Bihar and Orissa Excise Act, 1915
1[Act No 2 of 1915]
Preamble
An Act to Amend and Re-Enact the Excise Law in the Province of Bihar and Orissa
Whereas it is expedient to amend and re-enact the law in the Province of Bihar and Orissa relating to the import, export, transport, manufacture, possession and sale of certain kinds of liquor and intoxicating drugs:
And whereas the previous sanction of the Governor-General has been obtained under Section 5 of the Indian Councils Act, 1892, to the passing of this Act:
It is hereby enacted as follows:
Footnote:
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Received the assent on 13.12.1915, and assented to by the Viceroy and Governor-General on the 31.12.1915, vide Bihar and Orissa Gazette, dt. 19.01.1916.
Chapter: I - PRELIMINARY
Section 1 - Short title, extent and commencement
(1) This Act may be called the Bihar & Orissa Excise Act, 1915;
(2) It extends to the whole of the Province of Bihar and Orissa including the Santal Parganas and the district of Angul; and
(3) It shall come into force1 on such date as the State Government may direct.
Footnote:
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The Act came into force on the 01.04.1916 so far as the district of Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Sambalpur and Angul, vide Notification No. 2494, F. dt. 23.02.1916 by the Government of Bihar and Orissa in the Financial Department, published on Page 384, Part II of the Bihar and Orissa Gazette dt. 01.03.1916.
It has been extended to the district of Ganjam and Koraput from 01.02.1937 by Regulation No. VI of 1937 (The Orissa Laws Amendment Regulation 1937).
Section 2 - Definitions
In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(1) "Beer" includes ale, stout, porter and all other fermented liquor made from malt.
(2) "Board" means the Board of Revenue 1[x x x]
(3) "To bottle" means to transfer liquor from a cask or other vessel to a bottle or other receptacle for the purpose of sale, whether any process of rectification be employed or not, and includes re-bottling;
(4) 2[xxx]
(5) (a) "Denaturant" means any substance prescribed by rule made in this behalf under Clause (3) of Section 90, for admixture with spirit in order to render the mixture unfit for human consumption, whether as a beverage, or internally as a medicine, or in any other way whatsoever;
(b) "To denature" means to mix spirit with one or more denaturants in such manner as may be prescribed by rule made in this behalf under Clause (3) of Section 90, and "Denatured Spirit" means spirit so mixed;
3(6) "Excisable article" means -
(a) any alcoholic liquor for human consumption; or
(b) any intoxicating drug;
4[(6-a) "Excise duty" and "countervailing duty" mean any such excise duty or countervailing duty, as the case may be; as it is mentioned in Entry 51 of List II in the seventh Schedule of the Constitution".]
(7) "Excise Commissioner" means the officer appointed under Section 7, Clause (a);
(8) "Excise Officer" means the Collector or any officer or other person appointed or invested with powers under Section 7;
(9) "Excise Revenue" means revenue derived or derivable from any duty, fee, tax, payment (other than a fine imposed by a Criminal Court) on confiscation imposed or ordered under this Act or any other law for the time being in force relating to liquor or intoxicating drugs 5[and includes any payment to be made to the State Government under Section 29]
6(10) "Export" means to take out of the State otherwise than across a customs frontier as defined by the Central Government;
(11) 7[x x x]
3(12) "Import" [exception the phrase "import into 8{all the States of India}] means to bring into the State otherwise than across a customs frontier as defined by the Central Government;
9(12-a) "intoxicant" means any liquor or intoxicating drug and includes Mohua flower", 13[and molasses]
10(13) "intoxicating drug" means -
(i) the leaves, small stalks and flowering or fruiting tops of the Indian hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa L.), including all forms known as Bhang, Siddhi or Ganja;
(ii) charas, that is, the resin obtained from the hemp plant, which has not been submitted to any manipulations other than those necessary for packing and transport;
(iii) any mixture with or without neutral materials of any of the above forms of intoxicating drugs, or any drink prepared therefrom, and
(iv) any other intoxicating drug or narcotic substance which the 3(State Government may, by notification, 11declare to be an intoxicating drug, such substance not being opium, coca leaf, or a manufactured drug, as defined in Section 1 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 11 of 1930;
(14) "Liquor" includes all liquids consisting of or containing alcohol, such as spirits of wine, spirit, wine, fermented tari, pachwai and beer, and also unfermented tari and also any other substance which the 7[State Government] may, by notification, declare to be liquor for the purposes of this Act;
(15) "Manufacture" includes -
(i) every process whether natural or artificial, by which any 12(intoxicant) is produced or prepared (including the tapping of tari producing trees and the drawing of tari from the trees);
(ii) redistillation, and
(iii) every process for the rectification, flavouring, blending or colouring of liquor, or for the reduction of liquor for sale;
(16) "Pachwai" means fermented rice, millet, or other grain whether mixed with any liquor or not, and any liquid obtained therefrom, whether diluted or undiluted; but does not include beer;
(17) "Place" includes building, house shop, booth, vessel, raft, vehicle or tent;
(18) expressions referring to "Sale" include any transfer otherwise than by way of gift;
(19) "Spirit" means any liquor containing alcohol obtained by distillation, whether it is denatured or not;
(20) "Tari" means fermented or unfermented juice, drawn from any coconut, palmyra, date, or other kind of palm tree; and
(21) "Transport" means to remove from one place to another within the State.14
Footnotes:
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'Bihar and Orissa' was omitted by the Government of India (Adaptation of India Laws) Order, 1957.
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Sub-section (4) was omitted by the Dangerous Drugs Act 2 of 1930.
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Substituted by the Adaptation of Indian Laws Order, 1950.
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Inserted by the Adaptation of Indian Laws Order, 1950.
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Inserted by Act 17 of 1970.
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Definition of 'Export' was substituted by Act 17 of 1970 for original Sub-sec. 10.
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Sub-sec. 11 was omitted by the Dangerous Drugs Act 2 of 1980, Sec. 4 and Schedule II.
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Substituted by ibid.
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Substituted by Act 36 of 1975.
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Substituted by the Dangerous Drugs Act, 11 of 1930.
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For Notification See L.S.R.O.L., Vol. 1 Part VII.
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Substituted by A.L.O., 1937.
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Inserted by Orissa Act 2 of 1999.
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Substituted by A.L.O. 1950.
Section 3 - Repealed
1[***]
Footnote:
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(Provision supplemental to the definition of 'intoxicating drug'). Repealed by Sec. 40 and Schedule 11 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 2 of 1930, (which has been repealed by Act No. 61 of 1985) Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985 w.e.f. 16.09.85.
Section 4 - Powers to Declare what shall be deemed to be Country Liquor and 'Foreign Liquor respectively'
The 1[State Government] 2[***] may by 3notification declare what, for the purposes of this Act or any portion thereof, shall be deemed to be 'country liquor' and 'foreign liquor' respectively.
4[xxx]
Footnotes:
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Substituted by A.L.O. 1950.
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The words 'With the previous sanction of the Government of India' were repealed by the Devaluation Act, 38 of 1920.
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For a notification declaring what shall be deemed to be 'country liquor' and 'foreign liquor' respectively. See Orissa L.S.R. and O. Vol.l, Pt. VII.
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This proviso was omitted by the Adaptation of Indian Laws Order, 1937.
Section 5 - Definition of "retail" and "wholesale"
(1) The Board may, by notification, declare, with respect either to the whole of the 1[State] or to any specified local area, and as regards purchasers generally or any specified class of purchasers, and either generally or for any specified occasion, what quantity of any 2[intoxicant] shall, for the purposes, of this Act, be the limit of a retail sale.
(2) The sale of any 2[intoxicant] in any quantity in excess of the quantity declared in respect thereof under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be a wholesale sale.
Footnotes:
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Substituted by A.L.O. 1950.
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Substituted by A.LO. 1937 for 'excisable article'.
Section 6 - Saving of Certain Acts
Nothing contained in this Act shall affect the provisions of -
(a) the Sea Customs Act, VIII of 1878, or
(b) the Indian Tariff Act, VIII of 1894 1[except Sec. 6 thereof], or
(c) the Cantonment Act, XV of 2(1910).
Footnotes:
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Repealed and re-enacted in 1934 and known as Indian Tariff Act XXXII.
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See now the Cantonments Act 2 of 1924.
Chapter: II - ESTABLISHMENT, CONTROL, APPEAL AND REVISION
Section 7 - Establishment and delegations, and withdrawal of powers
(1) The administration of Excise Department and the Collection of the Excise-revenue within a district shall ordinarily be under the charge of the Collector.
(2) The 1[State Government] may, by 2Notification applicable to the whole of the 3[State] or to any specified local area:
(a) appoint any officer who shall, subject to such control as the 1[State Government may direct, have the control of the administration of the Excise Department and the collection of the Excise-revenue;
(b) appoint any person to exercise all or any of the powers and to perform all or any of the duties, conferred and imposed on a Collector by or under the Act, subject to such control as the 4[State Government] may direct;
(c) appoint officers of the Excise Department, of such classes, and with such designations, powers and duties as the 4[State Government] may think fit;
(d) order that all or any of the powers assigned by or under this Act to any officer appointed under Clause (c) of this Section shall be exercised or performed by any 5[Government Officer] or any person;
(e) delegate to the Board, the Commissioner of a division, 6[the Excise Commissioner or the Collector of...
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