Act No.16 of 1989

An Act made to repeal the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation, 1900, and to apply some existing laws in the Hill Districts, and to make some special regulations in the said districts.

Whereas it is expedient to repeal the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation, 1900, and to use some existing laws in the Hill Districts, and to make some special regulations in the said districts;

Therefore, the following Act is hereby passed:-

1. Short title and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Hill Districts (Repeal and Application of Laws and Special Regulation) Act, 1989.
(2) This Act shall come into force on the date the Government shall determine by notification in the official Gazette.

2. Definitions.- In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

(a) "Hill Tracts Districts" means Rangamati Hill District, Khagrachhari Hill District and Bandarban Hill District;
(b) "Chief" means Chakma chief, Bomong chief and Mong chief;
(c) "Headman" means village headman;
(d) "Rule" means a rule made under this Act.

4. Application of some existing Acts in the Hill Districts.- All Acts which were not applicable until immediately before the repeal of this Regulation shall on commencement of this Act be applicable.

5. Chiefs.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other Act for the time being in force, the Chakma, Bomong and Mong chief systems as established before the repeal of the mentioned Regulation shall remain intact:-
Provided that the powers of of the mentioned chiefs be limited to each one's own district.
(2) The chief's successor and his inauguration shall be determined by the Government.
(3) The chief shall enjoy commissions, honours or other privileges as determined by the Government.
(4) Those who were chiefs immediately before the repeal of the said Regulation shall remain installed in their positions, and whatever commissions, honours os other privileges they used to enjoy they shall continue to enjoy, even in the same amount, depending upon their being in consonance with this Act with all its regulations.

6. Headmen.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other Act for the time being in force, there shall be headmen in every village of the Hill Tracts Districts for the levy of soil improvement taxes, and they shall have all powers of a tahsildar (tax collector).
(2) The deputy commissioner shall appoint the headman, and he may dismiss him from his post on grounds of incapacity or bad conduct.
(3) The deputy commissioner shall seek the advice of the chief before appointing or dismissing a headman.
(4) The headman shall not be deemed a civil servant or a person holding an office of profit in the service of the People's Republic.
(5) The deputy commissioner shall, with the prior approval of the Government, determine the commissions, honours or other privileges for the headman.
(6) The deputy commissioner may, on order, or with the approval, of the Government, transfer any responsibilities to the headman.
(7) If the Chittagong Division Commissioner agrees, the village where a chief is a permanent inhabitant may be considered his personal (khas) village, and in that case, depending on how the headman of the respective village discharges his functions, he shall besides his own honours also receive the honours the headman is to receive.
(8) The deputy commissioner may, if he considers it necessary, appoint more than one headman per village for the chief.
(9) Those who were headmen immediately before the repeal of the said Regulation shall remain installed in their positions, and shall be deemed appointed under this section; and whatever commissions, honours or privileges they used to enjoy they shall continue to enjoy, even in the same amount, depending upon their being in consonance with this Act with all its regulations.

7. Jhum cultivation.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other Act for the time being in force, the deputy commissioner shall control the jhum cultivation in the Hill Districts, and he may promulgate and apply orders for this purpose.
(2) If he considers it necessary, the deputy commissioner may declare any area a jhum cultivation prohibition area.
(3) If in any prohibition area jhum crops are produced, the deputy commissioner may confiscate the produced crop, and may impose a fee of up to 100 taka on the producer.

8. Imposition of a jhum tax.- (1) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, impose a jhum tax on jhumia families.
Explanation.- "Jhumiya Family" means all members of a family producing and living on jhum crops forming an economic unity (eating the same food).
(2) The chief shall prepare a list of the jhumia families deserving exemption from the payment of the jhum tax according to the local system of his area, and every year before he 15th of October he shall hand it over to the deputy commissioner for assent; and if this list is assented by the deputy commissioner, the jhumia families included in it shall be exempt from the payment of the jhum tax.
(3) All the families living in one village but practising jhum cultivation in another (who shall be known as local migrators), shall , shall have to pay additional jhum tax in whichever village they practise jhum cultivation; and this tax shall amount to 50 per cent. of the usual tax.
(4) The jhum tax imposed upon the jhumia families in the Hill Districts immediately before the repeal of the said Regulation shall be deemed imposed under this section by the Government, and its rate shall remain unchanged unless altered by the Government.

9. Levy of jhum tax etc.- (1) Before the end of every year the jhum tax shall be handed over to the headman; and if this payment does not take place in this way, starting with the 1st of Fanuary of the following year it shall be deemed a remainder, and on this remainder an interest of 6,5 per cent. shall be imposed.
(2) The headman shall take a share of the jhum tax determined by the Government for himself and hand the remaining shares over to the chief.
(3) Until the determination of the chief's and the headman's due shares of the jhum tax under sub-section (2), the shares shall be due in the amount determined immediately before the repeal of the said Regulation.
(4) The headman shall hand over the due jhum taxes plus remainders to the chief before the 15th of January adjoining a list of remaining taxes and the counterfoils of receipts, and the chief shall transmit these lists and counterfoils plus the names of headmen violating this regulation to the deputy commissioner before the 31st of January, and the deputy commissioner shall after due inquiry take steps for recovering the remaining taxes in the form of public demands.
(5) The expenses for certificates from the levied remaining jhum taxes and the part taken by the headman shall be added up in the official revenue book by the deputy commissioner, and the remnants shall be given to the chief.
(6) The deputy commissioner may, for special reasons and after giving information to the chief, order the jhum taxes of headmen or jhumia families of any village not to be given to the chief but directly to him.
(7) If a headman is given an order under sub-section (6), the deputy commissioner shall, setting aside the share of the headman, give the rest to the chief; and before the share of the headman he shall first realize the Government's due from the headman, and then, after giving the chief his due of the jhum tax from the headman, he shall give the rest to the headman.
(8) If a jhumia family is given an order under sub-section(6), then the headman shall, when levying the jhum tax, enter the amount he would have to receive in the account of the official revenue book, and the rest shall be given to the chief.
(9) On the 31st of March of every year, the chief shall give the Government its payable dues.
(10) If a headman on reasonable grounds comes to believe that any jhumia family wants to leave its area and move somewhere else without paying its jhum tax, he may attach the property of this family, and he shall immediately bring the event to the attention of the chief or the deputy commissioner, and if the headman fails to take these steps he may be made responsible for outstanding debts.

10. Decrease of jhum tax etc.- (1) The deputy commissioner may, with the advice of the chief and headman,-

(a) decrease or remit the jhum tax in special cases, if considered reasonable;
(b) decrease or remit the jhum tax in any specific area for damage of crops.

11. Jhum rent roll.- (1) The headman shall prepare a rent roll every year, and therein he shall take down in writing the following items, namely:-

(a) the name of the head of every jhumia family and the number of family members;
(b) whether they pay jhum tax, or whether they are shifting, or whether they get release from jhum tax, and if they get release, the reason for it;
(c) whether the family has moved to their village before or within the past five years.

12. Unapproved claims are forbidden.- The headman or chief may not make any claims other than either a claim that is due from jhumia people or any land owner according to the local system, but which is not creating dissatisfaction, or a claim that the Government has expressedly assented to.

13. Right of grass collection.- If it seems reasonable to the deputy commissioner he may give his assent to the collection of grass without royalty for the domestic use of the hill people in the Hill Districts.

14. Pasturage tax.- (1) A pasturage tax shall be leviable for all domestic, guarded and draught cows, buffalos, goats, sheep and cowherds in the Hill Districts; it shall be determined by rule at which rate the tax shall be imposed, how it shall be levied, and in which cases it may be decreased or remitted or may not be imposed.
(2) Until the promulgation of the rules under sub-section(1) the tax shall be leviable in exactly the way it was immediately before the repeal of the said Regulation, including its rate and the cases in which the pasturage tax was imposed.

15. Seizure of village ground for dwelling houses.- (1) Any hill person may with the assent of the headman and without and formal settlement, seize up to 30 per cent. of private ground beyond the municipal borders for his own dwelling house.
(2) The headman shall keep a register of the dwelling houses sanctioned under sub-section(1).
(3) Any hill person who wants to seize more than 30 per cent. of private ground for his own dwelling house must get a land settlement from the deputy commissioner, and the ground under settlement shall be deemed non-cultivated land.
(4) The deputy commissioner may in the interest of the public re-occupy any ground seized under sub-section(1), and he shall have to pay for damages of new-built houses, injured crops and destroyed trees at a rate indicated by the market price.

16. Document registration fees.- Notwithstanding anything contained in any other laws for the time being in force the Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, decrease the rate of the document registration fees due from any of the backward tribes of the Hill Districts or by any of their members.

17. Power to make rules.- The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for the purpose of this Act.