In force · As amended up to 2026-08
2. The first enactment of the kind was Lord Brougham's Act (13 & 14 Vict., c. 21). The provisions of that Statute were adapted to India, and somewhat amplified, by the General Clauses Act (I of 1868), and the General Clauses Act (I of 1887) was a further extension of the same principle. It is obviously expedient that the Legislative dictionary, as it may be called, should be contained in a single enactment, and that the two Acts, above referred to should be consolidated, and it seems desirable to take the opportunity of making any additions that latter experience may have suggested, and in particular to incorporate such provisions of the Interpretation Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict., c 63), as are applicable to India. That Statute, like the Indian Act of 1887, was drafted by Sir C. Ilbert, and is in effect a careful revise and extension of the latter. For example, the definition of "British India" in the English Act of 1889 is merely an expansion of the definition given by the Indian Act of 1868. Its legal effect is the same, but it is more intelligible, and it avoids a reference to another Statute. The proposed measure will have this further advantage that it will tend to secure uniformity of language and construction in Indian and English legislation, in so far as both have to deal with the same subject-matter.
2. The word "and" rep. by Act 10 of 1914, s. 3 and the Second Schedule.
3. Sub-section (2) rep. by s. 3 and the Second Schedule, ibid .
4. Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for section 3.
(6) "British possession" shall mean any part of Her Majesty's dominions exclusive of the United Kingdom, and where parts of those dominions are under both a Central and a Local Legislature, all parts under the Central Legislature shall, for the purposes of this definition, be deemed to be one British possession;
(7) "Central Act" shall means an Act of Parliament, and shall include —
(a) an Act of the Dominion Legislature or of the Indian Legislature passed before the commencement of the Constitution, and
(b) an Act made before such commencement by the Governor General in Council or the Governor General, acting in a legislative capacity;
(8) "Central Government" shall, —
(a) in relation to anything done before the commencement of the Constitution, mean the — Governor General or the Governor General in Council, as the case may be; and shall include,
(i) in relation to functions entrusted under sub-section (1) of section 124 of the Government of India Act, 1935, to the Government of a Province, the Provincial Government acting within the scope of the authority given to it under that subsection; and
(ii) in relation to the administration of a Chief Commissioner's Province, the Chief Commissioner acting within the scope of the authority given to him under sub-section (3) of section 94 of the said Act; and
(b) in relation to anything done or to be done after the commencement of the Constitution, — mean the President; and shall include,
(i) in relation to functions entrusted under clause (1) of article 258 of the Constitution, to the Government of a State, the State Government acting within the scope of the authority given to it under that clause;[1] *
(ii) in relation to the administration of a Part C State[2] [before the commencement of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956], the Chief Commissioner or the LieutenantGovernor or the Government of a neighbouring State or other authority acting within the scope of the authority given to him or it under article 239 or article 243 of the Constitution, as the case may be;[2] [and
(iii) in relation to the administration of a Union territory, the administrator thereof acting within the scope of the authority given to him under article 239 of the Constitution];
(9) "Chapter" shall mean a Chapter of the Act or Regulation in which the word occurs;
(10) "Chief Controlling Revenue Authority" or "Chief Revenue Authority" shall mean —
(a) in a State where there is a Board of Revenue, that Board;
(b) in a State where there is a Revenue Commissioner, that Commissioner;
- (c) in Punjab, the Financial Commissioner; and
(d) elsewhere, such authority as, in relation to matters enumerated in List I in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, the Central Government, and in relation to other matters, the State Government, may by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint;
(11) "Collector" shall mean, in a Presidency-town, the Collector of Calcutta, Madras or Bombay, as the case may be, and elsewhere the chief officer-in-charge of the revenue-administration of a district;
- (12) "Colony" —
(a) in any Central Act passed after the commencement of Part III of the Government of India Act, 1935, shall mean any part of His Majesty's dominions exclusive of the British Islands, the
Source: India Code