(Assam Rules I of
1972)[1] CHAPTER I GENERAL These Rules may be called the Assam (Temporarily Settled
Areas) Tenancy Rules, 1972. In these rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the
subject or context? (a) The
"Act" means the Assam (Temporarily Settled Areas) Tenancy Act, 1971
(Assam Act XXIII of 1971); (b) "Board"
means the Assam Board of Revenue constituted under the Assam Board of Revenue
Act, 1959; (c) "Code"
means the Civil Procedure Code, 1908; (d) "Form"
means a form appended to these Rules; (e) "Regulation"
means the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886; (f) "Section"
means a section of the Act; (g) The words
"Settlement Officer" and "Assistant Settlement Officer" and
"Survey Officer" and "Assistant Survey Officer" shall have
the same meaning as assigned to them in the Regulation or the Rules framed
thereunder and all other words and expressions used in these rules and not
defined herein but defined in the Act or in the Regulation shall respectively
have the same meaning as assigned to them in the Act or in the Regulation as
the case may be. (1) A notice
in Form 1 about the intended extension of the Act in any area shall be
published in one issue of the Official Gazette, at least in one issue of a
local newspaper having circulation in the area, and by affixing a copy thereof
in the notice board of the Deputy Commissioner of the District in which the
area concerned is included. Ordinarily 30 days time should be given for filing
objections. (2) Disposal
of objections. Any objection received within the time limit shall be duly
considered and disposed of on merit. (3) Final
publication of Notification extending the Act. After disposal of all the
objection petitions received within the time limit, Government shall finally
publish a Notification in From 2 in the Official Gazette, extending the whole
or part of the Act to such area as the case may be. CHAPTER II PROCEDURE FOR
TRANSFER BY THE OCCUPANCY TENANTS In the rules under this Chapter the expression
"transfer" shall have the same meaning as is defined under Section 5
of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 subject to the explanation below? Explanation.? The word
"transfer" is used here in the most generic legal sense comprehending
all the specific contract which pass real right in the land from one person to
another. The term is applicable to any interest whether whole or carved out
either directly or indirectly of the aggregate known as ownership. A mortgage
by an occu-pancy tenant for the purpose of obtaining agricultural loan from the
recognized financial institutions or partition amongst the family members
should not be considered as transfer. As far as practicable an application by an occupancy
tenant seeking the permission for transfer under Section 8 of the Act shall be
in Form 3. The application shall be presented in the Court of any Revenue
Officer not below the rank of Sub-Deputy Collector having jurisdiction over the
area with copy to his immediate landlord. The said application shall be signed
and verified as a plaint under the Code and it shall contain sufficient
description of the land intended to be transferred. On receipt of an application under Section 8 of the Act,
the Revenue Officer shall ordinarily grant the permission within 30 days from
the date of filing the application unless the proposed transfer is likely to
contravene any of the provisions of the Act. When, however, a permission is
refused, the grounds for such refusal shall be recorded in writing and
communi-cated to the applicant within a fortnight from the date of disposal of
the application. A notice of transfer shall always be served on the
landlord by the tenant under registered post with acknowledgment due. Such
notice shall contain the full details of transfer along with the complete
postal address of the transferee as well as transferor : Provided that where the delivery of the notice under
registered post does not take place due to no fault of the tenant, then the
tenant may apply with the postal receipt before the Court of the Revenue
Officer at the time of filing the application under Rule 5, for causing the
service of such notice upon the landlord by depositing necessary process fees
together with the requisite number of the said notice. The Revenue Officer shall
cause the service upon the landlord on behalf of the tenant. CHAPTER III PROCEDURE
FOR ACQUISITION When Government decide to acquire ownership rights and
intermediary rights under Section 22, it shall publish in a notification in
Form 4 in the Official Gazette and the Deputy Commissioner shall cause public
notice of the substance of such notification to be given at convenient places
in the said locality and such publication shall be conclusive evidence of the
notice of acquisition to the persons having interests over the land. An application for acquisition under Section 23 (1) and
23 (2) shall be in Form 5 and it must be signed and verified by the applicant. The Deputy Commissioner on receipt of an application
under Rule 9, shall cause and enquiry to satisfy himself about the eligibility
of the applicant to acquire the intermediary rights and the ownership rights
before ordering further proceedings. If the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied
that there is a prima facie case for acquisition under Section 23, he shall
serve notices in Form 6 to all persons mentioned in the application at applicant's
cost and to any other person or persons who, in the opinion of the Deputy
Commissioner are interested in it. The Deputy Commissioner shall hear all objections
presented within one month of the service of notice under Rule 10 and make a
memorandum of the evidences, if any, adduced by the parties and shall, for the
purposes of the enquiry, have all the powers of a Civil Court. (1) When the
Deputy Commissioner allows the acquisition of a parcel or parcels of land by
the applicant, he shall record a formal order in the proceedings to that effect
and call upon the applicant to deposit the cost of acquisition as may be
estimated under Rule 14. (2) If the
applicant fails to deposit the amount of compensation money within a period of
one month the proceedings shall be terminated with a reasonable cost to be
realized from the applicant as areas of land revenue. (3) In all
cases, the unexpended amount of deposit of compensation shall be refunded to
the applicant on the completion of the proceedings. As soon as the compensation amount is deposited by a
tenant as per order of the Deputy Commissioner under Rule 12, the Deputy
Commissioner shall publish a declaration in Form 7 in the Official Gazette
within 30 days from the date of deposit. The publication of such declaration in
the Official Gazette shall be conclusive evidence of the notice of acquisition
to all persons having interests in the land. (1) Whenever
the Deputy Commissioner shall be required to assess compensation under Section
26 of the Act, he shall served a notice in Form 8 asking the persons having
interests to file their claims in Form 9 within 30 days from the date of
service. (2) Where no
return in Form 9 is filed by the outgoing landlord or owners within the fixed
time, the Deputy Commissioner shall obtain the information required to be shown
in Form 9 through Sub-Deputy Collector or any other officer as he may deem fit. On receipt of return in Form 9 under Rule 14, the Deputy
Commissioner shall verify through such agency as may be necessary as to the
admissibility of the claims and pass orders awarding the compensation where
admissible to the claimants. (1) On
determination of compensation in respect of acquisition under Section 22 of the
Act, the Deputy Commissioner shall pay the entire amount of compensation to the
landlord entitled to receive the payment within 3 months from the date of his
final order assessing such compensation under Rule 15. (2) The Deputy
Commissioner shall pay the amount that will be deposited under Rule 12 for acquisition
under Section 23 of the Act to the person entitled to receive the payment
within 3 months from the date of such deposit on obtaining receipt from the
person concerned. (3) Where
necessary the Deputy Commissioner may insist on execution of an indemnity bond
in Form 10. The Deputy Commissioner shall recover the entire amount
of compensation paid under rule 16(1) from the tenant or under-tenant for whom the
acquisition under Section 22 of the Act has been made. The Deputy Commissioner
shall issue a notice in Form 11 directing the person/ persons concerned to
deposit the money in 5 equated annual instalments. If the person concerned
fails to deposit any instalment within the time specified in the notice, the
Deputy Commissioner then shall order recovery of the defaulted instalment
through Bakijai proceedings under Bengal Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913. The certificate mentioned in Section 26 (4) (a) and
Section 26 (4) (b) of the Act, shall be in Forms 12 and 13 respectively. CHAPTER IV RENT The notice to the landlord intimating refunds intention
to deposit cash rent in lieu of crop-rent under Section 28 of the Act shall be
in Form 14. The receipt to be given to a tenant under Section 37 of
the Act by a landlord shall be in Form 15 and such receipt shall be signed and
dated by the landlord or his authorised agent. (1) An
application under Section 38 (I) of the Act for permission to deposit the rent
shall be filed before a Revenue Officer having jurisdiction in the area and the
application shall be signed and verified as a plaint under Code. It shall
contain a statement of the ground or grounds on which it is made. (2) The
Revenue Officer shall fix a date for admitting the application that will be
filed under sub-rule (I) above and both the applicant and his landlord or any
other person having interest in the holding shall be intimated by service of
notices in Form 16. If the landlord fails to turn up or refuses to accept the
rent tendered, or if the Revenue Officer is satisfied about the prima facie
validity of the grounds adduced in the application, then he shall admit the
application and accept the amount that may be tendered as rent and keep it in
deposit and issue a receipt in Form 17. (3) When an
application under sub-rule (2) above is admitted and the amount offered as rent
accepted, the Revenue Officer shall publish a notice in Form 18 in the notice
board of his office and cause a copy thereof to be served upon such person whom
he believes to be entitled to receive the payment of rent. The Revenue Office
shall then fix a date for hearing the case and try to settle up the dispute or
the claims of the claimants by conciliation and where the disputes are settled
mutually, he shall order the payment of the amount in terms of settlement. But where the conciliation fails the Revenue Officer
shall refer the dispute to a Civil Court having jurisdiction over the area for
a decision. The amount of rent shall be payable in terms of the final decision
of the Court. CHAPTER V EJECTMENT (1) When any
enquiry is to be conducted under Section 50 (b) of the Act to evict a
non-agriculturist on the ground of transferor being void, the Deputy
Commissioner shall serve notice to both transfer and the transferee and any
other person interested asking them to appear before his Court on such date and
time as may be fixed for the purpose of hearing. After giving the parties an
opportunity of being heard, the Deputy Commissioner if satisfied that
circumstances warrant such eviction shall order the eviction of the
non-agriculturist transferee from the holding. (2) An appeal
against any decision or order or the Deputy Commissioner arising out of enquiry
under Section 50 (h) of the Act shall lie before the Board if preferred within
sixty days from the date of order appealed against. When a Revenue Officer himself will take possession and
deliver it to a tenant under sub-section (2) of Section 54-A of the Act, he
shall issue a certificate in Form 21 to the tenant concerned".][2] CHAPTER VI GENERAL POWERS OF
OFFICERS MAKING SURVEYS AND PREPARING RECORD-OF-RIGHTS The Deputy Commissioner shall have all the powers
conferred by the Regulation on a Settlement Officer and Survey Officer for the
purposes of Chapter X of the Act. As soon as the notification under sub-section (2) of
Section 55 of the Act is published, a Settlement Officer shall be appointed
with additional designation Revenue Officer to be in-charge of making a survey
and preparing record-of-rights under Chapter X of the Act for any local area
and he shall have such powers of a Settlement Officer and Survey Officer under
the Regulation as may be notified. Where necessary, Assistant Settlement Officer with
additional designation of Assistant Revenue Officer shall also be appointed for
any local area and he shall have such powers of an Assistant Settlement Officer
and Assistant Survey Officer under Regulation as may be notified and all
Assistant Settlement Officers so appointed shall be subordinate to the
Settlement Officer. Every local area or a part thereof shall be held to be
under the operation Chapter X of the Act from the date of publication of the
notification under subsection (2) of Section 55 of the Act until the issue of
another notification in the Official Gazette declar-ing the operation to be
closed. As soon as the notification under sub-section (2) of
Section 55 of the Act is published in the Gazette, the Deputy Commissioner or
the Settlement Officer shall cause a proclamation to be published about the
order made under sub-section (I) of Section 55 of the Act through local bodies
of the areas concerned calling upon the tenants and landlords to demarcate on
the ground the boundaries of each holding within a specified time. Each
landlord of the area for which order has been made under Section 55 of the Act,
is also liable to furnish a list containing the name and address of tenant
under him with full particulars direct to the Settlement Officer. When an order under Section 55 of the Act has been made
for a local area, every landholder, settlement-holder and landlord or every
person entitled to receive rent from the tenants of that local area shall be
bound to assist the Settlement Officer or Assistant Settlement Officer as the
case may be. All such person shall on the written requisition of the
Settlement Officer or Assistant Settlement Officer as the case may be, furnish
personally or otherwise, as the officer concerned may direct, such information
or assistance and produce such books or registers or any document as may be
require by the officer for the purpose of survey or for preparation of
record-of-rights under the Act or both purposes. CHAPTER VII PROCEDURE
FOR THE PREPARATION OF RECORD-OF-RIGHTS When an order has been made under Section 55 of the Act
directing that a record-of-rights shall be prepared with survey, the survey
shall be made as provided for under the Regulation. When an order has been made under Section 55 of the Act
directing that a record-of-rights shall be prepared, it shall be prepared in
the manner prescribed below and shall consist of some or all of the following
processes? (1) Preliminary
record writing and survey where necessary; (2) Record
attestation by Settlement Officer or Assistant Settlement Officer including
local explanation; (3) Preliminary
publication of draft records and disposal of objections; (4) Preparation
of Final Record; (5) Publication
of Final Record; (6) Distribution
of Final Record. A Settlement Officer who has been appointed with
additional designation of "Revenue Officer" may at any time before
the publication of the final record, direct that any portion of the proceedings
in respect of the lands of any local area, estate or part thereof shall be
cancelled and that the proceedings shall be carried out de novo from such stage
as he may direct".][3] After the boundaries of all the holding of the tenants
have been surveyed and demarcated, a draft, "Chitha or Field Index"
shall be prepared by the Land Records Staff under the direct supervision of the
Assistant Settlement Officer. The Chitha shall be arranged according to the
serial number of the plots in the map and shall show the name and residence of
the tenants, the area of the plot, the length of possession of the holding of
each tenant, the amount of rent in addition to any other particulars as the
State Government may direct. Disputes regarding the boundary of any holding shall
be decided on the basis of actual possession. (1) The
Assistant Settlement Officer shall then cause draft "Khatian" to be
prepared from the "Chitha". The "Khatian" shall be in Form
19. In addition to the particulars included in the "Chitha" the
"Khatian" shall also contain the landlord's name, address, the number
of the "Patta" held by him and revenue payable in respect of the
plot. There shall ordinarily be a separate, "Khatian" for each tenant
under the same landlord. Where, however, a tenant is found holding different
plots under separate landlord, there shall be a separate "Khatian" in
respect of every such landlord for that tenant. [* * *][4] (2) Before
record attestation of particular village begins, each tenant and his landlord
shall be furnished with a copy of the draft "Khatian". The record
attestation of each area or village shall be taken up in or near the area or
the village after sufficient time have been allowed to the tenants and the landlords
to study their copies of the "Khatians". A proclamation shall
previously be published in the village concerned notifying the landlords and
the tenants to appear before the Assistant Settlement Officer with their copies
of draft "Khatian". As each copy of the draft "Khatian" is
produced before him, the Assistant Settlement Officer shall examine the entries
therein and shall read out and explain the entries and make correction where
necessary. Dispute regarding the ownership of any tenant's holding shall be decided
by the Assistant Settlement Officer in a summary manner and on the basis of
actual possession. (3) All
objections and question as to the correctness of the entries in the
"Khatian" particularly those relating to the rent and the class of
tenant, shall be decided in like manner. It shall be the duty of the Assistant
Settlement Officer to attest the correctness of all the entries in the
"Khatian" irrespective of whether any of the entries may or may not
have been disputed. After record attestation, the Assistant Settlement'
Officer shall correct the records as per orders passed in the course of
attestation and prepare the draft record-of-rights for an area or village.
The Assistant Settlement Officer shall, thereafter, publish the records during
a period of not less than a month at a convenient place as he may determine. A
proclamation shall previously be published in the local area or village
informing the landlords and tenants of the area/village of the place at which
and the period during which the draft records will be open to public inspection
and the last date for filing objections. Notwithstanding anything contained in the proclamation,
the Settlement Officer may extend the period for inspection of the record and
filing of objections. (1) Blank
forms of objection shall be supplied free of charges unless otherwise decided
by the State Government. An objection shall, as far as practicable, be in Form
20 and such objection shall be filed before an Assistant Settlement Officer
having jurisdiction over the area. Along with the original objection, the
objector shall also file sufficient copies of the original objection as may be
required for service on the opposite party or parties and such other persons
who in the opinion of the Assistant Settlement Officer are materially
interested in the case. The Assistant Settlement Officer shall hear the parties
and all such persons who are interested on the date and place fixed for the
hearing of the objection. Generally, the Assistant Settlement Officer shall
record an abstract of the reason for decision and the record shall contain the
names of the witness if examined. No objection shall be disposed of in the
absence of any of the interested parties or their authorised representatives
unless the Assistant Settlement Officer is satisfied for reasons to be recorded
in writing that the notices were duly served on all the persons concerned. (2) An appeal
shall lie to the Settlement Officer having jurisdiction over the area from the
order or decision of an Assistant Settlement Officer under sub-rule (1) above,
if preferred within two months from the date of the order appealed against. No
appeal shall be disposed of in the absence of any of the parties materially
interested or their authorised representatives unless the Settlement Officer is
satisfied for reasons to be recorded in writing that the notice were duly
served on all the persons concerned. (1) When all objections
under Rule 33 have been disposed of and orders have been passed on all appeals
to the Settlement Officer from the orders of the Assistant Settlement Officer
and draft records corrected, where necessary, the Settlement Officer shall
proceed to frame final record in strict conformity with the draft record
already attested or subsequently corrected. (2) The final
record as prepared under sub-rule (1) above shall be always liable to the
corrected in the light of order on the appeal preferred under Section 59 of the
Act. (1) The
Settlement Officer shall publish the final record-of-rights of an area or
village by placing it for public inspection free of charge at a convenient
place in or near the area of village. A proclamation shall previously be
published informing the landlords and the tenants of the place at which and the
period during which the final record of the area or the village will be open to
public inspection. The period shall not be less than one month. (2) A certificate
of final publication under Section 58 (1) or 58 (2) shall be furnished within a
month of the last day of the final publication of the record-of-rights, unless
the State Government has fixed any other date unless provision of sub-section
(1) of the Section 58 of the Act. When a map has been prepared in any case in carrying out
the provision of the Chapter X of the Act, it may be printed under the
authority of the State Government and may be distributed to officers,
landlords, tenants and where necessary to local bodies and other persons in
such manner as the State Government may, from time to time, by general or
special order, direct. Copies of the final record-of-rights or portions thereof
shall be printed or prepared in manuscripts and shall after certification as
prescribed under section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Act I of 1872) be
distributed to officers, landlords and tenants and to others in such manner as
the State Government may, from time to time, by general or special order,
direct. The printed maps and copies of the record or portion
thereof may be distributed under this rule to persons other than officers, in
such manner as the State Government may decide. The Settlement Officer or if there be no Settlement
Officer, the Deputy Commissioner may, on application or on his own motion
within two years of the date of certification of final publication, correct any
entry in record-of-rights which, he is satisfied, has been made owing to a bona
fide mistake : Provided that no such correction shall be made without
giving the parties likely to be affected by such correction an opportunity of
being heard. The appeal preferred under Section 59 (I) of the Act,
shall be disposed of by the Director of Lands Records, Assam or by any officer
authorised in this behalf, after giving the concerning parties an opportunity
of being heard and taking such evidence as is considered necessary. When the State Government decided to revise the
record-of-rights under sub-section (2) of Section 59 of the Act, it shall
direct the Director of Lands Records, Assam to take up the revision. The Director of Land Records, Assam shall serve notices
to the person or persons who are likely to be affected by the proposed revision
and he shall hear all the persons interested or likely to be affected by the
process of revision of record-of-rights. The Director of Land Records, Assam,
after giving an opportunity to all the parties materially interested of being
heard and taking necessary evidence, shall order the correction of any entry in
the record-of-rights which, he is satisfied, is necessary due to reason to be
recorded in writing. CHAPTER VIII MISCELLANEOUS Where no other mode of service of notice is provided by
the Act or by these Rules service shall be effected in the manner provided for
the service of summons on a defendant under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,
if the notice is addressed to one or more persons occupying or owning the same
holding or tenure; and if it is addressed to a number of persons occupying or
owning different holding or tenures in the same village the notice shall be
served in the manner provided for the service of summons on a defendant under
the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, or by proclamation and beat of drum and by
pasting it, in the presence of not less than two persons, on some conspicuous
place in the village, and also by fixing it up in the village office if any
where the rent is usually paid. In the case of uninhabited village the pasting
of the notice shall be made in the nearest inhabited village: Provided that where the person to be served with a notice
is a minor, notice shall be served on the minor and also on his or her legal
guardian or on his or her guardian and ad-litem appointed by the Court for
purposes of service on an application by the person asking for service of
notice. Notwithstanding anything contained in any Rules, all
powers under these rules shall be exercised by any or all officers subject to
any general or special orders issued, from time to time, by the State
Government. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the
provisions of these rules, the State Government may, if circumstances so
demand, take any action not in consistent with the provisions of the Act, which
may be necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty. [1]
Vide Notification No. RRT. 1/72/147, dated the 10th
January, 1973. In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 75 (1) of the
Assam (Temporarily Settled Areas) Tenancy Act, 1971 [Assam Act XXIII of 1971),
the Governor of Assam is pleased to make the Rules in order to carry out the
purposes and objects of the Act. Published in the Assam Gazette, Part II-A,
dated January 31, 1973, Page 239. [2]
After Rule 22, a new Rule 22-A inserted vide
Notification No. RRT. 403/76/11, Dated 24th September, 1976 and published in
the Assam Gazette, Part II-A, dated 13th October, 1976, at page 2242. [3]
The existing Rule 29 was re-numbered as Rule 29 (A) and thereafter Rule 29 (B)
inserted vide Notification No. RRT. 403/76/11, Dated 24th September, 1976 and
published in the Assam Gazette, Part II-A, Dated 13th October, 1976 at page
2242. [4]
Deleted vide Notification No. RRT. 403/76/11, Dated 24th September, 1976.
Published in the Assam Gazette, Part II-A, Dated 13th October, 1976 at page
2242. for the words, "in case of lands not used for purposes connected
with agriculture, the "Khatian" shall show briefly the use to which
the land is put."iTHE ASSAM (TEMPORARILY SETTLED AREAS) TENANCY RULES,
1972