The Cantonments Act, 2006

(1) This Act may be called the Cantonments Act, 2006. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act andany reference in any provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to thecoming into force of that provision.

.In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-- (a) "Assistant Health Officer" means the medical officer appointed by the General OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, the Command, to be the Assistant Health Officer for a cantonment; (b) "Board" means a Cantonment Board constituted under this Act; (c) "boundary wall" means a wall which abuts on a street and which does not exceed two and ahalf metres in height; (d) "building" means a house, outhouse, stable, latrine, shed, hut or other roofed structurewhether of masonry, brick, wood, mud, metal or other material, and any part thereof, and includes awell and a wall other than a boundary wall but does not include a tent or other portable and temporaryshelter; (e) "casual election" means an election held to fill a casual vacancy; (f) "casual vacancy" means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by efflux of time in the office ofan elected member of a Board and includes a vacancy in such office, arising under sub-section (2) ofsection 16; (g) "Chief Executive Officer" means the person appointed under this Act to be the ChiefExecutive Officer of a cantonment; (h) "civil area" means an area declared to be a civil area by the Central Government undersub-section (1) of section 46; (i) "civil area committee" means a committee appointed under section 47; (j) "Command" means one of the Commands into which India is for military purposes for thetime being divided, and includes any area which the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, declare to be a Command for all or any of the purposes of this Act; (k) "dairy" includes any farm, cattle-shed, milk-store, milk-shop or other place from which milkis supplied or in which milk is kept for purposes of sale or is manufactured for the sale into butter,ghee, cheese or curds, and, in relation to a dairyman who does not occupy any premises for the sale ofmilk, includes any place in which he keeps the vessels used by him for the storage or sale of milk; (l) "dairyman" includes the keeper of a cow, buffalo, goat, ass or other animal, the milk of whichis offered or is intended to be offered for sale for human consumption, and any supplier of milk andany occupier of a dairy; (m) "dangerous disease" means cholera, leprosy, enteric fever, smallpox, tuberculosis, diphtheria,plague, influenza, venereal disease, hepatitis, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and any otherepidemic, endemic, infectious or communicable disease which the Board may by public notice,declare to be, an infectious, contagious or communicable disease for the purposes of this Act; (n) "Defence Estates Circle" means one of the circles into which India is, for the purposes ofdefence estates management, for the time being divided, and includes any area which the CentralGovernment may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a Defence Estates Circle for allor any of the purposes of this Act; (o) "Defence Estates Officer" means the officer appointed by the Central Government to performthe duties of the Defence Estates Officer for the purpose of this Act and the rules made thereunder; (p) "Director General" means an officer of the Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) appointedby the Central Government to perform the duties of the Director General, Defence Estates for thepurpose of this Act and includes Senior Additional Director General and Additional Director General; (q) "Director" means the officer appointed by the Central Government to perform the duties ofthe Director, Defence Estates, the Command, for the purposes of this Act and the rules madethereunder; (r) "entitled consumer" means a person in a cantonment who is paid from the Defence ServiceEstimates and is authorised by general or special order of the Central Government to receive a supplyof water for domestic purposes from the Military Engineer Services or the Public Works Departmenton such terms and conditions as may be specified in the order; (s) "Executive Engineer" means the officer of the Military Engineer Services of that grade,having charge of the military works in a cantonment or where more than one such officer has chargeof the military works in a cantonment such one of those officers as the Officer Commanding thestation may designate in this behalf, and includes the officer of whatever grade in immediateexecutive engineering charge of a cantonment; (t) "factory" means a factory as defined in clause (m) of section 2 of the Factories Act, 1948(63 of 1948); (u) "Forces" means the regular Army, Navy and Air Force or any part of any one or more ofthem; (v) "General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, the Command (GOC-in-C, Command)" means theOfficer Commanding any of the Commands; (w) "General Officer Commanding the Area" means the Officer Commanding any one of theareas into which India is for military purposes for the time being divided, or any sub-area which doesnot form part of any such area, or any area which the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, declare to be an area for all or any of the purposes of this Act; (x) "Group Housing" means a group of houses for dwelling purposes and may comprise all or anyof the following: namely, (a) a dwelling unit, (b) open spaces intended for recreation andventilation, (c) roads, paths, sewers, drains, water supply and ancillary installations, street lightingand other amenities, (d) convenient shopping place, schools, community hall or other amenities forcommon use; (y) "Government" in relation to this Act means the Central Government; (z) "Health Officer" means the senior executive medical officer in military employ on duty in acantonment; (za) "hospital" includes family welfare centre, child welfare centre, maternity centre and healthcentre; (zb) "hut" means any building, no material portion of which above the plinth level is constructedof masonry or of squared timber framing or of iron framing; (zc) "inhabitant", in relation to a cantonment, or local area means any person ordinarily residingor carrying on business or owning or occupying immovable property therein, or declared as such bythe Chief Executive Officer and in case of a dispute, as decided by the District Magistrate; (zd) "intoxicating drug" includes a narcotic drug and psychotropic substance as defined in theNarcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (61 of 1985) as modified from time to time; (ze) "market" includes any place where persons assemble for the sale of, or for the purpose ofexposing for sales, meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, animals intended for human food or any otherarticles of human food whatsoever, with or without the consent of the owner of such placenotwithstanding that there may be no common regulation for the concourse of buyers and sellers andwhether or not any control is exercised over the business of, or the persons frequenting, the market bythe owner of the place or by any other person, but shall not include a single shop or group of shopsnot being more than six in number and shops within unit lines; (zf) "military" includes Air Force, Navy and other defence related establishments; (zg) "military officer" means a person who, being an officer within the meaning of the Army Act,1950 (46 of 1950), the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957) or the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), iscommissioned, gazetted or in pay as an officer doing army, naval or air force duty with the army,navy or air force, or is an officer doing such duty in any arm, branch or part of any of those forces; (zh) "nuisance" includes any act, omission, place, animal or thing which causes or is likely tocause injury, danger, annoyance or offence to the sense of sight, smell or hearing or disturbance torest or sleep, or which is or may be dangerous to life or injurious to health or property; (zi) "occupier" includes an owner in occupation of, or otherwise using his own land or building;(zj) "Officer Commanding the station or Station Commander" means the military officer for thetime being in command of the forces in a cantonment and if such officer is likely to be absent formore than thirty days, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, the Command may nominate, byan order, another military officer as "Officer Commanding the station or Station Commander"; (zk) "ordinary election" means an election held to fill a vacancy in the office of an electedmember of a Board arising by efflux of time; (zl) "owner" includes any person who is receiving or is entitled to receive the rent of anybuilding or land whether on his own account or on behalf of himself and others or an agent or trustee,or who would so receive the rent or be entitled to receive it if the building or land were let to a tenant; (zm) "party wall" means a wall forming part of a building and used or constructed to be used forthe support or separation of adjoining buildings belonging to different owners, or constructed oradapted to be occupied by different persons; (zn) "Principal Director" means the Officer appointed by the Central Government to perform theduties of the Principal Director, Defence Estates, the Command for the purpose of this Act and therules made thereunder; (zo) "private market" means a market which is not maintained by a Board and which is licensedby a Board under the provisions of this Act; (zp) "private slaughter-house" means a slaughter-house which is not maintained by a Board andwhich is licensed by a Board under the provisions of this Act; (zq) "public market" means a market maintained by a Board; (zr) "public place" means any place which is open to the use and enjoyment of the public,whether it is actually used or enjoyed by the public or not; (zs) "public slaughter-house" means a slaughter-house maintained by a Board; (zt) "resident", in relation to a cantonment, means a person who maintains therein a house or aportion of a house which is at all times available for occupation by himself or his family even thoughhe may himself reside elsewhere, provided that he has not abandoned all intention of again occupyingsuch house either by himself or his family; (zu) "regulation" means a regulation made by a Cantonment Board under this Act by notificationin the Official Gazette; (zv) "rule" means a rule made by the Central Government under this Act by notification in theOfficial Gazette; (zw) "shed" means a slight or temporary structure for shade or shelter; (zx) "slaughter-house" means any place ordinarily used for the slaughter of animals for thepurpose of selling the flesh thereof for human consumption; (zy) "soldier" means any person who is a soldier or sailor or an airman subject to the Army Act,1950 (46 of 1950), the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957) or the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), as thecase may be, and who is not a military officer; (zz) "spirituous liquor" means any fermented liquor, any wine, or any alcoholic liquid obtained bydistillation or the sap of any kind of palm tree, and includes any other liquid containing alcohol whichthe Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a spirituous liquor (zza) "street" includes any way, road, lane, square, court, alley or passage in a cantonment,whether a thoroughfare or not and whether built upon or not, over which the public have a right ofway and also the road-way or foot-way over any bridge or cause way; (zzb) "sub-area" means one of the sub-areas into which India is for military purposes for the timebeing divided and includes, for all or any of the purposes of this Act, any territory which the CentralGovernment may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare to be a sub-area for such purposes; (zzc) "trade or commercial premises" means any premises used or intended to be used forcarrying on any trade, commerce or industry; (zzd) "vehicle" means a wheeled conveyance of any description which is capable of being usedon a street, and includes a motor-car, motor lorry, motor omnibus, cart, locomotive, tram-car,handcart, truck, motor-cycle, bicycle, tricycle and rickshaw; (zze) "water-works" includes all lakes, tanks, streams, cisterns, springs, pumps, wells, reservoirs,aqueducts, water-trucks, sluices mains, pipes, culverts, hydrants, stand-pipes, and conduits and allmachinery, lands, buildings, bridges and things used for, or intended for the purpose of supplyingwater to a cantonment; and (zzf) "year" means the year commencing on the first day of April.

(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the OfficialGazette, declare any place or places along with boundaries in which any part of the Forces is quartered orwhich, being in the vicinity of any such place or places, is or are required for the service of such forces tobe a cantonment for the purposes of this Act and of all other enactments for the time being in force, andmay, by a like notification, declare that any cantonment shall cease to be a cantonment. (2) The Central Government may, by a like notification, define the limits of any cantonment for theaforesaid purposes. (3) When any place is declared a cantonment under sub-section (1), the Central Government shallconstitute a Board within a period of one year in accordance with the provisions of this Act: Provided that the Central Government may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the saidperiod of one year for a further period of six months at a time: Provided further that the Central Government may, until a Board is constituted, by order makenecessary provisions for the efficient administration of the cantonment. (4) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that in any placedeclared a cantonment under sub-section (1) the provisions of any enactment relating to localself-government other than this Act shall have effect only to such extent or subject to such modifications,or that any authority constituted under any such enactment shall exercise authority only to such extent, asmay be specified in the notification.

(1) The Central Government may after consulting the StateGovernment and the Board concerned, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare its intention toinclude within the cantonment any local area situated in the vicinity thereof or to exclude from thecantonment any local area comprised therein. (2) Any inhabitant of a cantonment or local area in respect of which notification has been publishedunder sub-section (1) may, within eight weeks from the date of notification, submit in writing to theCentral Government through the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, the Command, an objection tothe notification, and the Central Government shall take such objection into consideration. (3) On the expiry of eight weeks from the date of the notification, the Central Government may afterconsidering the objections, if any, which have been submitted under sub-section (2), by notification in theOfficial Gazette, include the local area in respect of which the notification was published undersub-section (1), or any part thereof, in the cantonment or, as the case may be, exclude such area or anypart thereof from the cantonment.

When, by a notification under section 4, any localarea is included in a cantonment, such area shall there upon become subject to this Act and to all otherenactments for the time being in force throughout the cantonment and to all notifications, rules,regulations, bye-laws, orders and directions issued or made thereunder.