PUNJAB TENANCY ACT, 1887
[Act
No. 16 of 1887]
[1][1st November, 1887]
(As applicable to Haryana)
PREAMBLE
An Act
to amend the law relating to the Tenancy of Land in the Punjab. Whereas it is
expedient to amend the law relating to the tenancy of and in the Punjab. It is
hereby enacted as follows:-
Section
1 - Short title, extent and commencement
(1)
This
Act may be called the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887.
(2)
It
extends to the whole of the territories [2][***]
administered by the [3][[4]{State}
Government of] Punjab [5][***]
and
(3)
It
shall come into force on such day as the [6][State]
Government, with the previous sanction of the [7][Central
Government], may by notification appoint in this behalf.
Section
2 - Power to make rules in anticipation of Commencement
[8][***]
Section
3 - Repeal
[9][***]
Section
4 - Definitions
In
this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context:-
(1)
?Land?
means land which is not occupied as the site of any building in a town or
village and is occupied or has been let for agricultural purposes or for
purposes subservient to agriculture, or for pasture, and includes the sites of
buildings and other structures on such land:
(2)
?pay?
with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, includes, when used
with reference to rent, ?deliver,? and ?render,? with their grammatical
variations and cognate expressions:
(3)
?rent?
means whatever is payable to a landlord in money, kind or service by a tenant
on account of the use or occupation of land held by him:
(4)
?arrear
of rent? means rent which remains unpaid for the date on which it becomes
payable:
(5)
?tenant?
means a person who holds land under another person, and is, or but for a
special contract would be, liable to pay rent for that land to that other
person; but it does not include:--
(a)
an
inferior landowner, or
(b)
a
mortgagee of the rights of a landowner, or
(c)
a
person to whom a holding has been transferred, or an estate or holding has been
let in farm under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (XVII of 1887), for the
recovery of an arrear of land-revenue or of a sum recoverable as such an
arrear, or
(d)
a
person who takes from the [10][Government]
a lease of unoccupied land for the purpose of subletting it:
(6)
?landlord?
means a person under whom a tenant holds land, and to whom the tenant is, or
but for a special contract would be, liable to pay rent for that land:
(7)
?tenant?
and ?landlord? include the predecessors and successors-in-interest of a tenant
and landlord, respectively:
(8)
?tenancy?
means a parcel of land held by a tenant of a landlord under one lease or
one set of conditions:
(9)
?estate?,
?landowner? and ?holding? have the meanings, respectively, assigned to those
words in the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887:
(10)
?land-revenue?
means land-revenue assessed under any law for the time being in force or assessable
under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (XVII of 1887), and includes-
(a)
any
rate imposed in respect of the increased value of land due to irrigation, and
(b)
any
sum payable in respect of land, by way of quit-rent or of commutation for
service, to the [11][Government]
or to a person to whom the [12][Government]
has assigned the right to receive the payment:
(11)
?rates
and cesses? means rates and cesses which are primarily payable by landowners,
and includes,-
(a)
[13][***]
(b)
the
local rate, if any payable under the Punjab District Boards Act, 1883 (XX of
1883), and any fee leviable under section 33 of that Act from landowners for
the use of, or benefits derived from, such works as are referred to in section
20, clauses (i) and (j), of that Act;
(c)
any
annual rate chargeable on owners of lands under section 59 of the Northern
India Canal and Drainage Act, 1873 (VIII of 1873);
(d)
the
zaildari and village officer?s cesses; and
(e)
sums
payable on account of village expenses:
(12)
?village-cess?
includes any cess, contribution or due which is customarily leviable within an
estate and is neither a payment for the use of private property or for personal
service, nor imposed by or under any enactment for the time being in force:
(13)
?village
officer? means a chief headman, headman or patwari:
(14)
?Revenue
Officer? or ?Revenue Court? in any provisions of this Act means a Revenue
Officer or Revenue Court having authority under this Act to discharge the
functions of a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court, as the case may be, under that
provisions:
(15)
?jagirdar?
includes any person, other than a village servant, to whom the land-revenue of
any land has been assigned in whole or in part by the [14][Government]
or by an officer of the [15][Government]:
(16)
?legal
practitioner? means any legal practitioner within the meaning of the Legal
Practitioners Act, 1879 (XVIII of 1879) except a mukhtar:
(17)
?agricultural
year? means the year commencing on the sixteenth day of June, or on such other
date as the [16][State]
Government may by notification appoint for any local area:
(18)
?notification?
means a notification published by authority of the [17][State]
Government in the Official Gazette: and
(19)
?improvement?
means, with reference to a tenancy, any work which is suitable to the tenancy
and consistent with the conditions on which it is held by which the value of
the tenancy has been and continues to be increased, and which, if not executed
on the tenancy, is either executed directly for its benefit, or is, after
execution made directly beneficial to it:
Explanation
I.- It includes, among other things:-
(a)
the
construction of wells and other works for the storage or supply of water for
agricultural purposes;
(b)
the
construction of works for drainage and for protection against floods;
(c)
the
planting of trees, the reclaiming, enclosing, levelling and terracing of land
for agricultural purposes and other works of a like nature;
(d)
the
erection of buildings required for the more convenient or profitable
cultivation of a tenancy; and
(e)
the
renewal of reconstruction of any of the foregoing works, or such alterations
therein, or additions thereto, as are not of the nature of mere repairs and as
durably increase their value;
But it
does not include such clearances, embankments, levellings, enclosures,
temporary wells and water channels as are made by tenants in the ordinary
course of cultivation and without any special expenditure, or any other benefit
accruing to land from the ordinary operations of husbandry.
Explanation
II.-- A work which benefits several tenancies may be deemed to be, with respect
to each of them, an improvement.
Explanation
III.- A work executed by a tenant is not an improvement if it substantially
diminishes the value of any other part of his landlord?s property.
(20)
[18][***]
Section
5 - Tenants having right of occupancy
(1)
A
tenant ?
(a)
who at
the commencement of this Act has, for more than two generations in the male
line of descent through a grandfather or grand uncle and for a period of not
less than twenty years, been occupying land paying no rent therefore beyond the
amount of the land-revenue thereof and the rates and cesses for the time being
chargeable thereon, or
(b)
who
having owned land, and having ceased to be landowner thereof otherwise than by
forfeiture to the Government or than by any voluntary act, has, since he ceased
to be landowner continuously occupied the land, or
(c)
who,
in a village or estate in which he settled along with or was settled by, the
founder thereof as a cultivator therein, occupied land on the twenty-first day
of October, 1868, and has continuously occupied the land since that date, or
(d)
who
being jagirdar of the estate or any part of the estate in which the land
occupied by him is situate, has continuously occupied the land for not less
than twenty years, or, having been such jagirdar, occupied the land while he was
jagirdar and has continuously occupied it for not less than twenty years, has a
right of occupancy in the land so occupied, unless, in the case of a tenant
belonging to the class specified in clause (c), the landlord proves that the
tenant was settled on land previously cleared and brought under cultivation by,
or at the expense of, the founder.
(2)
If a
tenant proves that he has continuously occupied land for thirty years and paid
no rent therefor beyond the amount of the land-revenue thereof and the rates
and cesses for the time being chargeable thereon, it may be presumed that he
has fulfilled the conditions of clause (a) of subsection (1).
(3)
The
words in that clause denoting natural relationship denotes also relationship by
adoption, including therein the customary appointment of any heir and
relationship, by the usage of a religious community.
Section
6 - Right of occupancy of other tenants recorded as having the right before
passing of Punjab Tenancy Act, 1868
A
tenant recorded in a record of rights sanctioned by the [19][State]
Government before the twenty-first day of October, 1868, as a tenant having a
right of occupancy in land which he has continuously occupied from the
time of the preparation of that record, shall be deemed to have a right of
occupancy in that land unless the contrary has been established by a decree of
a competent Court in a suit instituted before the passing of this Act.
Section
7 - Right of occupancy in land taken in exchange
If the
tenant has voluntarily exchanged the land, or any portion of the land, formerly
occupied by him for other land belonging to the same landlord, the land taken
in exchange shall be held to be subject to the same right of occupancy as that
to which the land given in exchange would have been subject if the exchange had
not taken place.
Section
8 - Establishment of right of occupancy on grounds other than those expressly
stated in Act
Nothing
in the foregoing sections of this Chapter shall preclude any person from
establishing a right of occupancy on any ground other than the grounds
specified in those sections.
Section
9 - Right of occupancy not to be acquired by mere lapse of time
No
tenant shall acquire a right of occupancy by mere lapse of time.
Section
10 - Right of occupancy not to be acquired by joint owner in land held in joint
ownership
In the
absence of a custom to the contrary, no one of several joint owners of land
shall acquire a right of occupancy under this Chapter in land jointly owned by
them.
Section
11 - Continuance of existing occupancy rights
Notwithstanding
anything in the foregoing sections of this Chapter, a tenant, who immediately
before the commencement of this Act has a right of occupancy in any land under
an enactment specified in any line of the first column of the following table
shall, when this Act comes into force, be held to have, for all the purposes of
this Act, a right of occupancy in that land under the enactment specified in
the same line of the second column of the table:-
|
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PUNJAB TENANCY ACT, 1868 (XXVIII of 1868) |
THIS ACT |
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First Column |
Second Column |
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|
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Section |
Clause |
Section |
Sub-section |
Clause |
5 |
(1) |
5 |
(1) |
(a) |
5 |
(2) |
5 |
(1) |
(b) |
5 |
(3) |
5 |
(1) |
(c) |
5 |
(4) |
5 |
(1) |
(d) |
6 |
... |
6 |
... |
... |
8 |
... |
8 |
... |
... |
|
Section
12 - Respective rights of landlord and tenant to produce
(1)
The
rent for the time being payable in respect of a tenancy shall be the first
charge on the produce thereof.
(2)
A
tenant shall be entitled to tend, cut and harvest the produce of his tenancy in
due course of husbandry without any interference on the part of his landlord.
(3)
Except
where rent is taken by division of the produce the tenant shall be entitled to
the exclusive possession of the produce.
(4)
Where
rent in taken by division of the produce:-
(a)
the
tenant shall be entitled to the exclusive possession of the whole produce until
it is divided,
(b)
the
landlord shall be entitled to be present at, and take part in the division of
the produce, and
(c)
when
the produce has been divided, the landlord shall be entitled to the possession
of his share thereof.
Section
13 - Commutation and alteration of rent
(1)
Where
rent is taken by any of the following methods, namely:-
(a)
by
division or appraisement of the produce,
(b)
by
rates fixed with reference to the nature of the crops grown,
(c)
by a
rate on a recognised measure of area,
(d)
by a
rent in gross on the tenancy, or
(e)
partly
by one of the methods specified in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of this sub-section
and partly by another or others of them one of those methods shall not be
commuted in whole or in part into another without the consent of both landlord
and tenant.
(2)
In the
absence of a contract or a decree or order of competent authority to the
contrary, a tenant whose rent is taken by any of the methods specified in
clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (1), or by the methods specified in
clause (d) of that sub-section, shall not be liable to pay for a tenancy rent
at any higher rate, or of a higher amount, as the case may be, than the rate or
amount payable in respect of the tenancy for the preceding agricultural year.
Section
14 - Payments for land occupied without consent of landlord
Any
person in possession of land occupied without the consent of the landlord shall
be liable to pay for the use or occupation of that land at the rate of rent
payable in the preceding agricultural year, or, if rent was not payable in that
year, at such rate as the Court may determine to be fair and equitable.
Section
15 - Collection of rents of undivided property
When
two or more persons are landlords of a tenant in respect of the same tenancy,
the tenant shall not be bound to pay part of the rent of his tenancy to one of
these persons and part to another.
Section
16 - Presumption with respect to produce removed before division or
appraisement
Where
rent is taken by division or appraisement of the produce, if the tenant removes
any portion of the produce at such a time or in such a manner as to prevent the
due division or appraisement thereof, or deals therewith in a manner contrary
to established usage, the produce may be deemed to have been as the fullest crop
of the same description on similar land in the neighbourhood for that harvest.
Section
17 - Appointment of referee for division or appraisement
If
either the landlord or the tenant neglects to attend, either personally, or by
agent, at the proper time for making the division or appraisement of the
produce, or if there is a dispute about the division or appraisement, a Revenue
Officer may, on the application of either party, appoint such person as he
thinks fit to be a referee to divide or appraise the produce.
Section
18 - Appointment of assessors and procedure of referee
(1)
When a
Revenue Officer appoints referee under the last foregoing section, he may, in
his discretion give him instructions with respect to the association with
himself of any other persons as assessors, the number, qualifications and
selection of those assessors, and the procedure to be followed in making the
division or appraisement.
(2)
The
referee so appointed shall make the division or appraisement in accordance with
any instructions which he may have received from the Revenue Officer under the
last foregoing sub-section.
(3)
Before
making the division or appraisement the referee shall give notice to the
landlord and the tenant of the time and place at which the division or
appraisement will be made, but, if either the landlord or the tenant fails to
attend either personally or by agent, the referee may proceed ex parte.
(4)
For
the purpose of making the division or appraisement, the referee, with his
assessors, if any, may enter upon any land on which or into any building in
which the produce is.
Section
19 - Procedure after division or appraisement
(1)
The
result of the division or appraisement shall be recorded and signed by the
referee, and the record shall be submitted to the Revenue Officer.
(2)
The
Revenue Officer shall consider the record, and, after such further inquiry, if
any, as he may deem necessary, shall make an order either confirming or varying
the division or appraisement.
(3)
The
Revenue Officer shall also make such order as to the costs of the reference as
he thinks fit.
(4)
The
costs may include the remuneration of the referee and of the assessors, if any,
and may be levied from the applicant before the appointment of the referee
subject to adjustment at the close of the proceedings.
Section
20 - Enhancement of produce rents of occupancy tenants
Where
the rent of a tenant having a right of occupancy in any land is a share of the
produce, or of the appraised value thereof, with or without an addition in
money, or is paid according to rates fixed with reference to the nature of the
crops grown, or is a rent in gross payable in kind, the tenant shall be
entitled to occupy the land at that rent.
Provided
that, when the land or any part thereof previously not irrigated or flooded
becomes irrigated or flooded, the rent payable in respect of the land or part
may, subject to the provisions of this Act, be enhanced to the share of rates,
or with reference to the rent in gross, as the case may be, paid by tenants,
having a similar right of occupancy, for irrigated or flooded land of a similar
description and with similar advantages.
Section
21 - Reduction of rents referred to in the last foregoing section
When
the land, or any part of the land, held by a tenant having a right of
occupancy, to whom the last foregoing section applies ceases to be irrigated or
flooded, the rent payable in respect of the land or part may be reduced to the
share or rates, or with reference to the rent in gross, as the case may be paid
by tenants, having a similar right of occupancy for unirrigated or unflooded
land of a similar description and with similar advantages.
Section
22 - Enhancement of cash-rents of occupancy tenants
(1)
Where
a tenant having a right of occupancy pays his rent entirely by a cash-rate on a
recognised measure of area or by a cash-rent in gross on his tenancy, the rent
may be enhanced on the ground that after deduction therefrom of the
land-revenue of, and the rates and cesses chargeable on, the tenancy, it is:--
(a)
If the
tenant belongs to the class specified in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of
section 5, less than two annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue;
(b)
If he
belongs to any of the classes specified in clause (b), (c) and (d) of that
sub-section less than six annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue;
(c)
If he
belongs to the class specified in section 6, or if his right of occupancy is
established under section 8 and his rent is not regulated by contract less than
twelve annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue.
(2)
In a
case to which sub-section (1) applies, the rent may be enhanced to an amount
not exceeding two, six or twelve annas per rupee of the amount of the
land-revenue as case may be, in addition to the amount of the land-revenue of
the tenancy and the rates and cesses chargeable thereon.
(3)
[20][***]
Section
23 - Reduction of rents referred to in the last foregoing section
The
rent payable by a tenant to whom the last foregoing section applies may be
reduced on the ground that the productive powers of his tenancy have been decreased
by a cause beyond his control.
Section
24 - Enhancement and reduction of rent by suits
(1)
A
Revenue Court, on the suits of either landlord or tenant, may, subject to the
provisions of this and other sections of this Act, enhance or reduce the rent
of any tenant having a right of occupancy.
(2)
Where
a decree for the enhancement of the rent of such a tenant has been passed under
the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1868 (XXXVIII of 1868), a suit for a further
enhancement of his rent shall not lie till the expiration of five years from
the date of the decree, unless in the meantime the local area in which the land
comprised in the decree is situate has been generally reassessed and the
revenue payable in respect of that land has been increased.
(3)
Subject
to the provision of sub-section (2), a suit instituted for the enhancement of
the rent of a tenant having a right of occupancy shall not be entertained in
either of the following cases, namely:-
(a)
if
within the ten years next preceding its institution his rent has been commuted
under section 3 or enhanced under this section;
(b)
if
within that period a decree has been passed under this Act dismissing on the
merits a suit for the enhancement of his rent, unless the land or some part of
the land comprised in his tenancy, not having been irrigated, or flooded at the
time of such commutation enhancement or decree, has become irrigated or
flooded.
(4)
[21][***]
Section
25 - Discretion as to extent of enhancement or reduction
In
enhancing or reducing the rent of any land, under the foregoing provisions of
this chapter, the Court shall, within the limits prescribed by those
provisions, enhance or reduce the rent to such an amount as it considers fair
and equitable, but shall not in any case fix the rent at a sum less than the
amount of the land-revenue of the land and the rates and cesses chargeable
thereon.
Section
26 - Time for enhancement or reduction to take effect
(1)
Unless
the Court decreeing an enhancement of rent otherwise directs, the
enhancement shall take effect from the commencement of the agricultural year
next following the date of the decree.
(2)
A
Court decreeing a reduction of rent shall specify in the decree the date on and
from which the reduction is to take effect.
Section
27 - Adjustment of rents expressed in terms of the land-revenue
(1)
Where
the rent of a tenancy is the whole or a share of the land-revenue thereof, with
or without an addition in money, kind or service, and the land-revenue of the
holding in which the tenancy is situate is altered, a Revenue Officer having authority
under section 56 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (XVII of 1887), to
determine the land-revenue payable in respect of the several holdings comprised
in the estate in which the tenancy is situate, shall determine also the amount
of the land-revenue of the tenancy, or the proportionate share thereof, payable
by the tenant as rent.
(2)
Where
an addition referred to in sub-section (1) is a percentage fixed with reference
to the land-revenue of the tenancy, or the whole or a share of the rates and
cesses chargeable thereon, or both, the Revenue Officer shall in like manner
from time to time alter the amount of the addition in proportion to any
alteration of such land-revenue or rates and cesses.
(3)
The
sum or sums determined under the foregoing sub-sections, together with any
additions previously payable other than the additions referred to in
sub-section (2), shall be the rent payable in respect of the tenancy until
there is again an alteration of the land-revenue thereof or of the rates and
cesses chargeable thereon or until the rent is enhanced by a suit under this
Act.
(4)
An
alteration of rent under this section shall not be deemed an enhancement or
reduction of rent within the meaning of this Act.
(5)
[22][***]
Section
27A - [Ommitted]
[23][***]
Section
28 - Alteration of rent on alteration of area
(1)
Every
tenant shall:-
(a)
be
liable to pay additional rent for all land proved to be in excess of the area
for which rent has been previously paid by him, unless it is proved that the
excess is due to the addition to his tenancy of land which, having previously
belonged to the tenancy, was lost by diluvion or otherwise without any
reduction of the rent being made; and
(b)
be
entitled to an abatement of rent in respect of any deficiency proved to
exist in the area of his tenancy as compared with the area for which rent has
been previously paid by him, unless it is proved that the deficiency is due to
the loss of land which was added to the area of the tenancy by alluvion or
otherwise, and that an addition has not been made to the rent in respect of the
addition to the area.
(2)
In
determining the area for which rent has been previously paid the Court shall
have regard to the following among other matters, namely:-
(a)
the
origin and conditions of the tenant?s occupancy for instance whether the rent
was a rent in gross for the entire tenancy;
(b)
where
the tenant has been allowed to hold additional land in consideration of an
addition to his total rent or otherwise with the knowledge and consent of the
landlord; and
(c)
the
length of time during which there has been no dispute as to rent or area.
(3)
In
adding to or abating rent under this section, the Court shall add to or abate
the rent to such an amount as it deems to be fair and equitable, and shall
specify in its decree the date on and from which the addition or abatement is
to take effect.
(4)
An
addition to or abatement of rent under this section, shall not be deemed an
enhancement or reduction of rent within the meaning of this Act.
Section
29 - Remission of rent by Courts decreeing arrears
Notwithstanding
anything in the foregoing sections of this Chapter, if it appears to a Court
making a decree for an arrear of rent that the area of a tenancy has been so
diminished by diluvion or otherwise, or that the produce thereof has been so diminished
by drought, hail, deposit of sand or other like calamity, that the full amount
of rent payable by the tenant cannot be equitably decreed, the Court may, with
the previous sanction of the Collector, allow such remission from the rent
payable by the tenant as may appear to it to be just.
Section
30 - Remission and suspension of rent consequent on like treatment of
land-revenue
[24][(1) Whenever the payment of the whole or any
part of the land-revenue payable in respect of any land is remitted or suspended,
a Revenue Officer may, if the rent be payable in cash or be rent payable in
kind of which the amount is fixed, by order, remit or suspend, as the case may
be, the payment of the rent of that land to an amount which may bear the same
proportion to the whole of the rent payable in respect of the land as the
land-revenue of which payment has been remitted or suspended bears to the whole
of land-revenue payable in respect of the land:
Provided
that in the case of an occupancy-tenant, whose rent is of the nature
hereinbefore in this sub-section described, the remission or suspension of
the land-revenue payable in respect of the land shall, in the absence of a
written order by a Revenue Officer to the contrary carry with it a
proportionate remission or suspension, as the case may be, of his rent.
When
the payment of the rent of any kind has been suspended under this clause it
shall remain under suspension until the Collector orders the revenue of the
land to be realized.]
(2) ? An
order passed under sub-section (1) shall not be liable to be contested by suit
in any Court.
(3) ? A
suit shall not lie for the recovery of any rent of which the payment has been
remitted, or during the period of suspension, of any rent of which the payment
has been suspended.
(4) ? Where
the payment of rent has been suspended, the period during which the suspension
has continued shall be excluded in the computation of the period of limitation
prescribed for a suit for the recovery of the rent.
[25][(5) If the landlord collects from a tenant
any rent of which the payment has been remitted, or is under suspension, the
Revenue Officer may recover from the landlord the amount or value of the rent
so collected, and may also recover by way of penalty a further sum not
exceeding such amount or value, and may cause to be refunded to the tenant the
amount or value of the rent so collected from him.]
(6) ? The
provisions of this section relating to the remission and suspension of the
payment of rent may be applied, so far as they can be made applicable, to land
of which the land-revenue has been released, compounded for or redeemed in any
case in which, if the land-revenue in respect of the land had not been
released, compounded for or redeemed, the whole or any part of it might, in the
opinion of the Revenue Officer, be remitted or suspended under the rules for
the time being in force regulating the remission and suspension of
land-revenue.
[26][(7) Any sum of which the recovery is ordered
under sub-section (5) on account of rent or penalty may be recovered by the
Collector as if it were an arrear of land-revenue.]
Section
31 - Power to deposit rent in certain cases with Revenue Officer
In
either of the following cases, namely:-
(a)
when a
landlord refuses to receive, or grant a receipt for, any rent payable in money
when tendered to him by a tenant,
(b)
when a
tenant is in doubt as to the person entitled to receive rent payable in money,
the tenant may apply to a Revenue Officer for leave to deposit the rent in his
office, and the Revenue Officer shall receive the deposit if after examining
the applicant, he is satisfied that there is sufficient ground for the
application and if the applicant pays the fee, if any, chargeable for the issue
of the notice next hereinafter referred to.
Section
32 - Effect of depositing rent
(1)
When a
deposit has been so received it shall be deemed to be a payment made by the
tenant to his landlord in respect of rent.
(2)
The
Revenue Officer receiving the deposit shall give notice of the receipt thereof
to every person who he has reason to believe claims or is entitled to the
deposit, and may pay the amount thereof to any person appearing to him to be
entitled thereto, or may, if he thinks fit, retain the deposit pending the
decision of a competent Court as to the person so entitled.
(3)
No suit
or other proceeding shall be instituted against the [27][Government],
or against any officer of the [28][Government]
in respect of anything done by a Revenue Officer under this section, but
nothing in this sub-section shall prevent any person entitled to receive the
amount of any such deposit from recovering it from a person to whom it has been
paid by a Revenue Officer.
Section
33 - Recovery of rent from attached produce
(1)
If an
order is made by any Court for the attachment of the produce of a tenancy or of
any part of a tenancy, the landlord may apply to the Revenue Officer by whom
the attachment is to be or has been made to sell the produce and pay to him out
of the proceeds of the sale thereof the amount or value of-
(a)
any
rent which has fallen due to him in respect of the tenancy within the year
immediately preceding the application, and
(b)
the
rent which will be falling due after the harvesting of the produce and is
chargeable against it.
(2)
The
Revenue Officer shall give the person at whose instance the attachment was made
an opportunity of showing cause why the application of the landlord should not
be granted, and, if he finds the landlord?s claim to the whole or any part of
the rent to be proved he shall cause the produce or such portion thereof as he
may deem necessary to be sold, and shall apply the proceeds of the sale in the
first instance to satisfy the claim.
(3)
The
finding of the Revenue Officer under sub-section (2) shall have the force of a
decree in a suit between the landlord and the tenant.
Section
34 - Treatment of leases for period exceeding or equal to term of assessment of
land-revenue
(1)
Where
a lease has been granted, or an agreement has been entered into by a landowner
in respect of any land, assessed to land-revenue fixing for a period exceeding
the term for which the land-revenue has been assessed, the rent or other sum
payable in respect of the land under the lease or agreement, and that term has
expired, the lease or agreement shall be voidable ?
(a)
at the
option of the landowner if the land-revenue of the tend has been enhanced
and the person to whom the lease has been granted or with whom the agreement
has been entered into refuses to pay such rent or other sum as a Revenue Court,
on the suit of the landowner, determines to be fair and equitable [29][***],
and where the relation of landlord and tenant exists between the grantor and
grantee of the lease or between the persons who entered into the agreement.
(b)
at the
option of the tenant if the land-revenue of the land has been reduced and the
landlord refuses to accept such rent as a Revenue Court, on the suit of the
tenant, determines to be fair and equitable [30][***].
(2)
Any
agreement relative to the occupation, rent, profits or produce of any land
which has been entered into for the term of the currency of an assessment
shall, unless a contrary intention clearly appears in the agreement or the
agreement is terminated by consent of parties or course of law, continue in
force until a revised assessment takes effect.
Section
35 - Relinquishment by tenant for a fixed term
A
tenant holding for a fixed term under a contract or a decree or order of competent
authority may relinquish his tenancy without notice at the end of that term.
Section
36 - Relinquishment by any other tenant
(1)
Any
other tenant may relinquish his tenancy by giving verbally or in writing to his
landlord, or to his landlord?s agent, on or before the fifteenth day of January
in any year, notice of his intention to relinquish the tenancy at the end of
the agricultural year then current.
(2)
The
tenant may, instead of, or in addition to, giving the notice in the manner
mentioned in sub-section (1), apply to a Revenue Officer on or before the date
aforesaid to cause the notice to be served on the landlord, and the Revenue
Officer on receiving the cost of service from the tenant, shall cause the
notice to be served as soon as may be.
(3)
If the
tenant does not give notice in the manner prescribed in this section, he shall
be liable to pay the rent of his tenancy for any part of the ensuing
agricultural year during which the tenancy is not let by the landlord to some
other person or is not cultivated by the landlord himself.
Section
37 - Relinquishment of part only of tenancy
A
tenant cannot, without the consent of his landlord, relinquish a part only
of his tenancy.
Section
38 - Abandonment of tenancy by occupancy tenant
(1)
If a
tenant having a right of occupancy fails for more than one year without
sufficient cause to cultivate his tenancy, either by himself or some other
person, and to arrange for payment of the rent thereof as it falls due, the
right of occupancy shall be extinguished from the end of that year.
(2)
[31][***]
Section
39 - Grounds of ejectment of occupancy tenant
(1)
A
tenant having a right of occupancy shall be liable to be ejected from his
tenancy on any of the following grounds, namely:-
(a)
that
he has used the land comprised in the tenancy in a manner which renders it
unfit for the purposes for which he held it;
(b)
where
rent is payable in kind, that he has without sufficient cause failed to
cultivate that land in the manner or to the extent customary in the locality in
which the land is situate;
(c)
when a
decree for an arrear of rent in respect of his tenancy has been passed against
him and remains unsatisfied.
(2)
[32][***]
Section
40 - Grounds of ejectment of tenant for a fixed term
A
tenant not having a right of occupancy but holding for fixed term under a
contract or a decree or order of competent authority, shall be liable to be
ejected from his tenancy at the expiration of that term, and, on any of the
following grounds, before the expiration thereof namely:-
(a)
that
he has used the land comprised in the tenancy in a manner which renders it
unfit for the purposes for which he held it;
(b)
where
rent is payable in kind, that he has without sufficient cause failed to
cultivate that land in the manner or to the extent customary in the locality in
which the land is situate;
(c)
on any
ground which would justify ejectment under the contract, decree or order.
Section
41 - Ejectment of tenant form year to year
A
tenant who has not a right of occupancy, and does not hold for a fixed term
under a contract or a decree or order of competent authority, may be ejected at
the end of any agricultural year.
Section
42 - Restriction on ejectment
A
tenant shall not be ejected otherwise than in execution of a decree for
ejectment, except in the following cases, namely:-
(a)
when a
decree for an arrear of rent in respect of his tenancy has been passed against
him and remains unsatisfied;
(b)
when
the tenant has not a right of occupancy and does not hold for a fixed term
under a contract or a decree or order of competent authority.
Section
43 - Application to Revenue Officer for ejectment
In any
such case as is mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b) of the last foregoing
section the landlord may apply to a Revenue Officer for the ejectment of the
tenant in the case mentioned in the former clause or for the service on the
tenant of a notice of ejectment in the case mentioned in the latter clause.
Section
44 - Ejectment for failure to satisfy decree for arrear of rent
(1)
On
receiving the application in any such case as is mentioned in clause (a) of
section 42, the Revenue Officer shall, after such inquiry, with respect to the
existence of the arrear as he deems necessary, cause a notice to be served on
the tenant stating the date of the decree and the amount due thereunder, and
informing him that if he does not pay that amount to the Revenue Officer within
fifteen days from receipt of the notice he will be ejected from the land.
(2)
If the
amount is not so paid the Revenue Officer shall, subject to the provisions of
this Act with respect to the payment of compensation, order the ejectment of
the tenant unless good cause is shown to the contrary.
Section
45 - Ejectment of tenant from year to year by notice
(1)
On
receiving the application of the landlord in any such case as is mentioned in
clause (b) of section 42, the Revenue Officer shall, if the application is in
order and not open to objection on the face of it, cause a notice of ejectment
to be served on the tenant.
(2)
A
notice under sub-section (1) shall not be served after the fifteenth day of
November in any [33][agricultural]
year.
(3)
The
notice shall specify the name of the landlord on whose application it is issued
and describe the land to which it relates, and shall inform the tenant that he
must vacate the land before the first day of May next following, or that, if he
intends to contest his liability to ejectment, he must institute a suit for
that purpose in a Revenue Court within two months from the date of the service
of the notice.
(4)
The
notice shall also inform the tenant that if he does not intend to contest his
liability to be ejected and he has any claim for compensation on ejectment, he
should within two months from the date of the service of the notice prefer his
claim to the Revenue Officer having authority under the next following
sub-section to order his ejectment in the circumstances described in that
sub-section.
(5)
If
within two months from the date of the service of the notice the tenant does
not institute a suit to contest his liability to be ejected a Revenue
Officer, on the application of the landlord shall, subject to the provisions of
this Act with respect to the payment of compensation, order the ejectment of
the tenant:
Provided
that the Revenue Officer shall not make the order until he is satisfied that
the notice was duly served on the tenant.
(6)
If
within those two months the tenant institutes a suit to contest his liability
to be ejected and fails in the suit, the Court by which the suit is determined
shall by its decree direct the ejectment of the tenant.
Section
46 - Power to make rules
The
Financial Commissioner may make rules prescribing-
(a)
the
form and language of application and notices under the two last foregoing
sections; and
(b)
the
manner in which those applications and notices are to be signed and attested.
Section
47 - Time for ejectment
A
decree or order for the ejectment of a tenant shall not be executed at any
other time than between the first day of May and the fifteenth day of June
(both days inclusive), unless the Court making the decree or, where the order
is made under section 44, the officer making the order, otherwise directs.
Section
48 - Relief against forfeiture
(1)
If in
a suit for the ejectment of a tenant on either of the grounds mentioned in
clauses (a) and (b) of section 39 or of section 40, it appears to the Court
that the injury caused by the Act or omission on which the suit is based is
capable of being remedied, or that an award of compensation will be sufficient
satisfaction to the landlord therefor, the Court may, instead of making a
decree for the ejectment of the tenant, order him to remedy the injury within a
period to be fixed in the order, or order him to pay into Court, within such a
period, such compensation as the Court thinks fit.
(2)
The
Court may from time to time, for special reasons, extend a period fixed by it
under sub-section (1).
(3)
If
within the period, or extended period, as the case may be, fixed by the Court
under this section, the injury is remedied or the compensation is paid, a
decree for the ejectment of the tenant shall not be made.
Section
49 - Rights of ejected tenants in respect of crops and land prepared for sowing
(1)
Where
at the time of the proposed ejectment of a tenant from any land his uncut or
ungathered crops are standing on any part thereof, he shall not be ejected from
that part until the crops have ripened and he has been allowed a reasonable
time to harvest them.
(2)
The
Court or Revenue Officer decreeing or ordering the ejectment of the tenant may,
on the application of the landlord, determine any dispute arising in
consequence of the provisions of sub-section (1) between the landlord and
tenant or between the landlord and any person entitled to harvest the crops of
the tenant, and may in its or his discretion-
(a)
direct
that the tenant pay for the longer occupation of the land secured to him under
sub-section (1) such rent as may be fair and equitable, or
(b)
determine
the value of the tenant?s uncut and ungathered crops, and, on payment thereof
by the landlord to the Court or Revenue Officer, forthwith eject the tenant.
(3)
When a
tenant for whose ejectment proceedings have been taken has conformably with
local usage prepared for sowing any land comprised in his tenancy but has not
sown or planted crops on that land, he shall be entitled to receive from the
landlord before ejectment a fair equivalent in money for the labour and capital
expended by him in so preparing the land, and the Court or Revenue Officer
before which or whom the proceedings are pending shall, on the application of
the tenant, determine the sum payable to the tenant under this sub-section and
stay his ejectment until that sum has been paid to him.
Section
50 - Relief for wrongful dispossession or ejectment
In
either of the following cases, namely:-
(a)
if a
tenant has been dispossessed without his consent of his tenancy or any part
thereof otherwise than in execution of a decree or than in pursuance of an
order under section 44 or section 45;
(b)
if a
tenant who, not having instituted a suit under section 45, has been ejected
from his tenancy or any part thereof in pursuance of an order under that
section denies has liability to be ejected;
the
tenant may, within one year from the date of his dispossession or ejectment,
institute a suit for recovery of possession or occupancy or for compensation,
or for both.
Section
50A - Bar to civil suits
[34][No person whose ejectment has been ordered
by a Revenue Court under section 45, sub-section (6), or whose suit has been
dismissed under section 50, may institute a suit in a civil Court to contest
his liability to ejectment, or to recover possession or occupancy rights, or to
recover compensation.]
Section
51 - Bar of relief by suit under section 9, Act 1 of 1877
Possession
of a tenancy or of any land comprised in a tenancy stall not be recoverable
under section 9 of the Specific Relief Act, 1877 (1 of 1877) [35][by
a tenant dispossessed thereof.]
Section
52 - Power of [State] Government to fix date for certain purposes
(1)
The [36][State]
Government may, for all or any of the territories under its administration, by
notification, fix for the purposes of Sections 36, 45 and 47 or any of those
sections, any other dates instead of those specified therein.
(2)
A
notification under this section shall not take effect till after the expiration
of six months from the date of the publication thereof.
Section
52A - [Omitted]
[37][***]
Section
53 - Private transfer of right of occupancy under section S by tenant
(1)
A
tenant having a right of occupancy under section 5 may transfer that right by
sale, gift or mortgage, subject to the conditions mentioned in this section.
(2)
If he
intents to transfer the right by sale, gift, mortgage by conditional sale or
usufructuary mortgage, he shall cause notice of his intention to be served on
his landlord through a Revenue Officer and shall defer proceeding with the
transfer for a period of one month from the date on which the notice is served.
(3)
Within
that period of one month the landlord may claim to purchase the right at such
value as a Revenue Officer may, on application made to him in this behalf, fix.
(4)
When
the application to the Revenue Officer is to fix the value of a right of
occupancy which is already mortgaged, he shall fix the value of the rights as
if it were not mortgaged.
(5)
The
landlord shall be deemed to have purchased the right if he pays the value to
the Revenue Officer within such time as that officer appoints.
(6)
On the
value being so paid, the right of occupancy shall be extinct, and the Revenue
Officer shall, on the application of the landlord, put the landlord in
possession of the tenancy.
(7)
If the
right of occupancy was already mortgaged the tenancy shall pass to the landlord
unencumbered by the mortgage but the mortgage-debt shall be a charge on the
purchase-money.
(8)
If
there is no such charge as aforesaid the Revenue Officer shall, subject to any
directions which he may receive from any Court, pay the purchase-money to the
tenant.
(9)
If
there is such a charge the Revenue Officer shall, subject as aforesaid either
apply in discharge of the mortgage-debt so much of the purchase-money as is
required for that purpose and pay the balance, if any, to the tenant, or retain
the purchase-money pending the decision of a Civil Court as to the person or
persons entitled thereto.
(10)
Where
there are several landlords of a tenancy, any one of them may be deemed to be
the landlord for the purposes of this section.
(11)
No
suit or other proceeding shall be instituted against the [38][Government],
or against any officer of the [39][Government],
in respect of anything done by a Revenue Officer under the two last foregoing
subsections, but nothing in this sub-section shall prevent any person entitled
to receive the whole or any part of the purchase-money from recovering it from
a person to whom it has been paid by a Revenue Officer.
Section
54 - Procedure on foreclosure of mortgage of right of occupancy under section 5
Where
a mortgage of a right of occupancy under section 5 proposes to foreclose his
mortgage, or otherwise enforce his lien on the land subject to the right, the
provisions of the last foregoing section shall, so far as they can be made
applicable, apply as if the mortgagee were the tenant.
Section
55 - Sale of right of occupancy under section 5 in execution of decree
(1)
A
right of occupancy under section 5 may be sold in execution of a decree or
order of a Court.
(2)
But
notice of an intended sale of any such right shall be given by the Court to the
landlord, and, if at any time before the close of the day on which the sale
takes place, the landlord pays to the Court or to the officer conducting the
sale a deposit of twenty-five per centum on the highest bid made at the sale,
he shall be declared to be the purchaser instead of the person who made that
bid.
Section
56 - Transfer of right of occupancy under any other section than section 5
A
right of occupancy under any other section than section 5 shall not be attached
or sold in execution of a decree or order of any Court or, without the previous
consent in writing of the landlord, be transferred by private contract.
Section
57 - Right and liabilities of transferee of right of occupancy
When a
right of occupancy has been transferred by sale, gift or usufructuary mortgage
to a person other than the landlord, that person shall, in respect of the land
in which the right subsists, have the same rights and be subject to the same
liabilities as the tenant to whom before the transfer the right had belonged
and was subject to.
Section
58 - Subletting
(1)
A
tenant having a right of occupancy in land may, subject to the provisions of
this Act and to the conditions of any written contract between him and his
landlord, sublet the land or any part thereof for any term not exceeding seven
years.
(2)
A
person to whom land is sublet by a tenant having a right of occupancy therein
shall, in respect of that land, and so far as regards the landlord be jointly
with the tenant, subject to all the liabilities of the tenant under this Act.
Section
58A - Transfer of right of occupancy under any section of the Act by exchange
[40][(1) Any tenant with a right of occupancy
may, with the consent of his landlord, transfer his land to all the members of
a Co-operative Society for the Consolidation of Holdings of which both he
and his landlord are members and obtain from them any other land in exchange.
(2) ? Notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act or any other enactment in force, any land obtained
in exchange in pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be deemed
to be subject to the same right of occupancy as the land given for it in
exchange.]
Section
59 - Succession to right of occupancy
(1)
When a
tenant having a right of occupancy in any land dies, the right shall devolve ?
(a)
on his
male lineal descendants, if any, in the male line of descent, and
(b)
failing
such descendants, on his widow, if any, until she dies or remarries or abandons
the land or is under the provisions of this Act ejected therefrom, and
[41][(c) failing such descendants and widow, on
his widowed mother, if any, until she dies or remarries or abandons the land or
is under the provisions of this Act ejected therefrom.]
[42][(d) failing such descendants and widow, or
widowed mother or if the deceased tenant left a widow or widowed mother, then
when her interest terminates under clause (b) or (c) of this sub-section, on
his male collateral relatives in the male line on descent from the common
ancestor of the deceased tenant and those relatives.]
Provided,
with respect to clause [43](d)
of this sub-section, that the common ancestor occupied the land.
[44]Explanation.-- For the purpose of
clause [45](d),
land obtained in exchange by the deceased tenant or any of his
predecessors-in-interest in pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) of
section 58-A shall be deemed to have been occupied by the common ancestor if
the land given for it in exchange was occupied by him.]
(2)
As
among descendants and collateral relatives claiming under subsection (1) the
right shall, subject to the provisions of that sub-section, devolve as if it
were land left by the deceased in the village in which the land subject to the
right is situate.
(3)
When
the widow of a deceased tenant succeeds to a right of occupancy, she shall not
transfer the right by sale, gift or mortgage or by sublease for a term
exceeding one year.
(4)
If the
deceased tenant has left no such persons as are mentioned in sub-section
(1) on whom, his right of occupancy may devolve under that sub- section, the
right shall be extinguished.
Section
60 - Irregular transfers of right of occupancy
Any
transfer made of a right of occupancy in contravention of the foregoing
provisions of this Chapter shall be voidable of the instance of the landlord.
Section
61 - Improvements by landlords on tenancies of occupancy tenants
(1)
Without
the previous permission of the Collector, a landlord shall not make an
improvement on the tenancy of a tenant having a right of occupancy.
(2)
If a
landlord desires to make such an improvement, he may apply to the Collector for
permission to make it, and the Collector shall, before making an order on the
application, hear the objection, if any, of the tenant.
(3)
In
making an order on an application under sub-section (2) the Collector shall be
guided by such rules, if any, as the [46][State]
Government may, [47][***],
make in this behalf.
Section
62 - Enhancement of rent in consideration of an improvement made by a landlord
on the tenancy of an occupancy tenant
(1)
When a
landlord has, with the permission mentioned in the last foregoing section, made
an improvement on the tenancy of a tenant having a right of occupancy he may
apply to the Collector for an enhancement of the rent of the tenant.
(2)
If the
tenant is a tenant to whom section 20 applies, the Collector shall enhance his
rent to the share or rates, or with reference to the rent in gross, as the case
may be, paid by tenants, having a similar right of occupancy, for land of a
similar description and with similar advantages.
(3)
If the
tenant is a tenant to whom section 22 applies, the Collector shall enhance his
rent to such amount as the tenant would be liable to pay under that
section if the land-revenue was re-assessed.
(4)
When
the improvement ceases to exist, the Collector may, on the application of the
tenant, reduce the tenant?s rent:-
(a)
in the
case of a tenant to whom sub-section (2) applies, to the share or rates, or
with reference to the rent in gross, as the case may be, paid by tenants,
having a similar right of occupancy for land of a similar description and with
similar advantages; and
(b)
in the
case of a tenant to whom sub-section (3) applies, to such an amount as the
tenant would be liable to pay if the land-revenue were re-assessed.
(5)
Sections
25 and 26 shall be construed as applying to an application under this section,
and as it shall not lie in any Court for any purpose for which an application
might be made under this section.
Section
63 - Title of occupancy tenant to make improvements
A
tenant having the right of occupancy is entitled to make improvements on his
tenancy.
Section
64 - Title of tenants not having the right of occupancy to make improvements
(1)
A
tenant not having the right of occupancy may make improvements on his tenancy
with the assent of the landlord.
(2)
If at
any time the question arises whether or not the landlord assented to the making
of an improvement by a tenant not having a right of occupancy, the assent may
be inferred from circumstances.
Section
65 - Improvements made before commencement of this Act
Improvements
made by a tenant before the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to have
been made in accordance with this Act, unless in the case of a tenant not
having a right of occupancy it is shown that the improvement was made in
contravention of a written agreement between him and his landlord.
Section
66 - Improvements begun in anticipation of ejectment
A
tenant ejected in execution of a decree, or in pursuance of a notice of
ejectment, shall not be entitled to compensation for any improvement begun by
him after the institution of the suit, or service of the notice, which resulted
in his ejectment.
Section
67 - Tender of lease for twenty years to tenant to be a bar to right to
compensation
If a
landlord tenders to a tenant a lease of his tenancy for a term of not less than
twenty years from the date of the tender at the rent paid by the tenant, or at
such other rent as may be agreed on the tender, if accepted by the tenant,
shall bar any claim by him to compensation in respect of improvements
previously made on the tenancy.
Section
68 - Liability to pay compensation for improvements to tenants on ejectment or
on enhancement of his rent
Subject
to the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, a tenant who has made an
improvement on his tenancy in accordance with this Act, shall not be ejected,
and the rent payable by him shall not be enhanced, until he has received
compensation for the improvement.
Section
69 - Compensation for disturbance of clearing tenants
(1)
A
tenant who has cleared and brought under cultivation the waste land in which he
has not a right of occupancy shall, if ejected from that land, be entitled to
receive from the landlord as compensation for disturbance in addition to any
compensation for improvements a sum to be determined by a Revenue Court or
Revenue Officer in accordance with the merits of the case, but not exceeding
five years? rent of the land.
Provided
that a tenant who is a joint owner of land to which this section applies shall
not be entitled to compensation for disturbance on ejectment from the land or
any part thereof.
(2)
If
rent has been paid for the land by division or appraisement of the produce or
by rates fixed with reference to the nature of the crops grown, or if no rent,
or no rent other than the land-revenue of the land and the rates and cesses
chargeable thereon, has been paid therefor, the compensation may be computed as
if double the amount of the land-revenue of the land were the annual rent
thereof.
[48][Provided that in any estate of which the assessment
has been confirmed on or after the twenty-second day of February, 1929, the
compensation may be computed as if four times the amount of the land-revenue of
the land were the annual rent thereof.]
Section
70 - Determination of compensation by Revenue Courts
(1)
In
every suit by a tenant to contest his liability to ejectment or by a landlord
to eject a tenant or to enhance his rent, the Court shall direct the tenant to
file a statement of his claim, if any, to compensation for improvements or for
disturbance and of the grounds thereof.
(2)
If the
Court decrees the ejectment of the tenant or the enhancement of his rent it
shall determine the amount of compensation, if any, due to the tenant and shall
stay execution of the decree until the landlord pays into Court that amount
less any arrears of rent or costs proved to the satisfaction of the Court to be
due to him from the tenant.
Section
71 - Determination of compensation of Revenue Officer
In
either of the following cases, namely:-
(a)
when a
notice has been served on a tenant under section 44,
(b)
when a
notice of ejectment has been served on a tenant under section 45 and the tenant
has not instituted a suit to contest his liability to be ejected, the tenant
may apply to the Revenue Officer having authority to order his ejectment under
section 44 or section 45, as the case may be, to determine the amount of
compensation due to him for improvements or for disturbance or for both and the
Revenue Officer shall determine the amount, if any, accordingly and stay the ejectment
of the tenant until the landlord pays to the Revenue Officer the amount so
determined less any arrears of rent or costs proved to the satisfaction of the
Revenue Officer to be due to the landlord from the tenant.
Section
72 - Matters to be regarded in assessment of compensation for improvements
In
estimating the compensation to be awarded under this Chapter to a tenant for an
improvement, the Court or Revenue Officer shall have regard to:-
(a)
the
amount by which the value or the produce of the tenancy, or the value of that
produce is increased by the improvement;
(b)
the
condition of the improvement and the probable duration of its effects;
(c)
the
labour and capital required for the making of such an improvement;
(d)
any
reduction or remission of rent or other advantage allowed to the tenant by the
landlord in consideration of the improvement; and
(e)
in the
case of a reclamation, or of the conversion of unirrigated into irrigated land,
the length of time during which the tenant has had the benefit of the improvement.
Section
73 - Forum of compensation
(1)
The
compensation shall be made by payment in money, unless the parties agree that
it be made in whole or in part by the grant of a beneficial lease of land or in
some other way.
(2)
If the
parties so agree, the Court or Revenue Officer shall make an order accordingly.
Section
74 - Relief in case of ejectment before determination of compensation
(1)
If
from any cause the amount of compensation payable to a tenant:--
(a)
under
this Chapter for improvements or disturbance, or
(b)
under
section 49 for the value of uncut or ungathered crops or the preparation of
land for sowing, has not been determined before the tenant is ejected, the
ejectment shall not be invalidated by reason of the omission, but the Court or
Revenue Officer which decreed or who ordered the ejectment may, on an
application made by the tenant within one year from the date of the ejectment,
correct the omission by making in favour of the tenant, an order for the
payment to him by the landlord of such compensation as the Court or Officer may
determine the tenant to be entitled to.
(2)
An
order made under sub-section (1) may be executed in the same manner as a decree
for money may be executed by a Revenue Court.
Section
75 - Revenue Officers
(1)
There
shall be the same classes of Revenue Officers under this Act as under the
Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, (XVII of 1887) and in the absence of any
order of the [49][State]
Government to the contrary, a Revenue Officer of any class having jurisdiction
within any local limits under that Act shall be a Revenue Officer of the same
class having jurisdiction within the same local limits under this Act.
(2)
The
expressions ?Collector? and ?Financial Commissioner? have the same meaning in
this Act as in the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, (XVII of 1887).
Section
76 - Applications and proceedings cognizable by Revenue Officers
(1)
The
following applications and proceedings shall be disposed of by Revenue Officers
as such and no Court shall take cognizance of any dispute or matter with
respect to which any such application or proceeding might be made or had.
FIRST GROUP
(a)
proceedings
under section 27 for the adjustment of rent expressed in terms of the
land-revenue;
(aa) [50][***]
(b)
proceedings
relating to the remission and suspension or rent under section 30;
(c)
applications
under section 43 for the ejectment of a tenant against whom a decree for an
arrear of rent in respect of his tenancy has been passed and remains
unsatisfied;
(d)
applications
under section 45, sub-section (5), for the ejectment of a tenant on whom a
notice of ejectment has been served and who has not instituted a suit to
contest his liability to be ejected but has claimed compensation under section
71;
(e)
applications
under section 53 or section 54 for the fixing of the value of a right of
occupancy;
(f)
applications
under section 53 or section 54 by landlords for possession of land, the right
of occupancy in which has become extinct;
(g)
proceedings
under Chapter VI with respect to the award of compensation for improvements or
disturbance;
SECOND GROUP
(h)
applications
under section 17 with respect to the division or appraisement of produce;
(i)
applications
under section 45, sub-section (5), for the ejectment of a tenant on whom a
notice of ejectment has been served and who has not instituted a suit to
contest his liability to be ejected and has not claimed compensation under
section 71;
(j)
applications
for the determinations ?
(i)
under
section 49 of the rent payable for land occupied by crops uncut or ungathered
at the time of an order being made for the ejectment of a tenant; or
(ii)
under
section 49 or section 74 of the value of such crops or of the sum payable to
the tenant for labour and capital expended by him in preparing land for sowing;
THIRD GROUP
(k)
applications
under section 31 by tenants to deposit rent; (I) applications under section 36
for service of notice of relinquishment;
(l)
applications
under section 43 for service of notice of ejectment;
(m)
applications
under section 53 or section 54 for service of notice of intended transfer or of
intended foreclosure or other enforcement of lien.
(2)
Except
as otherwise provided by any rule made by the Financial Commissioner in this
behalf: -
(a)
a
Collector or an Assistant Collector of the first grade may dispose of any of
the applications and proceedings mentioned in sub-section (1);
(b)
an
Assistant Collector of the second grade, not being a Naib Tehsildar, may
dispose of any of the applications mentioned in the second and third group of
that sub-section; and
(c)
a Naib
Tehsildar when invested with the powers of an Assistant Collector of the second
grade, may dispose of any of the applications mentioned in the third group of
that subsection.
Section
77 - Revenue Courts and suits cognizable by them
(1)
When a
Revenue Officer is exercising jurisdiction with respect to any such suit as is
described in sub-section (3), or with respect to an appeal or other proceeding
arising out of any such suit, he shall be called a Revenue Court.
(2)
There
shall be the same classes of Revenue Courts as of Revenue Officers under this
Act, and, in the absence of any order of the [51][State]
Government to the contrary, a Revenue Officer of any class having jurisdiction
within any local limits under this Act shall be a Revenue Court of the same
class having jurisdiction within the same local limits.
(3)
Procedure
where revenue matter is raised in a Civil Court:- The following suits shall be
instituted in, and heard and determined by, Revenue Courts, and no other Court
shall take cognizance of any dispute or matter with respect to which any such
suit might be instituted.
[52][Provided that:-
(1)
where
in a suit cognizable by and instituted in a Civil Court it becomes
necessary to decide any matter which can under this sub-section be heard and
determined only by a Revenue Court, the Civil Court shall endorse upon the plaint
the nature of the matter for decision and the particulars required by Order VII
rule 10, Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908), and return the plaint for
presentation to the Collector;
(2)
on the
plaint being presented to the Collector, the Collector shall proceed to hear
and determine the suit where the value thereof exceeds Rs. 1,000 or the matter
involved is of the nature mentioned in section 77(3), First Group, of the
Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887 (XVI of 1887), and in other cases may send the suit to
an Assistant Collector of the first grade for decision.]
FIRST GROUP
(a)
suits
between landlord and tenant for enhancement or reduction of rent under section
24;
(b)
suits
between landlord and tenant for addition to or abatement of rent under section
28 or for commutation of rent;
(c)
suits
under section 34 for the determination of rent or other sum on the expiration
of the term of an assessment of land-revenue [53][and
suits relating to the rent to be paid under a mortgage made in accordance with
form (c) as prescribed by section 6 of the [54]Punjab
Alienation of Land Act, 1900 (XVI of 1900);]
SECOND GROUP
(d)
suits
by a tenant to establish a claim to a right of occupancy, or by a landlord to
prove that a tenant has not such a right;
(e)
suits
by a landlord to eject a tenant;
(f)
suits
by a tenant under section 45 to contest liability to ejectment when notice of
ejectment has been served;
(g)
suits
by a tenant under section 50 for recovery of possession or occupancy, or for
compensation or for both;
(h)
suits
by a landlord to set aside a transfer made of a right of occupancy, or to
dispossess a person to whom such a transfer has been made, or for both
purposes;
(i)
any
other suit between landlord and tenant arising out of the lease or conditions
on which a tenancy is held;
(j)
suits
for sums payable on account of village cesses or village expenses;
(k)
suits
by a co-sharer in an estate or holding for a share of the profits thereof or
for a settlement of accounts;
(l)
suits
for the recovery of over-payment of rent or land-revenue or of any other
demand for which a suit lies in a Revenue Court under this sub-section;
(m)
suits
relating to the emoluments of kanungo, zaildars, inamdars or village officers;
THIRD GROUP
(n)
suits
by a landlord for arrears of rent or the money equivalent of rent, or for sums
recoverable under section 14; [55][or
suits for the recovery of such arrears or sums by any other person to whom a
right to recover the same has been sold or otherwise transferred;]
(o)
suits
by a landowner to recover moneys claimed as due for the enjoyment of rights in
or over land or in water, including rights of irrigation, rights over
fisheries, rights of pasturage and forest-rights;
(p)
suits
for sums payable on account of land-revenue or of any other demand recoverable
as an arrear of land-revenue under any enactment for the time being in force,
and by a superior landowner for other sums due to him as such.
(4)
Except
as otherwise provided by any rule made by the Financial Commissioner in this
behalf,-
(a)
a
Collector may hear and determine any of the suits mentioned in sub-section (3);
(b)
an
Assistant Collector of the First grade may hear and determine any of the suits
mentioned in the second and the third groups of that sub-section, and, if he
has by name been specially empowered in this behalf by the [56][State]
Government, any of the suits mentioned in the first group; and
(c)
an
Assistant Collector of the second grade may hear and determine any of the suits
mentioned in the third group.
Section
78 - Superintendence and control of Revenue Officers and Revenue Courts
(1)
The
general superintendence and control over all other Revenue Officers and Revenue
Courts shall be vested in, and all such Officers and Courts shall be
subordinate to, the Financial Commissioner.
(2)
Subject
to the general superintendence and control of the Financial Commissioner, a
Commissioner shall control all other Revenue Officers and Revenue Courts in his
division.
(3)
Subject
as aforesaid and to the control of the Commissioner, a Collector shall control
all other Revenue Officers and Revenue Courts in his district.
Section
79 - Power to distribute business and withdraw and transfer cases
(1)
The
Financial Commissioner or a Commissioner or Collector may by written order
distribute, in such manner as he thinks fit, any business cognizable by any
Revenue Officer or Revenue Court under his control.
(2)
The
Financial Commissioner or Commissioner or Collector may withdraw any case
pending before any Revenue Officer or a Revenue Court under his control, and
either dispose of it himself, or by written order refer it for disposal to any
other Revenue Officer or Revenue Court under his control.
(3)
An
order under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall not empower any Revenue
Officer or Revenue Court to exercise any powers or deal with any business which
he or it would not be competent to exercise or deal with within the local
limits of his or its own jurisdiction.
Section
80 - Appeals
Subject
to the provisions of this Act and the rules thereunder, an appeal shall lie
from an original or appellate order or decree made this Act, by a Revenue
Officer or Revenue Court, as follows, namely:-
(a)
to the
Collector when the order or decree is made by an Assistant Collector of either
grade;
(b)
to the
Commissioner when the order or decree is made by a Collector;
(c)
to the
Financial Commissioner when the order or decree is made by a Commissioner.
Provided
that:-
(i)
an
appeal from an order or decree made by an Assistant Collector of the First
grade specially empowered by name in that behalf by the [57][State]
Government in a suit mentioned in the First group of sub-section (3) of section
77 shall lie to the Commissioner and not to the Collector;
(ii)
when
an original order or decree is confirmed on first appeal, a further appeal
shall not lie;
(iii)
when
any such order or decree is modified or reversed on appeal by the Collector,
the order or decree made by the Commissioner on further appeal, if any, to him
shall be final.
Section
81 - Limitation for appeals
The
period of limitation for an appeal under the last foregoing section shall run
from the date of the order or decree appealed against, and shall be as follows,
that is to say:-
(a)
when
the appeal lies to the Collector - thirty days;
(b)
when
the appeal lies to the Commissioner -- sixty days;
(c)
when
the appeal lies to the Financial Commissioner -- ninety days.
Section
82 - Review by Revenue Officer
(1)
A
Revenue Officer, as such, may either of his own motion or own the application
of any party interested, review, and on so reviewing modify, reverse or confirm
any order passed by himself or by any of his predecessors in office:
Provided
as follows:-
(a)
when a
Commissioner or Collector thinks it necessary to review any order which he has
not himself passed, and when a Revenue Officer of a class below that of
Collector proposes to review any order whether passed by himself or by any of
his predecessors in office, he shall first obtain the sanction of the Revenue
Officer to whose control he is immediately subject;
(b)
no
application for review of an order shall be entertained unless it is made
within ninety days from the ?passing of the order, or unless the applicant
satisfies the Revenue Officer that he had sufficient cause for not making the
application within that period;
(c)
an
order shall not be modified or reversed unless reasonable notice has been given
to the parties affected thereby to appear and be heard in support of the order;
(d)
an
order against which an appeal has been preferred shall not be reviewed.
(2)
For
the purposes of this section the Collector shall be deemed to be the successor
in office of any Revenue Officer of a lower class who has left the district or
has ceased to exercise powers as a Revenue Officer, and to whom there is no
successor in office.
(3)
An
appeal shall not lie from the order refusing to review, or confirming on
review, a previous order.
Section
83 - Computation of periods limited for appeals and applications for review
In the
computation of the period for an appeal from or an application for the review
of an order under this Act, the limitation therefore shall be governed by
the [58][Indian
Limitation Act, 1877].
Section
84 - Power to call for, examine and revise proceedings of Revenue Officers or
Revenue Courts
(1)
The
Financial Commissioner may at any time call for the record of any case pending
before, or disposed of by any Revenue Officer or Revenue Court subordinate to
him.
(2)
A
Commissioner or Collector may call for the record of any case pending before,
or disposed of by any Revenue Officer or Revenue Court under his control.
(3)
If in
any case in which a Commissioner or Collector has called for a record he is of
opinion that the proceedings taken or the order or decree made should be
modified or reversed, he shall submit the record with his opinion on the case
for the orders of the Financial Commissioner.
(4)
If,
after examining a record called for by himself under sub-section (1) or
submitted to him under sub-section (3), the Financial Commissioner is of
opinion that it is inexpedient to interfere with the proceedings or the order
or decree, he shall pass an order accordingly.
(5)
If,
after examining the record, the Financial Commissioner is of opinion that it is
expedient to interfere with the proceedings or the order or decree on any
ground on which the [59][High
Court] in the exercise of its revisional jurisdiction may under the law for the
time being in force interfere with the proceedings or an order or decree of a
Civil Court, he shall fix a day for hearing the case, and may, on that or any
subsequent day to which he may adjourn the hearing or which he may appoint in
this behalf, pass such order as he thinks fit in the case.
(6)
Except
when the Financial Commissioner fixes under sub-section (5) a day for hearing
the case, no party has any right to be heard before the Financial Commissioner
when exercising his powers under this section.
Section
85 - Procedure of Revenue Officers
(1)
The [60][State]
Government may make rules consistent with this Act for regulating the procedure
of Revenue Officers under this Act in cases in which a procedure is not
prescribed by this Act.
(2)
The
rules may provide, among other matters, for the mode of enforcing orders of
ejectment from, and delivery of possession of. immovable property, and rules
providing for those matters may confer on a Revenue Officer all or any of the
powers in regard to contempts, resistance and the like which a Civil Court may
exercise in the execution of a decree whereby it has adjudged ejectment from,
or delivery of possession of such property.
(3)
The
rules may also provide for the mode of executing orders as to costs, and may
adapt to proceedings under this Act all or any of the provisions of the Punjab
Land Revenue Act, 1887 (VII of 1887), with respect to arbitration.
(4)
Subject
to the rules under this section, a Revenue Officer may refer any case which he
is empowered to dispose of under this Act to another Revenue Officer for
investigation and report, and may decide the case upon the report.
Section
86 - Persons by whom appearances may be made before Revenue Officers as such
and not as Revenue Courts
(1)
Appearances
before a Revenue Officer as such, and applications to and acts to be done before
him, under this Act may be made or done-
(a)
by the
parties themselves, or
(b)
by the
recognized agents or a legal practitioner:
Provided
that the employment of a recognised agent or legal practitioner shall not
excuse the personal attendance of a party to any proceeding in any case in
which personal attendance is specially required by an order of the officer.
(2)
For
the purposes of sub-section (1), recognized agents shall be such persons as
the [61][State]
Government may by notification declare in this behalf.
(3)
The
fees of a legal practitioner shall not be allowed as costs in any proceedings
before a Revenue Officer under this Act, unless that officer considers, for
reasons to be recorded by him in writing that the fees should be allowed.
Section
87 - Costs
(1)
A Revenue
Officer may give and apportion the costs of any proceedings under this Act in
any manner he thinks fit.
(2)
But if
he orders that the costs of any such proceedings shall not follow the event, he
shall record his reasons for the order.
Section
88 - Procedure of Revenue Courts
(1)
The [62][State]
Government may make rules consistent with this Act for regulating the procedure
of Revenue Courts in matters under this Act for which a procedure is not
prescribed thereby, and may by any such rule direct that any provisions of the
Code of Civil Procedure shall apply, with or without modification, to all or
any classes of cases before those Courts.
(2)
Until
rules are made under sub-section (1), and subject to those rules when made and
to the provisions of this Act:-
(a)
the [63]Code
of Civil Procedure shall, so far as it is applicable, apply to all proceedings
in Revenue Courts whether before or after decree; and
(b)
the
Financial Commissioner shall, in respect of those proceedings, be deemed to be
the High Court within the meaning of that Code, and shall, subject to the
provisions of this Act, exercise, as regards the Courts under his control, all
the powers of a High Court under the Code.
Section
89 - Power of Revenue Officer or Revenue Court to summon persons
(1)
A
Revenue Officer or Revenue Court may summon any person whose attendance he or
it considers necessary for the purpose of any application, suit or other
business before him or it as a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court.
(2)
A
person so summoned shall be bound to appear at the time and place mentioned in
the summons in person or if the summons so allows, by his recognised agent or a
legal practitioner.
(3)
The
person attending in obedience to the summons shall be bound to state the truth
upon any matter respecting which he is examined or makes statements, and to
produce such documents and other things relating to any such matter as the
Revenue Officer or Revenue Court may require.
Section
90 - Mode of service of summons
(1)
A
summon issued by a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court shall, if practicable, be
served (a) personally on the person to whom it is addressed, or failing him on
(b) his recognized agent, or (c) an adult male member of his family who is
residing with him.
(2)
If
service cannot be, made, or if acceptance of service so made is refused, the
summons may be served by pasting a copy thereof at the usual or last known
place of residence of the person to whom it is addressed, or, if that person
does not reside in the district in which the Revenue Officer is employed or the
Revenue Court is held and the case to which the summons relates has reference
to land in that district, then by pasting a copy of the summons on some
conspicuous place in or near the estate wherein the land is situate.
(3)
If the
summons relates to a case in which persons having the same interest are so
numerous that personal service on all of them is not reasonably practicable, it
may, if the Revenue Officer or Revenue Court so directs, be served by delivery
of a copy thereof to such of those persons as the officer or Court nominates in
this behalf and by proclamation of the contents thereof for the information of
the other persons interested.
(4)
A
summons may, if the Revenue Officer or Revenue Court so directs be served on
the persons named therein, either in addition to, or in substitution for, any
other mode of service, by forwarding the summons by post in a letter addressed
to the person and registered under Part III of the Indian Post Office
Act, [64]1866.
(XIV of 1866).
(5)
When a
summons is so forwarded in a letter and it is proved that the letter was
properly addressed and duly posted and registered, the officer or Court may
presume that the summons was served at the time when the letter would be
delivered in the ordinary course of post.
Section
91 - Mode of service of notice, order or proclamation or copy thereof
A
notice, order or proclamation, or copy of any such document issued by a Revenue
Officer or Revenue Court for service on any person shall be served in the
manner provided in the last foregoing section for the service of a summon.
Section
92 - Additional mode of publishing proclamation
Where
a proclamation relating to any land is issued by a Revenue Officer or Revenue
Court, it shall, in addition to any other mode of publication which may be
prescribed by any enactment for the time being in force, be made by beat of
drum or other customary method, and by the pasting of a copy thereof on a
conspicuous place in or near the land to which it relates.
Section
93 - Joinder of tenants as parties to proceedings relating to rent
(1)
Any
number of tenants cultivating in the same estate may, in the discretion of the
Revenue Officer or Revenue Court and subject to any rules which the [65][State]
Government may make in this behalf, be made parties to any proceeding under
Chapter III.
(2)
But a
decree or order shall not be made in any such proceeding unless the Revenue
Officer or Revenue Court is satisfied that all the parties thereto have had an
opportunity of appearing and being heard.
(3)
A
decree or order made in any such proceedings shall specify the extent to which
each of the tenants is affected thereby.
Section
94 - Exception of suits under this Act from operation of certain enactments
Nothing
in section 424 of the [66]Code
of Civil Procedure, (XIV of 1882) on in section 36 of the [67]Punjab
Municipal Act, 1884 (XIII of 1884), shall be construed to apply to a suit of a
class mentioned in section 77 of this Act.
Section
95 - Payment into Court of money admitted to be due to a third person
(1)
When a
defendant admits that money is due from him on account of rent, but pleads that
it is due not to the plaintiff but to a third person, the Court shall, except
for special reasons to be recorded by it, refuse to take cognizance of the plea
unless the defendant pays into Court the amount so admitted to be due.
(2)
Where
such a payment is made the Court shall forthwith cause notice of the payment to
be served on tile third person.
(3)
Unless
the third person within three months from the receipt of the notice institutes
a suit against the plaintiff and therein obtains an order restraining payment
of the money, it shall be paid to the plaintiff on his application to the Court
therefor.
(4)
Nothing
in this section shall effect the right of any person to recover from the
plaintiff money paid to him under sub-section (3).
(5)
When a
defendant pays money into Court under this section, the Court shall give the
defendant a receipt, and the receipt so given shall operate as an acquittance
in the same manner and to the same extent as if it had been given by the
plaintiff or the third person, as the case may be.
Section
96 - Execution of decree for appears of rent
A
Court passing a decree for an arrear of rent may, on the oral application of
the decree-holder, order execution thereof against the movable property of the
tenant, and against any uncut or ungathered crops on the tenancy in respect of
which the arrear is decreed.
Section
97 - Prohibition of imprisonment of tenants in execution of decrees for rent
A
tenant shall not, during the continuance of his occupancy, be liable to imprisonment
on the application of his landlord in execution of a decree for an arrear of
rent.
Section
98 - Power to refer party to Civil Courts
(1)
If, in
any proceeding pending before a Revenue Court exercising original, appellate or
revisional jurisdiction, it appears to the Court that any question in issue is
more proper for decision by a Civil Court, the Revenue Court may, with the
previous sanction of the Court, if any, to the control of which it is
immediately subject, require, by order in writing, any party to the proceeding
to institute, within such time as it may fix in this behalf, a suit in the
Civil Court for the purpose of obtaining a decision on the question and, if he
fails to comply with the requisition, may decide the question as it thinks fit.
(2)
If the
party institutes the suit in compliance with the requisition, the Revenue Court
shall dispose of the proceeding pending before it in accordance with the final
decision of the Civil Court of first instance or appeal, as the case may be.
Section
99 - Power to refer to High Court questions as to jurisdiction
(1)
If the
presiding officer of a Civil or Revenue Court in which a suit has been
instituted doubts whether he is precluded from taking cognizance of the suit,
he may refer the matter through the [68][District
Judge] or Commissioner, or, if he is a [69][District
Judge] or Commissioner, directly to the [70][High
Court].
(2)
On any
such reference being made, the [71][High
Court] may order the presiding officer either to proceed with the suit or to
return the plaint for presentation in such other Court as it may in its order
declare to be competent to take cognizance of the suit.
(3)
The
order of the [72][High
Court] on any such reference shall be conclusive as against persons who are not
parties to the suit as well as against persons who are parties thereto.
Section
100 - Power of High Court to validate proceedings held under mistake as to
jurisdiction
(1)
In
either of the following cases, namely:-
(a)
if it
appears to a Civil Court that a Court under its control has determined a suit
for a class mentioned in section 77 which under the provisions of that section
should have been heard and determined by a Revenue Court; or
(b)
if it
appears to a Revenue Court that a Court under its control has determined a suit
which should have been heard by a Civil Court, the Civil Court or Revenue
Court, as the case may be, shall submit the record of the suit to the [73][High
Court].
(2)
If on
perusal of the record it appears to the [74][High
Court] that the suit was so determined in good faith, and that the parties have
not been prejudiced by the mistake as to jurisdiction, the [75][High
Court] may order that the decree be registered in the Court which had
jurisdiction.
(3)
If it
appears to the [76][High
Court], otherwise than on submission of a record under sub-section (1), that a
Civil Court under its control has determined a suit of a class mentioned in
section 77 which under the provisions of that section should have been heard
and determined by a Revenue Court, the [77][High
Court] may pass any order which it might have passed if the record had been
submitted to it under that sub-section.
(4)
With
respect to any proceeding subsequent to decree, the [78][High
Court] may make such order for its registration in a Revenue Court or Civil
Court as in the circumstances appears to be just and proper.
(5)
An
order of the [79][High
Court] under this section shall be conclusive as against persons who were not
parties to the suit or proceeding as well as against persons who were parties
thereto, and the decree or proceeding to which the order relates shall have
effect as if it had been made or heard by the Court in which the order has
required it to be registered.
(6)
The
provisions of this section shall apply to any suit instituted on or after the
first day of November, 1884, and to proceeding arising out of any such suit.
Section
101 - Place of sitting
(1)
An
Assistant Collector may exercise his powers under this Act at any place within
the limits of the district in which he is employed.
(2)
Any
other Revenue Officer or Revenue Court may only exercise his or its powers
under this Act within the local limits of his or its jurisdiction.
Section
102 - Holidays
(1)
The
Financial Commissioner, with the approval of the [80][State]
Government, shall publish in the [81][Official
Gazette] before the commencement of each calendar year a list of days to be
observed in that year as holidays by all or any Revenue Officers and Revenue
Courts.
(2)
A
proceeding held before a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court on a day specified in
the list as a day to be observed by the officer or Court as a holiday shall not
be invalid by reason only of its having been held on that day.
Section
103 - Discharge of duties of Collector dying or being disabled
When a
Collector dies or is disabled from performing his duties, the officer who
succeeds temporarily to the chief executive administration of the district
under any orders which may be generally or specially issued by the [82][State]
Government on this behalf, shall be deemed to be a Collector under this Act.
Section
104 - Retention of powers by Revenue Officer on transfer
When a
Revenue Officer of any class who, either as such or as a Revenue Court, has
under the foregoing provisions of this Act any powers to be exercised in any
local area is transferred from that local area to another as a Revenue Officer
or Revenue Court of the same or a higher class, he shall continue to exercise
those powers in that other local area, unless the [83][State]
Government otherwise directs or has otherwise directed.
Section
105 - Conferment of powers of Revenue Officer or Revenue Court
(1)
the [84][State]
Government may by [85][notification]
confer on any person-
(a)
all or
any of the powers of a Financial Commissioner, Commissioner or Collector under
this Act, or
(b)
all or
any of the powers with which an Assistant Collector of either grade is, or may
be, invested thereunder, and may by notification withdraw any powers so
conferred.
(2)
A
person on whom powers are conferred under sub-section (1) shall exercise those
powers within such local limits and in such classes of cases as the [86][State]
Government may direct, and, except as otherwise directed by the [87][State]
Government, shall for all purposes connected with the exercise thereof be
deemed a Financial Commissioner, Commissioner, Collector or Assistant
Collector, as the case may be.
(3)
Before
conferring powers on the Judge of a Civil Court under subsection (1), the [88][State]
Government shall consult the [89][High
Court].
(4)
If any
of the powers of a Collector under section 78, section 79, section 80 or
section 82 are conferred on an Assistant Collector, they shall, unless
the [90][State]
Government by special order otherwise directs, be exercised by him subject to
the control of the Collector.
Section
106 - Powers of Financial Commissioner to make rules
(1)
The
Financial Commissioner may, in addition to the other rules which may be made by
him under this Act, make rules consistent with this Act and any other enactment
for the time being in force:-
(a)
determining,
notwithstanding anything in any record-of-rights, the number and amount of the
instalments and the times by and at which rent is to be paid;
(b)
for
the guidance of Revenue Officers in determining, for the purposes of this Act,
the amount of the land-revenue of any land;
(c)
prescribing,
for all or any of the territories to which this Act extends, the periods during
which in proceedings held under this Act, a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court is
not, except for reasons of urgency to be recorded, to issue any? process of
arrest against a tenant or against a landowner who cultivates his own land;
(d)
regulating
the procedure in cases where persons are entitled to inspect records of Revenue
Officers or Revenue Courts, or to obtain copies of the same and prescribing the
fees payable for searches and copies;
(e)
prescribing
forms for such books, entries, statistics and accounts as the Financial
Commissioner thinks necessary to be kept, made or complied in Revenue Officers
or Revenue Courts or submitted to any authority;
(f)
declaring
what shall be the language of any of those offices and Courts, and determining
in what cases persons practising in those offices and Courts shall be permitted
to address the presiding officers thereof in English; and
(g)
generally
for the guidance of Revenue Officers and other persons in matters connected
with the enforcement of this Act.
(2)
Until
rules are made under clause (a) of sub-section (1), rent shall be payable by
the instalments and at the times by and at which it is now payable.
(3)
Rules
made by the Financial Commissioner under this or any other section of this
Act [91][shall
be made subject to the control of] the [92][State]
Government.
Section
107 - Rules to be made after previous publication
The
power to make any rules under this Act is subject [93][***]
to the condition of the rules being made after previous publication.
Section
108 - Powers exercisable by Financial Commissioner
All
powers conferred by this Act on the Financial Commissioner may be exercised
from time to time as occasion requires.
Section
109 - Nullity of certain entries in records-of-rights
An
entry in any record-of-rights providing:-
(a)
that a
landlord may prevent a tenant from making, or eject him for making, such
improvements on his tenancy as he is entitled to make under this Act, or
(b)
that a
tenant ejected from his tenancy shall not be entitled to compensation for
improvements or for disturbance in any case in which he would under this Act be
entitled to compensation therefor, or
(c)
that
landlord may eject a tenant otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of
this Act, shall be void to that extent.
Section
110 - Nullity of certain agreements contrary to the Act
(1)
Nothing
in any agreement made between a landlord and a tenant after the passing of this
Act shall-
(a)
override
any of the provisions of this Act with respect to the acquisition of a right of
occupancy or the reduction, remission or suspension of rent, or the enhancement
of the rent of a tenant having a right of occupancy under section 5 or section
6, or
(b)
take
away or limit the right of a tenant as determined by this Act to make
improvements and claim compensation therefor, or, where compensation for
disturbances can be claimed under the Act, to claim such compensation, or
(c)
entitle
a landlord to eject a tenant otherwise than in accordance with the provisions
of this Act.
(2)
Nothing
in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall apply to an agreement by which a tenant
binds himself to pay an enhanced rent in consideration of an improvement which
has been, or is to be, made in respect of his tenancy by, or at the expense of,
his landlord, and to the benefit of which the tenant is not otherwise entitled.
Section
111 - Saving of other agreements when in writing
Save
as expressly provided in this Act, nothing in this Act shall affect the
operation of any agreement between a landlord and a tenant, when the agreement
either is in writing or has been recorded in a record-of-rights before the
passing of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (XVII of 1887), or been entered by
order of a Revenue Officer in a record-of-rights or annual record under the
provisions of that Act.
Section
112 - Effect of certain entries made in records-of-rights before November, 1871
An
entry made with respect to any of the following matters before the eighteenth
day of November, 1871, and attested by the proper officer, in the record of a
regular settlement sanctioned by the [94][State]
Government, namely:-
(a)
the
enhancement or abatement of the rent of a tenant having a right of occupancy,
or the commutation of rent in kind into rent in money or of rent in money into
rent in kind, or the taking of rent in kind by division or appraisement of the
produce or other procedure of a like nature, or
(b)
the
letting or under-letting of land in which there is a right of occupancy by the
tenant having that right, or the alienation of or succession to land in which
such a right subsists, shall be deemed to be an agreement within the meaning of
the last foregoing section.
Schedule
I - THE SCHEDULE
THE SCHEDULE
[Repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act,
1891
(XII of 1891) S.2 (1) and first
Schedule.]
[1] See Notification No. 726, ?Punjab Gazette? 3rd November, 1887,
Part I, Page 578.
[2]
Omitted by the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.
[3]
Substituted for the words ?Lieutenant Governor? by the Government of India
(Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.
[4]
Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[5]
Omitted by the Indian (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws) Order, 1947.
[6] Substituted
for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[7]
Substituted for the words ?Governor-General in Council? by the Government of
India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.
[8] Repealed by the Repealing and Amendment Act, 1891 (XII of 1891).
[9] Repealed by the Repealing and Amendment Act 1891 (XII of 1891).
[10]
Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[11]
Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[12]
Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[13]
Repealed by the Repealing and Amendment Act, 1891 (XII of 1891).
[14]
Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[15]
Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[16]
Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[17]
Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[18]
Omitted by the Indian (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws) Order, 1947.
[19] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by Adaptation of Laws Order,
1950.
[20] Added by Punjab Act XI of 1925 and was omitted by the Indian
(Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws), Order, 1947, Section 4(i).
[21] Added by Punjab Act XI of 1925 and was omitted by the Indian
(Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws), Order, 1947, Section 4(i).
[22] Added by Punjab Act XI of 1925 and was omitted by the Indian
(Adaptation of Existing Indian lam), Order, 1947. Section 4(i).
[23] Omitted by the Indian (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws), Order,
1947, Section 4(i).
[24] Substituted by Punjab Act 1 of 1906.
[25] Substituted by Punjab Act 1 of 1906.
[26] Added by Punjab Act 1 of 1906.
[27] Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order,
1950.
[28] Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order,
1950.
[29] The words ?or a Revenue officer under the provisions of section
27-A has determined to be proper? (inserted by section 7 of Punjab Act XI of
1925) omitted by the Indian (Adaptation of Existing India Laws) Order, 1947.
[30] The words ?or a Revenue officer under the provisions of section
27-A has determined to be proper? (inserted by section 7 of Punjab Act XI of
1925) omitted by the Indian (Adaptation of Existing India Laws) Order, 1947.
[31] Inserted by Punjab Act XI of 1925, was omitted by the Indian
(Adaptation of Existing Laws) Order, 1947.
[32] Omitted by the Indian (Adaptation of Existing Laws) Order, 1947.
[33] Inserted by the Rep and Amending Act, 1891 (XII of 1891).
[34] Inserted by Punjab Act 5 of 1929:
[35] Inserted by Punjab Act 5 of 1929.
[36] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order 1950.
[37] Added by the Punjab Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1925 (10 of 1925),
omitted by the Indian Adaptation of Existing Laws Order, 1947.
[38] Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order
1950.
[39] Substituted for the word ?Crown? by the Adaptation of Laws Order
1950.
[40] Added by Punjab Act II of 1927.
[41]
Substituted by Punjab Act IX of 1939.
[42]
Inserted by Punjab Act IX of 1939.
[43]
Substituted for the letter ?c? in brackets by Punjab Act IX of 1939.
[44]
Added by Punjab Act II of 1927.
[45]
Substituted for the letter ?c? in brackets by Punjab Act IX of 1939.
[46] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order 1950.
[47] The words ?with the previous sanction of the Governor-General in
Council? were repealed by the Decentralization Act, 1914 (IV of 1914).
[48] Added by Punjab Act 4 of 1933.
[49] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[50] Inserted by section 11 of Punjab Act 11 of 1925 has been omitted
by the Indian (Adaptation of Existing Indian Laws) Order, 1947.
[51]
Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[52]
Added by Punjab Act 3 of 1912.
[53]
Added by Punjab Alienation of Land Act, 13 of 1900.
[54]
Repealed by the Adaptation of Laws (Third Amendment) Order, 1951.
[55]
Added by Punjab Act 18 of 1963.
[56]
Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.
[57] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[58] See now The Limitation Act, 36 of 1963.
[59] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[60] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[61] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[62] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[63] See now the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
[64] See now the Indian Post Office Act, 1898 (6 of 1898).
[65] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[66] See now the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act 5 of 1908).
[67] See now the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 (Punjab Act 3 of 1911).
[68] Substituted for ?Divisional Judge? by the Punjab Courts Act, 1918
(6 of 1918).
[69] Substituted for ?Divisional Judge? by the Punjab Courts Act, 1918
(6 of 1918).
[70] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[71] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[72] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[73] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[74] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[75] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[76] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[77] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[78] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[79] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1919.
[80] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws Order,
1950.
[81] Substituted for the words ?Local Official Gazette? by the
Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937.
[82] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[83] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[84] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[85] For Notification see Punjab Government Gazette, 1908, Part I, page
928.
[86] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws Order,
1950.
[87] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[88] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[89] Substituted for the words ?Chief Court? by Act 18 of 1918.
[90] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.
[91] Substituted for the words ?shall not take effect until they have
been sanctioned by? by the Decentralization Act, 1914 (4 of 1914).
[92] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws Order,
1950.
[93] The words ?to the control of the Governor General-in-Council and?
were repealed by the Devolution Act, 38 of 1920.
[94] Substituted for the word ?Provincial? by the Adaptation of Laws
Order, 1950.