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Act No.16 of 1989
An Act made to repeal the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation, 1900, and to apply some existing laws in the Hill Districts, and to make some special regulations in the said districts.
Whereas it is expedient to repeal the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation, 1900, and to use some existing laws in the Hill Districts, and to make some special regulations in the said districts;
Therefore, the following Act is hereby passed:-
1. Short title and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called
the Hill Districts (Repeal and Application of Laws and Special Regulation)
Act, 1989.
(2) This Act shall come into force on the date the Government shall
determine by notification in the official Gazette.
2. Definitions.- In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) "Hill Tracts Districts" means Rangamati Hill District, Khagrachhari Hill District and Bandarban Hill District;3. Repeal of Regulation I of 1900.- On commencement of this Act the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation, 1900 (Regulation I of 1900), hereinafter referred to as the Regulation, shall be repealed.
(b) "Chief" means Chakma chief, Bomong chief and Mong chief;
(c) "Headman" means village headman;
(d) "Rule" means a rule made under this Act.
4. Application of some existing Acts in the Hill Districts.- All Acts which were not applicable until immediately before the repeal of this Regulation shall on commencement of this Act be applicable.
5. Chiefs.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other
Act for the time being in force, the Chakma, Bomong and Mong chief systems
as
established before the repeal of the mentioned Regulation shall remain
intact:-
Provided that the powers of of the mentioned chiefs be limited to each
one's own district.
(2) The chief's successor and his inauguration shall be determined
by the Government.
(3) The chief shall enjoy commissions, honours or other privileges
as determined by the Government.
(4) Those who were chiefs immediately before the repeal of the said
Regulation shall remain installed in their positions, and whatever
commissions,
honours os other privileges they used to enjoy they shall continue to enjoy,
even in the same amount, depending upon
their being in consonance with
this Act with all its regulations.
6. Headmen.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other
Act for the time being in force, there shall be headmen in every village
of the
Hill Tracts Districts for the levy of soil improvement taxes, and
they shall have all powers of a tahsildar (tax collector).
(2) The deputy commissioner shall appoint the headman, and he may dismiss
him from his post on grounds of incapacity or bad conduct.
(3) The deputy commissioner shall seek the advice of the chief before
appointing or dismissing a headman.
(4) The headman shall not be deemed a civil servant or a person holding
an office of profit in the service of the People's Republic.
(5) The deputy commissioner shall, with the prior approval of the Government,
determine the commissions, honours or other privileges
for the headman.
(6) The deputy commissioner may, on order, or with the approval, of
the Government, transfer any responsibilities to the headman.
(7) If the Chittagong Division Commissioner agrees, the village where
a chief is a permanent inhabitant may be considered his personal
(khas)
village, and in that case, depending on how the headman of the respective
village discharges his functions, he shall besides
his own honours also
receive the honours the headman is to receive.
(8) The deputy commissioner may, if he considers it necessary, appoint
more than one headman per village for the chief.
(9) Those who were headmen immediately before the repeal of the said
Regulation shall remain installed in their positions, and shall
be deemed
appointed under this section; and whatever commissions, honours or privileges
they used to enjoy they shall continue to
enjoy, even in the same amount,
depending upon their being in consonance with this Act with all its regulations.
7. Jhum cultivation.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained
in any other Act for the time being in force, the deputy commissioner shall
control the jhum
cultivation in the Hill Districts, and he may promulgate
and apply orders for this purpose.
(2) If he considers it necessary, the deputy commissioner may declare
any area a jhum cultivation prohibition area.
(3) If in any prohibition area jhum crops are produced, the deputy
commissioner may confiscate the produced crop, and may impose a
fee of
up to 100 taka on the producer.
8. Imposition of a jhum tax.- (1) The Government may, by notification
in the official Gazette, impose a jhum tax on jhumia families.
Explanation.- "Jhumiya Family" means all members of a family
producing and living on jhum crops forming an economic unity (eating the
same food).
(2) The chief shall prepare a list of the jhumia families deserving
exemption from the payment of the jhum tax according to the local
system
of his area, and every year before he 15th of October he shall hand it
over to the deputy commissioner for assent; and if
this list is assented
by the deputy commissioner, the jhumia families included in it shall be
exempt from the payment of the jhum
tax.
(3) All the families living in one village but practising jhum cultivation
in another (who shall be known as local migrators), shall
, shall have
to pay additional jhum tax in whichever village they practise jhum cultivation;
and this tax shall amount to 50 per
cent. of the usual tax.
(4) The jhum tax imposed upon the jhumia families in the Hill Districts
immediately before the repeal of the said Regulation shall
be deemed imposed
under this section by the Government, and its rate shall remain unchanged
unless altered by the Government.
9. Levy of jhum tax etc.- (1) Before the end of every year the
jhum tax shall be handed over to the headman; and if this payment does
not take place in this
way, starting with the 1st of Fanuary of the following
year it shall be deemed a remainder, and on this remainder an interest
of
6,5 per cent. shall be imposed.
(2) The headman shall take a share of the jhum tax determined by the
Government for himself and hand the remaining shares over to
the chief.
(3) Until the determination of the chief's and the headman's due shares
of the jhum tax under sub-section (2), the shares shall be
due in the amount
determined immediately before the repeal of the said Regulation.
(4) The headman shall hand over the due jhum taxes plus remainders
to the chief before the 15th of January adjoining a list of remaining
taxes
and the counterfoils of receipts, and the chief shall transmit these lists
and counterfoils plus the names of headmen violating
this regulation to
the deputy commissioner before the 31st of January, and the deputy commissioner
shall after due inquiry take steps
for recovering the remaining taxes in
the form of public demands.
(5) The expenses for certificates from the levied remaining jhum taxes
and the part taken by the headman shall be added up in the
official revenue
book by the deputy commissioner, and the remnants shall be given to the
chief.
(6) The deputy commissioner may, for special reasons and after giving
information to the chief, order the jhum taxes of headmen or
jhumia families
of any village not to be given to the chief but directly to him.
(7) If a headman is given an order under sub-section (6), the deputy
commissioner shall, setting aside the share of the headman, give
the rest
to the chief; and before the share of the headman he shall first realize
the Government's due from the headman, and then,
after giving the chief
his due of the jhum tax from the headman, he shall give the rest to the
headman.
(8) If a jhumia family is given an order under sub-section(6), then
the headman shall, when levying the jhum tax, enter the amount
he would
have to receive in the account of the official revenue book, and the rest
shall be given to the chief.
(9) On the 31st of March of every year, the chief shall give the Government
its payable dues.
(10) If a headman on reasonable grounds comes to believe that any jhumia
family wants to leave its area and move somewhere else without
paying its
jhum tax, he may attach the property of this family, and he shall immediately
bring the event to the attention of the
chief or the deputy commissioner,
and if the headman fails to take these steps he may be made responsible
for outstanding debts.
10. Decrease of jhum tax etc.- (1) The deputy commissioner may, with the advice of the chief and headman,-
(a) decrease or remit the jhum tax in special cases, if considered reasonable;And, concerning decreases and remissions as mentioned above, he shall inform the Government in writing through the commissioner.
(b) decrease or remit the jhum tax in any specific area for damage of crops.
11. Jhum rent roll.- (1) The headman shall prepare a rent roll every year, and therein he shall take down in writing the following items, namely:-
(a) the name of the head of every jhumia family and the number of family members;(2) The headman shall transmit the jhum rent roll to the chief before the 1st of June, and the chief shall transmit all the jhum rent rolls to the deputy commissioner before the 1st of August.
(b) whether they pay jhum tax, or whether they are shifting, or whether they get release from jhum tax, and if they get release, the reason for it;
(c) whether the family has moved to their village before or within the past five years.
12. Unapproved claims are forbidden.- The headman or chief may not make any claims other than either a claim that is due from jhumia people or any land owner according to the local system, but which is not creating dissatisfaction, or a claim that the Government has expressedly assented to.
13. Right of grass collection.- If it seems reasonable to the deputy commissioner he may give his assent to the collection of grass without royalty for the domestic use of the hill people in the Hill Districts.
14. Pasturage tax.- (1) A pasturage tax shall be leviable for
all domestic, guarded and draught cows, buffalos, goats, sheep and cowherds
in the Hill
Districts; it shall be determined by rule at which rate the
tax shall be imposed, how it shall be levied, and in which cases it may
be decreased or remitted or may not be imposed.
(2) Until the promulgation of the rules under sub-section(1) the tax
shall be leviable in exactly the way it was immediately before
the repeal
of the said Regulation, including its rate and the cases in which the pasturage
tax was imposed.
15. Seizure of village ground for dwelling houses.- (1) Any hill
person may with the assent of the headman and without and formal settlement,
seize up to 30 per cent. of private ground
beyond the municipal borders
for his own dwelling house.
(2) The headman shall keep a register of the dwelling houses sanctioned
under sub-section(1).
(3) Any hill person who wants to seize more than 30 per cent. of private
ground for his own dwelling house must get a land settlement
from the deputy
commissioner, and the ground under settlement shall be deemed non-cultivated
land.
(4) The deputy commissioner may in the interest of the public re-occupy
any ground seized under sub-section(1), and he shall have
to pay for damages
of new-built houses, injured crops and destroyed trees at a rate indicated
by the market price.
16. Document registration fees.- Notwithstanding anything contained in any other laws for the time being in force the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, decrease the rate of the document registration fees due from any of the backward tribes of the Hill Districts or by any of their members.
17. Power to make rules.- The Government may, by notification
in the official Gazette, make rules for the purpose of this Act.
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URL: http://www.commonlii.org/bd/legis/num_act/hdaaolasra1989598