Section 31 in The Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1994
31. Territorial jurisdiction.
(1)Notwithstanding anything contained in the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (2 of 1974), every case instituted under this Act shall be instituted before the Pradhan, or in his absence before Up-Pradhan, of the Gram Panchayat of the Sabha area in which the offence was committed.(2)Notwithstanding anything contained in the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (5 of 1908), or in the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972 (8 of 1974), every suit instituted under this Act shall be instituted before the Pradhan, or in his absence before Up-Pradhan, of the Gram Panchayat of the Gram Sabha area in which the defendant, or any of the defendants, where they are more than one, ordinarily resides or carries on business at the time of the institution of the suit irrespective of the place where the cause of action arose.(3)Notwithstanding anything contained in the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954), every proceeding specified under section 48 shall be transferred by the revenue court concerned to the Gram Panchayat within the local area in which the land concerned is situated and the Gram Panchayat shall decide such proceedings in the manner prescribed:Provided that where land is included in the local area of more than one Gram Panchayats, the revenue court concerned shall transfer the proceedings to the Gram Panchayat within the area of which the greater part of the land is situated.
