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THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS PRESERVATION ACT, THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS PRESERVATION ACT, 1904. ACT No. VII of 1904 [18th March, 1904] An Act to provide for the preservation of Ancient Monuments and objects of archaeological, historical or artistic interest. WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the preservation of ancient monuments, for the exercise of control over traffic in antiquities and over excavation in certain places, and for the pro tection and acquisition in certain cases of ancient monuments and of objects of archaeological, historical or artistic interest [ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION (This heading and ss. 20, 20A, 20B and 20C were subs. by the Ancient Monuments Preservation (Amdt.) Act, 1932 (18 of 1932), s. 3, for the original heading and s. 20.) [20. Power to notify areas as protected areas.-----‑( Subs. by the Ancient Monuments Preservation (Amdt.) Act, 1950 (84 of 1950), s. 9, for s. 20, which was previously subs. by Act 18 of 1932, for the originals. 20 as amended by A. O., 1937.)(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare any area, which, in its opinion, it is necessary in the interests of archaeological and historical research to protect, to be a protected area. (2) A copy of the notification shall be affixed in a conspicu ous place in or near the area, together with a notice in writing dated and signed by the Collector and stating that any objection to the declaration will be taken into consideration if received by the Central Government on or before a further date to be ex pressed in the notice, being a date not less than four and not more than five weeks from the date on which the notice is signed. (3) On the expiry of the period limited by the notice the Central Government, after considering the objection, if any, shall, by a further notification, confirm or withdraw the notifica tion under sub‑section (1), and a copy of the further notification shall be affixed as provided in sub‑section (2) but so as to obliterate the notification under sub‑section (1). (4) No person shall erect any construction or make any excavation for any purpose other than archaeological or historical research within a protected area without the permission of the Collector. (5) The Collector shall not grant permission for any such construction or excavation if the Director certifies that the cons truction or the excavation is likely to hinder archaeological or historical research in the said area or to result in the loss of archaeological or historical material which in the national inter est should be preserved Provided that the Collector shall not refuse permission if he is satisfied that the construction not being a dwelling house is required for purposes subservient to agriculture, or that the ex cavation is necessary for the proper cultivation of the land within the said area. (6) Any person whose application for such permission is refused may appeal to the Commissioner whose orders shall be final. (7) Any person whose application as aforesaid has been rejected and who claims to have suffered loss by reason of such rejection may, by an application to the Collector, claim com pensation and the Collector shall assess and grant the same: Provided that compensation shall not be granted so as to exceed the difference between the market‑value of the land at the time of the claim having regard to the restrictions imposed on its use under this section and the market‑value immediately before the imposition of the same. (8) Any person who erects a construction or makes an ex cavation within an area in respect of which a notification has been published under sub‑section (1) shall be punishable with imprison ment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine or with both. (9) The Collector may direct that any construction erected without permission after the publication of a notification under sub‑section (1) shall be removed within such period as he may fix and if the owner does not comply with the order the Collector may cause the building to be removed and may recover from the owner the cost of removal as arrears of land‑revenue.]