Act Info:
The Bombay Landing And Wharfage Fees Act, 18821
[Act No. 7 of 18822]
[18th November, 1882]
PREAMBLE
An Act to provide for the levy of fees for the use of 3[***] landing places.
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the levy of fees for the use of 3[* * *] landing places in certain ports in the 4[State of Bombay]; It is hereby enacted as follows
NOTES
Objects :- On account of the reorganisation of Bombay State on 1st November, 1956, the ports of the States of Saurashtra and Kutch and the former State of Bombay had came over to the new State of Bombay. The Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882 (VIII of 1882), applies to minor ports of the former Bombay State. This Act was also applied to minor ports in the Kutch area by the Central Government. The charges at Okha Port were levied under the Okha Port Rules, while those at the port in the Saurashtra were levied under the Saurashtra Ports (Administration) Ordinance, 1950 (Sau. Ord. IX of 1950). It was, therefore, necessary to unify the law for the administration of minor ports in all the areas of the new State. As the Bombay Act met the legal requirements, it was sought to amend the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882, and apply it to all the minor ports, now in the State.
It was also proposed to amend the principal Act by deleting the word Public occurring in the long title, the preamble and section 5 of the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, so that the Act could cover landing-places, whether constructed by Government or private parties.
Provision was also made for charging fees for services rendered which were not chargeable under the Indian Ports Act, 1908.
Provision regarding creation of Funds made in the existing sections 10, 11 and 12 were also deleted and the balance at the foot of the Funds credited to the Consolidated Fund of the State. This was done with a view to bringing in all the ports under one accounting procedure.- vide Statement of Objects and Reasons.-Mah. 55 of 1959.
The designation of the Chief Customs Authority in section 9 of the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882, was changed to Principal Port Officer and Engineer, Bombay State by the Bombay Landing and Wharfage (Unification and Amendment) Act, 1959, which had not then been brought into force. This designation closely resembled that of the Officer of the Government of India stationed at Bombay who was designated Principal Officer, Mercantile Marine Department . The Government of India had objected to this close resemblance in the designation of two officers on the ground that it would cause considerable confusion in the matter of delivery of letters, phonograms, S.O.S. messages, navigational warnings etc. It was, therefore, sought to change the designation of the Principal Port Officer and Engineer" to that of The Chief Port Officer" on the advice of Central Government. This Act is designed to achieve this object.- vide Statement of Objects and Reasons.- Mah. 30 of 1960.
Under section 5 of the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882, the maximum rate of fee which Government could levy on any passenger embarking or disembarking at a landing place within the State of Maharashtra was one anna. The income derived from these fees constituted the Landing and Wharfage Fees Fund which was utilised for carrying out and maintaining works for the amenities of the passengers, while the income derived from the source had not recorded any appreciable increase during recent years, the expenditure on the maintenance and new developmental works for the improvement of the minor ports had increased considerably. It was considered necessary to augment the resources at least partially to meet the increased expenditure. The extra expenditure was being met from the general revenues of the State and it was necessary to take power to raise the upper limit to 25 nP. to avoid resort to frequent legislation in view of rising prices and cost of construction.- vide Statement of Objects and Reasons.- Mah. 24 of 1963.
Section 6 of the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882, confers on Government power to appoint such persons as it deems fit to exercise all the powers and duties under the Act. It was considered necessary to provide that the persons appointed to exercise the powers and perform the duties should be under the control of the intermediate authority appointed
by the State Government under section 7(4) of the Indian Ports Act, 1908; and that the intermediate authority should in exercising control over such persons be subject to control of the State Government. Consequently amendment of section 6 of the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882, was necessary to secure this object.
The Conservation of Ports appointed by the State Government under section 7 of the Indian Ports Act, 1908 are under the control of Government or any intermediate authority appointed by Government. The State Government decided to appoint an intermediate authority consisting of certain officers with Secretary, Building and Communications as its Chairman. Since the Act did not contain any provisions regarding the ambit of its control, it was deemed expedient to make provision that authority should be subject to the control of the State Government.- vide Statement of Objects and Reasons.- Mah. 8 of 1973.
On application of Maharashtra Maritime Board Act, 1996 which is applicable to any minor port, the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882 shall stand repealed in relation to minor ports.-
* 117. On application of this Act to any minor port, the Bombay Landing and Wharfage Fees Act, 1882, shall stand repealed in relation to that port: Provided that, such repeal shall not affect,-
(a) the previous operation of the Act so repealed, or anything duly done or suffered thereunder;
(b) any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued and incurred under the Act, so repealed;
(c) any penalty, forfeiture, or punishment incurred in respect of any offence committed under the Act, so repealed; or
(d) any investigation, legal proceedings, or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment as aforesaid; and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any such penalty, forfeiture and punishment may be imposed, as if this Act had not been enacted:
Provided further that, subject to the preceding proviso, anything done or any action taken under the repealed Act, shall in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act and shall continue to be in force accordingly unless and until superseded by anything done or any action taken under this Act.
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1. This Act was extended to any ports in the rest of the State of Bombay to which Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, extend that Act (vide Bom. 55 of 1959, section 2).
2. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Bombay Government Gazette, 1881, Pt. V, p. 41; and for proceedings in Council, see ibid., p. 47.
3. The word Public was deleted by Bom. 55 of 1959, section 4(a).
4. These words were substituted for the words Bombay Presidency , ibid., section 4(a).
* See section 117 of the Maharashtra Maritime Board Act, 1996 (Mah. Act No. 15 of 1997).