law: General Clauses Act, 1897
  3. Definitions
  
  In this Act, and in all Central Acts and regulations made after
  
  the commencement of this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject
  
  or context-
  (1) "abet", with its grammatical variations and
  
  cognate expressions, shall have the same meaning as in the Indian Penal Code
  
  (45 of 1860);
  (2) "act", used with reference to an offence or a
  
  civil wrong, shall include a series of acts, and words which refer to acts
  
  done, extend also to illegal omissions;
  (3) "affidavit" shall include affirmation and
  
  declaration in the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or declare instead
  
  of swearing;
  (4) "barrister" shall mean, a barrister of England or
  
  Ireland, or a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland;
  (5) "British India" shall mean, as respects the period
  
  before the commencement of Part III of Government of India Act, 1935, all territories
  
  and places within His Majesty’s dominions which were for the time being
  
  governed by His Majesty through the Governor-General of India or through any
  
  Governor or Officer subordinate to the Governor-General of India, and as
  
  respects any period after that date and before the date of establishment of the
  
  Dominion of India means all territories for the time being comprised within the
  
  Governors' Provinces and the Chief Commissioners’ Provinces, except that a
  
  reference to British India in an Indian law passed or made before the
  
  commencement of Part III of the Government of India Act, 1935, shall not
  
  include a reference to Berar ;
  (6) "British possession" shall mean any part of Her
  
  Majesty’s dominions exclusive of the United Kingdom, and where parts of those
  
  dominions are under both a Central and a Local Legislature, all parts under the
  
  Central Legislature shall, for the purposes of this definition, be deemed to be
  
  one British possession;
  (7) "Central Act" shall mean an Act of Parliament, and
  
  shall include-
  (a) an Act of the Dominion Legislature or of
  
  the Indian Legislature passed before the commencement of the Constitution, and
  (b) an Act made before such commencement by
  
  the Governor-General in Council or the Governor-General, acting in a
  
  legislative capacity;
  (8) "Central Government" shall-
  (a) in relation to anything done before the
  
  commencement of the Constitution, means the Governor-General or the Governor
  
  General in Council, as the case may be; and shall include-
  ( i ) in relation to
  
  functions entrusted under sub-section (1) of section 124 of the Government of
  
  India Act, 1935, to the Government of a Province, the Provincial Government
  
  acting within the scope of the authority given to it under that sub-section;
  
  and
  (ii) in relation to the administration of a
  
  Chief Commissioner’s Province, the Chief Commissioner acting within the scope
  
  of the authority given to him under sub-section (3) of section 94 of the said
  
  Act; and
  (b) in relation to anything done or to be done
  
  after the commencement of the Constitution, means the President; and shall
  
  include-
  ( i ) in relation to
  
  functions entrusted under clause (1) of article 258 of the Constitution, to the
  
  Government of a State, the State Government acting within the scope of the
  
  authority given to it under that clause;
  3[* * *]
  (ii) in relation to the administration of a
  
  Part C State 4[before the commencement of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment)
  
  Act, 1956], the Chief Commissioner or the Lieutenant-Governor or the Government
  
  of a neighboring State or other authority acting within the scope of the
  
  authority given to him or it under article 239 or article 243 of the
  
  Constitution, as the case may be; 4[and
  (iii) in relation to the administration of a
  
  Union Territory, the administrator thereof acting within the scope of the
  
  authority given to him under article 239 of the Constitution];
  (9) "Chapter" shall mean a Chapter of the Act or
  
  regulation in which the word occurs;
  (10) "Chief Controlling Revenue Authority" or
  
  "Chief Revenue Authority" shall mean-
  (a) in a State where there is a Board of
  
  Revenue, that Board;
  (b) in a State where there is a Revenue
  
  Commissioner, that Commissioner;
  (c) in Punjab, the Financial Commissioner; and
  
  
  (d) else where, such authority as, in relation
  
  to matters enumerated in List I in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution,
  
  the Central Government, and in relation to other matters, the State Government,
  
  may by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint;
  (11) "Collector" shall mean, in a Presidency-town, the
  
  Collector of Calcutta, Madras or Bombay, as the case may be, and elsewhere the
  
  chief officer-in-charge of the revenue-administration of a district;
  (12) "Colony"-
  (a) in any Central Act passed after the
  
  commencement of Part III of the Government of India Act, 1935, shall mean any
  
  part of His Majesty’s dominions exclusive of the British Islands, the Dominions
  
  of India and Pakistan (and before the establishment of those Dominions, British
  
  India), any Dominions as defined in the Statute of Westminster, 1931, any
  
  Province or State forming part of any of the said Dominions, and British Burma;
  
  and
  (b) in any Central Act passed before the
  
  commencement of Part III of the said Act, means any part of His Majesty’s
  
  dominions exclusive of the British Islands and of British India; and in the
  
  either case where parts of those dominions are under both a Central and Local
  
  Legislature, all parts under the Central Legislature shall, for the purposes of
  
  this definition, be deemed to be one colony.
  (13) "commencement" used with reference to an Act or
  
  regulation, shall mean the day on which the Act or regulation comes into force;
  
  
  (14) "Commissioner" shall mean the chief
  
  officer-in-charge of the revenue administration of a division;
  (15) "Constitution" shall mean the Constitution of
  
  India;
  (16) "Consular officer" shall include consul-general,
  
  consul, vice-consul, consular agent, pro-consul and any person for the time
  
  being authorized to perform the duties of consul-general, consul, vice-consul
  
  or consular agent;
  (17) "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;
  (18) "document" shall include any matter Written,
  
  expressed or described upon any substance by means of letters, figures or
  
  marks, or by more than one of those means which is intended to be used, or
  
  which may be used, for the purpose of recording that matter;
  (19) "enactment" shall include a regulation (as
  
  hereinafter defined) and any regulation of the Bengal, Madras or Bombay Code,
  
  and shall also include any provision contained in any Act or in any such
  
  regulation as aforesaid;
  (20) "father", in the case of any one whose personal
  
  law permits adoption, shall include an adoptive father;
  (21) "financial year" shall mean the year commencing
  
  on the first day of April;
  (22) a thing shall be deemed to be done in "good
  
  faith" where it is in fact done honestly, whether it is done negligently
  
  or not;
  (23) "Government" or "the Government" shall
  
  include both the Central Government and any State Government;
  (24) "Government securities" shall mean securities of
  
  the Central Government or of any State Government, but in any Act or regulation
  
  made before the commencement of the Constitution shall not include securities
  
  of the government of any Part B State;
  (25) "High Court", used with reference to civil
  
  proceedings, shall mean the highest civil court of appeal (not including the
  
  Supreme Court) in the part of India in which the Act or regulation containing
  
  the expression operates;
  (26) "immovable 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;
  (27) "imprisonment" shall mean imprisonment of either
  
  description as defined in the Indian Penal Code;
  (28) "India" shall mean-
  (a) as respects any period before the
  
  establishment of the Dominion of India, British India together with all
  
  territories of Indian Rulers then under the suzerainty of His Majesty, all
  
  territories under the suzerainty of such an Indian Ruler, and the tribal areas;
  
  
  (b) as respects any period after the
  
  establishment of the Dominion of India and before the commencement of the
  
  Constitution, all territories for the time being included in that Dominion; and
  
  
  (c) as respects any period after the
  
  commencement of the Constitution, all territories for the time being comprised
  
  in the territory of India;
  (29) "Indian law" shall mean any Act, ordinance,
  
  regulation, rule, 5[order, bye-law or other instrument] which before the
  
  commencement of the Constitution had the force of law in any Province of India
  
  or part thereof, or thereafter has the force of law in any Part A State or Part
  
  C State or Part thereof, but does not include any Act of Parliament of the
  
  United Kingdom or any Order in Council, rule or other instrument made under
  
  such Act;
  (30) "Indian State" shall mean any territory which the
  
  Central Government recognized as such a State before the commencement of the
  
  Constitution, whether described as a State, an Estate, a Jagir 
  
  or otherwise;
  (31) "local authority" shall mean a municipal
  
  committee, district board, body of port commissioners or other authority
  
  legally entitled to, or entrusted by the government with the control or management
  
  of a municipal or local fund;
  (32) "Magistrate" shall include every person
  
  exercising all or any of the powers of a Magistrate under the Code of Criminal
  
  Procedure for the time being in force;
  (33) "master", used with reference to a ship, shall mean,
  
  any person (except a pilot or harbor-master) having for the time being control
  
  or charge of the ship;
  (34) "merged territories" shall mean the territories
  
  which by virtue of an order made under section 290A of the Government of India
  
  Act, 1935, were immediately before the commencement of the Constitution being
  
  administered as if they formed part of a Governor’s Province or as if they were
  
  a Chief Commissioner's Province;
  (35) "month" shall mean a month reckoned according to
  
  the British calendar;
  (36) "movable property" shall mean property of every
  
  description, except immovable property;
  (37) "oath" shall include affirmation and declaration
  
  in the case of persons by law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearing;
  
  
  (38) "offence" shall mean any act or omission made
  
  punishable by any law for the time being in force;
  (39) "Official Gazette" or "Gazette" shall
  
  mean the Gazette of India or the Official Gazette of a State;
  (40) "Part" shall mean a part of the Act or regulation
  
  in which the word occurs;
  (41) "Part A State" shall mean a State for the time
  
  being specified in Part A of Schedule I to the Constitution, 4[as in force
  
  before the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956,] "Part B
  
  State" shall mean a State for the time being specified in Part B of that
  
  Schedule and "Part C State" shall mean a State for the time being
  
  specified in Part C of that Schedule or a territory for the time being
  
  administered by the President under the provisions of article 243 of the
  
  Constitution;
  (42) "person" shall include any company or association
  
  or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not;
  (43) "Political Agent" shall mean,-
  (a) in relation to any territory outside
  
  India, the Principal Officer, by whatever name called, representing the Central
  
  Government in such territory; and
  (b) in relation to any territory within India
  
  to which the Act or regulation containing the expression does not extend, any
  
  officer appointed by the Central Government to exercise all or any of the
  
  powers of a Political Agent under that Act or regulation;
  (44) "Presidency-town" shall mean the local limits for
  
  the time being of the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Court of
  
  Judicature at Calcutta, Madras or Bombay, as the case may be;
  (45) "Province" shall mean a Presidency, a Governor's
  
  Province, a Lieutenant Governor’s Province or a Chief Commissioner’s Province;
  (46) "Provincial Act" shall mean an Act made by the
  
  Governor in Council, Lieutenant Governor in Council or Chief Commissioner in Council
  
  of a Province under any of the Indian Councils Acts or the Government of India
  
  Act, 1915, or an Act made by the Local Legislature or the Governor of a
  
  Province under the Government of India Act, or an Act made by the Provincial
  
  Legislature or Governor of a Province or the Coorg 
  
  Legislative Council under the Government of India Act, 1935;
  (47) "Provincial Government" shall mean, as respects
  
  anything done before the commencement of the Constitution, the authority or
  
  person authorized at the relevant date to administer executive government in
  
  the Province in question;
  (48) "public nuisance" shall mean a public nuisance as
  
  defined in the Indian Penal Code;
  (49) "registered", used with reference to a document,
  
  shall mean registered in 6[India] under the law for the time being in force for
  
  the registration of documents;
  (50) "Regulation" shall mean a Regulation made by the
  
  President 7[under article 240 of the Constitution and shall include a
  
  Regulation made by the President under article 243 thereof and] a regulation
  
  made by the Central Government under the Government of India Act, 1870, or the
  
  Government of India Act, 1915, or the Government of India Act, 1935;
  (51) "rule" shall mean a rule made in exercise of a
  
  power conferred by any enactment, and shall include a Regulation made as a rule
  
  under any enactment;
  (52) "schedule" shall mean a schedule to the Act or
  
  Regulation in which the word occurs;
  (53) "Scheduled District" shall mean a "Scheduled
  
  District" as defined in the Scheduled District Act, 1874;
  (54) "section" shall mean a section of the Act or
  
  Regulation in which the word occurs;
  (55) "ship" shall include every description of vessel
  
  used in navigation not exclusively propelled by oars;
  (56) "sign", with its grammatical variations and cognate
  
  expressions, shall, with reference to a person who is unable to write his name,
  
  include "mark", with its grammatical variations and cognate
  
  expressions;
  (57) "son", in the case of any one whose personal law
  
  permits adoption, shall include an adopted son;
  8[(58) "State"-
  (a) as respects any period before the
  
  commencement of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, shall mean a
  
  Part A State, a Part B State or a Part C State; and
  (b) as respects any period after such
  
  commencement, shall mean a State specified in Schedule I to the Constitution
  
  and shall include a Union Territory;]
  (59) "State Act" shall mean an Act passed by the
  
  Legislature of a State established or continued by the Constitution;
  (60) "State Government"-
  (a) as respects anything done before the
  
  commencement of the Constitution, shall mean, in a Part A State, the Provincial
  
  Government of the corresponding Province, in a Part B State, the authority or
  
  person authorized at the relevant date to exercise executive government in the corresponding
  
  Acceding State, and in a Part C State, the Central Government; 3[* * *]
  (b) as respects anything done 9[after the
  
  commencement of the Constitution and before the commencement of the
  
  Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956], shall mean, in a Part A State, the
  
  Governor in a Part B State, the Rajpramukh , and in a
  
  Part C State, the Central Government;
  4[(c) as respects anything done or to be done
  
  after the commencement of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, shall
  
  mean, in a State, the Governor, and in a Union Territory, the Central
  
  Government;  
  
  and shall, in relation to functions entrusted under article 258A of the
  
  Constitution to the Government of India, include the Central Government acting
  
  within the scope of the authority given to it under that article];
  (61) "sub-section" shall mean a sub-section of the
  
  section in which the word occurs;
  (62) "swear", with its grammatical variations and
  
  cognate expressions, shall include affirming and declaring in the case of
  
  persons by law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearing;
  3[(62A) "Union Territory" shall mean any Union
  
  Territory specified in Schedule I to the Constitution and shall include any
  
  other territory comprised within the territory of India but not specified in
  
  that Schedule;]
  (63) "vessel" shall include any ship or boat or any
  
  other description of vessel used in navigation;
  (64) "will" shall include a codicil and every writing
  
  making a voluntary posthumous disposition of property;
  (65) expression referring to "writing" shall be
  
  construed as including references to printing, lithography, photography and
  
  other modes of representing or reproducing words in a visible form; and
  (66) "year" shall mean a year reckoned according to
  
  the British calendar.]