PARGANA OF KASWAR RAJA ACT, 1915

Preamble - PARGANA OF KASWAR RAJA ACT, 1915

THE PARGANA OF KASWAR RAJA ACT, 1915 [1]

[Act No. 06 of 1915][2]

[11th December, 1915]

PREAMBLE

Amended by the U.P. Act no. XII of 1922[3]

Amended by the U.P. Act No. VI of 1929[4]

Adapted and modified by the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.

Adapted and modified by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.

An act to define the law relating to land revenue, agricultural tenancies and certain other matters in the Pargana of Kaswar Raja in the district of Benares.

Whereas It Is Expedient To Define The Law Relating To Land Revenue, Agricultural Tenancies, And Certain Other Matters In The Pargana Of Kaswar Raja In The District Of Benares; And To Render Applicable Thereto, So Far As Is Consistent With Such Definition, The Provisions Of The United Provinces Land Revenue Act, 1901 (U.P. Act III of 1901)[5], And Of The Agra Tenancy Act, 1901 (U.P. Act II of 1901)[6]; It Is Hereby Enacted Is Follows:

Section 1 - Title, extent and commencement

(1)     This Act may be called the Pargana of Kaswar Raja Act, 1915.

 

(2)     With the exception of sections 2 and 3, it extends only to the Pargana of Kaswar Raja in the district of Benares.

Section 2 - Repeal

The enactments specified in the schedule are repealed to the extent mentioned in the third column thereof.

Section 3 - Amendment of the United Provinces Land Revenue Act, 1901, and the Agra Tenancy Act, 1901

In sub-section (2) of section 1 of the United Provinces Land Revenue Act, 1901 (U.P. Act III of 1901)2, and of the Agra Tenancy Act, 1901 (U.P. Act II of 1901)3, for the words "but, subject to the provisions of Bengal Regulation VII of 1828" shall be substituted he words "Provided that" and after the words "areas so excepted;" the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:

'Provided also that no provision of this Act which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Pargana of Kaswar Raj Act, 1915, shall apply to the Pargana of Kaswar Raja in the district of Benares."

Section 4 - Definitions

In this Act, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context--

(1) ??"record-of-rights" means the record-of-rights prepared under the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 10 of the Pargana of Kaswar Raja Act, 1911 (U.P. Act I of 1911)[7];

[8] [(2) 'Sir' means--

(a)      land recorded as sir in the record-of-rights and continuously so recorded in the annual registers (unless the record in such registers is proved incorrect) or which but for error or omission would have been so continuously recorded;

 

(b)      land which was recorded as the khudkasht of the landlord or under-proprietor in both the agricultural years commencing on July, 1, 1925, and July 1, 1926;

 

(c)      land which has been continuously cultivated by the landlord or under-proprietor himself with his own stock or by his servants or by hired labour for a period of ten years commencing at any time after 30th June, 1927, and has on the application of the landlord or under-proprietor, as the case may be, been declared and demarcated as the applicant's sir by the Collector:

Provided, first, that the area of sir which may be acquired by a landlord or under-proprietor under sub-clause (c), when added to the area which is already the sir of the landlord or under-proprietor under sub-clauses (a) and (b) shall not exceed in the aggregate the following scale:

Where the under-proprietors in a mahal do not own specific areas in severalty, the cultivated area owned by each under-proprietor in the mahal shall, for purposes of the scale be deemed to be such portion of the total cultivated area of the mahal as is proportionate to the extent of his proprietary right in the mahal:

Provided, secondly, that a landlord or under-proprietor who exchanges sir for tenants or other land, whether voluntarily or under the order of a court, shall acquire the same right in the land which he receives as he had in the land which he gives in exchange.

"Sir right" means the sum of all the special rights conferred on sir holders by this Act and by the United Provinces Land Revenue Act, 1901 (U.P. Act III of 1901)[9], and includes the right to exclusive possession of the sir against co-sharers of the sir-holder in the proprietary or under-proprietary right subject to a liability to account for profits.]

(3) ??"Under-proprietor" means a person possessing, as against the proprietor, a heritable and transferable right in land, but does not include a fixed-rate tenant or a pre-settlement occupancy tenant:

(4) ??"A fixed-rate tenant" means a tenant who has been recorded as a fixed-rate tenant in the record-of-rights, or has been held by a decision in judicial proceedings instituted before, or within three years after, the commencement of this Act to have had previous to the 16th November. 1911, such rights as would have entitled him except for error or omission to be so recorded; and includes the successor in interest of such tenant:

(5) ??"A pre-settlement occupancy tenant" means a tenant who has been recorded as an occupancy tenant in the record-of-rights, or has been held by a decision in judicial proceedings instituted before, or within three years after, the commencement of this Act to have had previous to the 16th November, 1911, such rights as would have entitled him except for error or omission to be so recorded, and includes the successor in interest of such tenant.

Section 5 - Rights of under-proprietors

[10]Subject to the provisions of this Act, every under-proprietor shall have the same rights with respect to his under-proprietary rights as a landlord with respect to his proprietary rights under section 14 of the Agra Tenancy Act, 1926[11].

Section 6 - Status of fixed-rate tenants

Every fixed-rate tenant shall, so far as is consistent with the provisions of this Act, be subject to all the provisions of the Agra Tenancy Act [1926 (U.P. Act III of 1926)][12], applicable to a fixed-rate tenant as defined in that Act.

Section 7 - Status of pre-settlement occupancy tenants

A pre-settlement occupancy tenant shall have the same lights and be subject to the same liabilities as a fixed-rate tenant save and except that his rent shall be liable to enhancement and abatement in the same manner, and subject to the same conditions as the rent of an occupancy tenant under the provisions of the Agra Tenancy Act [1926 (U.P. Act III of 1926)][13].

Section 8 - [Repealed.]

Section 9 - Sale of holding of fixed-rate tenant or pre-settlement occupancy tenant for arrears of rent

When a decree has been obtained against a fixed-rate tenant or pre-settlement occupancy tenant for arrears of rent in respect of a holding, the rights of the said tenant in such holding may be sold in execution of the decree. Such sale shall be made free of all encumbrances, and the amount due under the decree shall be first satisfied out of the proceeds of the sale.

Section 10 - "Wapsi nilam" right of landholder to reinstate tenant whose holding has been sold for arrears of rent

(1)     If the holding of a fixed-rate tenant or of a pre-settlement occupancy tenant sold under the provisions of section has been purchased by the landholder, and within three months of the date of sale the landholder files in the court which has effected the sale a certificate of payment or of adjustment in full satisfaction of the decretal debt for arrears, together with an application that the sale be set aside, the sale shall be deemed to be cancelled as from the date when it was effected, and the tenant, if ejected, shall be restored to possession of the holding.

 

(2)     If before filing such certificate and application the land holder has let the land contained in the holding or any portion thereof to any person, that person shall at his option either be deemed to be the subtenant of the holding or portion of the holding as from the date of the filing of the said certificate and application, or shall have the right of relinquishing the holding or portion of the holding from such date.

Section 11 - Grove land recorded in record-of-rights

A tenant who has been recorded in the record-of-rights as being in possession of a grove shall, on the grove being cut down or disappearing and the land on which the grove stood being brought under cultivation, be deemed to be a pre-settlement occupancy tenant of the said land, unless he is already a fixed-rate tenant thereof.

Section 12 - Grove land planted subsequent to the preparation of record-of-rights

A tenant who having planted a grove with the consent of the landholder after the completion of the record-of-rights has maintained the said grove for a period exceeding twelve years shall, on the grove being cut down or disappearing and the land on which the grove stood being brought under cultivation, be deemed, in the absence of a written contract to the contrary, to be an occupancy tenant of the said land, unless he is already either a fixed-rate tenant or a pre-settlement occupancy tenant thereof.

Section 13 - Method of deciding rent to be paid for grove lands

Should any dispute arise regarding the rent to be paid for land brought under cultivation as described in sections 11 and 12, the rent shall be fixed by an assistant collector of the first class, regard being had to the rents paid by pre-settlement occupancy tenants, or occupancy tenants, as the case may be, for land of similar quality and with similar advantages.

An appeal shall lie from the decree of the assistant collector to the Commissioner whose decision shall be final.

Section 14 - Rent-free grants

The provisions of Chapter [XI][15] of the Agra Tenancy Act, [1926],[16] shall not be applicable to the Pargana of Kaswar Raja in respect of rent-free grants recorded in he record-of-rights, except where land is so recorded as held rent-free for service or in lieu of wages.

Section 15 - Maintenance of registers

(1)     The Collector shall annually, or at such longer intervals as the [State Government][17] may prescribe, cause to be prepared an amended set of the registers prepared under section 10 of the Pargana of Kaswar Raja Act, 1911,[18] The registers so prepared shall be called the annual registers.

 

(2)     The Collector shall clause to be recorded in the annual registers all changes that may take place and any transaction that may affect any of the rights or interests recorded, and shall therein correct any errors proved to have been made in any annual register previously prepared

 

(3)     All entries in the annual registers and all changes in such entries shall be made and all disputes relative to such entries shall be decided subject to the provisions of this Act.

Section 16 - Recovery of arrears from under-proprietor

When a mahal or a portion of a mahal is held by an under proprietor and the amount payable by him to the proprietor in respect of the mahal or portion of a mahal falls into arrear, the proprietor may--

(a)      sue the under-proprietor for such arrear as if it were an arrear of rent due from a tenant, or

 

(b)      within one year from the accrual of such arrear apply in writing to the Collector to realize the arrear in the manner provided in the following section:

Provided that nothing in clause (a) shall be construed to render the under-proprietor liable to ejectment on the ground specified in [Section 79 of the Agra Tenancy Act, 1926 (U.P. Act III of 1926)][19].

Section 17 - Procedure of Collector upon application under section 16

(1)     On receipt of an application under clause (b) of the preceding section, the Collector shall after satisfying himself that the amount claimed is due, proceed, subject to rules made under section 234 of the United Provinces Land Revenue Act, 1901,[20] to recover such arrear with costs but without interest as an arrear of revenue.

 

(2)     When a mahal or portion of a mahal held by an under proprietor is attached, transferred, held under direct management or framed on account of an arrear due from such under proprietor, the Collector shall fix the rent to be aid by such under-proprietor on account of the land which, if his under-proprietary rights were transferred, he would be entitled to hold as an ex-proprietary tenant in accordance with the provisions of section 5.

Section 18 - Pre-emption by co-sharers in under-proprietary rights

When any land sold in execution of a decree obtained under clause (a) of section 16 or by the Collector under section 17 is a portion of a mahal, any recorded co-sharer in the mahal other than the person whose land has been sold may, if the lot has been knocked down to a stranger, claim to take the said land at the sum last bid:

Provided that the said claim be made on the date of sale, and before the officer conducting the sale has left the office for the day, and provided that the claimant fulfils all the other conditions of the sale:

Provided also that when there are more such claimants than one, the court shall decide which claim shall prevail having regard, among other matters, to the nearness of relationship of each claimant to the owner of thportion sold.

Schedule - THE SCHEDULE

THE SCHEDULE

[See section 2]