]

Transitional Provisions

The Sandur Municipality constituted under the Mysore Minor Municipalities Act, 1933 and every panchayat constituted under the Sandur Village Panchayats Act, 1939 shall be deemed to be a panchayat constituted under the [Tamil Nadu] Local Boards Act, 1920.

2. Notwithstanding anything contained in the [Tamil Nadu] [Local Boards Act, 1920], as applied to the Sandur State (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) -

(a) (i) the members of the Sandur Municipality holding office immediately before the 1st January 1950 shall be subject to the provisions of sections 56, 57 and 59 of the said Act, be deemed to be members of the Sandur Panchayat on and from that date;

(ii) the term of office of the members of every panchayat holding office immediately before the 1st January 1950 and of the members of the panchayat referred to in sub-clause (i) shall extend to, or expire on, as the case may be, such date as the Provincial Government may fix, and the Provincial Government shall cause election to be held so that the newly elected members may come into office on the date fixed for the retirement of the old members;

(iii) the Provincial Government may, from time to time, postpone any date fixed by them under sub-clause (ii) and fix another date in lieu thereof;

(b) the president of the Sandur Municipality and of every panchayat holding office immediately before the 1st January 1950 shall, subject to the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 15 and section 43 of the said Act, hold office as president of the panchayat concerned up to, or vacate office, on the date fixed under clause (a);

(c) a meeting of the newly elected members of every panchayat shall be held on or as soon as may be after the said date on a day and at a time fixed by the Provincial Government or such other authority as may be empowered by them in this behalf for the election of the president;

(d) the term of office of the newly elected members of every panchayat or the members elected in their places at casual vacancies shall expire at the end of three years, if the date fixed under clause (a) is the first day of November and in other cases, at the end of three years from the first day of November immediately preceding such date;

(e) any vacancy in the office of president of any panchayat which is in existence on the 1st January 1950 or which occurs before the date fixed under clause (a) shall be filled by election by the panchayat;

(f) any such vacancy in the office of an appointed member of a panchayat shall be filled by appointment by the [Provincial] Government and in that of an elected member by election under the provision of the said Act on the basis of the electoral rolls in force on the 31st December 1949; and

(g) any person elected or appointed as president or as member of a panchayat under clause (e) or (f) shall hold office only up to the date fixed under clause (a).