Maharashtra Forest Development (Tax on Sale of Forest Produce by Government or Forest Development Corporation) (Continuance) Act, 1983 Complete Act - Bare Act

22 of 1983

STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTE, Dated 23rd FEB., 1983 The importance of forests for prevention of soil erosion, retention of moisture in the soil, maintenance of ecological balance, provisions of the needs of fuel, small timber and fodder of the rural population, supply of raw materials for forest based industries, etc., is well recognised. There is, in fact, a pressing necessity to undertake a massive programme of afforestation, not only to bring under vegetal cover denuded forest areas on ecological grounds, but also to bridge speedily the widening gap between the demand for, and the supply of, forest-produce, both for domestic and industrial consumption. As this calls for allocation of more financial resources for forest development programmes urgently, there was a pressing need to mobilise additional resources for this purpose. 2. It was, therefore, proposed to raise the necessary additional resources by levy and collection of a forest development tax on the sale of forest-produce by or on behalf of the State Government and the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited, at the rate of five percent, of the sale price, which will be in addition to any other tax payable in respect of the sale or purchase of the same forest-produce under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 or any other law for the time being in force, The proceeds of the said tax, after deducting the expenses of collection, are proposed to be placed at the disposal of the Forest Department every year as additional budgetary resources. These resources would be expended only for raising forest plantations or other ancillary purposes connected with forest development programmes as also for the welfare of the people dwelling in forests and the weaker sections of the people dependent on forest-produce for their livelihood. This indicates the Act in force from this date. 3. As this was one of the urgent measures proposed to be taken by the State Government to raise additional resources required by the State, it was necessary to enact a special law immediately. 4. As both Houses of the State Legislature were not in session and the Governor of Maharashtra was satisfied that circumstances existed, which rendered it necessary for him to take immediate action to have a special law for the purposes aforesaid, the Governor promulgated the Maharashtra Forest Development (Tax on sale of forest-produce by Government or Forest Development Corporation) Ordinance, 1982 (Mah. Ord. XX of 1982), on the 4^th December 1982. 5. Thereafter, both Houses of the State Legislature had reassembled on the 13th December 1982 and were in session form the 13th December to 24th December 1982. L.A. Bill No. LVIII of 1982 to replace the said Ordinance by an Act of the State Legislature had been introduced by Government in the Legislative Assembly on the 16th December 1982, but had not been passed. As the Legislature had reassembled on the 13th December 1982, the said Ordinance would have ceased to operate after the 23rd January 1983. 6. As both Houses of the State Legislature were not in session then and were not likely to meet before March 1983, and the Governor of Maharashtra was satisfied that circumstances still existed which rendered it necessary for him to take immediate action to continue the provisions of the said Ordinance, the Governor promulgated the Maharashtra Forest Development (Tax on sale of forest-produce by Government or Forest Development Corporation) (Continuance) Ordinance, 1983 on the 17th January, 1983. 7. This Bill is intended to replace the said Ordinance by an Act of the State Legislature. MAHARASHTRA STATE GAZETTE, Dated 23rd JUNE, 1992. The importance of forests for the prevention of soil erosion, retention of moisture in the soil, maintenance of ecological balance, provision of the needs of fuel fodder and small timber of the rural population and supply of raw material for forest based industries is well recognized. There is , in fact, a pressing need to undertake a massive programme of afforestation, not only to bring under vegetal cover, denuded forest areas on ecological grounds, but also to bridge speedily the widening gap between the demand for and supply of forest-produce, both for domestic and industrial consumption. Government has accordingly undertaken forest development works on large scale in the State of Maharashtra. As this calls for allocation of more financial resources for forest development programmes, it is proposed to increase the rate of tax of five per cent on the sale price of forest-produce leviable under the provisions of the Maharashtra Forest Development (Tax on Sale of Forest-produce by Government or Forest Development Corporation) (Continuance) Act, 1983, to ten per cent of the sale price of the forest-produce.

(1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Forest Development (Tax on sale of forest-produce by Government or Forest Development Corporation) (Continuance) Act, 1983.

(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 7th December, 1982.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:"

(a) "Appellate Authority", where the Recovery Officer is the Forest Officer or the officer of the Forest Development Corporation, means the officer of the Forest Department or of the Forest Development Corporation as the case may be, immediately superior to the Recovery Officer, and where the Recovery Officer is the officer of a co-operative society, means the Divisional Forest Officer, or the Sub-Divisional Forest officer in-charge of an independent Forest Sub-Division, as the case may be, within whose territorial jurisdiction the sale takes place. If any question arises as to who is the Appellate Authority, in respect of any sale, the same shall be referred to and decided by the Chief Conservator of Forests and his decision shall be final;

(b) "Co-operative society" means a co-operative society registered or deemed to be registered under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960;

(c) "Forest Development Corporation" means the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited being a private company within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1956, and having its registered office in Nagpur in the State of Maharashtra ;

(d) "forest-produce" means forest-produce as defined in the Indian Forest Act, 1927, in its application to the State of Maharashtra;

(e) "Recovery Officer" in relation to any sale of forest-produce, means the Forest Officer, or the officer of the Forest Development Corporation, or the officer of co-operative society, as the case may be, by whom the sale is effected, and if any question arises as to who is the Recovery Officer in respect of the sale, the same shall be referred to and decided by the Chief Conservator of Forests and his decision shall be final;

(f) "sale" or "sale of forest-produce" means any sale of forest- produce by or on behalf of the State Government or the Forest Development Corporation, for cash or deferred payment or other valuable consideration, whether described as sale price, purchase price or royalty, and includes any such sale of forest-produce by a co-operative society on behalf of the State Government or the Forest Development Corporation;

(g) "sale price" means the amount of valuable consideration, whether described as sale price, purchase price or royalty, paid or payable by any purchaser for sale of any forest-produce to him ; and the words "sell" and "purchase" with all their grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly ;

(h) "tax" means the forest development tax on the sale of any forest-produce by or on behalf of the State Government or the Forest Development Corporation levied and collected under this Act;

(i) words and expressions used in this Act, but not defined herein, shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Indian Forest Act, 1927, in its application to the State of Maharashtra, or in the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, as the case may require.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, on and after the 7th December, 1982 there shall be levied and collected by the State Government the tax on every sale of forest-produce from the purchaser, at the rate of1[ten per cent], of the sale price of such produce sold to him.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) where any sale is effected before the 7th December, 1982, and under the terms and conditions of such sale, the whole or any part of the sale price is payable on or after the said date, no tax under this Act shall be levied and collected on the whole or part of the sale price so payable.

(3) It is hereby declared that the tax levied and payable under this Act shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of any tax levied and payable in respect of the sale or purchase of the same forest-produce under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, or any other law for the time being in force.

The amount of tax leviable under Section 3 on the sale of any forest-produce shall be collected by the Recovery Officer effecting the sale from the purchaser along with the sale price:

Provided that, where the sale price is payable in two or more instalments, the amount of tax shall also be recovered in instalments, in proportion to, and along with the instalments of the sale price.

(1) Any person aggrieved by an order by the Recovery officer determining the amount of tax due from him or aggrieved by any other order made by the Recovery Officer, may, within thirty days from the date of receipt of intimation of any such order, appeal to the Appellate Authority. The Appellate Authority, on receipt of any such appeal, shall give a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the appellant and decide the matter.

(2) Any order made by the Recovery Officer, subject to an appeal to the Appellate Authority, and the decision of the Appellate Authority on any such appeal, shall be final.

The proceeds of the tax levied and collected under this Act shall first be credited to the Consolidated Fund of the State, and thereafter, after deducting from the proceeds such sum as the State Government may determine as expenses of collection, the remaining amount shall, under appropriation duly made by law in this behalf, be placed at the disposal of the Forest Department each year as additional budgetary resources to be expended only for forest plantations or other ancillary purposes connected with forest development programmes and for the welfare of the people dwelling in the forests and the weaker sections of the people dependent on forest-produce for their livelihood.

Subject to such conditions (if any) as it may impose, the State Government may, if it is necessary so to do in the public interest, by notification in the Official Gazette , exempt any specified class of sales from payment of the whole or any part of the tax payable under this Act, and exemption shall take effect from the date of publication of the notification in the Official Gazette, or such other date as may be specified therein.

All arrears of tax due under this Act shall be recoverable by the Collector as arrears of land revenue.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the State Government or any officer of the State Government or Forest Development Corporation or any co-operative society for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.

(1) Subject to the condition of previous publication, the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.

(2) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days, which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule, or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, and notify such decision in the Official Gazette, the rule shall from the date of publication of such notification have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done or omitted to be done under that rule.

(1) For the removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that sales of any forest-produce by any co-operative society on behalf of the State Government or the Forest Development Corporation during the period from the 7th December, 1982 to the 16th January, 1983 (both inclusive) are also liable to tax under this Act, and any amounts of tax recovered for such sales shall be deemed to have been validly levied and collected. If any amount of tax for any such sale remains to be recovered on the 7th January, 1983 (hereinafter in this section referred to as "the said date"), the purchaser shall pay to the officer who effected the said amount within a period of thirty days from the said date.

(2) Any person, who is aggrieved by any recovery of tax for sales referred to in sub-section (1), may, within, thirty days from the said date or from the date of recovery, whichever is later, appeal to the Appellate Authority, and the provisions of Section 5 shall, so far as may be, apply to any such appeal.

If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State Government may, as occasion arises, by order, do anything, which appears to it to be necessary or expedient to remove the difficulty:

Provided that, no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two years from the date of commencement of this Act.

(1) The Maharashtra Forest Development (Tax on sale of forest-produce by Government or Forest Development Corporation) (Continuance) Ordinance, 1983, is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken (including any notification or order issued) under the said ordinance shall be deemed to have been done, taken or issued, as the case may be, under the corresponding provisions of this Act.