THE MADHYA PRADESH CEILING ON AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS (SECOND AMENDMENT) ACT, 1972

[Act No. 13 of 1974]

[05th June, 1973]

PREAMBLE

An Act further to amend the Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings Act, 1960.

Be it enacted by the Madhya Pradesh Legislature in the Twenty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

Section 1 - Short title.

This Act may be called the Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings (Second Amendment) Act 1972.

Section 2 - Declaration as to the policy of the State.

It is hereby declared that this Act is for giving effect to the policy of the State towards securing the principles specified in clauses (b) and (c) of article 39 of the Constitution.

Explanation.-In this section. "State" has the same meaning as in article 12 of the Constitution.

Section 3 - Amendment of section 2.

In section 2 of the Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings Act, 1960 (No. 20 of 1960) (hereinafter referred to as' the Principal Act),-

(i)       after clause (b), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:-

"(bb) "assured irrigation" means irrigation from any source of irrigation belonging to the State Government on the appointed day;

(bbb) "assured private irrigation" means irrigation on or before the 15th August, 1972-

(i)       from tubewells in existence on the 15th August, 1972; or

(ii)      by lift irrigation, from a perennial source of water, operated by diesel or electrical energy in existence on the 15th August, 1972.

Explanation.-For the purpose of item (ii) of this clause "perennial source of water" means a source of water from which water flows through all the seasons of the year but does not include a well;";

(ii)      for clause (f), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

"(f) "dry land" means any land which neither receives water through assured irrigation nor assured private irrigation;" and

(iii)     clauses (1), (m) and (n) shall be omitted.

Section 4 - Substitution of new section for section 3. Exempted lands.

For section 3 of the Principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-

"3. The following lands shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act, that is to say,-

(i)       land held by a local authority or a University established by law within the State;

(ii)      land held by the Madhya Pradesh StateAgro Industries Development Corporation Ltd., or any other Corporation controlled or managed by the State Government or the Central Government, whether singly or jointly;

(iii)     land which is the property of a public trust or a wakf for a religious purpose:

Provided that-

(i)       such public trust or wakf is registered on or before the 24th January, 1971 under any enactment relating to public trust or wakf for the time being in force and the entire income of such land is appropriated for the purpose of such trust or wakf;

(ii)      such land is property of the public trust or wakf on the appointed day.

(iv)    land held by a Bhoodan Yagna Board under the Madhya Pradesh Bhoodan Yagna Adhiniyam, 1968 (No. 28 of 1968);

(v)      land held by a co-operative land development bank registered or deemed to be registered under the Madhya Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (No. 17 of 1961);

(vi)    land held by a corresponding new bank specified in the First Schedule to the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (No. 5 of 1970), or the State Bank of India constituted under the State Bank of India Act, 1955 (No. 23 of 1955), or a subsidiary bank as defined in the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 (No. 38 of 1959);

(vii)   land held by such co-operative societies as hold land>not exceeding the total area arrived at by multiplying the ceiling area in respect of each of its members by the total number on the register of members for the time being and approved by general or special order by the State Government in this behalf:

Provided that in the case of a Joint Farming Society no member shall hold land in excess of the ceiling area;

(viii)  any class of land which the State Government may, for a public purpose, by notification, exempt from the provisions of this Act." the transfer.";

Section 5 - Amendment of section 4.

In section 4 of the Principal Act,

(i)       for sub-sections (1) and (2), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely :-

"(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, where after the 24th January, 1971 but before the appointed day, any holder has transferred any land held by him by way of sale, gift, exchange or otherwise or has effected a partition of his holding or part thereof or the holding held by the holder has been transferred in execution of a decree of any court, the competent authority may, after notice to the holder and other persons affected by such transfer or partition and after such enquiry as it thinks fit to make, declare the transfer or partition to be void if it finds that the transfer or the partition, as the case may be, was made in anticipation of or to defeat the provisions of this Act.

(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to a transfer made by a holder who does not hold land is excess of the ceiling area specified in section 7 as substituted by section 7 of the Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings (Second Amendment) Act, 1972 on the date of the transfer.";

(ii)      after sub-section (3), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:-

"(4) In regard to every transfer made under this section, the burden of proving that the transfer was not benami or was not made in any other manner to defeat the provisions of this Act shall be on the transferor.

(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force,-

(i)       no court shall entertain any suit for the specific performance of any contract of sale of land on the basis of any agreement or document made on or after the 24th January, 1971; or

(ii)      any decree passed by a civil court for the specific performance of the contract of sale of land on the basis of any agreement or document made on or after the 24th January, 1971 shall be null and shall not be enforceable, if such suit or decree is for the purpose of defeating the provisions of this Act."

Section 6 - Amendment of section 5.

In sections 5 of the Principal Act, for sub-sections (3) and (4), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-

"(3)  Nothing in this section shall apply to a transfer made by a holder who does not hold land in excess of the ceiling area specified in section 7 as substituted by section 7 of the Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings (Second Amendment) Act, 1972, on the date of the transfer.

(4)   The registering officer shall furnish to the Collector or such other officer as may be authorised by him in writing in this behalf, particulars relating to every transfer of land made on or after the 24th January, 1971 and before the appointed day, in such form and within such period as may be prescribed.

(5)   In regard to every transfer made under this section the burden of proving that the transfer was not benami or was not made in any other manner to defeat the provisions of this Act shall be on the transferor."

Section 7 - Substitution of new section for section 7

For section 7 of the Principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-

"7. Maximum extent of land to be held by a person or family

(1)     Subject to the provisions of this Act, no holder or where the holder is a member of a family no such family, shall as from the appointed day, be entitled to hold land other than exempted land in excess of the land as is specified below:-

"(a) where the holder is not a member of family.

(1)     land having assured irrigation-

(2)     land having assured private irrigation-

(3)     dry land 30 acres.

(b) where the holder is a member of a family consisting of five members or less.

(1)     land having assured irrigationor- assured private irrigation-

(2)     dry land 54 acres.

(c) where the holder is a member of a family of more than five members.

(1)     land having assured irrigation or assured private irrigation-

Provided that where both the husband and wife hold land in their own rights, they shall continue to hold land within the ceiling area in proportion to the value of land held by each one of them before the appointed day.

(2)     Where a holder who is a member of a family has a major son, such son shall be entitled to hold land separately from out of the land belonging to the family before the appointed day, subject to the ceiling area, specified in sub-section (1).

(3)     In computing the ceiling area under sub-section (1)--

(i)       orchards other than bannana gardens and vine yards shall be treated as dry land; and

(ii)      land which a holder or member of a family has in a joint farming society as member thereof shall be treated as land held by such holder or member of a family;

(iii)     one acre of land haying assured irrigation for two crops shall be equal to 1.50 acres of land having assured irrigation for one crop, 1.25 acres of land having assured private irrigation for two crops, 1.88 acres of land having assured private irrigation for one crop or 3 acres of dry land.

Explanation.-For purposes of this section different kind of crops grown in either Rabi or Kharif season shall be deemed to be one crop."

Section 8 - Amendment of section 9.

In section 9 of the Principal, Act, for clauses (iii) to (y), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:-

"(iii) full particulars of any transfer or partition of land effected by him after the publication of the Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on agricultural Holdings Bill, 1959 (No. 26 of 1959) and before the 24th January, 1971;

(iii-a) full particulars of any transfer or partition of land effected by him on or after the 24th January, 1971 and before the appointed day;

(iv) full particulars of any pending litigation respecting such land or part trereof;

(v) full names, ages and addresses of the members of his family, their relation with him and land held by each of them;

(v-a) full names, ages and addresses of his major sons;".

Section 9 - Amendment of section 11.

In sub-section (1) of section 11 of the Principal Act, for clauses (i) and '(ii), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:-

"(i) the name and address of the holder;

(i-a) if the holder is a member of a family, names, addresses and ages of members of the family;

(i-b) if the holder who is a member of a family has major sons, names, ages and addresses of his major sons.

(ii) full particulars of land hold by him and other members of his family within the State and the total area of such land;".

Section 10 - Substitution of new section for section 15

For section 15 of the Principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely.-

"15. Ceiling how effective in future

Where after the appointed day the total land held-by any holder and where such holder is a member of a family the total land held by such family at any time exceeds the ceiling area by reason of-

(a)      acquisition of land by the holder or member of his family; or

(b)      change in the nature of land, that is to say, dry land subsequently having assured irrigation for one crop or two crops, as the case may be, or land having assured irrigation for one crop subsequently having assured irrigation for two crops; or

(c)      land having ceased to be exempted land;

all the provisions of this Chapter shall, so far as may be, apply to such holder and where such, holder is a member of a family to such family:

Provided that the period of submission of return by such holder under section 9 shall,-

(i)       in case of acquisition of land, be ninety days from the date of such acquisition; and

(ii)      in the case of change in, the nature of land, be ninety days from the date the nature of land is changed; and

(iii)     in the case of land ceasing to be exempted land, be ninety days from the date of commencement of the Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings (Second Amendment) Act, 1972 or the date on which such land has ceased to be exempted, whichever is later."

Section 11 - Amendment of section 16

In section 16 of the Principal Act,-

(i)       for sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-

"(2) In addition to the compensation payable under sub-section (1), the State Government shall pay to the holder of such land - additional compensation-

(i)       for any improvement made by him on land; or

(ii)      for trees, if any, standing on land'; and

(iii)     in sub-section (3), after clause (c), the following clause shall be added, namely:-

"(d) nature of trees and value thereof."

Section 12 - Amendment of section 35.

In section 35 of the Principal Act.-

(i)       for clauses (i) to (iv) of sub-section (1), the following clauses shall be substituted namely:-

"(i) agricultural labourers-

(a)      belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and

(b)      others;

(ii) joint farming society, the members of which are agricultural labourers, or landless persons whose main occupation is cultivation or manual; labour on land, or a combination of such persons;

(iii) better farming society, the members of which are agricultural labourers, or landless persons whose main occupation is cultivation or manual labour on land, or a combination of such persons;" and

(ii)      after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:-

"(3) Where the land allotted under sub-section (1) is an orchard other than bannana, gardens and vine yards, the allottee shall maintain the orchard in tact."

Section 13 - Amendment of Schedule II.

In Schedule II to the Principal Act,-

(a)      in rule 1 for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:-

"Provided that in the case of land having assured irrigation or assured private irrigation, the land revenue per acre shall be a sum arrived at by adding one rupee to land revenue of such land; and

(b)      after rule 2, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-

"2-a. The amount of compensation payable to a holder of any land as a Government lessee shall be the amount of compensation determined in accordance with rule 1 had the land been assessed to land revenue under the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1959 (No. 20 of 1959)."