- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,;-(1)"creditor" includes his heirs, legal representative and assigns;(2)"debt" means any liability in cash or in kind, whether secured or unsecured and whether decreed or not, but does not include rent as defined in clause (8);(3)"debtor" means any person from whom any debt is due:Provided that a person shall not be deemed to be a debtor, if he(i)has, in both the financial years ending on the 31st March 1977 and the 31st March 1978, been assessed to-(a)income-tax under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Central Act 43 of 1961) or under the income-tax law in force in any foreign country; or(b)agricultural income-tax under the [Tamil Nadu Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1955 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1955)] [This Act was repealed by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Income-tax (Repeal) Act.] or under any law in force in any other State or Union territory in India; or(ii)has, in both the financial years ending on the 31st March 1977 and the 31st March 1978, been assessed to sales tax under the [Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 (Tamil Nadu Act 1 of 1959)] [This Act has been repealed and re-enacted as the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 (Tamil Nadu Act... of 2006) which came into force on the 1st day of January 2007.] or under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 (Central Act 74 of 1956); or(iii)has, in all the four half-years immediately preceding the 1st March 1978, been assessed to property or house-lax in respect of buildings or lands other than agricultural lands, under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1920), the [Chennai] [Substituted for the word 'Madras' by the City of Madras (Alteration of Name) Act, 1996 (Tamil Nadu Act 28 of 1996).] City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 (Tamil Nadu Act IV of 1919), the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act 15 of 1971), the [Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1958 (Tamil Nadu Act XXXV of 1958)] [This Act has been repealed and re-enacted as the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 21 of 1994).], the [Cantonments Act, 1924 (Central Act II of 1924)] [This Act has been repealed and re-enacted as the Cantonment Act, 2003.] or any law governing municipal or local bodies in this State or in any other State or Union territory in India, provided that the aggregate annual rental value of such buildings and lands whether let out or in the occupation of the owner is not less than rupees one thousand and two hundred.Explanation. - The annual rental value of any building or land for the purposes of proviso (iii) shall-(1)where the assessment is based on the annual rental value, be deemed to be such value;(2)where the assessment is based on the capital value, be deemed to be five per cent of the capital value; and(3)in any other case, be deemed to be the value ascertained in the prescribed manner; or(iv)has, in all the four half-years immediately preceding the 1st March 1978, been assessed to profession tax on a half-yearly income of more than one thousand and two hundred rupees derived from a profession other than agriculture under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1920), the Chennai City' Municipal Corporation Act, 1919 (Tamil Nadu Act IV of 1919), the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act 15 of 1971), the [Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1958 (Tamil Nadu Act XXXV of 1958)] [This Act has been repealed and re-enacted as the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 21 of 1994).], the [Cantonments Act, 1924 (Central Act II of 1924)] [This Act has been repealed and re-enacted as the Cantonment Act, 2003.] or any law governing municipal or local bodies in this State or in any other State or Union territory in India;(4)"Government" means the State Government;(5)"interest" means any amount or other thing paid or payable in excess of the principal sum borrowed or pecuniary obligation incurred, or where anything has been borrowed in kind in excess of what has been so borrowed, by whatsoever name such amount or thing may be called, and whether the same is paid or payable entirely in cash or entirely in kind or partly in cash and partly in kind and whether the same is expressly mentioned or not in the document or contract, if any;(6)"mortgagee" includes his heirs, legal representatives and assigns(7)"person" means an individual and includes an undivided Hindu family, a marumakkattayam or aliyasantana tarward or tavazhi, but does not include a body corporate, a charitable or religious institution or an unincorporated company or association or any firm as defined in the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (Central Act IX of 1932);(8)"rent" means-(i)the rent payable in respect of agricultural land by any tenant to the land owner and includes the fair rent payable to the land owner under the Tamil Nadu Cultivating Tenants (Payment of Fair Rent) Act, 1956 (Tamil Nadu Act XXIV of 1956) or the Tamil Nadu Public Trusts (Regulation of Administration of Agricultural Lands) Act, 1961 (Tamil Nadu Act 57 of 1961), or the rent or michavaram as defined by the Malabar Tenancy Act, 1929 (Tamil Nadu Act XIV of 1930), or quit rent, jodi, kattubadi, poruppu or the like payable to any person under any law relating to tenancy for the time being in force in this State; or(ii)the rent payable by any tenant to the owner of any building in respect of such building or portion thereof occupied by such tenant.Explanation. - For the purpose of this clause, the expression "building" shall have the same meaning as in clause (2) of section 2 of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 (Tamil Nadu Act 18 of 1960).
