Updated: Wednesday November 20, 2013/AlArbia'a
Muharram 17, 1435/Budhavara
Karthika 29, 1935, at 06:33:38 PM
[1][1]The
(Pb. Act V of 1989)
[
An
Act to establish the
Preamble.— Whereas, the Punjab Government is desirous
to establish and maintain a unified and co-ordinate system of Motorways, Super
Highways and Highways in the Province of the Punjab, to meet with the growing
needs of traffic;
And
whereas, it is expedient to establish the Punjab Highways Authority for the
construction, development, improvement and maintenance of Motorways, Super
Highways, Highways and other projects as may be assigned by the Punjab
Government for execution in the manner hereinafter appearing;
It
is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement.— (1) This Act may be called the Punjab
Highways Authority Act, 1989.
(2) It shall extend to the whole of the
Province of the
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.— In this Act unless the context otherwise
requires:-
(1) “Authority”
means the Punjab Highways Authority, established under Section 3 of this Act;
(2) “Agency”
means—
(a) Any department or organization of the Federal or Provincial
Government and includes a corporation or other autonomous or semi-autonomous
body set up by the Federal or Provincial Government;
(b) An administrative Division or District, department, bureau,
section, commission, Board, Office or Unit of the Government;
(3) “Building”
includes any factory, industrial establishment, shop, godown, warehouse, house,
outhouse, hut, shed, garage, stable, well, platform and any other structure;
(4) “Chairman”
means the Chairman of the Authority;
(5) “Director General” means the Director General
of the Authority;
(6) “Government”
means the Government of the
(7) “Land”
includes earth, water and air, above, below or on surface and any improvement
in the structure customarily regarded as land and benefits arising out of land
and things attached to earth or permanently fastened to earth;
(8) “Local
Body” means a local council or a cantonment Board established by or under any
law for the time being in force;
(9) “Market
Value” means the average market value of land prevailing in scheme area;
(10) “Member”
means a member of the Authority and includes the Chairman;
(11) “Motorway,
Super Highway and Highway” shall include, all culverts, bridges, adjacent
berms, side drains, and land within the boundaries of the right of way, and
shall also include all fences, posts and trees within the right of way;
(12) “Person” includes an individual, Company,
Firm, Co-operative Society or association of individuals whether incorporated
or not;
(13) “Prescribed”
means prescribed by rules or regulations framed under this Act;
(14) “Scheme
area” means an area notified as such by the Government and shall include the
right of way, stone and sand quarries and the service roads leading from quarry
sites to the scheme area.
3. Constitution of the Authority.— (1) There shall be established an Authority
to be known as the Punjab Highways Authority for carrying out the purposes of
this Act.
(2) The Authority shall be a body Corporate,
shall be able to acquire and hold property, shall have perpetual succession and
a common seal and shall by the said name sue and be sued.
(3) The authority shall consist of the
following members—
(a) The
Chief Minister of the
(b) The
Chairman, Planning and Development, Government of the
(c) Director
General of the Authority;
(d) Secretary,
Government of the
(e) Secretary,
Government of the
(4) The Chief Minister of the
(5) The membership of the Authority may be
altered, increased or decreased by the Government.
(6) No act or proceeding of the Authority
shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy or defect in the constitution
of the Authority.
4. Meetings of the Authority.— (1) The Authority shall meet at such time
and place, and in such manner, as may be prescribed:
Provided
that until rules or regulations are made in this behalf, such meetings shall be
convened by the Chairman.
(2) The Chairman, or in his absence, a
member authorised by him, shall preside over the meetings of the Authority.
5. Powers and functions of the Authority.— The powers and functions of the Authority
shall be—
(1) to
prepare, for the approval of the Government, a comprehensive master plan for
the establishment of Motorways, Super-Highways and Highways in the
(2) pursuant
to the master plan to call upon any agency operating in the scheme areas to
prepare, in consultation with the Authority, schemes in respect of—
(a) Land
use, zoning and land reservation;
(b) Planning,
designing, construction and supervision of Motorways, Super-Highways and
Highways;
(c) Leasing,
maintaining, and developing stone and sand quarries for use in the construction
of Motorways, Super-Highways and Highways;
(d) Transport,
Communications & Works, Highways, Roads, Railways;
(e) Tele-communications;
(f) Irrigation;
(g) Electric
transmission;
(h) Gas
transmission; and
(i) Utilisation
of natural resources.
(3) at the end of each year, to prepare annual
development plan and ensure compliance of the annual development programme,
according to the priorities established in the comprehensive master plan;
(4) cause
studies, survey, experiments or technical research to be made and contribute
towards the cost of any such studies, surveys, experiments or technical
research made by any other agency;
(5) to
prepare, implement schemes for the establishment of Motorways, Super-Highways
and Highways;
(6) to
acquire land and property, movable and immovable;
(7) to
undertake any work or incur any expenditure;
(8) to
sell, lease, exchange or otherwise dispose of any property vested in the
Authority;
(9) to approve standards, designs, specifications
for the development, construction and maintenance of Motorways, Super-Highways
and Highways, structures and Highway safety standards;
(10) to
fix axle-load and speed limits on Motorways, Super-Highways and Highways;
(11) to procure, purchase and maintain machinery,
equipment, instruments and other material required for use of the Authority;
(12) to
appoint advisers, Consultants and Contractors for the execution of works and
for that purpose to draw, make, execute any agreements, contracts or other
instruments as it may consider necessary;
(13) to
issue interim development orders for areas for which a scheme is under
preparation or under execution and restrict or prohibit, by general or special
order, any change in the use of land and alteration in buildings, structures
and installations;
(14) to cause removal of any works obstructing the
execution of its scheme;
(15) to
seek or obtain advice and assistance for the preparation of any scheme, or for
execution of any scheme from any agency or person, and such agency or person
shall give the advice and assistance sought by the authority to the best of its
ability, knowledge and judgement, and the additional expenditure, if any,
involved in obtaining such advice or assistance shall be borne by the
Authority; and
(16) to
impose toll tax for the use of Motorways, Super-Highways and Highways and cause
the same to be collected, directly or through contractors.
6. Appointment and terms of office of
Director General.— (1) The
Authority shall have a Director General who shall be appointed by the
Government on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Government.
(2) The Director General shall be the Chief
Executive of the Authority and shall—
(a) perform
such duties as may be assigned to him and exercise such powers as may be
delegated to him by the Authority or under this Act;
(b) hold
office during the pleasure of the Government and unless sooner transferred or
removed the Director General shall hold office for a period of four years.
(3) Nothing in this section shall preclude
the Government from extending the term of office of the Director General for
such period as the Government may determine.
7. Responsibilities of Director General.— Notwithstanding anything in this Act the
Director General may, with the previous approval of the Authority:-
(1) be
responsible for implementing the decisions of the Authority in respect of
administrative and financial matters;
(2) formulate
scales, standards and specifications and also scrutinize the schemes for
maintenance and development of the Motorways, Super-Highways and Highways;
(3) be
responsible for effective inspection of the work of executing agencies, firms
and persons;
(4) shall
ensure, through periodic inspections that projects and annual maintenance
programmes are implemented as approved;
(5) ensure
through regular Highway patrolling that the riding quality and traffic
worthiness of the Motorways, Super-Highways and Highways is maintained;
(6) shall
cause development and maintenance schemes to be prepared and after confirming
the scope of work, put up his recommendations before the Authority for
approval.
8. Preparation
and execution of schemes.— (1) The Authority shall, in such form and in such manner
as may be prescribed, prepare schemes.
(2) All
schemes prepared by the Authority shall be submitted to the Government for its
approval except those schemes, the provisional estimated cost of which does not
exceed such limits as may be prescribed, or for which no loan or grant is
required from the Government.
(3) The Authority shall publish the
sanctioning of any scheme in the official gazette and shall forthwith proceed
to execute the scheme.
(4) The
publication of a sanction under sub-section (3) shall be conclusive evidence
that the scheme has been duly framed and sanctioned.
9. Information about schemes.— All schemes prepared shall contain among
other things the following information, namely—
(a) description
of the scheme and manner of its execution;
(b) estimate
of costs and benefits;
(c) allocation
of costs to the various purposes to be served by the scheme.
10. Arrangements with other agencies.— (1) The Authority may require a Government
agency, within whose jurisdiction any particular aspect of development covered
by a scheme lies—
(a) to
execute a scheme in consultation with the Authority;
(b) to provide any amenity in relation to the
highway safety which in the opinion of the Authority ought to be provided; and
(c) to
enforce regulations on behalf of the Authority.
(2) The
expenditure incurred on the execution of any scheme or on the enforcement of
regulations, under this section, shall be borne as may be agreed to between the
Authority and the Government Agency and in the event of disagreement, as may be
determined by the Government.
11. Power to
execute any scheme.— (1) Where the Authority is satisfied that any direction
given by it under sub-section (1) of Section 10 with regard to any scheme, has
not been carried out by the Government Agency, the Authority may, itself,
undertake any work for the execution of that scheme and to cost thereof, shall
be borne as may be agreed between the Authority and the Government Agency and
in the event of disagreement, as may be determined by the Government.
(2) Where any work is undertaken by the
Authority under sub-section (1), it shall be deemed to have, for the purposes
of execution of such work, all powers which may be exercised under any law for
the time being in force, by the Government Agency concerned.
12. Directions by Government.— The Authority shall, in discharging its
functions, act and be guided, by such directions as the Government may give to
it from time to time.
13. Power to levy betterment toll.— Where, the execution of any scheme by the
Authority, has in the opinion of the Authority, brought about an improvement in
a facility which has resulted in a saving in the vehicle operating costs, the
Authority may with the prior consent of the Government, levy toll tax on the vehicles
using the facility.
14. Determination of toll tax.— The toll tax for each kind of vehicle will
be determined in such a way as may be prescribed.
15. Appointment of officers and servants, etc.— The Authority may, from time to time,
appoint such officers, servants, experts or consultants as it may consider
necessary for the performance of its functions, on such terms and conditions as
it may deem fit.
16. Conditions of
service and disciplinary powers.— The Authority shall lay down the procedure for
the appointment of its officers, servants, experts and consultants, and the
terms and conditions of their service including the constitution and management
of provident fund for them, and shall be competent to take disciplinary action
against them.
17. Officers, servants, experts to be public
servants.— The Director
General, members, officers, servants, experts and consultants of the Authority
shall, when acting or purporting to act in pursuance of any of the provisions
of this Act be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of
the Pakistan Penal Code.
18. Indemnity.— No suit, prosecution or other legal
proceedings shall lie against the Authority, the Director General, any member,
officer, servant, expert or consultant of the Authority in respect of anything
done or intended to be done, in good faith under this Act.
19. Delegation of powers.— The Authority may, by general or special
order, delegate to the Director General, or a member, or an officer of the
Authority, any of its powers, duties or functions under this Act subject to
such conditions as it may think fit to impose.
20. Finances.— (1) The Government shall establish a “Punjab Highway Authority Fund”
which shall vest in the Authority.
(2) The fund shall consist of—
(a) grants
made by the Government;
(b) loans
obtained from the Government;
(c) grants made by local bodies as required by the
Government;
(d) sale
proceeds of bonds issued with the approval of the authority of the Government;
(e) loans
obtained by the Authority with special or general sanction of the Government;
(f) foreign
aid and loans obtained from the International Agencies, Governments or
otherwise, with the sanction of and on such terms and conditions as may be
approved by the Government; and
(g) all
other sums received by the Authority.
21. Authority to be deemed to be a local
Authority.— The Authority
shall be deemed to be a local authority under the Local Authorities Loans Act,
1914, for the purpose of borrowing money under the said Act and the making and
execution of any scheme under this Act shall be deemed to be a work which such
Authority is legally authorised to carry out.
22. Limited Liability.— The liability of the Government to the
creditors of the Authority shall be limited to the extent of grants made by the
Government and the loans raised by the Authority with the sanction of the
Government.
23. Toll Tax.— (1) The Authority shall have the power to impose Toll Tax to be
recovered from the users of Motorways, Super-Highways and Highways, developed
and maintained by the Authority.
(2) The rates
of the Toll Tax shall be so fixed to provide for meeting the development,
maintenance and operating costs, interest charges and depreciation of assets;
the redemption at due time of loans other than those covered by depreciation
and the reasonable return on investment.
24. Maintenance of accounts.— (1) The overall financing and allocations
from the funds for development of projects and maintenance will be planned on
performance budgeting as adopted by the Punjab Government.
(2) The Authority shall maintain complete
and accurate books of accounts in such form as may be prescribed.
25. Audit of accounts and annual statement of
accounts.— (1) In the month
of August each year, the accounts of the Authority shall be audited by auditors
appointed by the Authority.
(2) The Authority shall also submit to the
Government for approval a statement of accounts and estimated receipts and
expenditure in respect of the next financial year.
26. Audit.— (1) The accounts of the Authority shall be audited in such a manner as
may be prescribed by the Government.
(2) Copies of the Audit Report shall be sent
to the Authority, to the Government and shall also be available for public
inspection.
(3) The Authority shall carry out any directive
issued by the Government for rectification of an audit objection.
27. Maintenance
of Funds.— The Authority shall maintain its funds in such manner as is prescribed
by the Government from time to time.
28. Acquisition.— The acquisition of any land or any interest
in land for the Authority under this section, or for any scheme under this Act,
shall be deemed to be an acquisition for a public purpose within the meaning of
the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the provisions of the said Act shall apply
to all such proceedings.
29. Annual
Report.—
The Authority shall prepare for every year a report of its activities during
that year and submit the report to the Government in such form and on or before
such date, as may be prescribed.
30. Recovery of dues.— Any sum due to the Authority from, or any
sum wrongly paid by the Authority to any person under this Act, shall be
recoverable as arrears of land revenue.
31. Act to prevail over other laws.— In the event of any conflict or
inconsistency between the provisions of this Act and the provisions of any
other law for the time being in force, the provision of this Act shall, to the
extent of such conflict or inconsistency prevail.
32. Penalty.— Whoever contravenes any provision of this Act, or any rules or
regulations made thereunder shall, if no penalty is provided for such
contravention, be punishable with the imprisonment for a term which may extend
to six months or with fine or with both.
33. Causing damage to property or disobedience
of orders.— (1) Whoever
willfully causes damage, or allows damage to be caused to any property which
vests in the Authority, or which is intended to be acquired by the Authority,
or unlawfully converts it to his own or any other person’s use, shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with
fine, or with both.
(2) Whoever refuses or willfully neglects to
provide any officer or servant of the Authority with the means necessary for
entering into any premises for the purpose of collecting any information or
making an examination shall be punishable with imprisonment to one year or with
fine or both.
(3) Whoever, without lawful excuse, fails or
refuses to comply with any direction or order issued by the Authority under
this Act, shall be guilty of an offence punishable under section 32.
(4) Whoever attempts to commit or abets the
commission of an offence punishable under this Act, shall be deemed to have
committed an offence.
(5) No court shall take cognizance of any
offence punishable under this Act except on a complaint in writing made by an
officer authorised for the purpose by the Authority.
34. Power to make rules.— Subject to the provisions of this Act,
Government may make rules for carrying into effect the purposes of this Act.
35. Power to make regulations.— Subject to the provisions of this Act and
the rules framed thereunder, the Authority may make regulations as may be
necessary, to carry out the purposes of this Act.
36. Repeal
of
[1][1]This Act was passed by the
Punjab Assembly on 29th March, 1989; assented to by the Governor of the Punjab
on 1st April, 1989; and, was published in the Punjab Gazette (Extraordinary),
dated 2nd April, 1989, Pages 900-A to 900-H.
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