The Scheduled Areas (Assimilation of Laws) Act, 1953
(Act No. 16 of 1953)
[6th May, 1953]
An Act to provide for the assimilation of certain laws in force in the Scheduled Areas in the districts of Nowgong and Sibsagar in the State of Assam
Be it enacted by Parliament as follows:—
1. Short title and commencement—(1) This Act may be called the Scheduled Areas (Assimilation of Laws) Act, 1953.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,
(a) "appointed day" means the date appointed under sub-section (2) of section 1 for the coming into force of this Act;
(b) "law" means any Act, Ordinance, regulation, rule, order or notification having the force of law in relation to any matter enumerated in the first and third schedules to the Constitution;
(c) "Scheduled Area" means an area specified in the Schedule.
3. Assimilation of laws—(1) All laws which immediately before the appointed day are in force in the Scheduled Areas shall, on and from that day, cease to be in force in those areas, except in so far as they relate to things done or omitted to be done before the appointed day, and for the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897), shall apply in such manner as it would have applied if this Act had not been passed.
(2) All laws which immediately before the appointed day are in force in the district of Nowgong in the State of Assam shall, on and from that day, be in force in the area specified in paragraph 1 of the Schedule as if they had been in force in that area immediately before the appointed day.
(3) All laws which immediately before the appointed day are in force in the district of Sibsagar in the State of Assam shall, on and from that day, be in force in the area specified in paragraph 2 of the Schedule as if they had been in force in that area immediately before the appointed day.
4. Transitional provisions—Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3, the Central Government or the State Government of Assam may, by order, direct that any law which immediately before the appointed day is in force in the Scheduled Areas shall, during a period not exceeding twelve months from the appointed day, be deemed to be still in force in those areas, and may also direct that any law which on the appointed day comes into force in the Scheduled Areas shall, during such period, be deemed not to be in force in those areas.
5. Savings—Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3, all suits, proceedings and other legal proceedings between parties, one or more of whom are members of the Scheduled Tribes specified in Part I—Item 2 of the table below paragraph 2 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders, 1950, or of any other tribe or tribes specified in the said table, shall be instituted, tried and disposed of in accordance with the law and procedure in force in the Mikir Hills and North Cangchar and Sibsagar districts as if this Act had not been passed.
6. Power to remove difficulties—If any difficulty arises in relation to the transition from one law to another law under section 3, the Central Government may, by order, make such provisions as it thinks fit for the purpose of removing the difficulty.
SCHEDULE
[See section 2 (c)]
1. (a) portion of Gobha mauza which was originally included in the Sonai Kachari Reserve Forest;
(b) Kolakhat Reserve Forest;
(c) portion of Lumding Reserve Forest which lies in the Lankai mauza of the original Mikir Hills tract;
(d) portion of Lumding mauza which lies to the west of the line hereinafter described :—
Starting from the point where the northern boundary of Nimati mauza meets the Kakijan, the line runs northwards along the Kakijan to its source; thence a straight line in a north-easterly direction crossing the hill ranges to the confluence of the Papari stream and the Lankajan; thence along the Lankajan to its source; thence in a northerly direction along the eastern boundary of the Lumding Reserve Forest to the junction of the Lankai Nasing and the Bara Langfer rivers; and thence a straight line due north to the point where it meets the northern boundary of Lumding mauza;
(e) Doyang Reserve Forest;
(f) Sowang Reserve Forest;
(g) Diju Valley, North Reserve Forest;
(h) Bagser Reserve Forest;
2. (a) Panbari Reserve Forest;
(b) Upper Dehangi Reserve Forest;
(c) Lower Dehangi Reserve Forest;
(d) Ghiladhari Pathar, Dokhara Pathar and the portion of Marangi mauza in the original Mikir Hills tract, known as Murfuloni village lands;
(e) portion of Borpathar mauza which lies to the east of the Dhansiri river and to the north of the Gamarpani Kaliban road;
(f) portion of Ghiladhari mauza in the original Mikir Hills tract;
(g) portion of Sarupathar mauza which lies to the east of the Dhansiri river.
