[Act 1 of 1868] [3rd January, 1868] Repealed by Act,
10 of 1897 PASSED BY THE
GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL. (Received the
assent of the Governor General on the 3rd January 1868.) An Act for
shortening the language used in Acts of the Governor General of India in
Council and for other purposes. Whereas it is expedient to shorten the language used in
Acts made by the Governor General of India in Council, and to make certain
provisions relating to such Acts; It is hereby enacted as follows. This Act may be
cited as ?The General Clauses' Act, 1868.? In this Act and in
an Acts made by the Governor General of India in Council after this Act shall
have come into operation, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or
context, (1)
Gender. Words importing the masculine gender shall he
taken to include females; (2)
Number. Words in the singular shall include the plural,
and vice versd; (3)
?Person,? ?Person? shall include any company, or
association, or body of individuals whether incorporated or not; (4)
?Year? and ?month.? ?Year? and ?month? shall respectively
mean a year and month reckoned according to the British calendar; (5)
?Immoveable property.? ?Immoveable property? shall
include land, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth,
or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth; (6)
?Moveable property.? ?Moveable property? shall mean
property of every description, except immoveable property; (7)
?Her Majesty.? ?Her Majesty? shall include Her heirs and
successors to the Crown; (8)
?British India.? ?British India? shall mean the
territories for the time being vested in Her Majesty by the Statute 21 & 22
Vic., cap. 106 (An Act for the better government of India), other than the
Settlement of Prince of Wales' Island, Singapore and Malacca; (9)
?Government of India.? ?Government of India? shall denote
the Governor General of India in Council, or, during the absence of the
Governor General of India from his Council, the President in Council, or the
Governor General of India alone, as regards the powers which may he lawfully
exercised by them or him respectively; (10)
?Local Government.? ?Local Government? shall mean the
person authorized by law to administer executive government in the part of
British India in which the Act containing such expression shall operate, and
shall include a Chief Commissioner; (11)
?High Court.? ?High Court? shall mean Court of appeal in
such part; (12)
?District Judge.? ?District Judge? shall mean the Judge
of a principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction; but shall not include a
High Court in the exercise of its ordinary or extraordinary original civil
jurisdiction; (13)
?Magistrate.? ?Magistrate? shall include all persons exercising
all or any of the powers of a Magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure; (14)
?Barrister.? ?Barrister? shall mean a barrister of
England or Ireland, or a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland; (15)
?Section.? ?Section? shall denote a section of the Act in
which the word occurs; (16)
?Will.? ?Will? shall include a codicil and every writing
making a voluntary posthumous distribution of property; (17)
?Oath? ?swear? and ?affidavit?. ?Oath,? ?swear? and
?affidavit? shall include affirmation, declaration, affirming and declaring in
the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearing; (18)
?Imprisonment.? ?Imprisonment? shall mean imprisonment of
either description as defined in the Indian Penal Code; (19)
?Son.? ?Father.? And in the case of any one whose
personal law permits adoption, ?son shall include an adopted son, and ?father?
an adoptive father. In all Acts made
by the Governor General of India in Council after this Act shall have come into
operation. (1)
Revival of repealed enactments. For the purpose of
reviving, either wholly or partially, a Statute, Act or Regulation repealed, it
shall he necessary expressly to state such purpose; (2)
Commencement of time. For the purpose of excluding the
first in a series of days or any other period of time, it shall be sufficient
to use the word ?from;? (3)
Termination of time. For the purpose of including the
last, in a series of days or any other period of time, it shall be sufficient
to use the word ?to?; (4)
Official chiefs and subordinates. For the purpose of
expressing that a law relative to the chief or superior of an office, shall
apply to the deputies or subordinates lawfully executing the duties of such
office in the place of their superior, it shall be sufficient to prescribe the
duty of the superior; (5)
Successors. For the purpose of indicating the relation of
a law to the successors of any functionaries, or of corporations having
perpetual succession, it shall be sufficient to express its relation to the
functionaries or corporations; and (6)
Substitution of functionaries. For the purpose of
indicating the application of a law to every person or number of persons for
the time being executing the functions of an office, it shall be sufficient to
mention the official title of the officer at present executing such functions,
or that of the officer by whom the functions are commonly executed. Whenever by any
Act or Regulation now in force or hereafter to he in force, any duty of customs
or excise or in the nature thereof is leviable on any given quantity, by
weight, measure or value, of any goods or merchandize, a like duty shall be
leviable according to the same rate on any greater or less quantity. The provisions of
sections sixty-three to seventy, both inclusive, of the Indian Penal Code, and
of section sixty-one of the Code of Criminal Procedure, shall apply to all
fines imposed under the authority of any Act hereafter to no passed, unless
such Act shall contain an express provision to the contrary. The repeal of any
Statute, Act or Regulation, shall not affect anything done or any offence
committed, or any fine or penalty incurred, or any proceedings commenced before
the repealing Act shall have come into operation. All Courts of
Justice, whether; exercising civil or any other jurisdiction, and all persons
having by law or consent of parties authority to receive evidence, shall take
judicial notice of all Acts and Regulations heretofore made, or hereafter to he
made, by the Governor General of India in Council, the Governor of Madras in
Council, the Governor of Bombay in Council and the Lieutenant Governor of
Bengal in Council, or by the like authority in other parts of British India,
whether the same be of a public or of a private nature. Any recital
contained in any Act of the Governor General of India in Council heretofore
made or hereafter to he made, shall he deemed by all such Courts and persons to
he prim? facie evidence of the truth of the fact recited.General Clauses Act, 1868 [Repealed]
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