SHORT TITLE AND EXTENT
1) This Act may be called the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. (2) It extends to the whole of India. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- 1[(ia)"Code" means the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974);] 2[3(iia)] "Collector" includes an Additional Collector and such other officer, not below the rank of sub-Divisional Officer, as may be authorised by the Collector to perform the functions and exercise the powers of the Collector under this Act;] (a) "essential commodity" means any of the following classes of commodities :- (i) cattle fodder, including oilcakes and other concentrates; (ii) coal, including coke and other derivatives; (iii) component parts and accessories of automobiles; (iv) cotton and woollen textiles; (iva) drugs (v) foodstuffs, including edible oil seeds and oils; (vi) iron and steel, including manufactured products of iron and steel; (vii) paper, including newsprint, paperboard and straw board; (viii) petroleum and petroleum products; (ix) raw cotton, whether ginned or unginned, and cotton seed; (x) raw jute; (xi) any other class of commodity which the Central Government may, by notified order, declare to be an essential commodity for the purposes of this Act, being a commodity with respect to which Parliament has power to make laws by virtue of entry 33 in List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution; (b) "food-crops" include crops of sugarcane; (c) "notified order" means an order notified in the Official Gazette: (cc) "order" includes a direction issued there under; Definitions Page 2 of 2 (d) "State Government", in relation to a Union territory, means the administrator thereof: (e) "sugar" means- (i) any form of sugar containing more than ninety per cent of sucrose, including sugar candy; (ii) khandsari sugar or bura sugar or crushed sugar or any sugar in crystalline or powdered form; or (iii) sugar in process in vacuum pan sugar factory or raw sugar produced therein; 4[(f) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Code shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Code.]