The UNITED PROVINCES MELAS ACT, 1938

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THE UNITED PROVINCES MELAS ACT, 19381 
[ U. P. ACT No. XVI of 1938 ] 
Amended by 
U. P. Act no. 41 of 1976 
Adapted and modified by Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950. 
[ Received the Assent of the Government on February 24, 1939, 
and was published2 under section 75 of the Government of India 
Act, 1935, on March 4, 1939 ] 
An Act 
for the control of certain melas 
Preamble WHEREAS it is expedient to make provision for the proper 
regulation of melas other than those held  under the authority of 
local boards ;  
It is hereby enacted as follows : 
Title and extent 1. (1) This Act may be called the United Pr ovinces M elas Act ,
1938. 
(2)  It extends3 to the whole of 4[Uttar Pradesh]. 
Commencement 
and application 
of the Act   
2. This section and section 3 shall come into force at once. The
Governor may, by notification in 4[Uttar Pradesh] Gazette, direct that 
all or any part of the Act shall come into operation in any area in the 
4[Uttar Pradesh]  where melas are held for such period as may be 
specified in such notification : 
5[  *  *  *  ] 
3. This Act is hereby applied to the Magh Mela at Allahabad.
Definitions 4. (i) “Mela” means a religious fair or other religious gathering
of the public other than — 
(a) a mela or gathering held under the authority of local board; or 
(b) a Muslim religious gathering held in conn ection with a 
Dargah or shrine. 
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1. For S tatement of Objects and Reasons see Gaz. Extra., d. Jan. 12, 1938 p. 4.
2. See Gaz., 1939, Pt. VII-A, pp. 1—3.
3. This Act has been extended to the areas mentioned in column 1 of this table under the Act or Order
mentioned in column 2 and enforced in such areas under notification, if any, mentioned in column 3 with
effect from the date mentioned in column 4 against each such area :
Areas Act or Order under 
which extended 
Notification if, under 
which enforced 
Date from which 
eneforced 
1 2 3 4 
1. Rampur District Rampur (Application of 
Laws) Act, 1950 
... Dec. 30, 1949 
2. Banaras District Banaras (Application of 
Laws) Order, 1949 
No. 3262(1)/XVII-30-
MERGE, dated Nov. 30, 
1949 
Nov. 30, 1949 
3. Tehri-Garhwal
District
Theri-Garhwal 
(Application of Laws) 
Order, 1949. 
Not. no. 3262(2)/XVII-
MERGE, dated Nov. 30, 
1949 
Ditto 
4. Subs. by the A. O. 1950 for (the United Provinces).
5. Omit. by sec. 63 of U. P. Act no. 41 of 1976.

[The United Provinces Melas Act, 1938] 
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(ii) ‘‘District Magistrate’’ means the District Magistrate of the 
district in which a mela is held ; or, if the are a of a mela lies in more 
than one district, such District Magistrate as the 1[State Government] 
may appoint for the purposes of this Act ; 
2 [Provided that in relation to the Kumbha Mela and Ardha 
Kumbha Mela held at Allahabad and at Hardwar the powers o f the 
District Magistrate under this act shall vest in the officer Incharge of 
such Mela : 
Provided further that such officer Incharge may delegate any of 
the said powers or any other power as Officer Incharge under this Act, 
not being the power under se ction 5, to an Additional Officer In -charge 
or Deputy Officer Incharge appointed by the State Government for such 
Kumbha Mela or Ardha Kumbha Mela]. 
(iii) “Officer -incharge” means a magistrate or any person 
appointed by the 1[State Government] to perform the duties of an Officer-
in-charge ;  
(iv) “Mela area” means the area of a mela as defined by the 
District Magistrate.  
Power to 
appointed 
Committee 
5. The District Magistrate, shall, in accordance with such rules
as may be framed by the 1[State Government]  in this behalf, appoint a 
committee to assist the Officer -in-charge in the performance of his 
duties.  
Power to 
impose tolls 
and fees 
6. The District Magistrate may, after consulting the committee
appointed under section 5, by rule, impose within the mela area — 
(i) tolls on any vehicle or animal entering, or any person bringing 
goods for sale, into such area, and  
(ii) fees on the registration of animals sold within such area. 
Power to 
licence 
7. The District Magistrate may, by rule, prescribe fee s on
payment of which and conditions subject to which any person or class of 
persons may be licensed to ply any profession, trade or calling in the 
mela area. 
Allotment of 
sites 
8. (1) The Officer-in-charge may allot sites for any person or class
of persons or for any purpose not repugnant to the religion with which 
the mela is connected, and may fix such rent for the site as may appear 
to him reasonable. 
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1. Subs. by the A.O. 1950 for (Provl. Govt.).
2. Ins. by the sec. 64 of U. P. Act No. 41 of 1976.

[The United Provinces Melas Act, 1938] 
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(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by 
sub-section (1), the Officer -in-charge may allot sites for the following in 
particular — 
(i) religious societies of the persuasion with which the mela is 
connected, 
(ii) social and other societies and organizations, 
(iii) Kalpbasis, 
(iv) officials, 
(v) market places, 
(vi) latrines, urinals and rubbish heaps, 
(vii) bathing places,  
(viii) recreation and entertainment, and 
(ix) agricultural, industrial and other exhibitions and 
demonstrations.  
Power to 
make rules 
9. (1) The  1[State Government] may make rules generally for
carrying out the purposes of this Act, and in particular for — 
(i) the establishment of a mela fund, 
(ii) providing what expenditure shall be defrayed from the mela 
fund and how should any surplus be utilized, and  
(iii) sanitation in the mela area. 
Such rules shall be published in the Gazette. 
(2) The rules made by the 1[State Government] under the 
preceding sub-section shall be laid before the legislature. 
(3) Subject to the rules made under sub -section (1) the District 
Magistrate may make rules to provide generally against the outbreak or 
spread of fire, and particularly for the following purposes. 
(i) providing for the safety of buildings and structures up in the 
mela, and of articles brought into the mela,  
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1. Subs. by the A. O. 1950 for (Provl. Govt.).
[The United Provinces Melas Act, 1938] 
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(ii) prescribing conditions subject to  which huts and other 
structures may, be constructed —including limits to the height of such 
huts or structures and the area on which they are to be built and 
distances between them,  
(iii) providing for the supply of sand and jars of water at each but 
or elsewhere, and  
(iv) restricting the use of fires, for cooking or for any other 
purpose.  
10. In the event of an outbreak of fire, the Officer -in-charge may
order the demolition of any structure if in his judgment its demolition is 
necessary or expedien t for preventing the fire from spreading and no 
suit or other proceeding shall be instituted for an act done or purporting 
to be done in good faith under this section. 
Penalties 11. Any person who —
(a) makes any unauthorized construction, or 
(b) uses an y unauthorized place as a latrine, urinal or rubbish 
dump, or 
(c) plies any profession, trade or calling without a licence 
obtained under the provisions of section 7 or commits a breach of the 
conditions of such licence, or  
(d) contravenes any of the provisions of the Act or of any rules 
made under the Act, or  
(e) disobeys any order or direction in writing lawfully issued 
under this Act,  
shall be punishable on conviction with a fine which may extend to 1[one 
thousand rupees] and where the offence is a continuing or recurring one 
with a further fine which may extend to 1[one hundred rupees] for every 
day after the date of the first conviction during which the offender is 
proved to have persisted in such offence.  
Power to 
remove un-
authorized 
construction 
12. The Officer -in-charge may remove any unauthorized
construction, and the cost of such removal may be recovered from any 
person making the construction as an arrear of land revenue.  
Publication 
and 
objections to 
rules 
13. (1) All rules made by the District Magistrate under sections
6, 7 and 9 shall be published in the 2[Uttar Pradesh] Gazette. 
(2) Any person objecting to any such rule, may within 30 days of 
such publication, prefer his objection to the 3[State Government]  and 
the 3[State Government] may confirm, modify or set aside such rule.  
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1. Subs. by sec. 65 of U. P. Act No. 41 of 1976.
2. Subs. by the A. O. 1950 for (United Provinces).
3. Subs. by the A. O. 1950 for (Provl. Govt.).

[The United Provinces Melas Act, 1938] 
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Recovery of 
rents 
14. (a) If any  person fails to pay within  the time allowed by the
officer-in-charge, the rent fixed under section 8 (1) or the cost referred to 
in section 12, or any part thereof, the Officer -in-charge may forward to 
the Collector a certificate over his signature, specifying the amount due 
from such person, and the Collector shall give such person an 
opportunity to prefer any objection and shall after hearing and 
determining such objection as may be made, p roceed to recover the 
amount entered in the certificate or such amount, if any, as he may find 
to be due, as an arrear of land revenue. If the Collector finds that no 
amount is due from such person, he shall return the certificate to the 
Officer-in-charge with his finding.  
(b) The District Magistrate may order the ejectment from the site 
allotted to any lessee or licensee who contravenes any rule made by the 
District Magistrate under this Act.  
Delegation of 
powers 
15. The 1[State Government] may by notification in the Gazette
delegate2 the power conferred on it under section 4 (iii) or 13 (2) to any 
authority subordinate to it.  
Application 
of U. P. Act 
No. 2 of 1959 
for certain 
purposes to 
mela area. 
3[16. The State Government may by a notification confer upon 
the Officer Incharge of the Mela any of the powers conferred by sections 
296, 298, 299 and 300 of the Uttar Pradesh Nagar Mahapalika 
Adhiniyam, 1959, and upon issue of such notification the provisions of 
these sections shall apply to the Mela Area as if the Mela Area w ere part 
of a ‘City’ and the Officer Incharge were ‘Mukhya Nagar Adhikari’ as 
defined in the said Adhiniyam, and as if a contravention of the 
provisions of any orders of the Officer Incharge under section 8 were 
contravention of the provisions of the said Adhiniyam.] 
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1. Subs. by the A. O. 1950 for (Provl. Govt.).
2. For delegation, see not. no. 98(2)/III—38, d. Jan. 18, 1940, in Gaz., 1940, Pt. 1. p. 33, and no. 98(2)/III —
38, d. Oct. 23, 1940, in ibid, p. 725.
3. Ins. by Sec. 66 of U. P. Act No. 41 of 1976.

 
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