 8w ~ 8z of 12z1 the pu~lic premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) bill, 1971 abill to p7'lot1ide leor the eviction of unauthorised occupants from public premises and for certain incidental matters lim r e1ncked by parliament in the twmty-second year {)f the republic of liadia asfouows:-1 (1) this act may be called the public premises (eviction of un-short title, exauthorised occupants) act, 1971 tentand , , s (2) it extends to the whole of india commence_ ment (8) it shall be deemed to have come into forceontne ulth day of september, 1958 except sections 11 19 and 20 which shall come into force at once ,2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requil'es,-definitions 10 (a) "corporate authority" means--(i) any company or corporation referred to i~ sub-clause (1), or (ii) the corporatiojll or any committee or the authority referred, toio sub-cla\lse (2), is of clause (e) of this section: (b) "estate officer" means an officer appointed as such by the central government under section 3; (c) "premises" means any land or any building or part of a building and includes,-(i) the garden, grounds and outhouses, if any, appertaining s to such building or part of a building, and (ii) any fittings affixed to such building or part of a building for the more beneficial enjoyment thereof; (d) "prescribed" menns pres(;l'~bed by rules made under this act; (e) "public premises" means any premises belonging to or taken 10 on lease or requisitioned by, or on behalf of, the central gov'ernment, and includes-(1) any premises belonging to, or taken on lease by, or on behalf of-(i) any company as defined in section 3 of the companies is 1 of 1956 act, 1956 in which not less than fifty~one per cent of the paid-up share capital is held by the central government; and (ii) any corporation (not being a company as defined in 1 'of 1950 section 3 of the companies act, 1956 or a local ~uthority) established by or under a central act and owned or coqtrqlled ~q by the central government; and (2) in relation to the union territory of delhi-(i) any premises belonging to the municipal corporation of delhi or any municipal committee or notified area com-~~,~ ~ (ii) any premises belonging to the delhi development authority whether such premises are in the possession of, or leased out by, the said authority; (1) "rent", in relation to any public premises, means the consideration payable periodically for the authorised occupation of the premises, 30 and includes-(i)  any charge for electricity, water or any other services in connection with the occupation of the premises (ii) any tax (by whatever name caned) payable in respect of the premises, ~s where such char~e or tax is payable by the central government or the corporate authority; (g) "unauthorised occupation", in relation to any puhlic premises, means the occupation by any person of the public premises without a~thority for such occupation, and inc,ludes the continuance in occupa- 40 tion by any person of the publtc premises after the authority (whether tw way of grant or any other mode of transfer) under which he was allowed to occupv the premises has expired or has been determined fo~ an~' reason whatsoever 3 the central government may, by notification in guette,-the official appointment of estate (a) appoint such persons, being gazetted officers of government officers or officers of equiv~lent rank of the corporate authority, as it thinks 5 fit, to be estate officers for the purposes of this act; and (b) define the local limits within which, or the categories of public premises in respect of which, the estate officers shall exercise the powers conferred, and perform the duties imposed, on estate officers by or under this act 10 4 (1) if the estate officer is of opinion that any persons are in unauthorised occupation of any public premises and that they should be evicted, the estate officer shall issue in the manner hereinafter provided a notice in writidg calling upon all pej'sons concerned to show cause why an order of eviction should not be made issue ot notice to show cause against order of eviction is (2) the notice shau-(a) specify the grounds on which the order of eviction is proposed to be made; and (b) require all persons concerned, that is to say, all persons who are, or may be, in occupation of, or claim interest in, the public pre-20 miaes, to show cause, if any, against the proposed order on or before such date as is specified in the notice, being, a date not earlier than ten days from the date of issue thereof (3) the estate officer shall cause tbe notice to be served by havinat it 25 aftlxed on the outer door or some other conspicuous part of the public premises, and in such otlher manner as may be prescribed, whereupon the notice shall be deemed to have been duly given to all persons concerned (4) where the estate officer knows or has rt'lasons to believe that any 30 persons are in occupation of the public premises, then, without pl'ejudiee to the provisions of sub-section (3), he shall cause a copy of the notice to be served on every such person by post or by delivering or tendering it to that person or in such other manner as may be prelscribed 5 (1) if, after considering the cause, if any, shown by any person in eviction pursuance of a notice under section 4 and any evidence be may produce of un-35 in support of the same and after giving him a reasonable opportunity of authorised being heard, the estate officer is satisfied that the public premises are in occupants unauthorised occupation, the estate officer may ~ke an order of eviction, for reasons to be recorded tberein, directing t'hat the public premises shau 40 be vacated, on such date as may be specified in the order, by all persons who may be in occupation thereof or any part thereof, and cause a copy of the order to be affixed on the outer door or some other conspicuous part of the public premises (2) if any person refuses or fails to comply with the order of eviction within thirty days of the date of its publication under sub-section (1), 45 "he estate oftieer or any other offi(!er duly authorised by the estate officer in this behalf may evict that person 1rom, and take possession of, the public premises and may, for that purpose, use such force as may be necessary 4 ~1) where any persons bave been evic~d ftom ally pjibiic pjenaises under section 5, the e~tate ofticer may, after giving fourteen d~s' ~ to the persone: from whom possession of the public premises has been taken and after publishing the notice in at least one newspaper having cftocuiai'iol1 in the-locality, remov2 or cause to be removed or dispose of 3 by public auc4iion any property remaining on such premises f>itpdaal of pjlo-o perty left on public premises by unauthorised occupants (2) where any property is sold under sub-section (1), the sale proc"eds thltflc,)f shall, after deducting the expenses of the sale 8l'rd the amount if ~ny, due to tillecefttral ggvernm~nt or tre colpora~ authority on account of arrears of rent or damages or costs be paid to such 10 person qr persons as may appear to the estate officer to be entitled to the same provided taat where the estate officer is unable to de'lide as to the peusoll or 1)ej'sgjls to whom the balance of the amount is ~uljt or _ to the apportionment of; the same, he may refer ~ch dispuut to rhe 4ivill is court of competent jurisdiction and the decision of the court thereon shall be final 7 (1) where any person is in arrears of rent payable in respect of any public premises, the estate officer may, by order, renufre that petson to pili¥' tpe ~ within sucb time and in such inataln:lelli:saa ~y b~specifted 20 in the wder power to require payment of rent or damales in respect of public premises (2) where any person is, or has at any time been, in unauthorised occupation of any public premises, the estate offi~er may, having regard to such principles of assessment of damages as may be prescribed, assess the dama~ pj1 account of the use and occupation of such premise$ and ,25 ~, by qrdel', require that person to pay the damages within such time and in such instalments as may be specified in the order (3) no order under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)" shall be made against any person until after the issue of a notice in writing to the person nl1ing upon him to show cause within such timeas may be _pacified in 30 the nptice, why such order should not be made, and jmw hisobjectiods, if ally, and any evidence he may produce in support oftae same, ave been colijlidered by the estate officer | powers    ||-----------|| estate    || ofbcaln  |8 an estate officer shall, for the purpose of holding any inquiry under this act have: the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the 3~ 5 of 1108 code of civil procedure 1908, when trying a suit in respect of the following matters, nnmely:-(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any ~rson and examining him on oath; (0) requiring the discovery and production of documents; 40 (c) any other matter which may be prescribed appeals 9 (1) an appeal shall lie from every order of the estate lfficer made irl-li8epect of any public premiae& under section 5- ~ser:tion 7 to ad appella$e otftcer who shall be the district judge of the district in rich tbe pubijc premises are situate or such other judicial oiieer in teat dijtlut $ of not less than ten years' standing as the cu5tr~t judie may de_ate in this behalf (2) an appeal under sub-section (1) shall be preferred,-(a) in the case of an appeal from an order under section 5 within fifteen days from the date of publication of the order under sub-section (1) of that section; and s (b) in the case of an appeal from an order under section 7, within fifteen days from the date on which the order is communicated to the appellant: provided that the appellate officer may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of fifteen days, if he is satisfied that the appel-10 lant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time (3) where an appeal is preferred from an order of the estate· officer, the appellate officer may stay the enforcement of that order for such period and on such conditions as he deems fit (4) every appeal under this sec:tion shall be disposed of by the appel-is late officer as expeditiously as possible (5) the costs of any appeal under this section shall be in the discretion of the appellate officer (6) }i'or the purposes of this section, a presidency-town shall be deemed to be a district and the chief judge or the principal judge of the city 20 civil court therein shall be deemed to be the district judge of the district finality of orders 10 save as otherwise expressly provided in this act, every ollele:r made by an estate officer or appellate officer under this act shall be final and shall not be called in question in any original suit, application or execution proceeding and no injunction shall be granted by ay court or other 25 authol'ity in respect of any action taken or to be taken in pursuance of any powe-r conferred by or under this act oft'ences and penalty 11 (1) if any person who has been evicted from any public pfemises under this act again occupies the premises without authority for such occupation, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which '0 may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both (2) any magistrate convicting a person under sub-section (1) may make an order for evicting that person summarily and he shall be liable to sllch eviction without prejudice to any other action that may be taken is against him under this act power to obtain information 12 if the estate officer has re~\son to believe that ally persons are in unauthorised occupation of any public premises, the '!state officer or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf may require those persons or any other person to furnish information relating to the names -40 and other particulars of the persons in occupation of the public premises and every person so required shall be bound to furnish the information in his possession liability of heirs and legal representative 13 (1) where any person against whom any proceeding for the determination of arrears of rent or for the assessment of damages is to 45 be or has been taken dies before the proceeding is taken or during the pendency thereof, the proceeding may be taken or, as the case may be, continued against the heirs or legal representatives of that person (2) any amount due to the central government or the corporate authority from any person whether by way of arrears of rent or damages or costs shall, after the death of the person, be payable by his heirs or legal representatives but their liability shall be limited to the extent of the assets of the deceased in their hands s ltecov&ry of rent, etlc, a an arrear of land revenue 14 if any person r~fuses of fails to pay the arrears of rent payable under sub-section (1) of section 7 or the damages payable under subsection (2) of that section or tre costs awarded to the central government or the corporate authority under sub-section (5) of section 9 br any portion cf such rent, damages or costs, within the time, if any, specified 10 thert'for in the order relating thereto, the estate officer may issue a certificate for the amount due to the collector who shall proceed to recover the same as an arrear of land revenue bar at jurisdiction 15 no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceeding in respect of the eviction of any person who is in unauthorised is occupation of any public premises or the recovery of the arrears of rent payable under sub-section (1) of section 7 or the damages payable under sub-section (2) of that section or the costs awarded to the central government or the corporate authority under sub-section (5) of section 9 or any portion of such rent, damages or costs 20 16 no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the central government or the corporate authority or the appellate officer or the estate officer in respect of anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this act or of any rules or orders made thereunder 25 protection of action taken , --in lood faith delegation of powers 17 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, direct that any power exercisable by it under this act shall, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the notification, be exercisable also by a state government or an officer of the state government 30 18 (1) the central government may, by notification in the oftlcial gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act power to make rulea (2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely: _ 35 (a) the form of any notice required or authorised to be given under this act and the manner in which it may be served; (b) the holding of inquiries under this act; (c) the distribution and allocation of work to estate officers and the transfer of any proceeding pending before an estnte officer to 40 another estate officer,; (d) the procedure to be followed in taking possession of public premises: '(e) the manner in which damages for unauthorised occupation may be assessed and the principles which may be taken into 45 account in assessing such damages; (f) the manner in which appeals may be preferred and the procedure to be followed in appeals; (g) any other matter which has to be or may be prescribed (3) every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as s may be after it is made, before each house of parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both 10 houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in euch modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule is 19 the public premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) act, r-:"peal 32 'of 1958 1958 is hereby repealed validation zoo notwithstanding any judgment, decree or order of any court, anything done or any action taken (including rules or ordprs made, notices issued, evictions ordered or effected, damages asses~ed, rents or 32 of 1958 20 damages or costs recovered and proceedings initiated) or purported to have been done or taken under the public premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) act, 1958 (hereafter in this section reft!rred to as the 1958-act) shall be deemed to be as valid and effective as if such thing or action was done or taken under the corresponding provisions of 2s this act which, under sub-section (3) of section 1 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 16th day of september, 1958, and accordingly-30 (0) no suit or other legal proceeding shall be maintained or continued in any court for the refund of any rent or damages or costs recovered under the 1958-act where such refund has been claimed merely on the ground that the said act has been declared to be uncon-titutional and void; and (b) no court shall enforce a decree or order directing the re· fund of any rent or damages or costs recovered under the 1958·act merely on the ground that the said act has been declared to be unconstitutional and void  statement of objects and reasonsthe public premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) act, 1958 (32 of 1958) was enacted to provide for a speedy machinery for the eviction of unauthorised occupants from public premises section 5 of the act provides for taking possession of the public premises which are id unauthorised occupation of persons section 7 of the act providea fer the recovery of rent or damages in respect of public premises from parsons who are in unauthorised occupation thereof the act, as it originally stood, did not debar the government from taking recourle to civu courts to seek the aforesaid reliefs 2 in april 1967, in northern india caterers private ltd 1)s the state of punjab (air 1967, s c, 1581), the supreme court declared section 5 of the punjab public premises and land (eviction and rent recovery) act, 1959 (31 of 1959) void on the ground that the t:ection is discriminatory and violative of article 14 of the constitut~on inasmuch as it c'jnferred an additional remedy over and above the usual remedy by way of suit and provided two alternative remedies to the government, leaving it to the unguided discretion of the collector to resort to one or the other of the procedures the object and procedure prescribed by the aforesaid 1958-act being similar to those in the punjab act, there was a risk of the central act also being struck down by the suprcmo:? court, if challenged, on similar grounds of discrimination subs(!quently, the delhi high court in hukum chand vs s d arya (reference no 1 of 1968) declared section 7 (2) of the aforesaid 1958-act as ultra vires the constitution the high court also observed that section 5 of that act must also be held to be tainted with the same constituti·onal infirmity which was held to invalidate section 5 of the punjab act, referred to above in order to overcome the decisions of the supreme court and the delhi high court, the 1958-act was suitably amended by the public premises (eviction of unauth{'rised occupants) amendment act, 1968 by this amendment act, civil courts were precluded from entertaining any suit or proceeding in respect of the eviction of persons who are in unauthorised occupation of public premises and in re<:pet't of the recovery of the arrears of rent or damages from such persons 3 the ·vires of the public premises (evietion of unauthorised occupants) act 1958, as amended by the public premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) amendment act, 1968 was again recently challenged by way of writ petitions in the ~elhi high court and certain other high courts by a majority judgment, the delhi high court in p l mehra vs d r khanna (civil writ no 431 of 1970) have held the whole of the act as void un~er article 13(2) of the constitution as it was found to contravene article· 14 thereof the court aho obflerved that as the act of 1958 was void, the amending act of 1968 was also ineffective similar views have also been held by the high courts of allahabad and calcutta the court decision, referred to above, have created serious difficulties for the government inasmuch as the proceedings taken by the various estate oftlcers appointed under the act pither for the eviction <yf persons who are in unauthoriled occupation of public premises or for the recovery of rent or damages from such persons stand null and void it has become impossible for govenunent to take expeditious action even in flagrant cases of unauthorised occupation of public premises and recovery of rent or damages for such unauthorised occupation it is, therefore, considered imperative to restore a speedy machinery for the eviclien of persons who are in unauthorised occupation of public premises keeping in view at the same time the necessity of complying with the provisions of the constitution and the judicial pr;)'douncements, referred to above 4 accordingly, it is proposed to re-enact the public premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) act, 1958, as amended from time to time, after removing the vice which led to its having been declared as void the law proposed to be re-enacted is being given retrospe~ti"e effect from 16th september, 1958 the date on which the 1958-act aforesaid came into force it is also proposed to make a suitable validating provision providing that anything done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken under the 1958-act shall be deemed to be as valid and effective as if such thing or action was taken or done under the corresponding provisions of the proposed law 5 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectives new delhi; uma shankar dikshit the 15th june, 1971 clause 3 of the bill provides for the appointment of estbteoftlcers who will be empowered to evict persons in unauthorised occupation of public premises it is intended that this work w:uld be entrusted to existing officers and it may not, therefore, be necessary to incur any additional expenditure but the possibility of additional posts being created for d~aling with the extra work cannot be ruled out altogether 2 expenditure will have to be incurred towards eviction proceedings (dauses 4 and 5) that may be taken under the proposed legislation 3 if the bill is enacted androught into operation, the additional e::· penditure that may have to be incurred is not likely to be appreciable a~,d may not exceed rupees fifty thousand per annum 4 there will be no non·recurring expenditure clause 18 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act the matters in respect of which rules may be made have been catalogued in sub-clause (2) of the clause these matters, inter alia, relate to the form of any notice required to be given and the manner in which it may be served; the manner of holding of enquiries; the manner in which damages for unauthorised occupation may be assessed and the principles which may be taken into account in assessing such damages and the manner in which appeals may be preferred the matters with respegt to which rules may be made are of a routine and administrative character moreover, the rules to be made are to be laid before parliament for its scrutiny the delegation of legislative power is thus of a normal character  a billto provide fo),' the eviction of unauthorised occupants from public premises and for certain incidental matters,  (shri uma shankar"dijcshit, m mister of works and housing and health anti family plannm,) 