The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971

(1) This Act may be called the Public Premises(Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 16th day of September, 1958 except sections 11,19 and 20 which shall come into force at once.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- 1* * * * * (b) "estate officer" means an officer appointed as such by the Central Government undersection 3; (c) "premises" means any land or any building or part of a building and includes,-- (i) the garden, grounds and outhouses, if any, appertaining to such building or part of abuilding, and (ii) any fittings affixed to such building or part of a building for the more beneficialenjoyment thereof; (d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 2[(e) "public premises" means-- (1) any premises belonging to, or taken on lease or requisitioned by, or on behalf of theCentral Government, and includes any such premises which have been placed by thatGovernment, whether before or after the commencement of the Public Premises (Eviction ofUnauthorised Occupants) Amendment Act, 1980 (61 of 1980) under the control of the Secretariatof either Houseof Parliament for providing residential accommodation to any member of the staffof that Secretariat; (2) any premises belonging to, or taken on lease by, or on behalf of,-- (i) any company as defined in section 3of the 3[the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013)], inwhich not less than fifty-one per cent. of the paid-up share capital is held by the CentralGovernment or any company which is a subsidiary (within the meaning of that Act) of thefirst-mentioned company; (ii) any corporation (not being a company as defined in section 3 of the 3[the CompaniesAct, 2013 (18 of 2013)], or a local authority) established by or under a Central Act andowned or controlled by the Central Government; 4[(iii) any company as defined in clause (20) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013(18 of 2013) in which not less than fifty-one per cent. of the paid up capital is held partly bythe Central Government and partly by one or more State Governments and includes a company which is a subsidiary (within the meaning of that Act) of the first-mentionedcompany and which carries on the business of public transport including metro railway. Explanation.--For the purposes of this item, "metro railway" shall have the samemeaning as assigned to it in clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the MetroRailway (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002 (60 of 2002); (iiia) any University established or incorporated by any Central Act,]; (iv) any Institute incorporated by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 (59 of1961); 5[(v) any Board of Trustees or any successor company constituted under or referred toin the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 (38 of 1963);] (vi) the Bhakra Management Board constituted under section 79 of the PunjabReorganisation Act, 1966 (31 of 1966), and that Board as and when re-named as theBhakra-Beas Management Board under sub-section(6) of section 80 of that Act,6***. 7[(vii) any State Government or the Government of any Union territory situated in theNational Capital Territory of Delhi or in any other Union territory, (viii) any Cantonment Board constituted under the Cantonments Act, 1924 (2 of1924); and] (3) in relation to the8[National Capital Territory of Delhi],-- (i) any premises belonging to the9[Council as defined in clause (9) of section 2 of theNew Delhi Municipal Council Act, 1994 (44 of 1994) or Corporation or Corporationsnotified under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (66of 1957),] of Delhi, or any Municipal Committee or notified area committee, 6*** (ii) any premises belonging to the Delhi Development Authority, whether such premisesare in the possession of, or leased out by, the said Authority;]10[and], 11[(iii) any premises belonging to, or taken on lease or requisitioned by, or onbehalf of anyany State Government or the Government of any Union Territory,] 12[(iv) any premises belonging to, or taken on lease by, or on behalf of any Governmentcompany as defined in clause (45) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013). Explanation.--For the purposes of this clause, the expression "State Government"occurring in clause (45) of the said section shall mean the Government of the NationalCapital Territory of Delhi;] 13[(4) any premises of the enemy property as defined in clause (c) of section 2 of theEnemy Property Act, 1968 (34 of 1968).] (f) "rent", in relation to any public premises, means the consideration payable periodically for theauthorised occupation of the premises, and includes-- (i) any charge for electricity, water or any other services in connection with the occupation ofthe premises, (ii) any tax (by whatever name called) payable in respect of the premises, where such charge or tax is payable by the Central Government or the 14[statutory authority]; 15[(fa) residential accommodation occupation" in relation to any public premises means occupation by anyperson on grant of licence to him to occupy such premises on the basis of an order of allotment for a fixedtenure or for a period he holds office, in accordance with the rules and instructions issued in this regard, madeunder the authority of the Central Government, a State Government, a Union territory Administration or astatutory authority, as the case may be;] 16[17[(fb)] "statutory authority", in relation to the public premises referred to in clause (e) of thissection, means,-- (i) in respect of the public premises placed under the control of the Secretariat of either Houseof Parliament, the Secretariat of the concerned House of Parliament, (ii) in respect of the public premises referred to in item (i) of sub-clause (2)18[and in item (iv)of sub-clause (3)] of that clause, the company or the subsidiary company, as the case may be,referred to therein, (iii) in respect of the public premises referred to in item (ii) of sub-clause (2) of that clause,the corporation referred to therein, (iv) in respect of the public premises referred to, respectively, in items (iii), (iv), (v) and (vi)of sub-clause (2)of that clause, the University, Institute or Board, as the case may be, referred totherein, and (v) in respect of the public premises referred to in sub-clause (3) of that clause, the 17[Council,Corporation or Corporations], Committee or Authority, as the case may be, referred to in thatsub-clause;] 19[20[(fc)] "temporary occupation" in relation to any public premises, means occupation by any personperson on the basis of an order of allotment made under the authority of the Central Government, aState Government, the Government of a Union territory or a statutory authority for a total period(including the extended period, if any) which is less than thirty days;] (g) "unauthorised occupation", in relation to any public premises, means the occupation by anyperson of the public premises without authority for such occupation, and includes the continuance inoccupation by any person of the public premises after the authority (whether by way of grant or anyother mode of transfer) under which he was allowed to occupy the premises has expired or has beendetermined for any reason whatsoever.

The Central Government may, by notification in the OfficialGazette,- (a) appoint such persons, being gazetted officers of Government 1[or of the Government of any UnionTerritory] or officers of equivalent rank of the 2[statutory authority], as it thinks fit, to be estate officers forthe purposes of this Act; 3*** 4[Provided that no officer of the Secretariat of the Rajya Sabha shall be so appointed except afterconsultation with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and no officer of the Secretariat of the Lok Sabha shallbe so appointed except after consultation with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Provided further that an officer of a statutory authority shall only be appointed as an estate officer inrespect of the public premises controlled by that authority; 5***] 6[Provided also that the Custodian, Deputy Custodian and Assistant Custodian of the enemy propertyappointed under section 3 of the Enemy Property Act, 1968 (34 of 1968), shall be deemed to have beenappointed as the Estate Officer in respect of those enemy property, being the public premises, referred to insub-clause (4) of clause (e) of section 2 of this Act for which they had been appointed as the Custodian,Deputy Custodian and Assistant Custodian under section 3 of the Enemy Property Act, 1968.] (b) define the local limits within which, or the categories of public premises in respect of which, theestate officers shall exercise the powers conferred, and perform the duties imposed, on estate officers by orunder this Act.

1[3A. Eviction from temporary occupation.--Notwithstanding anything contained in section 4 orsection 5, if the estate officer, after making such inquiry as he deems expedient in the circumstances ofthe case, is satisfied that any persons who were allowed temporary occupation of any public premises arein unauthorised occupation of the said premises, he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, make an order for the eviction of such persons forthwith and, thereupon, if such persons refuse or fail to complywith the said order of eviction, he may evict them from the premises and take possession thereof and may,for that purpose, use such force as may be necessary.]

1[3B. Eviction from residential accommodation.-- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained insection 4 or section 5, if the estate officer has information that any person, who was granted residentialaccommodation occupation, is in unauthorised occupation of the said residential accommodation, heshall-- (a) forthwith issue notice in writing calling upon such person to show cause within a period ofthree working days why an order of eviction should not be made; (b) cause the notice to be served by having it affixed on the outer door or some other conspicuouspart of the said residential accommodation, and in such other manner as may be prescribed,whereupon the notice shall be deemed to have been served upon such person. (2) The estate officer shall, after considering the cause, if any, shown by the person on whom thenotice is served under sub-section (1) and after making such inquiry as it deems expedient in thecircumstances of the case, for reasons to be recorded in writing, make an order of eviction of such person. (3) If the person in unauthorised occupation refuses or fails to comply with the order of evictionreferred to in sub-section (2), the estate officer may evict such person from the residential accommodationand take possession thereof and may, for that purpose, use such force as may be necessary.]