{ "id": 15872, "slug": "the-bihar-saw-mills-regulation-act-1990", "title": "The Bihar Saw Mills (Regulation) Act, 1990", "short_title": "The Bihar Saw Mills (Regulation) Act, 1990", "act_number": "(Act 19 of 1990)", "act_year": 1990, "act_type": "STATE", "location": "Bihar", "law_status": "unknown", "enactment_date": null, "description": "The Bihar Saw Mills (Regulation) Act, 1990", "preamble": "", "section_label": "Section", "sections": [ { "number": "1", "title": "1. Short title, extent and commencement.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 0 }, { "number": "2", "title": "2. Definitions.", "chapter": null, "content": "(a) \"appointed day\" means a date appointed under sub-section (3) of Section 1;\n(b) \"licence\" means a licence granted under Section 7 of this part;\n(c) \"licensee\" means any person to whom a licence is granted under Section 7;\n(d) \"licensing officer\" means a licensing officer appointed under subsection (1) of Section 3;\n(e) \"prescribed authority\" means a prescribed authority appointed under Section 4;\n(f) \"notified order\" means an order notified in the Official Gazette;\n(g) [ \"saw mill\" means the plant and machinery with which and the premises including the precincts thereof in which or in any part of which sawing is carried on with the aid of electrical or mechanical power. it shall also include veener plywood manufacturing unit.]\n(h) \"saw pit\" means a place where wood is sawn by manually-operated saws;\n(i) \"sawing\" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means operations of sawing, cutting, converting, fashioning or seasoning wood and includes preservation and treatment thereof either by mechanical process with the aid of electrical or mechanical power or manually-operated saws;\n(j) \"Vehicle\" means a mechanically propelled vehicle or any vehicle drawn by human being or animals and includes truck, tractor, trolly, motor vehicle, boat and carts;\n(k) \"wood\" includes trees when they have fallen or have been felled, and all wood of any species whether cut, converted, fashioned, sawn or hollowed out for any purpose or not;\n(l) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (XVI of 1927), shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in that Act.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": true, "sort_order": 1 }, { "number": "3", "title": "3. Appointment of Licensing Officer.", "chapter": null, "content": "(1) appoint an officer not below the rank of Divisional Forest Officer to be Licensing Officer for the purpose of this Act;\n(2) define the local limits within which a Licensing Officer shall exercise the powers conferred and perform the duties imposed on him by or under this Act.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 2 }, { "number": "4", "title": "4. Appointment of prescribed authority.", "chapter": null, "content": "(1) appoint an officer not below the rank of a Conservator of Forests to be prescribed authority, for the purpose of this Act;\n(2) define the local limits within which a prescribed authority shall exercise the powers conferred and perform the duties imposed on him by or under this Act.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 3 }, { "number": "5", "title": "5. Application for licence.", "chapter": null, "content": "(1) no person shall establish a saw mill or a saw pit except under the authority and subject to the conditions of a licence granted in that behalf under this Act;\n(2) no person shall operate a saw mill or a saw pit in existence on the said date, unless he is granted a licence in that behalf under this Act on an application made by such person within a period of thirty days from such date:", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 4 }, { "number": "6", "title": "6. Declaration of prohibited area.", "chapter": null, "content": "(a) no licence shall be granted for establishment of a saw mill or saw pit in that area;\n(b) no licence shall be renewed during that period;\n(c) a saw mill or saw pit situated in that area shall cease to operate and keep its sawing operation closed;\n(d) no claim on account of damages because of closure shall be entertained nor any damages shall be payable.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 5 }, { "number": "7", "title": "7. Grant, renewal, revocation or suspension of licence.", "chapter": null, "content": "(i) grant the licence; or\n(ii) by order in writing for reason in brief to be stated therein, refuse to grant the licence:\n(a) the licensee has parted, in whole or in part with his control over the saw mill or saw pit or has otherwise ceased to operate or own such mill or saw pit; or\n(b) the licensee has without reasonable cause, failed to comply with any of the conditions of the licence or any direction lawfully given by the Licensing Officer or has contravened any of the provisions of this Act or the Rules made thereunder; or\n(c) the licensee has, in the premises of the saw mill or saw pit-wood which he is not able to account for satisfactorily and consequently which is liable for confiscation under Section 10.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 6 }, { "number": "8", "title": "8. Power of entry, inspection, search, seizures, etc.", "chapter": null, "content": "(a) enter and inspect any saw mill and saw pit;\n(b) examine and for this purpose order the production of any document, book, register or records in the possession or power of any person having the control of or employed in connection with, any saw mill and saw pit;\n(c) search any person or search any premises, vehicle, machine, tools and equipments used or intended to be used in contravention of the provisions of this Act and Rules made thereunder and may stop any vehicle or person for this purpose;\n(d) seize any wood, plants and machinery, tools, vehicle and any other article which he suspects is already involved or used or is about to be involved or used in contravening the provisions of this Act or Rules made thereunder.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 7 }, { "number": "9", "title": "9. Submission of returns.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 8 }, { "number": "10", "title": "10. Keeping of account of stock of wood in saw mill and saw pit.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 9 }, { "number": "11", "title": "11. Prohibition of electric connection etc., in unlicensed saw mill.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 10 }, { "number": "12", "title": "12. Appeal.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 11 }, { "number": "13", "title": "13. Confiscation of saw mills etc.", "chapter": null, "content": "(a) where a saw mill or saw pit is established or operated in an area declared to be a prohibited area under sub-section (1) of Section 6; or\n(b) where a saw mill or saw pit is established or operated without a licence or without renewal of licence under sub-sections (2) and (4) respectively of Section 7; or\n(c) where the saw mill or saw pit is operated after suspension or revocation of a licence under sub-section (5) of Section 7; or\n(d) where the saw mill or saw pit is operated with the aid of electrical energy or electrical installation in contravention of the provision of sub-section (1) of Section 11; or\n(e) unaccounted wood is stored in the saw mill or saw pit, the Licensing Officer may order confiscation of the stock of wood unlawfully stored together with whole or portion of the plants and machinery, implements and equipments which have been used in the commission of the offence.\n(a) a notice in writing informing him of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate such property;\n(b) an opportunity of making a representation in writing within such reasonable time as may be specified in the notice against the grounds for confiscation; and\n(c) a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 12 }, { "number": "14", "title": "14. Penalties.", "chapter": null, "content": "(i) when required by this Act or by any order under this Act to make any statement or furnish any information, makes such statement or furnishes such information which is false in any material particular and which he knows or has reason to believe to be false or does not believe to be true; or\n(ii) makes any such statement as aforesaid in any book, account, record, declaration, return or other document which he is required to maintain or furnish under this Act;", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 13 }, { "number": "15", "title": "15. Offence by Companies.", "chapter": null, "content": "Explanation.\n(a) \"company\" means any body corporate, and includes a firm or other association of individuals;\n(b) \"director\" in relation to firm, means a partner in the firm.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 14 }, { "number": "16", "title": "16. Burden of Proof.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 15 }, { "number": "17", "title": "17. Cognizance of offence.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 16 }, { "number": "18", "title": "18. Jurisdiction of court.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 17 }, { "number": "19", "title": "19. Composition of offence.", "chapter": null, "content": "(a) accept from any person whose licence is liable to be revoked or suspended under sub-section (5) of Section 7 or who is reasonably suspected of having committed for the first time of an offence relating to non-submission of return under Section 9 or of non-maintenance of account of wood under Section 10 or sawing of wood unlawfully obtained which is of less than half a cubic metre in volume, a sum not exceeding five thousand rupees in lieu of such revocation or suspension or by way of composition for such offence, as the case may be and may impose as a penalty a sum not exceeding five thousand rupees and shall order confiscation of unlawfully obtained wood which was seized;\n(b) in any case in which any property has been seized as liable to confiscation under this Act at any time before an order of confiscation is passed by the appropriate authority under this Act release the same on payment of the value thereof as estimated by the Forest Officer.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 18 }, { "number": "20", "title": "20. Licensing Officer or authorised person to be public servant.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 19 }, { "number": "21", "title": "21. Protection of action taken in good faith.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 20 }, { "number": "22", "title": "22. Rewards.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 21 }, { "number": "23", "title": "23. Power to make Rules.", "chapter": null, "content": "(a) The Form in which application shall be made under sub-section (1) of Section 7 and the fee and security deposit which shall accompany such application;\n(b) conditions subject to which licence may be granted under sub-section (3) of Section 7;\n(c) the period for which, the fee on the payment of which and the condition subject to which the licence may be renewed under sub-section (4) of Section 7;\n(d) the form in which the officer to whom and the dates on which returns shall be submitted under Section 9;\n(e) for installation of electric connection, etc. under sub-section (2) of Section 11;\n(f) the authority to which appeal may be preferred under Section 12;\n(g) any other matter which is required to be or may be prescribed.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 22 }, { "number": "24", "title": "24. Other Acts and laws not to apply to saw mill or saw pit.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 23 }, { "number": "25", "title": "25. Saving.", "chapter": null, "content": "(a) the ordinary operations of carpentry not involving saw mill or saw pit operations;\n(b) any saw mill or saw pit owned by the State Government.", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 24 }, { "number": "26", "title": "26. Power to remove difficulty.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 25 }, { "number": "27", "title": "27. Repeal and Saving.", "chapter": null, "content": "", "footnote": "", "is_definition": false, "sort_order": 26 } ], "metadata": { "Act ID": "bh264", "Act Number": "(Act 19 of 1990)", "Enactment Date": "", "Act Year": "1990", "Short Title": "The Bihar Saw Mills (Regulation) Act, 1990", "Type": "STATE", "Location": "Bihar" }, "updated_at": "2026-09-29 21:55:19" }