THE ANDHRA PRADESH (ANDHRA AREA) VILLAGE-LANDS
DISPUTES REGULATION, 1816
[1]THE ANDHRA PRADESH (ANDHRA AREA) VILLAGE-LANDS DISPUTES REGULATION, 1816
PREAMBLE
A Regulation for authorizing Collectors to refer
claims regarding lands or corps, the validity of which claims may depend on the
determination of a disputed boundary; as also certain disputes respecting the
occupying, cultivating and irrigating of land, to be tried and determined by
Village and District Panchayats; and for prescribing the Rules under which the
trial of such disputes shall be conducted, and the decisions of the Panchayats
carried into execution.
The mode of determining the validity of claims to
disputed lands or crops prescribed in Section 2, Regulation XXXII, 1802, being
considered to be inconvenient to the parties, and the determining, in the
Adalat of Zilla of suits respecting the occupying, cultivating and irrigation
of land, which may arise between proprietors or renters and their raiyats, in
those districts where the land-revenue is fixed either permanently, or for a
term of years, being also regarded as liable to the same objections; and it
being deemed expedient that further provision should be made for the
investigation and determination of such claims, and that Collectors should for
that purpose be authorised to refer them for trial and decision to Village and
District Panchayats; the Governor in Council has passed the following rules to
be in force in the Andhra area of the State of Andhra Pradesh.
Regulation - 2-A. Panchayats authorized to determine suits referred to them.
Village and District Panchayats are hereby
authorized to hear and determine such suits as may be referred to them by the
Collectors of Zillas under this Regulation, through the Village District
Munsifs.
Regulation - 3. Employment of relatives etc. as vakils.
Plaintiffs, and defendants shall be allowed to
employ a relative, a servant or dependent to act in their behalf in suits which
may be brought before the Collectors of Zilla under this Regulation, under the
same provisions as are prescribed for suits before the District Munsifs.
Regulation - 4. In what cases person may prefer their claims to Collectors.
First:-
In cases of claims to lands or crops in districts
permanently settled or otherwise, the validity of which claims may depend on
the determination of an uncertain and disputed boundary or landmark, and also
in cases of disputes respecting the occupying, cultivating, and irrigating of
land which may arise between the proprietors or renters and their raiyats, in
those districts only where the land-revenue is fixed, either permanently or for
a term of years, persons having such claims may prefer them in person or by
vakil to the Collector of Zilla in which the lands may be situated.
What the plaint is to contain if for land:-
Second:-
The plaint, if for land, shall contain as accurate
a description as can be obtained of the land claimed, its position, boundaries,
extent and the value of its estimated annual produce, also whether it be
subject to the payment of rent or revenue, or whether it be exempt from any
charge on these accounts, also the time when the cause of action arose, the
name and residence of the person or persons complained against, and all
material circumstances which may elucidate the transaction.
What the plaint is to contain if for water:-
Third:-
If the plaint be for water, it shall, with regard
to the land to be watered, state the above particulars and in addition thereto
the custom of the village relative to the irrigation of the land in question.
Regulation - 5. Summons to defendant to be issued. Contents of summons. How to be attested and served.
First:-
The Collector, on receiving a complaint preferred
under the proceeding, section, shall issue a summons to the defendant
containing a short abstract of the complaint, and shall require the defendant
to appear at the kachari of the Collector, in person or by vakil, on a day
specified, to make answer to the complaint. The summons shall be attested by
the seal of the Collector and his official signature, or that of his Assistant,
and shall be served by a single peon of the Collector's establishment.
Peon how to proceed. Refusal to acknowledge
summons; how to be attested:-
Second:-
The Collector's peon shall require the defendant to
affix his signature to the summons in acknowledgment of its having been duly
served; and, in the event of defendant refusing to affix his signature thereto
the peon shall call upon some of the village-officers or neighbors of the
defendant to witness such refusal and to attest the endorsement of it which he
shall make on the summons, and shall return the same to the Collector on or before
the day fixed for such return.
How Collector to proceed if defendant is not to be
found or refuse to acknowledge summons:-
Third:-
If a defendant against whom a summons may issue
shall abscond or is not after diligent search to be found, or shall shut himself
up in his own or in any house or in any house or building, or retire to any
place, so that the process cannot be served upon him and the peon shall return
that on such account he has not been able to serve or execute the process, or
if he shall refuse to acknowledge the service of the summons, on return being
made in the mode prescribed in the preceding clause, the Collector shall cause
a writing in the language of the district to be struck up in some conspicuous
part of his kachari, containing a copy o the summons and a notice that if the
party shall not appear on a day to be specified (which shall not be less than
fifteen days from the time that the notice may be fixed up), the Collector will
proceed without further notice to refer the cause, with the consent of the
plaintiff, to be tried and determined by Panchayat of the district in which the
disputed lands may be situated, without the appearance or answer of the
defendant. The Collector shall likewise order a copy of the summons and notice
to be fixed up, with all practicable dispatch, on the outer door of the house
in which the defendant may have usually dwelt, or in some conspicuous place in
the village or other place in which he may have generally resided. The peon
serving the summons shall return the order, with an endorsement stating at what
times and places the summons may have been fixed up.
Collector how to proceed if defendant appears.
Defendant liable to fine for contempt. Collector how to proceed if such fine be
not paid or security given:-
Fourth :-
If the defendant shall appear by the time limited
in the notice, the Collector shall proceed to investigate the cause of his
absence, or the circumstance of his refusal to sign the summons, and, if it
shall appear to the satisfaction of the Collector that the conduct of the
defendant has been contemptuous, he is empowered to punish such contempt by
imposing a fine on the defendant, according to the circumstances of the case,
not exceeding ten rupees; and if such fine be not immediately paid, or security
given for the payment within a reasonable time, the Collector shall punish such
defendant by committing him to the zilla jail, or by keeping him in custody in
the kachari or village-choultry for a period not in any case exceeding fifteen
days, or until the fine shall be paid.
Plaint to be read to defendant in presence of
plaintiff:-
Fifth:-
On the appearance of the defendant, if he appears
according to the first summons, or by the time limited in the notice, the
Collector shall cause the plaint to be read over to the defendant in the
presence of the plaintiff, and shall demand whether he admit or deny the truth
of the complaint. If the defendant shall acquiesce in the truth of the
complaint, the Collector shall record such acquiesce at the foot of the plaint,
and require the defendant to attest the same with his signature in the presence
of witnesses, not being servants of the Collector's establishment who shall
also attest the same, and the document shall be countersigned by the Collector,
who shall return the document to the complainant, together with an order to the
Tahsildar or Deputy Tahsildar or Village Munsif, to transfer the lands
described in the plaint to the plaintiff; or, if the plaint include crops grown
on such lands, to cause the crops, or the value of them to be restored to the
plaintiff by the defendant; or, if the plaint be for water to order the water
be distributed as required in the plaint: and no other proceedings shall be
necessary in the cause.
Procedure when defendant denies truth of plaint:-
Sixth:-
If the defendant deny the truth of the plaint, the
Collector shall inquire of the parties whether they mutually consent to have
the cause investigated and decided by a Village Panchayat; and upon their
agreeing in writing to have the matter investigated and decided by the
Panchayat of any particular village, the Collector shall immediately forward
the petition of plaint with an order to the Munsif of that village to assemble
a Panchayat without delay to investigate and determine the suit.
When matter may be referred to District Panchayat:-
Seventh:-
If either the plaintiff or defendant object to the
reference of the cause to be tried and determined by a Village Panchayat, and
either of them shall desire in writing that it may be referred to be tried and
decided by a District Panchayat, the Collector, whether the other party agrees
to such reference or not, shall forward the plaint to the Munsif of the
district in which the disputed property may be situated with an order to
assemble a Panchayat, within fifteen days from the receipt of such order, to
investigate and determine the suit.
If neither party agree to reference, suit to be
dismissed:-
Eighth:-
If neither of the parties agree to the reference of
the suit to a District Panchayat, the suit shall be dismissed, and the parties
shall be at liberty to seek redress from the Zilla Court or any competent
jurisdiction.
Regulation - 6. Panchayats how assembled; their procedure.
First:-
The panchayats shall be assembled according to the
rules prescribed for assembling Village and District Panchayats, and their
proceedings in cases referred under this Regulation shall be conducted
according to the general rules enacted in Regulations V, VII, of 1816, for their
guidance, with the following qualifications.
When Panchayat to be formed on challenge of one
party:-
Second:-
When only one of the parties shall appear before
the District Munsif, the Panchayat shall be formed upon the challenge of such
party only, and shall proceed to try the suit.
Sending copies of decree to Collector:-
Third:-
When the decree has been framed and two copies of
it prepared, it shall be read in the presence of the parties, and the two
copies shall be sealed up in a packet and delivered to the Munsif who shall
forward it to the Collector sealed as he received it.
Decree to be confirmed before execution. When to be
set aside:-
Fourth:-
Decrees of the Village and District Panchayats in
suits which may be referred to them by the Collectors under this Regulation
shall not be carried into execution until confirmed by the Collector, nor shall
they be set aside for any other cause than gross partiality on the part of the
Panchayat.
Regulation - 7. Forms to be observed by Collector on receiving packet.
The Collector shall detain the packet in the state
in which he received it for twenty days; and, if in that time no charge of
gross partiality shall be preferred by either party against the Panchayat, he
shall open the packet and confirm the decision by affixing his seal and
signature to each of the two copies, and he shall return them to the Munsif
from whom he received them.
Regulation - 8. When to be delivered to parties.
First:-
The Munsif, on receiving the copies of the decree
confirmed by the Collector, shall summon the parties and deliver to each of
them a copy of the decree.
Non-appearance, or refusal, to receive copy to be
endorsed:-
Second:-
If either the plaintiff or defendant shall fail to
appear in person or by vakil to receive a copy of the decree, or having
attended, shall refuse to receive a copy, the Munsif shall cause to be endorsed
on the copy intended for such party such omission or refusal, and the date. The
Munsif shall attest the same with his signature, which shall be witnessed by any
two credible witnesses. The copy so endorsed shall be deposited in the records
of the District Munsif, or the Village Karnam; as the case may be, to be
delivered to the party afterwards claiming it.
Regulation - 9. Collector how to proceed on charge of partiality being preferred to him and proved to his satisfaction.
First:-
If either of the parties shall, within the
prescribed period of twenty days, charge the Panchayat with gross partiality,
and if the partiality charged against the Panchayat shall be established to the
satisfaction of the Collector he shall in every case, whatever the amount or
value of the suit may be submit his proceedings with his opinion on the case
the Court of appeal who, provided the charge be proved by such proceedings to
their satisfaction, shall annual the decision, and the parties shall be at
liberty to have recourse to another Panchayat or to any other competent
jurisdiction.
Second:-
Provided, however, that the decision of a second
panchayat shall agree with the decision of a former Panchayat in the same suit,
it shall be final.
Third:-
If the partiality charged against the Panchayat
shall not be proved to the satisfaction of the Collector, he shall confirm the
decree as prescribed in Section 7 of this Regulation and shall levy a fine from
the party making such groundless charge, not exceeding one hundred rupees.
Regulation - 10. Decrees how to be executed.
Decrees of Village and District Panchayats, in
cases referred to them under this Regulation, shall be carried into execution,
on the written application of the party in whose favour the decree may be
given, by the Collector, or by the Tahsildar or Deputy Tahsildar, by causing
the boundary, when the suit relates to a disputed boundary, to be marked out in
the presence of the Village Munsif and Karnam and two or more of the principal
inhabitants, and in all other cases by causing the land to be given up or the
water to be distributed as prescribed by the decree.
Regulation - 11. Charges on suits under Regulation.
Suits instituted before the Collectors under this
Regulation shall be liable only to such charges as are specified in Regulation
V, 1816, if decided by a Village Panchayat.
Regulation - 12. Returns of decisions of Panchayats.
Repealed by Madras Act II of 1869.
Regulation - 13. Deposit of copy of Regulation.
A copy of this Regulation shall be lodged with and
preserved by each Village Karnam, for the information of the Village Munsifs.