Section 4

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Definitions. In all Act, unless there is a nything repugn&nt in the subject or context- NOTES Section 4. The definitions in this section will :tpply only if there is nothing repugnant in the subject Ol' context. [Dulichand v. C . 1. T , AIR 1956 SC 354 ~ Dandhania Kedia and Co. v . C . 1. T ., AIR 195\1 SC 219; State of Punjab v. Mohar Singh, AIR 1955 SC 811 ~ Jndra Solzanlal v. Custodian, AIR 1956 SC 77] . ( 1) " a bet" with its grammatical variations and cognate e~pressions shall have the same meaning as in the Ia d ian Pen? 1 Code ; NOTES Clause ( 1). Section 10 ~ of the Indian Penal Code deals with the defini- tion of "abet". [For similar provisions see Cl. (1) of S. 3 of the Centra l Act]. 1 i \ \ ~ 4) AHam Gen!'rnl C/auus Act, 19 15 787 (2) ·:act" used with rererence to an offence or a civil wrong, shall mclude a "<'rics of acts, a nd worde wbtch refer to acts done ~ball extend also to illegal omis ions; NOTES Clauve (2) For the definition o f tbe word ''illegal" see S. 43 of the Indian Penal Code. . In view of the prwi~ionc; of this Act,,the expression ' act' al•o includes tllcgal omi'lsio'l~ (A?t'llgrmvued Electricity Company v. Ajmer Municipnlicy, AIR 19 ~>9 <;C 227; see a/yo Public Prosec'ltor v. R Roju, AIR 1972 I)C 2504]. (3) "affidavit" sha\\ include affirmation and declaration of the case of per~o ns by law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearin!! ; NOTES ClwHe 3. Affi lavit aae~ted bv a judicial <'fflcer does not amount to an affidavit of the o;ig"atory. r his rlefi'lition is inclusive anrl not exhamti <' and in o;uch cHe the proviqion of O:Hho; Act will come into play (C IY71) 1 sec 1021 ( 4) [/) ·I etc:'d 1 ('i) "Ac:o;am Act" shall mean an Act made by the Chief Commissioner of A ~c:n m in Council under the Tndian Councils Act, Jl\6 1 to 1909 or any of those Acts or under the Government of India Act, 191 c; . or hy the Local Legisl'lture of Assam under the Govern- rn nt of lntlia Act, 19\S, or by the l'rovincial Legi!>l.ltur.-: or the Governor of A <;~f!m undu the Governmt nt of India ~ct. 193'\ or hy the Le~1'1l1ture of th,. State ot Asnm .under the Consti- tution ; (6) •· Barrio;ter" ~hall mcnn a harristcr of England Ol' Ireland or a mcmh<'r of the racully of Advocates in Scotland; (7) "Be n~al Act" shall mean an Act made hy the Lieutenant Gov- ernnr of Bengal in Council under the Indian Councils Act, 1861. or the Indian Councils' Act. 186 I and 1892, or the Indian Council's Act, 1!l6 1. 1892 11nd 1909, or made by the Governor in Council of Fort William in "Bengal under the Indian Council's Acto;. 186 1. 1892 and 1909, or by tho local le!!i.lature of Bengal under the Government o f India Act ; ( 8) [Deleted.] (9) "British posses!tion" shall mean any part of Her Maiesty's domi· n ions, excluo;ive of the U nited Kingdom, and where parts of those domi nions are under both a Central anc\ a local legislature, all parts under the Central legislature shall, for the purposes of thi<> dclinition, be deemed to be one British possession ; ( 10) ''Chapter" shall mean a Chapter of the Act in which the word occurs; (ll) "Colony"- :Vo rlt Ealtern Rtglon Local Actr .. 't Ru!L's [S. 4 (a) in any Assam Act passed after the commencement of Pa rt Til of the Government of India Act, 1935, shall mean any part of His Majesty's dominions, exclusive of the :9riti~h Islands, the Dominion<: of India and Pakistan (and before the eqab- lishmeot of those Dominions, I.Jriti. h India}, any Dominion as defined in the Statute of Westminster, 19 31, any Province or State form ing part of any of the said Dominions, nod British Burma ; and (b) in any Assam Act nasserl before the commencement of Part IT£ of the c;aid Act, mean any part of His Majesty'c; dominions exclu~ive of the British Islands nnd of Briti~h Inclia ; am\ in either ~H~e where p11rts of tho~e dominions are under both a Cen!ral and Local Legislature , all part;; under the Central Leg,o;lature shall. for the purposes of this clefinition, be deeme:1 to be one colony ; (12) "commencement", used with reference to an Act, hall mean the day on which the Act comes into force ; (13 "C'ommissioner", ~hall mran the rhief Officer in charge of the revenue · lldminio;tration of n division and shnll include the Assam Revenue Tribunal while exercising jurisdiction hereto- fore exercic;ed hy a Commissioner in appeals and revi<~ion in Revenue CB'lCS ; (14) "Consular Officer" shall include consul ,general, consul, vice- consul, consular agent, pro-cono;ul, and any person for the time being authoric;ed to perform the duties of con<;u\-general, consul, or vice-conc;ul or con<~ul agent ; ( 15) "Oeouty Commic;sioner" shall mean the chief officer-in-charge of the general adminic;tration of district. ( 16) "District C'ourt" shall mean orincioal Civil Court of original jurisdiction; but <~hal\ not include a High Court in the exercise of its ordinary or extraordinary original civil jurisdiction ; ( 17) "Dic;trict Judge" sba ll mean the Judge of a District Court ; NOTES In Maniour, Additional Dic;trict Judge would come within the meaning of thic; clause. [AlR 1964 M rtniout' 351. The question whether an Adrlit1onal Distnct Judge or an Additional Judge is a Judge of 1 he Di-;• net Court and extent of hi<; powers of a District Judge shall clepend upon C1vil Courtc; Rules etc. in force in d1tferent States. [Kuldip Singh v. Tlw Stnre of P11njab, ATR 1956 SC 391]. ( 18) "document" shall include any m atter wrillcn, expre~sed or d<'•cnh- ed upon any substance by means of letters, figures or m.•rks, or by more than one of those means, which is intended to be used, or which m~ty he used for tbe purpose of recording that rna tier ~ NOTES Clause 18. The Nord "document" does not include Indi.tn Currency. A plain reading of the clause shall refute such a contention. [Kri slman \ Asram General Clauses Act, 1915 789 Sukumaram v. Enforcement Officer, ATR 1968 Kerala 208] . But in another case l '\[R I Y62 TJ:Iipura 50) it was held that the definition of document includes foreign currency. ( 19) "Eastern Bengal and Assam" shall mean the terPitories which were under the Administration of the Lieutenant-Governol' of Eastern Bengal and Assam immediately priol' to the Constitution of the Chief Commissionersltip of Assam io 1912 ; (20) "Eastt.rn Bengal and Assam Act" shall mean an Act made by the Lieutenant-Governor of Eastern Bengal and Assam in Council under the Indian Councils Acts, 1861 to 1909; (21) " enactment" shall include a Regulation (as hereinafter defined) and any Regulation of the Bengal Code, and shall also include any provision contained in any enactment or in any such Regula· tion as aforesaid ; NOTES Clause 21. The definition of enlctment in this clause is inclusive and not exhaustive, therefore, the matter 18 not concluded merely by that fact that an .. ) rdina nee" is oot inclu Jed in this definition. (Haroobhai v. State, AlR 19;,7 Ouj 22-J]. (22) "father" in the case of any one whose personal law perm1ts adop- t ions shall include an adoptive father ; (23) "financial year" shall mean the yenr commencing on first day of April; (24) [Del etedj. (25) A thing shall be deemed to be done in ••good faith" where it is in fact d)oe honestly, whether it is done negligently or not; NOTES Clause 25. Section 25 of the Indian Penal Code and S. 2(h) of the Limitation Act, also define "good faith", but both these definitions are at va.riance with the definition given uodel' this clause. Under the definition in thts clause stress is given on one aspect of honesty only irrespective of negli- gence, but in the Indian Penal Code both the aspects-honesty and m·g\igence have been taken into consideration. The definition given in the Limitation Act is identical with the one given in the Penal Code. [See AIR 19 ~6 Orissa \24 and AIR 1969 Bom 127]. It was held in the case of N. Subramania v. Official Receiver, [AIR. 19S!s SC 1), that the definition of "good faith" in the Indian General Cla uses Act would have been applicable to the loJian Limita- tion Act also but the legislature in its wisdom has given a special debnition of "good faith" different from the one in the Indian General Clauses Act -so is the case of the Indian Penal Code. It cannot be said that the definition of "good faith" as give:• in the General Clauses Act must apply in the same sense to every piece of legislation to which it may apply irrespective of the subject or the context. [See also Harbhajan Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR l ~66 SO 97 ; also AIR 11J66 SO 1260] But the definition of ·• good faith" given in the Factories Act (S. 117) is similar to the one given in the OeneFal Clauses Act. ?90 North-Ea!lfem R.Jgirm Local Acts & Rules [S. 4 [Se~ also S. 22 of the Tndustrial Disputes Act]. For an action to amount mala fide something more than negligence is necessary, so as to impose liability on the actor, [AIK. 1975 SC 529]. (26) "Government" or "the Government" shall include the State Government as well as the Central Government ; NOTES . Clause 26. The term "President" can tot be divorced froin the expres- Sion "Government of India" occurring in Art. 77 of the Constitution. (Chattar Singh v. The Union of India, AIR 1967 Raj 194]. (27) W eletedJ. (28) "High Court" shall mean the High Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal ; {29) W eleted} . {30) "immovable property" shall include land, benefits to arise out of land, and thing ~ attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth ; NOTES Clause 30. 1'he word "immovable" as used in this Act would connote all that would be "real" prop~rty according to the English law and possibly more. "Standing crops" are immovable property [AIR 1935 Mad 134] and "trees" would also be included in the definition [1\TR 1927 All 2'i4l Tbe ~upreme Court in tbe case of Smt Shantabai v. State of Bombay, [AIR 1958 SC 532] held that ''Trees" are rega •dec\ as immovable property because they are attetched to or rooted in the earth. Section 2 (6) of the Registration Act expressly s1ys so and though the Tr..1nsfer of Property Act does not ~pecifi­ C<tlly define "immovable propertv, because of this clause of the General Claus¢s -\ct. tree.; would he treated as "immovable property". Tbe Supreme C'ourt in artother c'lse rMahadeo v. State of Bombay, ATR 1959 SC 735) held ttJat the things rooted in the earth as in the case of trees and shrubs, are immovable property both within the General Cl <~ uses Act and the Transfet~ of Property Act 'T'he Supreme Court in the case of Anand Beharn "·Stat.: of Orissa, r \IR 195o SC 171 held that the sale of a right to catch and c1rry a'vay fish in specific portion of the lake, is reearded as a henefit that arises out of the land . [See al~o AIR 1971 SC 20971 The right to receive rent fol' the occupation of the land i~ the right of henefit'l arising out of the land. [AIR 19 '2 Orissa 116 ; See also ATR 1936 PC