(Pb. Act XI of 1991)
[9 October 1991]
Preamble.— Whereas it is expedient to provide for the
establishment of Bahawalpur Development Authority for the development of the
area comprising the Revenue Division of Bahawalpur excluding the desert areas
of the Division presently covered by the Cholistan Development Authority;
It
is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement.— (1) This Act may be called the Bahawalpur
Development Authority Act 1991.
(2) It shall come into force at once.
(3) The area of jurisdiction of the
Authority shall be such as may be determined by the Government by Notification.
2. Definitions.— In this Act, unless there is anything
repugnant in the subject or the context—
(a) “Authority”
means the Bahawalpur Development Authority;
(b) “area”
means the area of jurisdiction of the Authority as may be notified;
(c) “Chairman”
means Chairman of the Authority;
(d) “Director
General” means Director General of the Authority;
(e) “Government”
means Government of the Punjab;
(f) “Government
Agency” includes—
(i) a division, department, bureau, section,
commission, board, office or unit of the Government;
(ii) a local council; and
(iii) a development or any other public authority,
company or corporation (whether autonomous or semi-autonomous) owned or
controlled by the Government or a Local Council;
(g) “land”
includes earth, water and air above, below or on the surface and any
improvement in the structure customarily regarded as land and benefit arising
out of land and things attached to earth or permanently fastened to earth;
(h) “member”
means member of the Authority and includes its Chairman;
(i) “person” includes an individual, company,
firm, co-operative society or association of individuals, whether incorporated
or not;
(j) “prescribed”
means prescribed by rules or regulations.
3. Establishment of the Authority.— (1) As soon as may be after the commencement
of this Act, the Government may establish an Authority known as ‘Bahawalpur
Development Authority’.
(2) The Authority shall be a body corporate
having power to acquire and hold property, movable and immovable, shall have
perpetual succession and a common seal and shall by the said name sue and be
sued.
4. Constitution of the Authority.— (1) The Authority shall consist of such
members as may be notified by the Government.
(2) The Government shall appoint one of the
members of the Authority as its Chairman.
5. Powers and Functions.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act
and the rules framed thereunder, the Authority may exercise such powers and
take such measures as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this
Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of
the foregoing sub-section, the Authority may—
(a) prepare,
implement and enforce schemes for development of agriculture and industry,
forest conservation and development, development of irrigation facilities,
development of means of communications, development of mineral resources,
construction and development of housing, water supply, sewerage, drainage,
promotion of tourism, environmental improvement, urban renewal including slums
clearance and re-development, solid waste disposal, health and education
facilities and preservation of objects or places of historical, archaeological,
scientific, cultural and recreational importance;
(b) acquire
property, both movable and immovable;
(c) sell,
lease, exchange or otherwise dispose of any property vested in it;
(d) undertake
any works and incur any expenditure;
(e) procure
machinery, instruments or any other material required by it;
(f) enter
into contracts;
(g) cause studies, surveys, experiments, technical
researches or contribute towards the cost of any such studies, surveys,
experiments or technical researches, made by any other Agency;
(h) issue
interim development orders for areas for which a scheme is under preparation
and restrict or regulate by general or special order any change in the use of
land and alteration in building structures and installations;
(i) cause
removal of any works obstructing the execution of its schemes;
(j) seek
and obtain advice and assistance for the preparation of any scheme, or for the
execution of any schemes from any Government Agency or person, and such Agency
or person shall give the advice and assistance sought by the Authority to the
best of its ability, knowledge and judgment and the additional expenditure, if
any, involved in giving such advice or assistance shall be borne by the
Authority; and
(k) undertake
any other function which the Government may assign to it.
(3) The Authority, with the approval of the
Government may, and if directed by the Government, shall undertake the
maintenance and regulation of such schemes and other activities of a Government
Agency as may be necessary, and when a scheme or any activity is undertaken by
the Authority, the assets and liabilities connected therewith shall also stand
transferred to the Authority.
(4) The Authority, with the approval of the
Government may, and if directed by the Government, shall transfer any of its
functions and powers to a Government Agency on such terms and conditions as it
may deem fit.
(5) The Government on its own or on a
resolution of the Authority, may delegate all or any of its functions and
powers including powers to levy or recover a tax to the Authority to such
extent and for such period as may be necessary.
6. Appointment of Director General.— (1) The Director General may be appointed by
the Government on such terms and conditions as the Government may fix.
(2) The Director General shall—
(a) be
a whole-time officer of the Authority;
(b) perform such duties as may be assigned to him
and exercise such powers as may be delegated to him by the Authority; and
(c) hold
office during the pleasure of the Government.
7. Appointment
of officers and association of other persons.— (1) The Authority may,
subject to such general or special orders as the Government may give, appoint
such officers, advisers, experts, consultants and employees as it considers
necessary for the efficient performance of its functions on such terms and
conditions as it may deem fit.
(2) The
Authority may associate with it, in such manner, on such terms and for such
purpose as it may deem fit, any person whose assistance or advice may be
required in carrying out the purposes of this Act.
8. Executive Authority.— (1) Save as otherwise provided, the
executive authority of the Authority shall vest in and be exercised by its
Director General.
(2) All acts of the Authority shall be
expressed to be taken in the name of the Authority and shall be authenticated
by the Director General by affixation of his official seal.
9. Disposal of Business.— (1) The business of the Authority shall be
disposed of at its meetings or at the meeting of its Committees, by its
Director General or servants or other functionaries.
(2) The Authority shall have the power to
act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership.
(3) No proceeding shall be invalid by reason
only that some persons who were not entitled to do so, sat and voted or
otherwise took part in the proceedings.
(4) The Authority may constitute such
financial, technical, and advisory committees as it may deem necessary for
carrying out the purposes of this Act.
10. Meetings.— (1) The members of the Authority shall meet
at such place and at such time as the Authority may decide.
(2) The Authority may frame regulations for
the conduct of its meetings.
(3) The Chairman and in his absence any
other member of the Authority elected by the members for that purpose shall
preside over the meetings.
(4) The Authority shall hold at least one
meeting during each quarter of the year.
11. Preparation
of schemes.— (1) The
Authority shall in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed, prepare
schemes for the area or any part thereof.
(2) No planning or development schemes shall
be prepared by any person, Local Council or Government Agency within the area
except with the concurrence of the Authority.
12. Notification
of schemes.— Any scheme
prepared under this Act may, at any time, be amended or modified by the
Authority in the same manner as may be prescribed for the preparation of a
scheme.
13. Power
to give directions.— (1) The
Authority may, with the prior approval of the Government, require a Government
Agency, within whose jurisdiction any particular locality or aspect of
development covered by a scheme lies—
(a) to execute a scheme in consultation with the Authority;
(b) to take over and maintain any of the works and
services in that area;
(c) to provide any amenity in relation to the land
which in the opinion of the Authority ought to be provided; and
(d) to enforce regulations on behalf of the
Authority.
(2) The expenditure incurred on the
execution of any scheme or on the taking over or maintenance of any work, or
the enforcement of regulations, under this section, shall be borne as may be
agreed to between the Authority and the Government Agency and in the event of
disagreement, as may be determined by the Government.
14. Power
to execute any schemes.— (1)
When the Authority is satisfied that any direction given by it under
sub-section (1) of Section 13 with regard to any scheme, has not been carried out
by the Government Agency, the Authority may itself undertake any works for the
execution of that scheme and the cost thereof shall be borne as may be agreed
between the authority and the Government Agency and in the event of
disagreement as may be determined by the Government.
(2) Where any work is undertaken by the
Authority under sub-section (1), it shall be deemed to have, for the purposes
of execution of such work, all the powers which may be exercised, under any
law, by the Government Agency concerned.
15. Power
to act as a Local Council.—
During such period and for such locality, as the Government may by notification
specify, the Authority may, notwithstanding anything contained in any other
law, exercise and perform such powers and functions as a Local Council may
exercise and perform in relation to its local area, under the Punjab Local
Government Ordinance 1979.
16. Borrowing money.— (1) The Authority shall
be deemed to be a Local Authority for the purpose of borrowing money and any
scheme or project prepared or undertaken by the Authority shall be deemed to be
“work” as defined in Section 2 of the Local Authorities Loans Act 1914:
Provided
that no local or foreign loan shall be obtained by the Authority without the
previous sanction of the Government.
(2) The
Authority may, in consultation with the Finance Department, Government of the
Punjab, borrow money or raise funds by issuing bonds or debentures or
otherwise, for carrying out the purposes of this Act at such rate of interest
as may be approved by the Government.
17. Power to levy betterment fee.— Where as a consequence
of any scheme having been executed by the Authority, the value of any property
in that locality, in the opinion of the Authority, has increased or will
increase, the Authority shall, with the previous consent of the Government, be
entitled to levy upon owners of the property or any person having an interest
therein, a betterment fee in respect of the increase in value of the property
resulting from the execution of the scheme.
18. Assessment
of betterment fee.— (1)
Wherever it appears to the Authority that any particular development scheme is
sufficiently advanced to enable the amount of the betterment fee to be
determined, the Authority may, by an order made in this behalf, declare that
for the purpose of determining the betterment fee, the execution of the scheme
shall be deemed to have been completed and shall thereafter give notice in
writing to the owner of the property or any person having an interest therein
that the Authority proposes to assess the amount of betterment fee in respect
of the property mentioned in Section 17.
(2) The
betterment fee under Section 17 or under sub-section (1) of this Section, shall
be assessed and be payable, in the manner prescribed.
19. Authority
fund.— (1) There shall be
formed a fund to be known as the ‘Authority Fund’ which shall vest in the
Authority and shall be utilised by the Authority in connection with its
functions under this Act including the payment of salaries and other such remunerations
by the Authority.
(2) To the Authority Fund, shall be
credited—
(a) grants
made by the Government;
(b) all
moneys received from Federal Government or any international agency by way of
grants, loans, advances or otherwise;
(c) all
fees, rates and charges received by the Authority under this Act;
(d) all moneys received by the Authority from the
disposal of lands, buildings and other properties movable or immovable;
(e) proceeds
from the self-financing schemes;
(f) loans
obtained from the Government or State Bank of Pakistan or any Scheduled Bank
with special or general sanction of the Government;
(g) all
profits or interests accruing from investment; and
(h) such
proceeds from the sources of income or disposal of assets of the Government, as
the Government may direct to be placed at the disposal of the Authority.
(3) The Authority may keep in current
account of any Scheduled Bank such sum as may be prescribed and any amount in
excess of the said amount shall be invested in the Government securities, the
Government sponsored saving schemes or in such manner as may be determined by
the Authority.
Explanation.—
For the
purpose of this sub-section, the Government includes Federal Government.
20. Rates and Fees.— With the previous
consent of the Government, funds may be raised by the Authority, from time to
time, to meet the cost of its schemes by imposing fees, rates and other
charges.
21. Accounts.— The Authority shall maintain proper accounts
and other relevant records and prepare annual statement of accounts in such
form as may be prescribed.
22. Budget.— The Authority shall prepare, every year, in
such form and at such time as may be prescribed a budget in respect of the
financial year next ensuing, showing the estimated receipts and expenditure of
the Authority and shall submit the same to the Government for approval and if
the Government does not approve or modify the budget within thirty days of its
receipt, the budget as prepared by the Authority shall be deemed to be the
approved budget.
23. Audit.— The accounts of the Authority shall be
audited in such manner as may be directed by the Government.
24. Penalty.— Whoever contravenes any provision of this
Act, or any rules or regulations made thereunder shall, if no other penalty is
provided for such contravention, be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both.
25. Causing
damage to property and disobedience of orders.— (1) Whoever willfully causes damage, or
allows damage to be caused to any property which vests in the Authority, or
which is intended to be acquired by the Authority, or unlawfully converts it to
his own or any other person’s use shall be punishable with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
(2) Whoever
refuses or willfully neglects to provide any officer or servant of the
Authority with the means necessary for entering into any premises for the
purposes of collecting any information or making an examination or enquiry in
relation to any water works shall be punishable with imprisonment extending to
one year, or fine or with both.
(3) Whoever, without lawful excuse, fails or
refuses to comply with any direction or order issued by the Authority under
this Act, shall be guilty of an offence punishable under Section 24.
(4) Whoever attempts to commit or abets the
commission of an offence punishable under this Act, shall be deemed to have
committed that offence.
(5) Any Magistrate empowered for the time
being to try in a summary way the offences specified in sub-section (1) of
Section 260 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 may, if such Magistrate
thinks fit, on application being made in this behalf by the prosecution, try an
offence punishable under this Act, in accordance with the provisions contained
in Sections 262 to 265 of the said Code.
26. Cognizance of offences by Court.— No Court shall take
cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act except on a complaint in
writing made by an officer authorised for the purpose, by the Authority.
27. Annual
report.— The Authority shall
prepare for every year a report of its activities during that year and submit
the report to the Government in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
28. Recovery
of dues.— Any sum due to the
Authority from, or any sum wrongly paid by the Authority to, any person under
this Act, shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue.
29. Conversion
of property to a different use.— Any conversion of the property to a different use or purpose other
than the one provided under a scheme, by a person or agency, without the
previous approval of the Authority in writing, shall be punishable with a fine
which may extend to rupees five hundred per day from the date of its conversion
till the default continues or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
one year, or with fine, or with both.
30. Summary
ejectment of unauthorised occupants.— The Authority may, in the manner prescribed, cause any person in
unauthorised occupation of any land or property vesting in the Authority to be
ejected by use of such force as may be necessary.
31. Approval
of buildings etc.— (1) Where
any building or structure is erected or used or any land is used in
contravention of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, regulation or order
made thereunder, the Authority may, in the manner prescribed, cause the owner,
occupier, user or person in control of such building, structure, work or land
to remove, demolish or alter the building, structure or work or to use it in
such manner so as to bring such erection, construction or user in accordance
with the provisions of this Act.
(2) If any order under sub-section (1) in
respect of any building, structure, work or land is not complied with within
such time, as may be specified therein, the Authority may, after giving the
person affected by the order, an opportunity of being heard, remove, demolish
or alter the building, structure or work or stop the use of the land and, in so
doing, may use such force as may be necessary and may also recover the cost
thereof from the person responsible for the erection, construction or use of
the building, structure, work or land in contravention of the provisions as
aforesaid.
32. Members,
officers and employees to be public servants.— The Chairman, Members, Director General,
Officers, Servants, Experts and Consultants of the Authority shall be deemed to
be public servants within the meaning of Section 21 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
33. Immunity
of the authority and its employees.— No suit, prosecution or any other legal proceedings shall lie against
the Authority, the Chairman, the Director General, any Member, servant, expert
or consultant of the Authority, in respect of anything done or intended to be
done in good faith under this Act.
34. Delegation
of powers.— (1) The
Authority may, by general or special order, delegate to the Director General,
or any member, officer or employee of the Authority any of its powers, duties
or functions under this Act or the rules made thereunder, subject to such
conditions, as it may deem fit to impose.
(2) The Director General may, subject to the
approval of the Authority, delegate any of his powers, duties or functions,
other than those delegated to him under sub-section (1), to any member, officer
or employee of the Authority.
35. Jurisdiction
of courts barred.— Save as
otherwise provided by this Act, no Court or other authority shall have
jurisdiction to question the legality of anything done or any action taken
under this Act, by or at the instance of the Authority.
36. Power
to make rules.— Subject to
the provisions of this Act, the Government may make rules for carrying into
effect the purposes of this Act.
37. Power
to make regulations.—
Subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules framed thereunder, the Authority
may make regulations as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this Act
and the rules.
38. The
Act to prevail over other laws.— In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the provisions
of this Act and the provisions of any other law, the provisions of this Act
shall, to the extend of such conflict or inconsistency, prevail.
39. Repeal.— The Bahawalpur Development Authority
Ordinance 1991 (XX of 1991), is hereby repealed.
[1][1]This Act was passed by the
Punjab Assembly on 2nd October, 1991; assented to by the Governor of the Punjab
on 6th October, 1991; and, was published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary),
dated 9th October, 1991, Pages 3285-A to 3285-H.
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