Section 23 in The M.P. Sinchai Prabandhan Me Krishkon Ki Bhagidari Adhiniyam, 1999
23. Offences and Penalties.
- Whoever without any lawful authority does any of the following acts, that is to say :-(a)damages, alters, enlarges or obstructs any canal;(b)interferes with, increases or diminishes the supply of water in, or the flow of water from, through, over or under any canal;(c)interferes with or alters the flow of water in any river or stream, so as to endanger, damage or render less useful any canal;(d)being responsible for the maintenance of water course or using water course, neglects to take proper precautions for the prevention of the water thereof, or interferes with the authorised distribution of the water therefrom or uses such water in an unauthorised manner;(e)receiving water in his fields for irrigation, neglects to take proper precautions for the prevention of waste of such water;(f)corrupts or fouls the water of any canal so as to render it less fit for the purposes for which it is ordinarily used;(g)being a permanent holder, Occupier, cultivator or agricultural labourer, resident in a village in which a proclamation under Section 36 of the Madhya Pradesh Irrigation Act, 1931 (No. 3 of 1931) has been made, neglects to attend at the place appointed or refuses or neglects to carry out the duties allotted to him;(h)destroys, injuries, defaces or removes any land mark, level mark, water gauge or other apparatus fixed by the authority or a Canal Officer;(i)causes animals or vehicles to pass on or across any of the works, banks or channels or any canal after such passage has been prohibited by a Canal Officer;(j)causes or knowingly and wilfully permits animals to graze or be tethered upon the bank or border of any canal after such grazing or tethering has been prohibited by a Canal Officer;(k)removes or injures any tree, bush, grass or other vegetation growing on any canal; or(l)eases himself on the banks or in the channel of a canal, shall on complaint made by a Farmers' Organisation :-(i)be punishable in respect of offences mentioned in clauses (a) to (h), with imprisonment which may extend to two years, or with fine which shall not be less than one thousand rupees but which may extend to five thousand Rupees or with both; and when the offence is a continuing one, with an additional fine not exceeding twenty rupees for every day after the first during which the offence has been persisted in; and(ii)be punishable in respect of offences mentioned in clauses (a) to (1), with fine which shall not he less than rupees five hundred but which may extend to rupees two thousand and if the same person is subsequently convicted for a like offence he shall be liable for imprisonment which may extend to six months for each such subsequent conviction.
