LAND ADMINISTRATION MANUAL

Contents
1

Introductory

LANDOWNERS AND TENANTS

ASSIGNMENTS OF LAND REVENUE

ORGANIZATION FOR PURPOSES OF LAND ADMINISTRATION

SCHEME OF REVENUE ADMINISTRATION

The Superior Revenue Officers of a district

Powers of revenue officers

Patwaris and Kanungos

VILLAGE HEADMEN, INAMDARS AND ZAILDARS

HARVEST INSPECTIONS

10

THE RECORD OF RIGHTS

11

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS

12

RIVERAIN LAW AND REASSESSMENT OF LANDS AFFECTED BY

RIVER ACTION.

13

PARTITIONS

14

ACQUESTION OF LAND FOR PUBLIC PUSPOSES

15

COLLECTION OF LAND REVENUE

16

SUSPENSIONS AND REMISSIONS AND SPECIAL

REDUCTIONS OF ASSESSMENTS.

17

THE COURT OF WARDS

18

STATE LANDS
STATE LANDS RESERVED FROM CULTIVATION.

19

STATE LANDS DEVOTED TO THE EXTENSION OF CULTIVATION

20

MISCELLANEOUS

PUNJAB LAND ADMINISTRATION MANUAL

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
1.
Land revenue not a tax, but rent payable to the State. In the first edition of
this work it was contended that the land revenue was a rent and not a land tax, and this
view has been retained in the opening paragraphs of the fourth edition of the
Settlement Manual. This is not the place to embark upon a summary of the prolonged
controversy on the subject; the question was examined with care by the Indian
Taxation Enquiry Committee of 1926, which was found itself unable to arrive at any
agreed finding. As that committee pointed (See paragraph 53 of this Manual) out
according to the description given by Manual of the fiscal administration of an
ancient Hindu State, The main source of the State revenue was a share of the gross
produce of all land, varying according to the soil and the labour necessary to cultivate
it. In normal times the share varied between one twelfth and one-sixth, but was liable
to rise even to one-fourth in times of war or other public calamity. The revenue was
collected not from individual cultivators but from the community represented by the
headman. In the early days of Muhammadan administration, the State share of the
gross produce demanded by the Hindu kings was converted into the khiraj or tribute
payable on land in countries under Muhammadan rule though the share taken was
greater than before. The committee found that the land revenue has ceased to
represent a portion of gross produce. That in the Punjab .the Government
demand is theoretically based on an economic rent, but actually takes many other
factors into considerationUnder both Hindu and Muhammadan rule, the State never
claimed the absolute or exclusive ownership of the land and definitely recognized the
existence of private property in it.(See paragraph 80 of this Manual).
The General finding of the Committee was that in some cases the revenue was
a pure rent and in others it is more difficult to maintain this view. In this province, the
theory still holds that the revenue is of the nature of a rent charged by the State as
overlord of the land.

Commentary

The term Rent includes the payment of land revenue and cesses on behalf of
the landlord.
2.
Collector, and steward. The officer entrusted with the duty of realizing the
land revenue is not a mere rent collector, especially in provinces like the Punjab,
where the demand is fixed for a period only, and the State continues to have a direct
and immediate interest in the improvement of the land. His position is rather that of
the steward of a great landowner. As such, he is bound to respect, and preserve from
encroachment by others every private right in the soil which has been created or
confirmed by the state. Where the revenue has been fixed for a term only, he has not
only to collect it, but also to look forward to a time when it will be revised, and to
collect and record in systematic manner statistical information, which will facilitate its
equitable reassessment. He must initiate and assist measures to prevent, so far as may
be the loss of crops from causes which are in any degree controllable by man, and
must prepare in ordinary times for those graver natural calamities which produce
intense and widespread scarcity of food. In particular the collector must do everything
in his power to conserve the soil of his district and to maintain its fertility. The top
soil contains most of the fertility of the land, but on sloping ground in many parts of
the Punjab, especially in districts bordering on the Himalayas and in the Salt range it
is being rapidly removed by erosion. Erosion is assisted by the long periods of
drought, the short growing periods of grass and the heavy rainstorms characteristics of
the Punjab. Conservation of soil is effected by the control of grazing, felling and
lopping in uncultivated land and by the embanking and where necessary terracing of
cultivated land. Fertility is maintained by ploughing, manuring, cultivation, hoeing,
weeding and following, and by suitable rotations of crops. It is the first duty to a
farmer to keep his land in good heart, to ensure its stability and if possible to increase
its fertility. This is done by the best farmers, but many allow their land to deteriorate.
The aim of land policy is the true symbiosis, or permanent association, of man
his animals and the land. It is wrong that any man, by slothful cultivation, by
excessive grazing, or by exploitation of the surrounding vegetation should imperil the
stability of the soil of his own or his neighbors holdings. It is his duty to hand on his
fields intact to his successor. The Collector must, therefore, encourage and assist every
effort made by right holders to maintain the fertility of their land, to conserve the
valuable top-soil, and to develop their estates. In addition he must in co-operation

with the Forest, the Agricultural, Veterinary and Co-operative Departments devise
means of combating the menace of erosion throughout his district as a whole.
He must encourage and assist every effort made by right holders for the
development of their estates. In many parts of the province, such as the colony
districts, the State is not only supreme landowner of the soil generally, but also sole
landowner of a considerable part of it, and it is the duty of its local representation to
administer this property so that it may be profitable to the State as representing the
people as a whole, and at the same time beneficial to the colonists, whose prosperity is
the first care of a progressive Government.
3.
Scope of handbook. It is the object of this book to describe how these various
functions can best be carried out by the officer incharge of a district. As a revenue
officer, he is legally known as the Collector, but the more familiar title of Deputy
Commissioner will generally be used in this work. His functions will be described in
the several capacities in which he is called upon to act: -(i)
(ii)

As a recorder of agricultural statistics.

As guardian and registrar of the rights in the soil enjoyed by private
persons.
(iii)
As a collector of the land revenue;
(iv)
As a promoter of the stability and improvement of landed property;
(v)
As a custodian of State property;
(vi)
As a judge between landlords and tenants.
The head of a district has many other important duties to perform, but the
discussion in this work is confined to his functions in connection with the
administration of the land.
CHAPTER II
LANDOWNERS AND TENANTS

4.
Rural communities. Before describing the machinery of the administration, it
is well to say something of the agricultural communities for whose benefit mainly it
exists. The reader is supposed to be familiar with the chapters in the Settlement
Manual, which deal with Tenures and the Rights of Landowners and The Rights of
Tenants.(Chapters VIII and IX. The former may be usefully supplemented by Tribal
Law in the Punjab by Roe and Rattigan 4 th edition. As regards the other classes

found in village communities the grain dealers, artisans and menials see
paragraphs 130,338 and 390 and as regards rents, see paragraphs
311,312,322,339,344 and 355 of the Settlement Manual , 4 th edition) The former may
usefully be supplemented by some account of the law of presumption applicable to
village lands and of the important restrictions impressed upon landowners of the
agricultural class by the passing of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, XIII of 1900.
Commentary

Perpetuity cultivation with condition that cultivator will maintain peachy

creates relationship of landlord and tenant.
5.
Punjab, a country of peasant landowners. The Punjab is essentially an
agricultural country one-half of which is owned and tilled by peasant landowners.
There are a few large proprietors in most districts but in the whole province of number
who pay more than Rs. 500 land revenue is less than 2,500. The majority of owners
holding in the plains are less than ten acres, in the hills they are mostly under three
acres. The bulk of the population of the Punjab consists of landowners and their
dependents and their prosperity and contentment must always be the chief solicitude
of Government.
6.
Dangers to peasant ownership from division of holdings and misappropriation by money-lenders - There are two grave economic dangers, which
beset the ownership of land in small parcels by peasant proprietors. The first of these
is the reduction of the size of many holdings below an area sufficient to support a
family in comfort. This is due to the operation of the law of inheritance under which
sons, on the death of their father, each take an equal share of the family land. It is easy
to exaggerate the effect of this law. Most small owners are able to get additional land
on rent, and where means of livelihood are scanty, the difficulties in finding brides are
apt to prove insuperable. Apart from the unpopular remedy of interfering with the law
of inheritance, there are indirect means of mitigating the evil of over population. One
has been found in the colonization of large tracts of State land rendered culturable by
the construction of new canals. Another has been the increasing diversification of
occupations in towns.
The second, and more serious, danger was the transfer of land by sale and
mortgage to those whose outlook on life prevented them from cultivating it with their

own hands. (See in connection with this subject paragraph 379-381 and 402-406 of
the settlement Manual 4th edition)
7.
Oscillations of opinion on subject - The political advantage of maintaining
the existing framework of society, and of keeping the land in the hands of those whose
hereditary occupations was tillage, was fully recognized by the first administrators of
the Punjab. There followed a time in which the importance of this object was less
keenly felt and the possibility of attaining it was denied. The third phase of opinion,
which is that now predominant, regards the expropriation of the old landowning tribes
with at least as much aversion as did the earliest administrators of the province,
maintaining that it is not only politically, but also economically, disadvantageous. The
causes of these remarkable oscillations of opinion from a curious chapter in the
revenue history of the Punjab, which may be noticed briefly before describing the
actual provisions in force at different times regarding pre-emotion and restrictions on
the transfer of land.
8.
Apologetic tone adopted by early administrators as to measures adopted
to preserve stability of village communities - While experience acquired elsewhere
led shortly after annexation to the adoption of measures to prevent the intrusion of
aliens into village communities by the purchase of land, some of the ablest officers
held that these measures were open to the reproach of economic unsoundness, and that
the prospect of agricultural improvement by the attraction to the soil of the capital of
the moneyed classes was being sacrificed to the importance of political stability. IN
his commentary on the Punjab Civil Code, Mr. Montgomery felt constrained to
apologize for the maintenance of the law of pre-emption. Later, Mr. Cust remarked in
his Revenue Manual: The principle (of pre-emption) is not defended on any
economic grounds, but is maintained for social and political reasons, and
contemplated without regret a gradual process by which the existing village
communities might melt away and give place to a more modern, and perhaps more
politically nice, distribution of property.
9.
Causes of increase of transfers. The disposition to look on unlimited power
of transfers as an essential feature of proprietary right and a necessity of economic
progress was strengthened by the assimilation of the law and procedure of the Punjab
with that of the older provinces, which resulted from the extension of the Code of
Civil Procedure to the province in 1866, and the establishment of a Chief Court in

Lahore in the same year. About the same time the policy of moderation and fixation of
the land revenue began to make land attractive as an investment. Titles had been
clearly determined, and the moderation of the demand made the ownership of land a
source of income. The peasant proprietor found his credit rapidly expanding. The old
system of limited borrowing on the security of crops, cattle, and ornaments was
supplanted by one of extravagant borrowing on the security of the land.
10.
Increase looked on as beneficial or at least inevitable. Sales and mortgages
of land to money-lenders became a feature of village life. By some this was looked
upon with little alarm and even with complacency. It was maintained that the
resources of the country would be developed by the application to the improvement of
the land of capital of the moneyed classes. Even those who disliked the process, were
disposed for a time to look on it as the outcome of an irresistible economic law.
11.
Growth of opinion hostile to free transfer. But, with each quinquennium the
alienation of land proceeded everywhere at a more rapid rate and in some parts of the
country the area which had passed out of the hands of the original owners amounted
to a considerable total. The social and political evils likely to spring from the
expropriation of the old landowning classes again came to be keenly felt, and
acquiescence became increasingly difficult, and ceased to be regarded as inevitable.
The policy of laissez faire expounded by the English economists was no longer
considered as applicable to every country and stage of society. Experience also
showed that the expectation that the new proprietors and mortgages would be
improving landlords was not fulfilled. Very few turned out to be anything but rent
receivers, and their tenants lacked the devotion and pains-taking labour of peasant
owners.
12.
Reasons for change of opinion. The interest in primitive institutions aroused
by the works of Sir Henry Mayne, and stimulated by the abundant evidence of their
survival in India, worked in the same direction. The records of tribal law compiled by
Settlement Officers supplied unmistakable evidence that ownership of the modern
western type was alien to the ideas of the rural population. It was seen that the Indian
conception of property in the soil is that it is vested in family, and not in an individual,
and that the owner for the time being is not entitled to dispose of it how and to whom
he will.

13.
Civil courts accept doctrine of limited ownership - This doctrine invaded
the civil courts, which were bound by section 5 of the Punjab Laws Act to decide
questions of inheritance, adoption and gifts primarily on evidence of custom, and from
1887 onwards it formed the foundation of a series of decisions by the Chief Court on
sales and mortgages by sonless proprietors, adoption, gifts and pre-emption.(See
chapter III of Tribal Law in the Punjab By Roe and Rattigan) But these decisions,
valuable though they were , did not prove effective restraints on the actions of
landowners, and in no way reduced the seriousness of the problem which Government
had to face.
14.
Necessity of restricting credit basis of Punjab Alienation of Land Act. The
position was at last accepted that the root of the evil was to be found in the inflation of
the peasant owners credit and that the only hope of checking it lay in lessening his
powers of borrowing by imposing legal restrictions of the sale and mortgage of land.
This policy was embodied in the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, XIII of 1900, the
provisions of which will be noticed presently.
15.
Classification of measures taken at different times to protect
landowners. The measures taken at various times for the protection of the landowners
of the Punjab may be classed under the heads: (a) The legal enforcement of the custom of pre-emption:
(b) The restriction of transfers by landowners belonging to agricultural tribes:
(c) The exemption from sale in execution of decree of land and other property of
hereditary agriculturists.
16.
Pre-emption: its nature - The origin of pre-emption is clearly explained in
Tribal Law of the Punjab. It has been usual to regard this as a village, not as a
tribal, custom and as originating in the Mohammedan law. I think that this is quite an
erroneous view, and that pre-emption is merely a corollary of the general principles
regulating the succession to, and power of disposal of land. In these matters the holder
of the estate for the time being is subject, generally speaking to the control of the
group of agnates who would naturally succeed him.. They can , as a general rule,
altogether prevent allegations by adoption or gift, or by sale for the holders own
benefit , it would be only a natural rule that, when a proprietor was compelled by
necessity to sell , these agnates should be offered the opportunity of advancing the

money required, and thus saving what is really their own property. (Tribal Law in
the Punjab, by Roe and Rattigan pages 82-83)
17.
Early provisions in Punjab Civil Code, etc. The first administrators of the
Punjab brought a knowledge of the existence of pre-emption in village communities
from what is now the united provinces. In 1852 the Board of Administration issued a
circular (No. 28 of 1852) requiring a landowner who wished to sell his share to offer
it in the first instance to the whole community or to some individual co-parcener at a
reasonable price to be fixed by agreement, falling which the revenue officer and three
assessors were to determine the fair value. Two years later this instruction was
embodied and elaborated in section XIII of the Punjab Civil Code. Pre-emption was
there declared to apply to village lands and sites in villages and kasbas occupied by
shareholders in the estate and to extend to private sales, sales in execution of decree
and foreclosures of mortgage. If none of the owners wished to buy, the hereditary
tenants (if any) might exercise the right. Provision was made for the valuation of land
in case of dispute by committee appointed by the revenue authorities. Pre-emption
suits were to be brought in the civil courts, but any issues as to priority
among contending claimants and the value of the land were to be referred for
decision to the revenue authorities.The chief Commissioner,in 1856,with the object of
preserving the integrity of village communities, extended the right to usufructuary
mortgages.(Financial Commissioners Circular No. 41 of 1856)
18.
Entries in village administration papers. The customs governing preemption were also recorded in village administration papers draw up at settlements
made before the passing of the Punjab Laws Act, IV of 1872. In nearly all the old
wajib-ul-arz we find a provision securing this right either to the next heirs, or to the
agnates generally, and after them to all members of the village community to the
exclusion of strangers.(Tribal Law of Punjab by Roe and Rattigan page 88)
19.
Right restricted by Civil Courts. Two early judgements of the Chief Court
robbed pre-emption of most of ties value . The court held that the right did not extend
to usufructuary mortgages, (Punjab Record case No. 87)except where the village
administration paper provided otherwise, and that proprietor by purchase through a
stranger to, and at bitter strife with, the original village brother-hood , had as good a
title to claim pre-emption as any member of it.(Punjab Record case No. 4)

20.
Provision of Punjab Act, IV of 1872. The same limitation of the right as
regards the transaction in respect of which it exists, and the same extension of it as
regards the persons who may claim to exercise it, were unfortunately embodied in the
sections of the Punjab Laws Act, IV of 1872, which dealt with pre-emption. That Act,
as amended by Act XII of 1878. Provided that the right arises in the case of sales
under a decree of otherwise and foreclosures of mortgage, (Section 9)and that unless a
custom or contract to the contrary is proved, it exists in all village communities , and
extends--(a) to the village site and houses;
(b) to all lands within the village boundary;
(c) to all transferable rights of occupancy in such lands. (Section 10)
In the absence of custom to the contrary. the right was declared to belong to the
following persons in the order stated:(a) first, in the case of joint undivided immovable property, to the co-sharers;
(b) secondly, in the case of villages held on ancestral shares, to co-sharers in the
village , in order of their relationship to the vendor or mortgagor;
(c) thirdly, if no co-sharer or relation of the vendor or mortgagor claims to
exercise such right, to the landowners of the Patti or other sub-division of the
village in which the property is situate jointly;
(d) fourthly, if the landowner of the Patti or other sub-division make no joint claim
to exercise such right, to such landholders, severally;
(e) fifthly, to any landholder of the village;
(f) sixthly, to the tenants (if any) with rights of occupancy in the property;
(g) seventhly, to the tenants(if any ) with rights of occupancy in the village.
In case of transfers of rights of occupancy under section 5 of the Punjab Tenancy Act,
XVI of 1887, the prior right of the landlord was secured by section 53 of that Act. If
he failed to exercise it, pre-emption belonged, first, t the tenants (if any)having a
share in the occupancy right proposed to be sold and secondly, to the other occupancy
tenant in the village. (Section 12. By a proviso to the section if Government owned the
trees growing on land, it had a right of pre-emption in the land superior to that of any
private individual)Where the charkadari tenure prevails(See paragraph 167-170) of
the Statement Manual), the adna maliks possessing shares in a well had a right of
pre-emption in these shares in preference to the ala malik.(Section 20)

Where tow or more persons were equally entitled to pre-emption, the vendor or
mortgagor might determine which of them should exercise it(Section 12). Section 13
to 18 of the Act provided for the enforcement of the right. The matter was left entirely
to the civil courts, no provision being made for the reference of any question in
dispute to the revenue officer.
21.
Interpretation applied as regards customary rights of pre-emption. It will
be observed that, as regards the persons entitled to pre-emption, the Act expressly
saved custom.(Section 12) But in practice its 12th section was usually taken, both by
Settlement Officers and civil courts as, disposing of the whole matter. The entry on
the subject usually made by the former in codes of tribal custom(riwaj-iam)was that
pre-emption was regulated by the Punjab Laws Act.(Tribal Law in the Punjab by
Roe and Rattigan page 83) The chief Courts has held that the village administration
papers furnish valuable evidence of custom as regards the persons entitled to claim
pre-emption.(Punjab Record No. 98 of 1894. See Tribal Law in the Punjab Page
128 and 130)
22.
Punjab Act, II of 1905. The recasting of the law of pre-emption with the
object of brining it into accord with village custom and ideas became imperative when
the Punjab Alienation Land Act came into force the necessary amendments were
effected by Punjab Act II of 1905. The right of preemption was declared to exist in
respect of agricultural land, as defined in the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, and
village immovable property i,e. immovable property within the limits of village sites
other than agricultural land.(See Section 3(1) and (2) and section 5 of Act II of 1905.
The provisions which relate to urban immovable property lie outside the scope of this
work.) It extends to sales of both proprietary and occupancy right in agricultural
land.(Section 3(4) and 11 of Act II of 1905) . In respect of such land , no one has a
right of pre-emption except a member of an agricultural , as defined in the
Alienation of Land Act . But this is subject to the proviso that if the vendor is not a
member of an agricultural tribe, the right of pre-emption may be exercised also by a
member of the same tribe as the vendor, who is recorded as the owner or as the
occupancy tenant of agricultural land in the estate in which the property is situate and
has been so recorded for twenty years precious to the date of the sale either in his own
name or in that of any agnate who has previously held his agricultural land.(Sections
3(4) and 11 of Act II of 1905) The most important section of the Ac is section 12,
which declares the persons who are entitled to pre-emption and the order in which

they can claim it. The intention of sections 22 and 12 of course, is to bring the law
into conformity with village custom. Section 12 runsSubject to the provisions of section 11(Now see section 15 of Act I of 1913), the
right of pre-emption in respect shall vest ---(a) in the case of the sale of such land or property by a sole owner of occupancy
tenant, or when such land or property is held jointly, by the co- sharers in the
persons who but for such sale would be entitled to inherit the property in the
event of his or their decease, in order of succession;
(b) in the case of a sale of a share of such land or property held jointly, first in the
lineal descendants of the vendor in the male line, in order of succession;
Secondly, in the co-sharers, if any, who are agnates; in order of succession;
Thirdly, in the persons described in sub clause(a) of this sub-section and not herein
before provided for;
Fourthly , in the co-sharers, (I) jointly (ii) severally;
(c) If no person having a right of pre-emption under sub-clause (a) or sub clause
(b) seeks to exercise the right--First, when the sale effects the superior or inferior proprietary right and the
superior proprietary right is sold, in the inferior, proprietors, and when the inferior
proprietary right is sold in the superior proprietors.
Secondly, in the owners of the Patti or other sub-division of the estate within the
limits of which such land or property is situate, (I) jointly, (ii) severally;
Thirdly, in the owners of the estate, (I) jointly (ii) severally;
Fourthly, in the case of a sale of the proprietary right in such land or property, in
the tenants(if any)having rights of occupancy in such land or property, (I) jointly,
(ii) severally;
Fifthly, in any tenant having a right of occupancy in any agricultural land in the
estate within the limits of which the property is situate.
Explanation 1.- In the case of a sale of a right of occupancy, clauses (a) ,(b),and (c)
of this sub-section with the exception of sub clause fourthly of clause (c), shall
be applicable.

Explanation 2. In the case of sale by a female of property to which she has

succeeded through her husband , son , brother or father, the word agnates in this
section shall mean the agnates of the person through whom she has so succeeded.
Chapter IV of the Act deals with procedure. It maintains the jurisdictions of the
civil courts. but makes careful provision to prevent pre-emption being used to defeat
the objects of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, XIII of 1900.(Section 20,21,26 and
27 of Act II of 1905)
22-A. Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1 of 1913. The experience gained after the passing
of the Punjab pre-emption Act of 1905 showed that several alterations and
amendments were necessary. In the Punjab the law of preemption must march hand in
hand with the law governing the alienation of land; and although the proposal to
amend the Act of 1905 originated in the necessities for removing certain
ambiguities and defects of drafting and for rendering more precise the application of
section 8, one of the main changes introduced, to wit, the change in section 14, was
designed to bring the law of pre-emption more closely into line with the Land
Alienation Act. As the statutory agriculturist had disappeared from the latter Act, it
was felt that the only differentiating restrictions required were in respect of
agricultural land sold by the member of an agricultural tribe, and in respect of such
land the right of pre-emption was limited to persons who were members of an
agricultural tribe in the same group as the vendor. For all other lands membership of
an agricultural tribe in itself created no special preferential right Another main change
was in section 8. In the Act of 1905 section 8(2) was introduced mainly to protect
from pre-emption land required for commercial and industrial purposes, but it was
found inadequate to accomplish the object without the issue of separate notifications
by the local Government in the case of each plot concerned. It was, therefore,
amplified so as to allow for a general notification exempting all agricultural land sold
in good faith for industrial , commercial or residential objects. Punjab Act II of 1905
was, therefore, repealed; and the new Act I of 1913 referred to above it was found that
the provisions of the law of pre-emption were being defeated by the purchaser
splitting his transaction into two parts by purchasing one kanal of land on the first day
and the balance on the second day. If a suit for pre-emption was brought with respect
to the second sale by the village proprietors, he could successfully defend the suit on
the ground that he acquired proprietary right in the village one day prior to the second
purchase. (See case of Nadir Ali Shah versus Wali & C. Published at page 486 of

Indian Law Reports Lahore series volume V of 1924) To prevent such cases occurring
in the future, a new section, No. 28-A ; was inserted in the main Act by an amending
Act. No. II of 1928 which came into force from the Ist December, 1928. By this
addition it should be impossible for a purchaser to defeat the law of pre-emption by
splitting his transactions into two parts and to retain the property acquired by the
seconds purchase, even through he may subsequently lose the property acquired by
his first purchase.
23.
Commissioners sanction to transfers to strangers formerly required.
There used to be an old rule which required the sanction of the Commissioner to the
transfer to a stranger of a share of land in a village community. It was more a device to
ensure that reversions had an opportunity of exercising their right of pre-emption than
an attempt to restrict freedom of contract. Mr. Cust, in 1860, explained it as follows:
The right of pre-emption is not to be evaded; the sanction of the Commissioner must
precede all such mutations and. Within a period of three months from the transfer
taking place or being made known to the parties concerned, the validity of the transfer
may be dispute by a regular revenue suit under paragraph II, part I, Chapter XIII; of
the Punjab Civil Code.(paragraph 13 of Financial Commissioners Book Circular
No. XLVII of 1860)
The rule was retained in the instructions on mutation procedure under the first
Punjab Land Revenue Act , XXXIII of 1871 . But it was there directed that if the
transferee has obtained possession, and no suit for pre-emption is brought within the
term of limitation, or if such suit, when brought is dismissed, mutation of names shall
be sanctioned. This may have had some effect in discouraging transfers to strangers,
the tendency being to regard a transaction of the sort as incomplete till it had been
recognized by an entry in the record of rights.
24.
Far-reaching change effected by Punjab Land Alienation Act. The causes
which led to the passing of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, XIII of 1900 , have
already been explained. The direct restraints which it imposed on freedom of transfer
appeared novel at the time although restrictions on free transfer are found in one form
or another in many countries.
25.
Scope of the Act. The Act came into force on the 8 th of June, 1901. It extends
to the whole of the Punjab(Section 1(2), but power is given to exempt by notification
any area, person, or class of persons wholly or partially from its operation(Section 24).

The only exempted district ins Simla, except the ilaqa of Kotgarh in the Kot Khai
Tahsil, but all municipal and cantonment areas in other districts have been excluded
from the operation of the provisions restricting freedom of transfer(Punjab
Government notification No. 16176-R. & A dated 21 st June 1919. The provisions
forbidding mortgages by way of conditional sale (section 10) and sale in execution of
a decree of land belonging to a member of an agricultural tribe(section 16) apply to
municipal and cantonment areas.). The Act applies to the rights of occupancy tenants
as well as to those of landowners(See section 2(3) of Act XIII of 1900 . As to transfers
by occupancy tenants see also chapter V of the Punjab Tenancy Act XVI of 1887). It
classifies alienations as permanent and temporary. The former includes sales,
exchanges, gifts and wills(Section 2(4) Gifts for a religious or charitable purpose ,
whether made inter vivos by will are not permanent alienations for the purpose of the
Act,); the later mortgages and leases.
26.
Usufructuary and collateral mortgages. Mortgages are broadly divided into
usufructuary and collateral mortgages. In the former the mortgagee takes possessions
of the mortgaged land, enjoying the rents and paying the land revenue, the difference
between the rent and the revenue being regarded as equivalent to the interest on the
mortgage debt(This was the almost universal form of usufructuary mortgage in the
Punjab before the passing of Act XIII of 1900 . (Possession means of course
possession of the rights of a landlord. The mortgagor was often retained in cultivating
possessions as tenant at will under the mortgagee. For the legal definition of
usufrctuary mortgage see section 2(5). It embraces cases in which the rent and
profits are appropriated not only in liew of interest , but also in payment of the
mortgage money , or party in lieu of interests and partly in payment of the mortgage
money.). In a collateral mortgage the mortgagor retains possession of the land so long
as he pays interest and installments of principal according to the terms of the
mortgage-deed . If he makes default , the mortgagee can claim to be put in possession.
27.
Members of Agricultural Tribes And Agriculturists. The provisions of
the Act which deal with temporary alienations only recognize two classes of persons

(a)
(b)

Those who are members of agricultural tribes and

Those who are not members of agricultural tribes.

Upon the latter no restrictions of any kind are imposed. Those relating to
permanent transfer originally introduced a third class described as
(c)
Agriculturists.
28.
Members of Agricultural Tribes meaning of term.- The first class
consists of persons belonging to the tribes notified as Agricultural under the powers
conferred by section 4 of the Act, and the second obviously includes all other persons.
Subject to the exceptions noted below, the lists of agricultural bribes which have been
gazette(Punjab Government Notification No. 63, dated 18 th April 1904 and Appendix
A to Financial Commissioner Standing Order No. 1 Alienation of Land) comprise
every tribe dependent on the land for support which owns any considerable area of
land in the district under which its name is shown. Brahmans have been excluded for
the present even from the main group of those districts in which they own much land
and cultivate with their own hands because they are largely engaged in money-lending
and other non-agricultural pursuits. They have been notified in separate groups.
29.
Agriculturists; meaning of term. The first two groups are in the main
natural ones, but the third, or that of agriculturist was defined as a person holding
agricultural land who, either in his own name or in the name of his ancestor in the
male line, was recorded as the owner of land or as an occupancy tenant in any estate at
the first regular settlement; or if the first regular settlement was made in or since the
year 1870, then at the first regular settlement or at such previous settlement as the
local Government may by order in writing, determine. The provision was introduced
to mitigate what appeared to be the hardship of preventing acquisition by those who
were old landowners . Experience proved that it was unsuitable and it was repealed in
1907.
30.

Cancelled.

31.
Restrictions on sales. There are no restrictions on the purchase of land but
only on its sale. The sale by the member of an agricultural tribe to anyone not
belonging to such a tribe in the same district requires the sanction of the Deputy
Commissioner(Sections 3(1) and (2)). Sanction may be given either before or after a
deed of sale has been drawn up and possession given . If sanction is refused the sale
takes affect as an usufructuary mortgage in the first of the three forms described
below (See paragraphs 40-42 of this manual)for such term not exceeding twenty

years and on such conditions as the Deputy Commissioner may think reasonable.
(Section 14).
32.
All agricultural tribes in each district from a single group. For the present
all the agricultural tribes in each district, with a few exceptions noted below. Have
been notified as forming a single group(Punjab Government notifications No.21-S
dated 22nd May 1901 and No. 114, dated 16 th July 1902). Members of agricultural
tribes have therefore, with these exceptions, full powers of selling and buying inter se
within the limits of the district in which they own land . Should this broad system of
grouping lead anywhere to the rapid expropriation of one tribe by another, the
formation of small groups of tribes my become necessary. Brahmans and other
agriculturists in some districts have been declared as separate groups of agricultural
tribes within their respective districts from 1909 onwards. (See part B of the appendix
to Financial Commissioners Standing Order No. 1)
33.
34.

Cancelled.
Cancelled.

35.
Order sanctioning sale does not affect rights of reversions . The executive
order by which a Deputy Commissioner sanctions a sale in no way affects any right
which reversions or other have to contest the validity of the transfer by legal
proceedings or to claim pre-emption.(Section 5)
36.
Exchanges gifts and wills. All that has been said above of sales applies
equally to exchanges , gifts and wills . Death bed gifts to Brahmans often known as
dohli, are not usually regarded as subject to the provisions of the Act. But the amount
which can be alienated in this way is limited by custom, and if it is exceeded. The
donors heir can sue to have the area reduced to what is permissible by tribal law.
37.
Instructions as to giving or withholding sanction to sales. The following
instructions have been issued by the financial commissioners with the approval of
Government as to the considerations, which should influence a Deputy Commissioner
in giving or withholding sanction. Subject to the proviso to sub-section (iii) below he
need not concern himself with the possible rights of reversions or pre-emptors.
(i) Sanctions should not be given unless the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied
that the transfer is really advantageous to the vendor and his family. If a

(ii)

(iii)

zamindar depends entirely or mainly on his land, no alienation should

ordinarily be allowed which will reduce the land he retains to less than is
required for the support of himself and his family.
Sanction should be given if the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that there is
no intention of evading the Act when the object of the purchase is to obtain.(a) A site for a workshop or factory, for building for the accommodation or
welfare of persons to be employed in them, for a power installation for
working industrial enterprise, the health of persons engaged as laborers
or otherwise in connection with such;
(b) A building site close to a town or village site.
Sanction may be given to an alienation of land(a) by wealthy zamidars owning much land, for commercial reasons or to
improve or consolidate their properties;
(b) by indebted zamindars owning mortgaged land, and desiring to sell a
part of their land, in order to raise money to redeem the whole or part of
the rest only if the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that the transfer is
really advantageous to the vendor and his family, and that the vendor is
not able to sell the land to a member of an agricultural tribe included in
the same group as the vendor at a price which will enable him to attain
his object;
(c) proposed or effected in favour of zamidars who, by reason of their
insignificant numbers, have not been classed in the particular district as
members of agricultural tribes;
(d) to bonafied artisans who are not professional money-lenders. It is
desirable to encourage thrifty members of the artisan class to become
owners of small plots of land when the alienation is not disadvantageous
to the vendor and his family;
(e) by a member of an agricultural tribe in one Punjab district to a member
of the same tribe or group of tribesi n another Punjab district. In such a
case sanction should usually be given as a matter of course unless the
allegation is clearly contrary to the intention of the Act. These
instructions also apply in the case of persons holding land in districts of
the other provinces adjoining Punjab districts who, if they had held land
in the Punjab districts, would have been deemed to belong to
agricultural tribes. To applications for sanction in favour of subjects of
Indian states adjoining Punjab districts somewhat different

considerations; apply and such applications should be deal with on their

merits:
provided that in cases (a),(b).(c) (d) and (e) no member of an agricultural
tribe included in the same group as the vendor has offered, or is ready to
offer, a fair price for the land.
38.
Mortgages by way of conditional sale abolished. The only restraint on
mortgage which the Act makes generally applicable is contained in its 10 th section,
which abolishes the form of mortgage by way of conditional sale. This was a form
whereby the mortgagor agreed that if he failed to redeem by a certain date the
mortgage would be changed to sale. All that the money-lender had to do was to
prevent repayment of the debt by any will or artifice and the rights of the owner
became extinguished without recourse to court.
39.
Scope of other restrictions. The other provisions regarding mortgages apply
only to those made by members of agricultural tribes in favour of persons who are not
members of the same tribe or of a tribe in the same group, or in other words , as
matters at present stand in the same district (Section 6(1)). When hypothecating his
land to such persons, a member of an agricultural tribe must choose between three
kinds of mortgages. Two of these are usufructuary mortgages, the mortgagee
acquiring for the time being the rights of landlord.
40.
Usufructuary mortgage for limited period, usufruct extinguishing
principal and interest. The first is a mortgage for a limited period not exceeding
twenty years, all the rights of the mortgagor being suspend, and the rents and profits
enjoyed by the mortgagee being taken as extinguishing by the end of the term his
claim for both principal and interest (Section 6(1)(a). This form of mortgage was rare
in the Punjab before the act was passed(In Ambala a mortgage of this description was
known as chakota rihn).
41.
Usufructurary mortgage for unlimited period with reservation of right of
occupancy. In the second form of usufructurary mortgage the term is subject to no
statuary limitation; the mortgagor reserves the rights of an occupancy tenant at such
cash rent as may be agreed upon consisting of
(a) the land revenue, plus,
(b) the rates and cesses, plus

(c) an additional sum of exceeding (a)

and this rent is taken as equipment to interest. The mortgagor tenant can not
alienate his right of cultivation, and he can only be ejected on some ground which
would, under section 39 of the tenancy Act, Justify the ejection of an occupancy
tenant(Section 6(1)(c)). Should he abandon the land or be ejected from it, the
mortgage takes effect as one in the first form for such term no exceeding twenty years
from the date on which his possessions came to an end, and for such a sum of money
as the Deputy Commissioner may think reasonable(Section 6(2)). This form of
mortgage is very rarely adopted.
42.
Collateral mortgage. The third form of mortgage is a collateral one in which
the mortgagor retains all rights of ownership and cultivation ,a subject however, to be
the condition that if he fails to pay principal and interest in accordance with the terms
of the contract, the mortgagee may apply the Deputy Commissioner to put him in
possession of the land. The mortgage then becomes converted to a susfructary one of
the first form for such reasonable. It is also his duty to determine what the principal of
the debt in the case of the new mortgage shall be. This will consist of whatever
amount he finds to be due on account of the balance of principal and interest
outstanding on the old mortgage. In making up the account the Deputy commissioner,
need not accept the rate of interest contracted for but may award whatever amount of
simple interest the thinks reasonable (Section 6(1)(b).).
43.
Conditions which may be interested in statutory mortgages - In these
statutory mortgages conditions may be inserted limiting the right of a mortgagor or
mortgagee in possession to cut, sell or mortgage trees. Or to do any act affecting the
permanent value of the land(Section 8(b)). The time in the agricultural year at which a
mortgagor who redeems his land may resume possession of it may also be
fixed(Section 8(a)) . Any conditions not permitted by the Act which are inserted in
these mortgages are null and void(Section 8(2)see also paragraph 47)).
44.
Revision of terms of unauthorized mortgages. If a member of an
agricultural tribe mortgages his land in any unpermitted form, the deputy
Commissioner is authorized to revise the terms so as to bring the transaction into
conformity with whichever of the statutory forms the mortgagee a appears equitably
entitled to claim (Section 9(1)). In the case of mortgages by way of conditional sale
executed by members of agricultural tribes before the commencement of the Act, the

deputy Commissioner may call on the mortgagee to choose whether he will retain the
existing mortgage with the sale condition struck out, or accept, in lieu of it, a
mortgage in the first of third of the forms described above(Section 9(2)).
45.
Procedure in suits to enforce unauthorized mortgages - If a suit is instituted
in a civil court on a mortgage by way of conditional sale or in a form unauthorized by
the Act executed by a member of an agricultural tribe, the court is bound to make a
reference to the deputy Commissioner so that the court is bound to make a reference
to the deputy commissioner so that he may exercise the powers referred to in the last
two paragraphs.
46.
Mortgagors right of redemption unrestricted - The execution of a
mortgage in one of the statutory forms in no way interferes with the mortgagors right
to redeem his land at any time on payment of the mortgage debt, or in the case of a
mortgage in the first or third form, of such proportion of the mortgage debt as the
Deputy Commissioner determines to be still due.
47.
Question whether statutory mortgages will come into use - The local
Government has power to permit any therefrom of mortgages to be used by members
of agricultural tribes and to the conditions admissible in the forms permitted by the
act. Thirty years experience has shown that only the first form of mortgage has proved
acceptable. The second form is almost unknown. The conditional sale clause has now
practically disappeared.
48.
Leases - As it would be easy to evade the provisions regarding mortgages by
making transfers for long periods in the form of lease the term of leases made by
members of agricultural tribes in favor of persons who are not members of the same
tribe or a tribe in the same group has been limited to twenty years.
49.
Restriction on extensions of mortgages and leases. The object of the Act
would also benefited if, during the currency of a mortgage or lease for a term limited
by law to twenty years, the mortgagor or lessor were free to extend the period by
executing a fresh transfer. If the alienation already effected is for twenty years, no
further transfer by way either of mortgage or of lease is permitted; if it is for less, a
further mortgage or lease is allowed for such a number of years as will Bering the
whole period of transfer up to twenty years.

50.
Restriction on hypothecation of crops. Another device for evading the Act
had also to be guarded against. Three is little difference in effect between a mortgage
of land and mortgage of its produce. Members of agricultural tribes are, therefore,
forbidden to aliendage or charge the produce or any part of the produce of their land
for a period exceeding a year without the sanction of the deputy commissioner. There
is no interference with borrowing on the security of the next two harvests. The period
of one year will as a rule, cover contracts made by landowners with the agents of
largess firms engaged in the wheat and oil seed export trade? Such dealings have
been of great benefit to the zamidars in may parts of the country, and if engagements
of the sort for a period exceeding one year come before a deputy commissioner, he
need feel no hesitation about sanctioning them.
51.
Sale in execution of decree. The sale of agricultural land in execution of a
decree has always been subject to severe restrictions in the Punjab. At first the
sanction of commissioners was sufficient. In 1859 that of the Judicial Commissioner
was required when the property was ancestral, and not acquired. Afterwards the
Financial commissioner became the authority to whom sale proposals had to be
submitted. The direct result of these rules was that sales in execution were almost
unknown; the indirect that loan without the security of a mortgage on the debtors
land were discouraged. The same Act, which has put restrictions on mortgages, has
forbidden the sale in execution of a decree of land belonging to a mamber of an
agricultural tribe. The provisions of section 72 of the Civil Procedure Code (Act V of
1908) have therefore ceased to be of much practical importance so far as the Punjab is
concerned. Orders issued by any court for the attachment, sale or delivery of land or
interest in land or for the attachment or sale of produce. Must be executed by the
collector or some revenue officer appointed by him. The rules on the subject will
befouled in chapter 12-m and 12-n of the Rules and Orders of the High Court, volume
I and Finical Commissioners Standing Order No. 64.
51-A Temporary alienations in execution of decrees. Sale of land belonging to a
member of an agricultural tribe in execution of a decree is forbidden by section 16,
but at one time a learned judge of the High Court held that the land of an insolvent
agriculturist vested in the official receiver who could sell it to another member of an
agricultural tribe in satisfaction of a decree passed by an insolvency court. Division
Bench of the same court subsequently overruled this interpretation of the law.

It is, however, a settled question that a civil court can in execution of a decree,
orders a temporary alienation of the land of a judgment debtor who is not a
temporary alienation of such land. (Vide Full Bench rulings in one Lahore 192).
Following that ruling, a learned judge held that an order by a civil court, directing the
temporary alienation of the land of a member of an agricultural tribe for more than
twenty years, even if the lease be ordered in favor of a person who is not a member of
an agricultural tribe, did not contravene the provisions of the Punjab Alienation of
Land Act. Formerly it had been the settled practice of the civil courts not to order
temporary alienations for more than twenty years in such cases. But as result of this
ruling the practice was departed from. And in not a few cases civil courts ordered
alienations for as long as fifty years. As such action was a violation of the original
objects and scope of the Act, the Punjab Alienation of Land (Amendment) Act, 1 of
1931, was passed. The new Act, which sought to re-establish and preserve the status
quo ante, has absolutely limited temporary alienations in all cases whatsoever, to a
maximum period of twenty years and permits mortgages only in one of the forms
mentioned in section 6 of the original Act.
52.
Other exemptions in favor of agriculturists. By section 60(1),(b) and (c) of
the Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908) the following kinds of property belonging to an
agriculturist are exempted from attachments :(a) implements of husbandry:
(b) Such cattle and seed grain as may, in the opinion of the court, be necessary to
enable him to earn his livelihood as such;
(c) The materials of houses and other buildings owned and occupied by him.
When the agriculturist is person liable for the payment of land revenue the proviso to
section 70 of the land Revenue Act, XVII of 1887, becomes applicable, and if an order
to attach produce is issued, the court should ask the collector to decide what portion of
it should be exempted as being necessary for seed grain, and for the subsistence until
the harvest next following of the defaulter and his family.
No revenue court or officer must, except for reasons of urgency to be recorded, issue
any process of arrest against tenant or against a landowner who cultivates his own
land during either of the two harvesting seasons.

53.
Provisions of Tenancy Act regulating relations of landlords and tenants at
will. The chapter on the Rights of Tenants in the Settlement Manual treats mainly of
the history of hereditary tenant right in the Punjab and of the existing law on the
subject contained in Act XVI of 1887. The remainder of the present chapter deals
mostly with the relations of landlords and tenants at will.
54.
Proportion of land cultivated by tenants at-will. About 43 percent of the
land in the province is tilled by the landowners themselves, 9 percent by occupancy
tenants at will, a few of whom pay no rent, if the five south western districts of Jhang,
Montgomery, Multan Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan are excluded, 44 percent
are cultivated by tenants at will, 47 percent by the landowners and 9 percent by
occupancy tenants. The tenants at will are for the most part also landowners in the
same village who owns too little land of their own to provide a decent livelihood.
55.
Lien of Landlord on produce. The rent of a tenants holding is a first charge
on its crops. If any other creditor gets the produce attached in execution of a decree
against the tenant, the landlord can insist on the its sale and on being paid from the
proceeds whatever he proves to be due on account of the rent of the current harvest
and of any unpaid rent which fell due within the year immediately preceding the date
of his application to the revenue of fiber on the subject. The finding of the revenue
officer as to the amount to which the landlord is entitled has theforce of a decree.
56.
Rights and duties of landlords and tenants as regards produce. Except in
the case just mentioned t, the landlord must not intermeddle with the tending, cutting
or harvesting of his tenants crops. But of course where the rent cossets or a portion of
the produce he has a right to take part in the division, and to remove his own share.
The tenant on his part is bound, where thereunto is taken by division battle or
appraisement (kankut) not to remove any portion of the produce at such a time or in
such a manner as to prevent the due division or appraisement thereof and to abstain
from dealing with it in a manner contrary to established usage. If he wrongs his
landlord in either of these ways, and a rent suit is the result the produce may be
deemed to have been as full as the fullest crop of the same description on similar land
in the neighborhood for that harvest.
57.
Division by referee appointed by Tahsildar. Delay in dividing a garnered
crop may result in very serious loss from the sprouting or rotting of therein. The

landlord or tenant who is injured by the failure of the other party to attend may apply
to the tehsildar for the appointment of a referee to divide or appraise the produce. The
referee may carry out the division or appraisement in the absence of one. Of the
parties, if after due notice he fails to appear. The result of the referees proceedings
must be reported to the tehsildar for confirmation. The same procedure may be
adopted when there is an dispute between the landlord and the tenant about the
division or appraisement.
58.
Payment of rent though tahsil. When two or more persons are landlords in
respect of a single tenancy the tenant is not bound to pay part of his rent to one and
part to another. It is their business to appoint one of their numbers to receive the
whole rent. Where rent is payable in cash, the landlord may, for some reason refuse, to
receive it, or to grant a receipt. Their may for example, be a dispute about the amount
and he may refuse to sign an acquttance unless the tenant will give him all the claims.
Again a tenant may occasionally be in doubt that the person is who is entitled to be
paid the rent. In either case it is open to him to apply to the tahsildar to accept the rent
as a deposit, and pay it to the person whom he considers entitled to receive it.
59.
Notice of relinquishment. Tenants at will usually hold by the year only,
leases for a term of years being still uncommon. Arrangements are as a rule, made for
the agricultural year (Kharif rabi) the outgoing tenant giving up the land after the
spring crops have been harvested. The law provides that neither party to a contract of
letting shall be able to put the other in difficulty by failing to give timely notice of his
intentions as regards the next agricultural year, which means in the tenancy act, the
twelve months beginning on the 16th of June. A tenant who proposes to quit his
holding after the Rabi harvest must inform his landlord on or before 15 January. If he
fails to do so he becomes liable for the rent of the next agricultural year unless the
landlord arranges for the cultivation of the land by someone else. Except with the
consent of the landlord a notice of relinquishment must apply to the whole of the lease
land. If the tenant thinks it desirable for his own security. He can give notice to the
landlord through the tahsil.
60.
Notice of ejectment of yearly tenants. A landlord who wishes to eject a
tenant at will can apply to a naib tahsildar or tahsidar for the issue of a notice. The
application must be made in time for service to be effected on or before the 15 th of
November. Subject to that qualification, the application can be lodged at anyy time

after the beginning of the agricultural year. The above date is a very suitable one as it
falls before the chart crop has been completely cleared off the ground and before the
winter rains. The tenant therefore gets notice before ploughing for the harvests of the
next agricultural year begins.
61.
Contents of notice. The notice requires the tenant to give up the landbefore
st
the 1 of May and informs him that if for any reason he disputes his liability to
ejectment, he must bring a revenue suit for that purpose within two months from the
date of service. It also warns him that, in the event of his having any claim to receive
compensation for improvements or disturbance before ejectment. He must, within two
months, present an application to an Assistant Collector of the first grade. The
circumstances under which such a claim arises will be discussed later. It is enough to
say here that if it is established ejectment must be styed until it is satisfied.
62.
Ejectment order. The tenant may obey the notice and relinquish the land
before the 1 May. If without instituting a suit to contest liability to ejectment or
lodging an application for payment of compensation. He simply remains in
possession, the tahsildar, on being satisfied that the notice has been served passes an
ejectment order. If compensation is claimed the order must be issued by an Assistant
Collector of the first grade. An ejectment order is enforced in the same way as a
decree of a civil court for the possession of land. It can only be executed between the
1 May and 15 June. Falling execution at the proper time the tenant is entitled to keep
the land for the next agricultural year. Applications for compensation on account of
improvements or disturbance should bedealt with promptly. It is unfair that a landlord
should be kept out of his rights by the dilatoriness of a revenue officer.
63.
Protection of standing crops. If, when the order is executed. It is found that
the tenant has crops standing on any part of the land he must not be ejected from that
part till they ripen and he has had a reasonable time for harvesting them. On the
landlords application, the revenue officer who ordered the ejectment may fix a fair
rent to be paid by the tenant for his extended use of the and or the may value the crop
and allow the landlord to take possession on paying the amount into his office. Where
the tenant has prepared land for sowing but has not sown it he may ask the revenue
officer to determine what amount is due to him from the landlord on that account. His
right to receive anything is contingent on his having acted conformably with local
usage in the method of tillage adopted.

64.
Ejectment of tenants for a fixed term and occupancy tenants. So far we
have been dealing with the method by which a landlord can get rid of a yearly tenant.
The law as regards the ejectment of occupancy tenants is briefly described in
paragraph 213 of the Settlement Manual but it will be convenient to state it more fully
here in connection with that which governs the case of tenants for a fixed term
exceeding one year under a lease or a decree or order of a competent authority. A
tenant of the latter calls may throw up his holding at the end of the term without
giving any notice to his landlord. Till then he is like an occupancy tenant protected
from ejectment by any summary process. A landlord seeking to outset him must bring
a regular suit against him.
65.
Order for ejectment of occupancy tenant failing to satisfy decree for
rent. There is one case in which summary process can be used against an occupancy
tenant but not apparently against a tenant for a fixed term exceeding one year. An
Assistant Collector of the 1 st grade can order the ejectment of an occupancy tenant
when a decree for an arrears of rent has been passed and remains unsatisfied. But he
must first give the tenant an opportunity or satisfying the landlords claim by warning
him that ejectment will be ordered unless within 15 days he pays the amount due into
the Assistant Collectors Office. These provisions , if worked mechanically may cause
hardship where there is much difference between the amount of the arrears and the
value of the tenant right. It must be borne in mind that the tenant is often a very
ignorant person. A considerate revenue officer will in such a case summon him to
receive the written notice in his presence and explain to him the result which will
follow on failure to pay within the appointed time. There is no legal objection to
granting a short extension of time for payment for the issue of ejectment order may be
deferred if good cause is shown for so doing. The assistant Collector should also
ascertain whether the tenant has any claim to compensation for improvements or for
disturbances. If he has it must be gone into before any further action is taken. Where
an ejectment order is passed it can as rule as in the case of a tenant at will only
executed between the 1st May and 15th June. But where this limitation would be unfair
to the landlord, as it might be for example where the tenant had delayed matters by a
basses claim for compensation execution can be allowed at any time.
66.
Remedy of tenant dispossessed before receipt of compensation due. If by
any accident or mistake a tenant entitled to compensation for improvements or

disturbance or for the value of unharvested crops or the preparation of land for sowing
is ejected before the amount due has been determined he will not be reinstated but he
can within one year from the date of his dispossession, apply to the court which
decreed or to the revenue officer who ordered his ejectment to fix the sum due and
require the landlord to pay it. An order passed on such application has the same effect
as a decree for money.
67.
Grounds of action for ejectment and reinstatement. The grounds on which
an action for ejectment may be brought and the circumstances under which a tenant
who considers that the has been wrongfully dispossessed may sue for reinstatement or
for compensation will be dealt with in the chapter on Revenue courts.
68.
Nullity of entries in records of rights or agreements increasing landlords
power of ejectment. Any clause in a record of rights whenever made or in an
agreement made after the passing of Act XVI of 1887 empowering a landlord to eject
a tenant otherwise than in accordance with that enactment is void.
69.
Leases current when new assessment is introduced. Provision is made in
section 34 of the Act for the avoiding of leases whose term is still running when the
revenue is altered at a general reassessment, failing a revision of terms made with the
assistance of a revenue court and accepted by the tenant, when the assessment has
been raised and by the landlord when it has been reduced. Leases for the term of
settlement continue in force until a revised assessment actually takes effect unless a
contrary intention clearly appears in the agreement.
70.
Improvements - The question of Improvements in tenants holdings may
occasionally cause some little difficulty for no very broad line of distinction can be
drawn between the simplest kinds of improvements and some of the operations carried
out by tenants in the ordinary course of tillage. An exhaustive explanation of the terms
as applied to a work executed on an agricultural tenancy is given in section 4(19) of
the tenancy Act. The important point is that the work must be one by which the value
of the tenancy has been and continues to be increased. The term does not embrace
every operations which increases for a time the value of he holding. But only such are
outside the everyday course of husbandry and possess a greater or less degree of
permanency. The sinking of a masonry well to irrigate a field hitherto dependent on
the rainfall is obviously an Improvement So is the making of a kacha well in stiffest

soil for this involves a good deal of labour and the well will last for several years.
But the digging of a shallow kacha well of the ordinary type which waters a few
bighas of crops in the rabi and falls in the rainy season. Is not improvement.
71.
Improvements by landlords. In a country of peasant proprietors like the
Punjab the bulk of agricultural improvements is made by the landowners on lands
over which they have full control. The question of improvements in tenants holding is
only of practical importance as regards those which are affected by occupancy tenants
and the particular class of improvements known as Jangal tarashi or clearance of
waste carried out by tenants at will. It is true that by Act XVI of 1887 landlords have
the right to make improvements in the lands of occupancy tenants with the previous
permission of the Deputy Commissioner and that provision is made in the Act for
enhancing the rent of the improved holdings. But as a matter of fact landlords are very
chary of speeding money on lands with which their con mainly confined to receiving a
rent fixed by authority. Should an application for permission to do so be presented the
tenant ought to be board. The point is realty of little importance as disputes are very
rare.
The Act permits the local Government to issue rules on the subject of
landlords improvements but none have been framed so far.
72.
Improvements by tenant at will - A tenant at will can only make an
improvement with the assent of his landlord but consent may be assumed from
circumstances. The courts have now given a number of ruling which are of value as
guides. It must be remembered that the question of improvements by tenants is only of
importance when compensation is demanded by the tenant.
73.
Compensation for disturbance. In any case every tenant who has cleared
and brought under cultivation waste land in which he has not a right of occupancy is
entitled to compensation great or small . If he is ejected before he has got a full return
for his expenditure compensation for disturbance must in no case exceed five years
rent of the land and would in many cases probably be far less. If a substantial and
lasting improvements has been made the recant will receive compensation for it in
addition to compensation for disturbance. A village proprietor tilling part of the
common land of the estate or one of several co-sharers cultivating the joint holding
cannot claim compensation for disturbance on ejectment. Where rent is paid in grain
or by a money rate on crop (Zabti) or by a cash rent consisting only of the land

revenue and cesses the rent for the purpose of calculating compensation may be taken
as four time the land revenue. The same rule applies where no rent at all has been
paid. As the land was ex-hypothesis waste when the tenant got it it will in many cases
not be assessed to land revenue. In such a case the above provision must be
interpreted as meaning that the rent may be assumed to be equal to four times the
land revenue reduced by applying to the holding the rate at which similar cultivated
lands in the same estate are assessed .
74.
Improvements by occupancy tenants. The little of occupancy tenants to
make improvements on their own holding is asserted in the 63 rd section of the Act.
But, when the Punjab was first annexed and for many years afterwards their right to
do so was held to be subject to freight restrictions. The points is really of little
practical importance now as the law is generally well understood.
75.
Provisions of the Tenancy Act as to tenants improvements. The first Punjab
Tenancy Act. XXVIII of 1868 put the law to tenants improvements substantially on its
present footing except that the provisions of that enactment on the subject could
be overridden by written agreements or properly attested entries in the records of a
regular settlement. This has now been altered. An entry in a record of fights whenever
framed or condition in an agreements made after the passing of Act XVI 1887 which
purports to limit the rights of tenants to make improvements or to receive on
ejectments compensation for improvements already made or for disturbance. Is null
and void. A tenant is however free covenant to pay an enhanced rent on account of an
improvement made or to be made by his landlord. A written agreement made before
the 1st November, 1887, restraining a tenant at will from making improvements is a
bar to any claim for compensation. But with this exception improvements made
before the Act came into force are deemed to have been made in accordance with the
Act.

UTILIZATION OF LANDS THE EAST PUNJAB UTILIZATION OF LANDS ACT,

1949
East Punjab Act No. 38 OF 1949

Contents

Subject

SN

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Short title, extent and duration

Definitions
Power to take possession of any vacant land

Payment of compensation

Lease by Collector

Power of Collector to determine lease in certain

cases
Delivery of possession on termination of lease

Penalty for failure of the tenant to grow food or

fodder crops
*******

Sums due recoverable as arrears of land

revenue

Compliance of orders
Delegation of functions

Instrument of lease not necessary

Appeal and revision

14.

Debar to suits or legal proceedings

15.

Power of Government to make rules

16.

UTILIZATION OF LANDS THE EAST PUNJAB UTILIZATION OF LANDS ACT,

1949
East Punjab Act No. 38 OF 1949

[Received the assent of His Excellency the governor General on the

22nd November 1949, and first published in the East Punjab Government
Gazette (Extraordinary) of November 26, 1949.]

Yea

No

Short title

194

38

East Punjab
Utilization of
Lands Act.
1949

4
Whether repealed or
otherwise affected by
legislation
Amended in part by the
Adaptation of laws Order, 1950
Amended
in
part
by
the
Adaptation
of
Laws
(Third
Amendment) Order, 1951
Amended in part by Punjab Act 11
of 19512
Amended by Punjab Act 32 of
19533

Amended by Punjab Act 39 of

19564
Amended by Punjab Act 24 of
19575
Extended to Pepsu Territory by
Punjab Act 5 of 19596
Amended by Punjab Act I of 19607

An Act to provide for the utilization of lands in s[Punjab]

It is hereby enacted as follows:-

1.

(1) Short title, extent and duration -This Act may be called the East

Punjab Utilization of Land Act, 1949[1].

2.

(2)

It extends to the whole of the 1[State] of 2[Punjab].

(3)

* * * *.

Definitions - In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,--

(a)
"Allottee" has the meaning assigned to it under the East Punjab Displaced
Persons (Land Resettlement) Act, 1949.
(b)

"Collector" means Collector of the district where the land is situated.

(c)
"Custodian" has the meaning assigned to it in the Administration of Evacuee
Property Ordinance. 1949.

(d)
"Evacuee Land" means land which has vested in the Custodian under the
provisions of the Administration of Evacuee Property Ordinance, 1949.
(e)
"Land" menas land which is not urban land and is not occupied as the site of any
building in a town or village, but does not include land which is leased by Government or
Custodian under any law other than this Act.
(f)
"Owner" means a person having a proprietary right in the land and includes an
allottee, a usufructuary mortgagee or a lessee.
(g)

"Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under the Act.

(h)
"Tenant" means a person to whom land is leased by the Collector
provisions of this Act.

[2]

under the

(i)
"Urban land" means all land included with in the limits of a Corporation,
Municipal Committee, Notified Area Committee, Town Area Small Town Committee and
Cantonment.

3.
Power to take possession of any vacant land- 1[(1) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the
Collector may issue notice to the owner of any land which has not been cultivated for the last six or more harvests
to show cause, within thirty days of the date of the service of such notice on him, why the land has not been
cultivated and in case the Collector does not find the explanation to be satisfactory he may take possession of the
land forthwith for the purposes of this Act:

Provided that the Collector may take possession of the land without issue of notice, if, in
his opinion, the owner thereof has been wrongfully shown in the revenue records to have
cultivated the land which in fact has remained uncultivated for six or more harvests prior to such
wrong entry.]

(2)
The notice required by sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be duly served if
delivered at, or sent by post to the usual or last known place of residence of the owner:
Provided that no notice shall be deemed to be invalid on the ground of any defect,
vagueness or insufficiency.

1 of 1894

[4.
Payment of compensation - Where possession of any land has been taken under the last preceding
section, compensation shall be paid in accordance with the provision of section 23 (1) of the Land Acquisition Act,
1894 (Act No.1 of 1894):

Provided that from the compensation the Collector shall be competent to deduct the
expenditure, if any incurred in relation to any preliminary process incidental to the utilization of
the said land or in connection with any additional staff or services rendered necessary for such
utilization and computed in the manner prescribed. The balance shall be paid to the person who
in his opinion is entitled to receive the same, without prejudice to the rights of any other person
who may be lawfully entitled to claim it].

5.

Lease by Collector- Where the Collector has taken possession of any land

under section 3, he may lease it to any person on such terms and conditions as he
may deem fir for the purpose

[3]

of growing food and fodder crops:

[Provided that the period of lease shall not be less than 7 years or more than 20 years].

[6.

Power of Collector to determine lease in certain cases - (1) If a

person to whom land has been leased under section 5 commits a breach of any of
the terms and conditions thereof, the Collector, shall without prejudice to any other
right or remedy against him, have the power to determine the lease and take
possession of the land.

(2)
Where lease has been determined by the Collector the lessee shall not be entitled
to any compensation.]

7.

Delivery of possession on termination of lease - (1)

Where any

land taken possession of by the Collector under section 3 is on the expiry of the
lease * * *

* * * to be returned to the owner, the Collector may after making such

inquiry, if any, as he considers necessary; specify by order in writing the person to

whom possession of the land shall be given.

(2)
The delivery of possession of the land to the person specified in any order made
under subsection (1) shall be a full discharge of the Collector from all liability in respect of such
delivery but shall not prejudice any rights in respect of such delivery but shall not prejudice any
rights in respect of the land which any other person may be entitled by due process of law to
enforce against the person to whom possession of the land is so delivered.

(3)
Where the person to whom possession of any land is given cannot be found and
has no agent or other person empowered to accept delivery on his behalf, the Collector shall
cause a notice declaring that the land is released to be affixed on some conspicuous part of the
land.

(4)
On issue of the notice referred to in sub-section (3) the land specified in the
notice shall be deemed to have been delivered to the person entitled to the possession thereof,
and the Government or t[4]he Collector shall not be liable for any compensation or other claim in
respect of the land for any period after the said date.

8.
Penalty for failure of the tenant to grow food or fodder crops - Where the tenant fails
to grow food or fodder corps on the land leased to him, he shall besides the payment of rent fixed
under section 5 be also liable to pay a penalty not exceeding twice such rent.

9.

10.

Sums due recoverable as arrears of land revenue - All sums due

under this Act from the owner or tenant shall be recoverable as arrears of land
revenue.

11.
Compliance of orders - The Collector may take or cause to be taken such steps and use
or cause to be used such force as may in his opinion be reasonably necessary for securing
compliance with any order made by him under this Act.

12.

Delegation of functions - The Collector may delegate all or any of his

powers and functions under this Act to any officer of the Revenue or Rehabilitation
Department in his district either by name or designation.

13.

Instrument of lease not necessary - Notwithstanding anything contained

in any law for the time being in force no instrument in writing to give effect to a
lease by the Collector under the Act shall require stamp, attestation or registration.

[14.

Appeal and revision - (1)

Any person aggrieved by an order passed by

the Collector mau, within fifteen days from the date of such order or such longer
period as the Commissioner may allow for reasons to be recorded in writing, prefer
on appeal in writing to the Commissioner of Division in which the land is situate.

Explanation.-In computing the period of fifteen days, the time taken in obtaining a certified
copy of the order appealed against shall be excluded.

(2)
On such appeal being preferred, the Commissioner may order stay or [5]further
proceedings in the matter pending decision on the appeal.

(3)
The Commissioner shall decide the appeal after giving the parties an opportunity
of being heard and if necessary, after sending for the records of the case from the Collector and
after making such enquiry as he thinks fit either personally or through the Collector.

(4)
The State Government or the Financial Commissioner authorized by it in this
behalf may, at any time, for the purpose of satisfying itself or himself as to the legality or
propriety of any order passed by any officer under this, Act, call for and examine the records of
any case pending before or disposed of by such officer and may, after giving the parties a
reasonable opportunity of being heard, pass such order in reference thereto as may be deemed
fit.

(5)
Except as provided in this Act no order made or action taken in exercise of any
power conferred by this Act shall be called into question in any court or before any officer or
authority.]

15.

Debar to suits or legal proceedings - (1)

No suit, prosecution or other

legal proceedings shall be institution against any person for any thing which is, in
good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.

(2)
No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against the [Government] for any
damage caused by anything which is, in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act.

16.

Power of Government to make rules - The [State] Government may

by[6] notification make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see East Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), 1949, page 1130; for
proceedings in the Assembly, see East Punjab Legislative Assembly Debtes, Volume IV. 1949, page (8) 61-(8) 63.
2

For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), 1951, page 93, for
proceedings in the Assembly, see Punjab Legislative Assembly Debates, Volume III, 1951, pages (21) 138-21152.
(This Act repealed Punjab Ordinance No. 15 of 1950).
3

For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), 1952, page 1964; for
proceedings in Assembly, see Punjab Letgislative Assembly Debates, 1953.
4

For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), 1956, page 1078-79.

For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Punjab government Gazette (Extraordinary), 1957, page 680.

For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), 1958, page 1487.

For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary) 1959 page 472.

Substituted for the words "East Punjab" by the Adaptation of Laws (Third Amendment) Order, 1951.

[2]

Substituted for the word "Province" by the Adaptation of Laws Order. 1950.

Substituted for the words "East Punjab" by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.

Sub-section 3 which reads as follows:-

"It shall remain in force for two years from the date of its commencement".
was omitted by Punjab Act 11 of 1951, section 2.
1

Substituted for sub-section (1) by Punjab Act 39 of 1956, section 2.

Substituted for section 4, by the East Punjab Utilization of Lands (Amendment) Act, 1953).

[3]

Substituted for the old proviso by Punjab Act 11 if 1951, section 5.

Section 6 omitted by Punjab Act 11 of 1951, section 6 and again inserted by Punjab Act 24 of 1957, section 2.

The words "or its earlier termination" omitted by Punjab Act 11 of 1951, section 7.

Section 9 omitted by Punjab Act 11 of 1951, section 8.

Section 14 substituted by Punjab Act 1 of 1960, section 2.

Substituted for that word "Crown" by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.

Substituted for the word "Provincial" by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.

For Rules see Punjab government notification No. 1768-FP-50/786, dated 20th Februar

THE PEPSU TENANCY AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS ACT, 1955

( ACT NO. 13 OF 1955 )

Contents

SN
1.

Subject
PRELIMINARY

2.

RESERVATION OE LAND FOR PERSONAL CULLTIVATION

3.

GENERAL RIGHTS OF TENANCY

4.

ACQUISITION OF PROPIETARY RIGHTS BY TENANTS

5.

CEILING ON LAND AND AQUISITION AND DISPOSAL

OF SURPLUS AREA

6.

CONSTITUTION OF LAND COMMISSION

7.
MISCELLANEOUS

[ Received the assent of the President on the 4 th March, 1955, and

was first published in the PATIALA AND EAST PUNJAB STATES
UNION GAZETTE, Extraordinary, of the 4th March, 1955].

Year

No.

Short title

Whether affected by later

legislation

1955

13

The Pepsu
Tenancy and
Agricultural
Lands Act,
1955

Amended byPepsu Act No. 27 of 1955.

Pepsu Act No. 9 of 1956.
Pepsu Act No. 15 of 1956.
Punjab Act No. 43 of 1957.
Punjab Act No. 3 of 1959.
Punjab Act No. 16 of 1962.
Punjab Act No. 27 of 1962.
Punjab Act No 11 of 1968.
Punjab Adoption of Laws
(State and Concurrent
subjects) Order-1968

1955

13
Punjab Act No. 29 of 1969
Repealed by Punjab Act
10 of 1973..

An Act to amend and consolidate the law, relating to tenancies of

agricultural lands and to provide for certain measures of land
reforms.
It is hereby enacted in the Sixth Year of the Republic of India
as follows :CHAPTER 1
PRELIMINARY

1.
(1) This Act may be called the PEPSU Tenancy and
Agricultural Lands Act, 1955.
(2) The provisions of [section 7A and Chapter IV, IV-A and IV-B
shall save as otherwise provided in those provisions, come into force
on the date of commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and
Agricultural Lands (Second Amendment) Act, 1956], but the
remaining provisions shall come into force on the sixth day of March,
1955.
2.
(a)

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires;"allottee means a displaced person or a group of such
persons to whom land is allotted in pursuance of the scheme
contained in the notification of the Department of
Rehabilitation No. 9R, dated the 23rd July, 1949, or in pursuance
of any other scheme for allotment of evacuee land to displaced
persons which the State Government may, by notification in
the Official Gazette, specify for the purpose of this Act, and
includes(i)

the legal representatives of such displaced

persons; and

(ii)

in the case of an allotment to a group of displaced

persons, each such person and his legal representatives;

(b)

banjar land means land which has remained uncultivated

for a continuous period of not less than four years immediately
preceding the date on which the question whether such land is
banjar or not arises;

[(bb)

"Collector has the meaning assigned to it in the Punjab Land

Revenue Act, 1887 (Punjab Act XVII of 1887), and includes any
officer not below the rank of an Assistant Collector specially
empowered by the State ;Government to perform all or any of
the functions assigned to the Collector under this Act.].

(c)

Commissioner has the meaning assigned to it in the Punjab

Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Punjab Act ;XVII of 1887), ;and
includes any other officer specially empowered by the State
Government to perform all or any of the functions assigned to
the Commissioner under this Act;

(d)

evacuee land means land which is or which is deemed to

be evacuee property under the Administration of Evacuee
Property Act, 1950 (XXXI of 1950);

(e)

(f)

Khana damad means a person who having married the

daughter of a landowner having no male issue lives along with
his wife in the house of his father-in-law and who according to
the custom is treated by him as his son;
landowner has the meaning assigned to it in the Punjab
Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Punjab Act XVII of 1887), and
includes an allottee;

[Explanation- In respect of land mortgaged with possession, the

mortgagee shall be deemed to be the landowner];
(g)

the expression to cultivate personally with its grammatical

variations and cognate expressions means to cultivate on ones
own account-

(i)
(ii)
(ii)
(h)

by ones own labour, or

by the labour of such of ones relatives, as may be
prescribed, or
by servants or hired labour;
Prescribed means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(i)

standard acre is a measure of land convertible with

reference to the yield from, and the quality of, the soil, into an
ordinary acre according to the prescribed scale.

(j)

State means the [territories of the State of Punjab which,

immediately before the Ist November, 1956, formed part of the
State of Patiala and East Punjab State Union.];

(k)

tenant has the meaning assigned to it in the Punjab Tenancy

Act, 1887 (Punjab Act XVI of 1887), but does not include a
person-

(i)

who holds a right of occupancy, or

(ii)

who is relative of the tenant within the meaning of subclause (2) of clause (g);

(l)

the Presidents Act means the Patiala and East Punjab

States Union Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1953
(Presidents Act 8 of 1953);

(m)

all other words and expressions used herein and not

defined but defined in the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887 (Punjab
Act XVI of 1887), or the Punjab Land Revenue Act,1887 (Punjab
Act XVII of 1887), shall have the meanings assigned to them in
either of those Acts.

3.
[(1) Permissible limit for the land purposes of this Act
means thirty standard acres of land and where such thirty standard
acres on being on being converted into ordinary acres exceed eighty
acres, such eighty acres:

Provided that in the case of an allottee, (a)

who has been allotted land exceeding forty standard acres,

the permissible limit shall be forty standard acres and where
such forty standard acres on being converted into ordinary
acres exceed one hundred acres, such one hundred acres; and

(b)

who has been allotted land exceeding thirty standard acres,

but not exceeding forty standard acres, the permissible limit
shall equal to the area of land allotted to him]

[Explanation,- For the purposes of determining the permissible limit

of an allottee, the provisions of the proviso shall not apply to the
heirs and successors of the allottee to whom land is allotted.]
(2)
For the purposes of computing the permissible limit under
sub-section (1)
a.

where a person holds some land as a landowner and some

other land as an allottee both kinds of land shall be included;

b.

land occupied by an occupancy tenant shall not be included

in the holding of the land owner but it shall e included in the
holding of the occupancy tenant in ;whom proprietary rights in
respect of such land vest under the Pepsu Occupancy Tenants
(Vesting of Proprietary Rights) Act 1954 (18 of 1954);

c.

Where a landowner owns land jointly with other landowners

his share of such land as ascertained from the record of rights
shall alone be included;

d.

Where a landowner died within a period of six months from

the commencement of the Presidents Act the permissible limit
shall be determined with reference to the land which has
devolved upon each of his successors-in-interest, including and
land held by such successors-in-interest immediately before
the death of the landowner;

e.

Any transfer of land made by the ;landowner after the

commencement of the Presidents Act shall be disregarded;

(f)

[* * * * *].

4.
Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, the
provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything
inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being
in force or any instrument having effect by virtue of any such law or
any usage, agreement, settlement, grant, sanad or any decree or
order of any court or other authority.
CHAPTER II
RESERVATION OE LAND FOR PERSONAL CULLTIVATION

5.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, every landowner
owning land exceeding thirty standard acres shall be entitled to
select for personal cultivation from the land held by him in the State
as landowner any parcel or parcels of land not exceeding in
aggregate area the permissible limit and reserve such land for
personal cultivation by intimating his selection in the prescribed
form and manner to the Collector:
Provided that in making such selection, the landowner shall
include to the extent of the permissible limit, all land which he held
for personal cultivation immediately before the commencement of
the Presidents Act.
(2)
The right conferred by this section on a landowner to
reserve land for personal cultivation shall cease if it is not exerciseda.

Within a period of one year from the commencement of the

Presidents Act, where the landowner is a member of the
Armed Forces of the Union; and

b.

Within a period of six months from such commencement in

any other case.

[5A Any landowner,-

1.

whose permissible limit has been altered under the Pepsu

Tenency and Agricultural Lands (Second Amendment) Act 1956
or

2.

who on account of the provisions contained in sub-section(2)

on section 7A is not entitled to resume reserve land or any part
thereof, or

3.

in the case of an allottee whose allotment has been modified

or revised after the commencement of the Presidents Act,

shall be entitled,a.

in any case where he has reserved land for personal

cultivation under section 5, to reserve additional land for
personal cultivation,

b.

in any case where he was not entitled to reserve land for

personal cultivation, to reserve such land for personal
cultivation,

not later than the expiry of six months from the date
commencement of the Act referred to in clause (1) and the
provisions of section 5 shall so far as may be apply to reservation of
land for personal cultivation under this section as they apply to
reservation of land for personal cultivation under that section]

6.
(1) The Collector shall in respect of every land owner notify
in such form and manner as may be prescribed the particulars of all
lands reserved for the personal cultivation of the landowner under
section 5 2[or section 5A, as the case may be]
(2) A copy of every notification issued under sub-section(1) shall as
soon as may be, be served upon the landowner concerned in the
prescribed manner.
CHAPTER III

GENERAL RIGHTS OF TENANCY

7.
(1) No tenancy shall be terminated except in
accordance with the provisions of this Act or except of any the
following grounds, namely :[(a)
(b)

* * * * *]
that the tenant has failed to pay rent within a period of six
months after it falls due:

Provided that no tenant shall be ejected under this clause

unless he has been afforded an opportunity to pay the arrears of
rent within a further period of six months from the date of the
decree or order directing his ejectment and he had failed to pay
such arrears during that period;]
(c)

that the tenant, not being a widow, 3[a minor, an unmarried

women, a member of the Armed forces of the Union or a
person incapable of cultivating land by reason of physical or
mental infirmity] has after commencement of the Presidents
Act sublet without the consent in writing of the landowner, the
land comprising his tenancy or any thereof ;

(d)

that the tenant has, without sufficient cause, failed to

cultivate personally such land in the manner and to the extent
customary in the locality in which such land is situated;

(e)

that the tenant has used such land or any part thereof in a
manner which is likely to render the land unfit for the purpose
for which it was leased to him;

(f)

that the tenant , on demand in writing by the landowner, has

refused to execute a kabuliyat agreeing to pay rent in respect
of his tenancy in accordance with the provisions of sections 9
and 10.

1[(2)

* *

*]

[7A (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3), a

tenancy subsisting at the commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and
Agricultural Lands(Second Amendment) Act 1956 may be
terminated on the following grounds in addition to the grounds
specified in section 7, namely :a.

that the land comprising the tenancy has been reserved by

the landowner for his personal cultivation in accordance with
the provisions of Chapter-II;

b.

that the landowner owns thirty standard acres or less of land

and the land falls within his permissible limit :

Provided that no tenant 3[other than a tenant of a landowner who is

member of the Armed Forces of the Union] shall be ejected under
this sub-section(i)

from any area of land if the area under the personal

cultivation of the tenant does not exceed five standard acres,
or

(ii)

from an area of five stand acres, if the area under the

personal cultivation of the tenant exceeds five standard
acres, until he is allotted by the State Govt. Alternative land of
equivalent value in standard acres.

(2)
No tenant, who immediately preceding the commencement
of the Presidents Act has held any land continuously for a period of
twelve years or more under the same landowner or his predecessor
in title, shall be ejected on the grounds specified in sub-section (1)a.

from any area of land, if the area under the personal

cultivation of the tenant does not exceed fifteen standard
acres, or

b.

from an area of fifteen standard acres, if the area under

the personal cultivation of the tenant exceeds fifteen
standard acres:

Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to the

tenant of a landowner who, both, at the commencement of the
tenancy and the commencement of the Presidents Act, was a
widow, a minor, an unmarried woman, a member of the Armed
Forces of the Union or a person incapable of cultivating land by
reason of physical or mental infirmity.
Explanation:- In computing the period of twelve years, the period
during which any land has been held under the same ;landowner or
his predecessor in title by the father, brother or son of the tenant
shall be included.
(3)
For the purpose of computing under sub-section (1) and
(2) the area of land under the personal cultivation of la tenant, ;any
area of land owned by the tenant and under his personal cultivation
shall be included.
[8.
Subject to the provisions of section 7, every tenant admitted
after the commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural
Lands (Second Amendment) Act, 1956, shall hold land for a
minimum term of three years:
Provided that nothing herein shall apply to the tenant of a
person who is a widow, a minor, an unmarried woman, a member of
the Armed Forces of the Union, or a person incapable of cultivating
land by reason of physical or mental infirmity.]
[8-A. (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained
in the Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1913, a-sale of land comprising the
tenancy of a tenant made to him by the landowner shall not be
preemptible under the Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1913, and no decree
of pre-emption passed after the commencement of this Act in
respect of any such sale of land shall be executed by any court.
(2) Where, after the commencement of the Presidents Act, a
tenant, to whom the land comprising; his tenancy is sold by the
landowner, has been dispossessed of such land by a pre-emptor in
execution of a decree for pre-emption or otherwise, the tenant so

dispossessed shall in the manner prescribed have the option either

to purchase the land from the pre-emptor on payment of the price
paid to the tenant by the pre-emptor on the same terms and
conditions on which it was held by him immediately before the sale,
on an application made by him to an Assistant Collector of the first
grade having jurisdiction within a period of one year from the
commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands
(Amendment) Ordinance, 1958.
(3) On receipt of an application under sub-section (2) the
Assistant Collector shall, after giving to the parties notice in writing
and a reasonable opportunity of being heard, determine the claim
summarily, and shall keep a memorandum of evidence and a gist of
his final order with brief reason therefor.
8-B (1) Where, after the commencement of the President's Act, land
comprising the tenancy of a tenant is mortgaged to him with
possession by the landowner and such land is subsequently
redeemed by the landowner, the tenant shall, notwithstanding such
redemption or any other law for the time being in force, be deemed
to be the tenant of the landowner in respect of such land on the
same terms and conditions on which it was held by him immediately
before the execution of the mortgage as if the mortgage had never
been executed.
2.
Where a tenant referred to in sub-section (1) has been
dispossessed; by the landowner in execution of a decree or order of
redemption, he shall be entitled to be restored to his tenancy in the
manner prescribed on the same terms and conditions on which it
was held by him immediately before the execution of the mortgage
on an application made by him to an Assistant Collector of the first
grade having jurisdiction within a period of one year from the
commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands
(Amendment) Ordinance, 1958.

3.
An application received under sub-section (2) shall be
disposed of by the Assistant Collector of the first grade in the
manner laid down in sub-section (3) of section 8A.]
9.
Notwithstanding any agreement,
court or any law for the time being
payable by a tenant in respect of the
exceed one-third of produce of the
produce, as the case may be.

usage, decree or order of a

in force the maximum rent
land leased to him shall not
land or the value of such

10. (1) Subject to the provisions of section 9, the rent payable by a

tenant shall be
(a)

where the rent is fixed by an agreement in writing , the rent

so agreed upon;

(b)

where there is no such agreement , the rent payable for

the agricultural year immediately preceding the period in
respect of which the rent falls to be determined ;

(c)

where it is not practicable to ascertain the rent for the

previous agricultural year referred to in clause (b), the rent
payable according to the usage of the locality;

(d)

where the case does not fall under any of the aforesaid
clauses, a reasonable rent.

(2)
The reasonable rent referred to in clause (d) of sub
section (1) shall be determined by the prescribed authority who in
determining such rent shall have regard to the following matters,
namely:(a)
(b)

the rental value of any land leased for similar purposes in

the locality;
the income from similar lands in the locality;

(c)
the prices of food grains and other commodities in the
locality;

(d)

such other matters as may be prescribed.

11. (1) Every landowner shall give or cause to be given a receipt for
the rent received by him or on his behalf in such form and manner
as may be prescribed.
Explanation.-A receipt shall be deemed to have been given
within the meaning of this sub-section, if it is handed over to the
prescribed authority within seven days of receipt of rent by the land
owner or by any person on his behalf.
(2) If any landowner makes default in complying with the
provisions of sub-section (1), the prescribed authority may, by order
in writing, direct him to pay a penalty not exceeding three times the
amount of land revenue payable in respect of the land relating to
which the default is made.

12. Notwithstanding anything in any agreement, usage, or law for

the time being in force, it shall not be lawful for any landowner(a)

to recover from a tenant rent in excess of the amount

specified in section 9 or section 10, as the case may be, or

(b)

to demand from a tenant any cess, rate or tax or service or

payment of any description or denomination whatsoever, in
addition to the rent lawfully recoverable under this act

13. If the prescribed authority, after, the making such enquiry as it

may deem fit, is satisfied that a landowner has recovered ant rent,
cess, rte or tax or received any service from any tenant in
contravention of the provisions of section 12, the prescribed
authority may direct the landowner-.

(a)

to pay the Government as penalty a sum not exceeding

ten times the excess amount recovered; and

(b)

to refund to the tenant the excess amount recovered

from him; or

(c)

where the landowner has received any service from any

tenant such sum by way of compensation as the
prescribed authority may think fit

14. (1) If in any Abadi Deh or Gorah Deh a tenant is in occupation of

a dwelling-house built on a site belonging to the landowner, the
tenant shall not be ejected from such dwelling-house or the land
immediately appurtenant thereto and necessary for his enjoyment
unless-.
(a)

the landowner proves that the dwelling -house was not built
at the expense of the tenant; and

(b)

such tenant makes default for a period exceeding one year

in the payment of rent, if any, which he has been paying for
the use and occupation of such house:

Provided that in the case of a tenant under an allottee, this subsection shall have effect as if for the word 'and' in sub-clause (a) the
word 'or' were substituted.
(2) The provisions of this section and the next succeeding section
shall not apply to a dwelling-house which is situated on any land
used for the purpose of agriculture in respect of which the tenancy
has been terminated under the provisions of this Act.
Explanation:- In this section and the next succeeding section
the expression 'landowner' in relation to evacuee land means the
Custodian of Evacuee Property within the meaning of the
Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 (XXXI of 1950).
15. (1) A tenant who is in occupation of a dwelling-house built at his
own expense on a site belonging to the landowner shall have the
right to purchase such site from the landowner at the price agreed

upon in writing between him and the landowner or in the absence of

any such agreement at such price as may be determined by the
prescribed authority.
(2)
A tenant who intends to purchase the site of a dwelling
house in pursuance of the provisions of sub-section (1) shall give to
the landowner a notice in writing in the prescribed manner of his
intention to do so.
(3)
Where a landowner has received notice under subsection (2) he shall within one month of the receipt thereof,
communicate in writing to the tenant the price at which he is willing
to sell to him the site of the dwelling-house.
(4)
Where a landowner fails to communicate to the tenant
the price in respect of the site of the dwelling-house under subsection (3), or where the tenant is not willing to pay the price
demanded by the landowner for such site, the tenant may make an
application in the prescribed form to the prescribed authority within
the prescribed period for determination of the market value of the
site.
(5)
On receipt of an application under sub-section (4), the
prescribed authority shall, after giving the parties an opportunity, of
being heard, determine, by an order in writing the market value of
the site.
(6)
An order made under sub-section (5) shall be served
upon the landowner and the tenant; and if the tenant deposits with
the prescribed authority the market value of the site of the dwellinghouse as determined under that sub-section within six months, from
the date of the service of the order upon him, the site shall be
deemed to have been transferred to the tenant, and the amount so
deposited shall be paid to the landowner.
(7)
The prescribed authority shall, on payment of the
prescribed fee, issue to the tenant a certificate containing the
prescribed particulars in respect of the site of the dwelling-house

deemed to have been transferred to the tenant under sub-section

(6) and notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian
Registration Act, 1908, (XVI of 1908), no such certificate shall
require to be registered under that Act.
(8)
Where a tenant fails to deposit the market value of the
site of the dwelling-house under sub-section (6), he shall be deemed
to have relinquished his right to purchase such site.
16.
(1) A tenant may at anytime apply in writing to the
landowner for permission to make improvement at his own expense
on the land leased to him.
(2)
If, within one month of the receipt of such application,
the landowner fails or refuses, without reasonable cause, to grant
the required permission to the tenant, the tenant may make an
application within the prescribed period to the prescribed authority
for the grant of such permission.
(3)
Where an application is made to the prescribed
authority under sub-section (2), the prescribed authority after giving
the parties an opportunity of being heard, may make such order
thereon as it may deem fit.
(4)
Where a tenant makes any improvement on the land
leased to him in accordance with an order made by the prescribed
authority under sub-section (3), the tenant shall be deemed to have
made such improvements with the permission of the landowner.
(5)
tenant.

In this section, the expression 'tenant' includes a sub-

17 (1) A tenant who has made any improvements at his own

expense on the land leased to him in accordance with the provisions
of section 16, shall if his tenancy is terminated under the provisions
of this Act, be entitled to receive compensation for such
improvements before he can be ejected from such land.

(2)
The compensation payable to a tenant under subsection (1), shall be determined by the prescribed authority in
accordance with the value of such improvements at the date of
termination of the tenancy and in determining such compensation
the prescribed authority shall have regard to the following matters,
namely :(a)

the amount by which the value of land has increased by

reason of improvements ;

(b)

the condition of the improvements at the date of the

determination of the value thereof and the probable duration of
their effect

(c)

the labour and capital involved in the making of the

improvements; and

(d)

the reduction or remission of rent. If any or other

advantage secured by the tenant in consideration of the
improvements made by him.

18. (1) If a tenant dies during the term of his tenancy the tenancy
shall subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) devolve(a)
on his lineal male descendants, in the male line of
descent, if any;
(b)

failing such descendants, on his widow, if any;

Provided that such widow shall cease to enjoy the tenancy

right if she remarries or abandons the land or is ejected therefrom in
accordance with the provisions of this Act;
(c)

failing such descendants and widow, or in case there is a

widow if and when she ceases to enjoy the tenancy rights
under the proviso to clause (b), on a khana damand, if any

(2)
No person shall be entitled to succeed to tenancy under subsection (1), unless he is willing to cultivate personally the land
comprising the tenancy

19. Nothing contained in this Chapter shall be construed to limit or

prejudice the right and privileges of any tenant under any other law
for the time being in force or any usage, or arising from any
contract, grant, decree or order of a court or otherwise howsoever.

CHAPTER IV
ACQUISITION OF PROPIETARY
RIGHTS BY TENANTS

[20. In this Chapter, the expression ' tenant' means a tenant as

defined in clause (k) of section 2 , who is not liable to be ejected.
1

(a)
7A ; or

Under clauses (a) and (b) of sub section (1) of section

(b)
7A:

Under clauses (a) and (b) of sub section (2) of section

Provided that this definition shall not apply to a tenant who is to be

allotted by the State Government land under the proviso to subsection (1) of section 7A]
21. The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to evacuee lands with
effect from such date as the State Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, specify.
22.
(1) Subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, a
tenant shall be entitled to acquire from his landowner in respect of
the land comprising his tenancy the right, title and interest of the
landowner in such land (hereinafter referred to as the 'proprietary
rights)' in the manner and subject to the conditions hereinafter
provided.
(2) Every tenant intending to acquire proprietary rights shall
make an application in writing to the prescribed authority in the
prescribed manner, containing the following particulars, namely:-

(a)
the area and location of the land in respect of which
the application is made;
(b)
the name of the landowner from whom proprietary
rights are to be acquired;
(c)

such other particulars as may be prescribed.

(3) The right conferred upon a tenant to acquire proprietary

rights in; respect of any land under this section may, if such tenant
has sublet the land be, exercised by the sub-tenant to the exclusion
of the tenant.
23. (1) On receipt of an application under section 22, the prescribed
authority after satisfying itself that the applicant is entitled to
acquire proprietary rights in any land under this Chapter shall
determine the compensation payable in respect thereof in
accordance with the principles set out in section 26.
(2) On determination of such compensation the prescribed
authority shall by order in writing require the applicant to deposit
the first instalment of the compensation as prescribed under section
27 in a Government treasury or a sub-treasury or with the
prescribed authority and to produce before it a receipt for the same
within a period of fifteen days from the date of the service of such
order.
Provided that the prescribed authority may, on sufficient cause
being shown, extend the period specified in this sub-section, so
however that the aggregate period does not exceed one month.
(3) Where the first instalment of compensation has been
deposited in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2), the
prescribed authority shall issue to the applicant a certificate in the
prescribed form declaring him to be the landowner in respect of the
land specified in the certificate.
(4) On and from the date of issue of a certificate under subsection (3), the proprietary rights of the landowner in the land

specified in the certificate shall be deemed to have been

extinguished and such proprietary rights shall vest in the applicant
free from all encumbrances and as from such date the applicant
shall cease to be liable to pay any rent in respect of such land to
the landowner :
Provided that(a)

the amount of compensation payable by the

applicant shall be a first charge on such land;

(b)

the amount of any encumbrance existing on

such land on the date of the issue of the certificate shall be a
valid charge on the amount of compensation payable by the
applicant under this Act.

(5) Every certificate issued under sub-section (3) shall be

conclusive evidence of the acquisition by the applicant of
proprietary rights in the land specified therein ;and notwithstanding
anything contained in the Indian Registration Act, 1908 (XVI of
1908), no such certificate shall be required to be registered under
that Act.
24.
(1) Any person who is entitled to acquire proprietary rights in
respect of any land under this Chapter may at anytime after the
amount of the first instalment of compensation is deposited under
sub-section (2) of section 23 but before a certificate is issued to him
under sub-section (3) of that section make a declaration in writing in
the prescribed manner before the prescribed authority that he has
abandoned his intention to acquire proprietary rights in such land.
(2)
Where any declaration is made under sub-section (1),
the amount of the first instalment of compensation, deposited by
the tenant under sub-section (2) of section 23 shall be refunded to
him.
25. If any person upon whom the right to acquire proprietary rights
is conferred under this Chapter fails to comply with any order made

under sub-section (2) of section 23 he shall forfeit his right to

acquire such proprietary rights.
26.
(1) Where any person has acquired proprietary rights in
respect of any land under this Chapter he shall be liable to pay to
the landowner from whom such rights have been acquired
compensation at the rate of ninety times the land revenue (including
rates and cesses) payable for such land two hundred rupees per
acre, whichever is less.
(2) The compensation payable under this section shall be
determined by the prescribed authority who shall specify the person
or persons to whom the compensation shall be paid.
(3) If there is any dispute as to the person or persons who are
entitled to the payment of compensation, the prescribed authority
shall decide the dispute and if the prescribed authority finds that
more than one person are entitled to compensation it shall
apportion the amount thereof among such persons.
27.
(1) The compensation payable under section 26 may be
paid in such annual instalments not exceeding six as may be
prescribed.
(2) Every instalment of compensation shall be deposited in a
Government treasury or a sub-treasury or paid to such authority as
may be prescribed within fifteen days of the date of its becoming
due and a receipt therefor shall be furnished to the prescribed
authority.
(3) Where any instalment of compensation is not deposited in
a Government treasury or a sub-treasury or paid the prescribed
authority within the period of fifteen days specified in sub-section
(2), the prescribed authority shall of its own motion or on the
applicant of the landowner concerned, take steps within one month
from the expiry of the said period of fifteen days for the recovery of
such instalment in the manner provided in section-49.

(4) Interest at the rate of two and a half percent per annum,
shall be payable on the amount of any instalment which is not paid
within time from the date when the instalment became due.
28. Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 24, the
prescribed authority shall, as soon as may be, after the amount of
any instalment of compensation has been deposited under section
23 or section 27 pay the same to the person entitled to it on his
executing a receipt for the same.
29.
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any
other law for the time being in force, the amount of land revenue,
(including surcharge, special charge, additional surcharge or special
assessment) or of acreage rates, or of betterment charges, or of any
other tax (including rates and cesses), payable under any law for the
time being in force in respect of any land, the proprietary rights of
which a ;person under this Chapter is entitled to acquire, may be
recovered from such person.
(2) Where any amount has been recovered from a person
under sub-section (1), such person shall be entitled to set off such
amount against the rent payable in respect of such land.
29-A (1) Where a person entitled under this Chapter to acquire
proprietary rights in respect of the land comprising his tenancy fails
to make an application under sub-section (2) of section 22, within a
period of one year from the commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy
and Agricultural Lands (Second Amendment) Act, 1962, an
application containing the particulars specified therein maybe made
in writing to the prescribed authority in the prescribed manner by
the landowner requiring such person to acquire proprietary rights in
such land in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.
(2) The applications under sub-section (1) shall be disposed of
in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter as if it were an
application made by a person under sub-section (2) of section 22
and the provisions of section 25 shall apply to the order made under
sub-section (2) of section 23 in respect of such application.

30.
If any tenant or sub-tenant dies before exercising his
right to acquire proprietary rights in respect of any land under this
Chapter such right shall, on his death, devolve upon his lineal male
descendants in the male line of descent, if any, and shall be
exercisable by them in the like manner and subject to the like
conditions as the tenant or the sub-tenant, as the case may be.
31.
(1) No land in respect of which proprietary rights have
been acquired under this Chapter shall be transferred by sale,
mortgage, gift or otherwise during a period of six years from the
date of a certificate issued under sub-section(3) of section 23.
[ Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to the
land mortgaged with the State Government or the Punjab State Cooperative Land Mortgage Bank, Ltd. Established under the Punjab
Co-operative Land Mortgage Banks Act,1957.]
1

(2) Any transfer of land made in contravention of subsection(1) shall be void and no registering authority shall register
any document evidencing such transfer under the Indian
Registration Act, 1908 (XVI of 1908).
32.
(1) No transfer of land made by a land owner after the
commencement of President's Act shall effect the right of any
person to acquire proprietary rights in such land under this Chapter
(2) If any question arises whether any transfer of land does
or does not effect the right of any person to acquire proprietary
rights in such land, the question shall be refer red to the prescribed
authority for its decision.

CHAPTER IV-A
CEILING ON LAND AND AQUISITION AND DISPOSAL OF
SURPLUS AREA
32-A (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law,
custom, usage or agreement, no person shall be entitled to own or

hold as land owner or tenant land under his personal cultivation with
in the State which exceeds in the aggregate the permissible limit.
(2) For the purpose of computing the permissible limit under
sub-section(1) the provisions of clauses(d) and (e) of sub-section (2)
of section 3 shall not apply.
32-B. Any person who on the commencement of the Pepsu
Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Second Amendment) Act, 1956
owns or holds as landowner or tenant land under his personal
cultivation which in the aggregate exceeds the permissible limit,
shall, within a period of 2[ one month from the commencement of
the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Amendment) Ordinance,
1958], furnish to the Collector a return giving the particulars of all
his land in the prescribed form and manner and stating therein his
selection of the parcel or parcels of land not exceeding in the
aggregate the permissible limit with he desires to retain and the
lands in respect of which he claims exemption from the ceiling under
the provisions of this Chapter.
[ Provided that such person shall state in the return any
transfer or other disposition of land made by him after the
21st August 1956, and where a person has finished a return before
the commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands
(Amendment) Ordinance, 1958, he shall within the aforesaid period
intimate to the Collector any such transfer or order disposition of
land made by him].
3

[32-BB
(1) Every landowner or tenant required to furnish a
return under section 32-B, whose land is situated in more than one
patwar circle, shall furnish to the Collector within a period of one
month from the commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and
Agricultural Lands (Amendment) Ordinance, 1958, a declaration
supported by an affidavit in respect of the lands owned or held by
him in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
1

(2) If a landowner or tenant fails to furnish the declaration

supported by an affidavit as required by sub-section(1), the

prescribed authority not below the rank of Collector may, by order,

direct that the whole or part of the land of such landowner or tenant,
excess of ten standard acres, to be specified by such authority shall
be deemed to be the surplus area of such landowner or tenant, and
there-upon such area shall be included by the Collector as the
surplus area of such landowner or tenant in the statement to be
prepared in respect of him under section 32D:
Provided that nothing herein shall effect(a)

The lands of such landowner or tenant which

have been exempted under section 32-K ; or

(b)

the right of such person to any compensation in

respect of such surplus area to which he may be entitled
under this act:

Provided further that no such order shall be made without giving the
person concerned and opportunity of being heard.
(3) Where a land owner or tenant, who is required to furnish
a declaration under sub-section(1), fails so to do, the Collector may
in respect of him obtain the information required to be shown in the
declaration through such agency as he may deem fit.]
32-C. If any person owning or holding under his personal cultivation
land in excess of the permissible limit fails to furnish the return and
intimate his selection with in the period prescribed under section 32B, the Collector may obtain the information required to be shown in
the return through such agency as may 1[ deem fit and, subject to
the provisions or parcels of land which such person is entitled to
retain under the provisions of this Act as also the surplus area of
such person.
32-D. (1) On the basis of the information given in the return under
section 32B 2[or the declaration furnished under sub-section(1) of
section 32-BB which shall be duly verified through such agency as
may be prescribed or the information obtained by the Collector
under sub-section(3) of section 32-BB or] section 32C, the Collector

shall prepare a draft statement in the manner prescribed showing,

among other particulars, the total area of land owned or held by
such a person, the specific parcels of land of which the landowner
may retain by way of his permissible limit or exemption from ceiling
and also the surplus area.
(2) The draft statement shall include the advice of the Pepsu
Land Commission appointed under section 32-P regarding the
exemption from ceiling , if claimed by the landowner and he
published in the office of the Collector and a copy thereof shall be
served upon the person or persons concerned in the form and
manner prescribed. Any objection received within thirty days of the
service shall be duly concerned by the Collector and after affording
the objector an opportunity of being heard order shall be passed on
the objection.
(3) Any person aggrieved by an order of the Collector under
sub-section(2) may, within thirty days of the order, prefer an appeal
to the State Government or an officer authorised by the State
Government in this behalf.
(4) Without prejudice to any action under sub-section(3) the
State Government may of its own motion call for any record relating
to the draft statement at any time and, after affording the person
concerned and opportunity of being heard, pass such order as it
deem fit.
(5) Any order of the State Government under sub-section(3)
or sub-section(4), or the Collector subject to the decision of the
State Government under those sub-sections shall be final.
(6) The draft statement shall then be made final in terms of
the order if the Collector or the State Government, as the case may
be, or in terms of the advice of the Pepsu Land Commission
regarding exemptions from the ceiling claimed by the land owner (if
any) and published in the Official Gazette and no person shall then
be entitled to question it in any court or before any authority.

(7) The final statement shall then be submitted by the

Collector to the State Government as soon as may be and a copy
thereof my on demand given to the landowner or the tenant
concerned.
[32.DD. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, for the
purposes of determining the surplus area of any person2

(a)

a tenancy created after the commencement

of the Pepsu Tenancy Agricultural Lands ( Second Amendment)
Act. 1956 in any area of land which could have been declared
as the surplus area of such person; and

(b)

any judgment, decree or order of a court or

other authority, obtained after the commencement of that Act
and having the effect of diminishing the area of such person
which could have been declared as his surplus area;

shall be ignored.]
32-E. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any
law, custom or usage for the time being in force, and subject to the
provisions of Chapter IV, [after the date] on which the final
statement in respect of a landowner or tenant is published in the
Official Gazette, then(a)

in the case of the surplus area of a

landowner, or in the case of the surplus area of a tenant which
is not included within the permissible limit of the landowner
[ such area shall, on the date on which positions thereof is
taken by or on behalf of the State Government, be deemed to
have been acquired] by the State Government for a public
purpose and all rights, title and interest ( including the
contingent interest, if any, recognised by any law, custom or
usage for the time being in force) of all persons in such land
shall be extinguished, and such rights, title and interest shall
vest in the State Government free from encumbrances created
by any person; and

(b)

in the case of surplus area of a tenant which

is included within the permissible limits of the landowner, the
right and interest of the tenant in such area shall stand
terminated :

Provided that, for the purposes of clause (a), where any land falling
within the surplus area mortgaged with possession, only the
mortgagee rights shall vest in the State Government.
32-F (1) The Collector may, by order in writing, at any time after
the date of which the final statement in respect of a landowner or
tenant is published in the Official Gazette, direct landowner or the
tenant of any other person in possession of the surplus area to
deliver possession thereof within ten days of the service of the order
on him to such person as may be specified in the order.
(2) If the landowner or the tenant or any other person in
possession of the surplus area refuses or fails without reasonable
cause to comply with the order made under sub-section (1), the
Collector may take possession of the surplus area and may for that
purpose use such force as may be necessary.]
32-FF Save in the case of land acquired by the State Government
under any law for the time being in force or by an heir by
inheritance or up to 30th July, 1958 by a landless person, or a small
landowner, not being a relation as prescribed of the person making
the transfer or disposition of land, for consideration up to an area
which with or without the area owned or held by him does not in the
aggregate exceed the permissible limit, no transfer or other
disposition of land effected after 21 st August, 1956, shall effect the
right of the State Government under this Act to the surplus area to
which it would be entitled but for such transfer or disposition :
Provided that any person who has received any advantage
under such transfer or disposition of land shall be bound to restore
it, or to make compensation for it, to the person whom he received
it.]

32-G (1) Where any land is acquired under section 32E, there shall
be paid compensation which shall be determined by the Collector or
any other officer in the manner and in accordance with the
principles hereinafter set out, that is to say(a)

in respect of land other than banjar land(i)

for the first twenty-five standard acres of

land, twelve times fair rent; and

(ii)

for the next twenty-five standard acres

of land , nine times the fair rent ; and

(iii)

for the remaining land, ninety times the

land revenue (including rates and cesses) payable for
such land or two hundred rupees per acre, which ever is
less:

Provided that the compensation under this clause shall in no case be

less than ninety times; the land revenue (including rates cesses)
payable for the land or two hundred rupees per acre, whichever is
less;
Provided further that where the land exceed fifty standard acres, it
shall, for the purposes of computing compensation under this
clause, be allocated to sub-clauses (i) ,( ii) and (iii) in such manner
as may be prescribed]
(b)

in respect of banjar land, forty five times the

land revenue payable in respect of an equal area of any barani
land in the village concerned or where there is no such land in
the village, in the nearest village, which is assessed to land
revenue at the lowest rate, or at the rate of one hundred
rupees per acre, whichever is less.

Explanation- In this sub-section 'fair rent' means fair rent as

determined by the Pepsu Land Commission appointed under section
32-P.

(2) The Collector or the officer authorised shall prepare a

compensation statement in the form and manner prescribed and
shall give notice to all persons known to have any interest in the
land for which compensation is to be paid, to appear personally or
by duly authorised agent before him at a time and place therein
mentioned ( such time not being earlier than fifteen days after the
date of service of notice), and to state the nature of their respective
interests in the land and the amount and particulars of their claims
to compensation for such interests. Thereafter, the amount of
compensation shall be apportioned among the persons, having
interest in the land.
[(2A) Where in the surplus area of any person mortgagee
rights have vested in the State Government, the compensation
payable to the mortgagee shall be the mortgage money due to the
mortgagee, or the compensation payable under this Act, whichever
is less].
(3) In apportioning compensation between a landowner and
a tenant not more than twenty times the land revenue shall be
awarded to the tenant.
[(4) Where on the land there is any building, structure, tubewell, or crop, the owner thereof shall, in addition to the
compensation payable in respect of the land, be entitled to be paid
by the State Government compensation therefore which shall be
equivalent to three forth of the market value of such building
structure, tube-well or crop, as the case may be and which shall be
determined,(a)

in the case of crop, by the Collector: and

(b)

in other cases, by the Pepsu Land

Commission or, in the surplus area declared under subsection (12) of section 32-K by the Board referred to in
sub-section(6) of that section:

Provided that an option in writing may be given by the

Collector to the owner to remove such building, structure, tube-well
or crop within the period prescribed, and if such building, structure,
tube-well or crop, as the case may be, is removed by the owner
within the period prescribed or within such further period as the
Collector may extend for the purpose no compensation shall be paid
to the owner in respect thereof:
Provided further that the cost in incurred in raising the crop
shall be the market value of the crop.]
32-H (1) The compensation, payable by the State Government
shall be given in cash or in bonds or partly in cash and partly in
bonds, as may be prescribed .
(2) Compensation in respect of land other than banjar land
shall, in the first instance, be paid at the rate of ninety times the
land revenue (including rates and cesses) payable for such land or
two hundred rupees per acre, whichever is less, and the balance, if
any, shall be payable after the fair rent has been determined in
accordance with the provisions of this Act.
32-J (1) The surplus area acquired under section 32-E shall be at
the disposal of the State Government.
(2) The State Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, frame a scheme for utilising the surplus area by allotment
to tenants willing to cultivate land personally or to landowners or
tenants owning or holding land not exceeding five standard acres in
order to make their holdings equal to five standard acres, and to
landless agricultural workers or for the development of co-operative
farms or seed farms or efficient management of land.
(3) Any scheme framed by the State Government under subsection (2) may provide for the terms and conditions on which the
lands in the surplus area are to be allotted, provided the following
priorities in the method of selecting tenants and fixing the area of
land to be allotted shall form part of the scheme, namely:-

(a)

tenants who are liable to ejectment and

entitled to allotment of alternative land under section 7A,
[including tenants of landowners who are members of the
Armed Forces of the Union ]; and

(b)

landowners or tenants owning or holding land

not exceeding five standard acres in order to make their
holdings equal to five standard acres, and landless agricultural
workers.

(4) The terms and conditions, on which the lands, in the surplus
area are to be allotted, shall include payment of the prescribed
amount for the land in a lumpsum or in annual instalments spread
over twenty years.
Explanation- The said amount shall be prescribed by the
State Government having regard to the condition that the aggregate
amount payable to the State Government by the persons to whom
land is allotted under scheme shall not exceed the aggregate
amount of compensation payable by the State Government for
surplus area which is acquired.
(5) The State Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, add to, amend, vary or revoke any scheme made under
this section.
32-K (1) The provisions of section 32-A shall not apply to (i)

orchards where they constitute reasonably

compact areas;

(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

specialized farms engaged in cattle breeding,

dairying or wool raising;
sugarcane farms operated by sugar factories;
efficiently managed farms which consist of
compact blocks on which heavy investment or permanent
structural improvements have been made and whose break-up
is likely to lead to a fall in production;

(v)

lands belonging to registered co-operative

societies formed for the purpose of co-operative farming
provided the land owned by an individual member of the
society does not exceed the permissible limit; and

(vi)

where a land owner gives an undertaking in

writing to the Collector that he shall, within a period of two
years from the commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and
Agricultural Lands (Second Amendment) Act 1956, plant an
orchard in any area of his land not exceeding ten standard
acres, such area of land.

(2) Where a landowner has, by an undertaking given to the

Collector, retained in any area of land with him for planting an
orchard and fails to plant the orchard within a period of two years
referred to in clause (iv) of sub-section(1), the land so retained by
him shall on the expiry of that period vest in the State Government
under section 32E and compensation therefor shall be payable in
accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.
[(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act:(a)

the exemption specified in clause(vi) of subsection(1) shall not be allowed unless the orchard planted
within the period specified therein is found to be an orchard
also at the time of granting the exemption;

(b)

the exemptions specified in clauses (i), (ii),

(iii),(iv) and (v) of sub-section (1) shall not be allowed unless
the orchards constituting reasonably compact areas or the
specialised farms engaged in cattle breeding, dairying or wool
raising or the sugarcane farms operated by sugar factories or
the efficiently managed farms or the lands belonging to
registered co-operative societies, as the case may be, are
found to be also at the time of granting the exemptions;

(c)

the exemption specified in clause (iv) of subsection(1) shall not be allowed unless the efficiently managed

farm satisfies the conditions hereinafter appearing in the

succeeding sub-section.
(4) For determining whether a farm should be exempted under
clause (iv) of sub-section(1), the Pepsu Land Commission shall
award to the farm, in respect of the harvests of Rabi and Kharif for
the year 1956, marks in the following manner :(a)

the total number of marks shall be one

thousand and the various features, including the feature
relating to yield of crops per standard acre for which marks are
to be awarded and the maximum marks to be awarded for
each feature shall be such as may prescribed;

(b)

the marks shall be awarded for each feature

subject to the maximum marks prescribed for the feature;

(c)

in awarding marks for the feature relating to

yield of crops, the Pepsu Land Commission shall apply such
standards of yield of crops per standard acre as may be
prescribed;

(d)

the award of marks shall be in relation to the

yield of each prescribed crop in a particular harvest;

(e)

areas under crops for which standard yields

are not prescribed or areas on which prescribed crops are sown
but such areas are less than five per centum of the total area
of the farm; shall be ignored for the purposes of awarding
marks;

(f)

for awarding marks to a farm for the feature

relating to yield of crops, the average of the marks awarded for
the yield of each prescribed crop shall be regarded as the
marks awarded to that farm for the feature relating to yield of
crops;

(g)

for awarding marks in respect of each

harvest, the evaluation of land under each ;crop for converting

into standard acres shall notwithstanding anything to the

contrary in section 32NN; be made in relation to the class of
land in existence at the time of such harvest;
(h)

in
awarding
marks
the
Pepsu
Land
Commission shall give due allowance for any loss in the yield of
crops to any natural calamity or circumstances beyond the
control of the landowner;

(i)

where any area of the form has not been

brought under crop or any ground, other than the normal
rotation of crops or circumstances beyond the control of the
person concerned, the Pepsu Land Commission may deduct
from the total number of marks awarded to the farm such
number of marks not exceeding one hundred as it may deem
fit;

(j)

no farm which is awarded less than eighty per

centum of the total number of marks prescribed in respect of
the features shall be exempted under clause (iv) of sub-section
(1).

(5)
Every person, to whom any exemption is granted under
clause (iv) of sub section (1), shall furnish from time to time to such
authority ;and in; such form land manner such periodical information
relating to the produce of different crops, the programme regarding
different agricultural operation such as use of improve seeds and
fertilizers, adoption of plant protection measures like spraying and
maintenance of standards of yield of crops as may be prescribed.
(6)
Every exemption of a farm under clause (iv) if sub-section (1)
shall be liable to be reviewed by a Board consisting of two
Commissioner of Division concerned as Chairman and two other
persons having special knowledge of practical experience of land or
agricultural problems as members, to be appointed by the State
Government by notification who may be paid such allowances as
may be prescribed.

(7)
The first review under sub-section (6) shall be made by the
Board after the expiry of at least three years from the date on which
exemption to a farm is granted and thereafter periodical reviews
shall be made by the Board so that a period of not less than three
years shall intervene between two consecutive reviews.
(8)
In reviewing exemptions of efficiently managed farms, the
Board shall take into account the periodical information furnished in
respect of the farm under sub-section (5) and shall as far as may be,
be guided by the same provisions of this Act and the rules made
thereunder as are applicable to the grant of exemptions under this
section and marks shall be awarded by the Board for all the harvests
during the period between the grant of exemptions and the review
or the period between two consecutive reviews, as the case may be.
(9)
If, during the course of any review, the Board finds that any
area of land included in a farm exempted under clause (iv) of subsection (1) in inherited by an heir of the landowner and such area of
land, with the lands, if any, already owned by him, does not exceed
in the aggregate the permissible limit, the Board shall advise the
State Government that such area of land should be excluded from
the farm exempted under clause (iv) of sub-section (1); and where
such advice to be tendered by the Board, the Board shall if such heir
so desires, exclude such area of land for the purpose of reviewing
the exemption relating to the farm from the date inheritance.
(10)
The Board shall after each review advice the State
Government whether the exemption of any farm should continue or
should be withdrawn or whether any area of land included in the
farm should be execluded therefrom under sub-section(9).
(11)
The advice tendered by the Board under sub section(10)
shall be binding on the State Government.
(12)
Where an exemption in respect of any form is withdrawn by
the State Government on the advice of the Board -

(a)

if a landowner is alive, the whole of

the area of such farm; and

(b)

if the landowner is dead, the whole of

the area of such farm, except to the extent of the land which is
inherited by the heirs of the landowner and which, with the
lands, if any, already owned by such heirs, does not exceed in
the aggregate the permissible limit; shall be declared to be the
surplus area :

Provided that such declaration shall not be made without giving an

opportunity of being heard to the landowner or the heirs, as the
case may be.
(13)
In declaring the surplus area under this section, the
provisions of this Act shall, as far as may by apply.
(14)
Any rules made under section 52 for giving effect to the
provisions of this section may be made retrospectively from the
30th Oct. 1956]
[32-KK. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any
other law for the time being in force,(a)

where,
immediately
before
the
commencement of this Act, a landowner and his descendants
constitute a Hindu undivided family, the landowner by such
family shall for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to be the
land of that land owner and no descendant shall, as member of
such family, be entitled to claim that in respect of his share of
such land he is a landowner in his own right; and

(b)

a partition of land owned by a Hindu

undivided family referred to in clause(a) shall be deemed to be
a disposition of land for the purposes of section 32-FF.

Explanation- In this section, the expression "descendant" includes

an "adopted son"]

32-L (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law,

custom, usage, contract or agreement, from and after the
commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands
(Second Amendment) Act,1956, no person whether as landowner or
tenant, shall acquire or possess by transfer exchange, lease,
agreement or settlement any land which, with or without the land
already owned or held by him shall in the aggregate exceed the
permissible limit.
(2) Any transfer, exchange, lease, agreement or settlement
made in contravention of the provisions of sub-section(1), shall be
null and void.
32-M (1) If, after the commencement of the Pepsu Tenancy and
Agriculture Lands (Second Amendment) Act,1956, any person,
whether as landowner or tenant, acquires by inheritance or by
bequest or gift from a person to whom he is an heir any land [or if
after such commencement and subject to provisions of section 32FF
any person acquires in any other manner, except as specified in
section 32L, any land] which with or without the lands already
owned or held by him, exceeds in the aggregate the permissible
limit, then he shall within the period prescribed furnish to the
Collector a return in the manner specified in section 32B giving the
particulars of all lands and selecting the land he desires to retain
[and if the land of such person is situated in more than one Patwar
circle, he shall also furnish a declaration required by sub-section(1)
of section 32-BB]
[(IA) If such person fails to furnish the declaration, the
provisions of sub section (2) and (3) of section 32BB shall apply]
(2) If he fails to furnish the return and select his land within
the prescribed period, then the Collector may obtain the information
and select the land for him in the manner specified in section 32C.
(3) The Collector shall then submit a statement to the State
Government in the manner specified in section 32D and issue a
notification in the Official Gazette as required by that section.

(4) The excess land shall then vest in the State Government
in accordance with the provisions of section 32E and compensation
therefor, shall be payable in accordance with the provisions of this
Chapter
[ 32-MM (1) Where a landowner owns land jointly with other
landowners and his share of such land or part thereof, as
ascertained from the record of rights, has been or is to be declared
as surplus area, the officer competent to declare such area, or,
where such area has been declared, the officer competent to utilise
it may on his own motion, after summary enquiry and affording to
the persons interested in such land an opportunity of being heard,
separate his share of such land or part thereof in the land owned by
him jointly with other land owners.
(2) Where after the declaration of the surplus area of any
person and before the utilisation thereof, his land has been
subjected to the process of consolidation, the officers referred to in
sub-section(1) shall be competent to separate the surplus area of
such person out of the area of land obtained by him after
consolidation].
32-N

In this Chapter-

(1)

public purpose' includes-

(i)

a purpose connected with the allotment of land

to(a)

tenants who are liable to ejectment and

entitled to allotment of alternative land under section 7A;
or

(b)

landowners or tenants owning or holding

land not exceeding five standard acres in order to make
their holdings equal to five standard acres, and landless
agricultural workers.

(ii)

development of co-operative farms or seed

farms; and

(iii)

efficient management of land;

[(1-A) ' small landowner' means a landowner whose entire land in

the State does not exceed the permissible limit:]
(2)
'surplus area' means the area in excess of
the permissible limit[and includes the area which is deemed to be
surplus area under sub-section(2) of section 32BB] ; and
(3)
otherwise provided.

' land' included banjar land save as

32NN. For the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that for

evaluating the land of any person at any time under this Act, the
land owned by him immediately before the commencement of the
Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Second Amendment) Act
1956, or the land acquired by him such commencement by
inheritance or by bequest or gift from a person to whom he is an
heir, shall always be evaluated for converting into standard acres as
if the evaluation was being made on the date of such
commencement, and that the land acquired by him after such
commencement in any other manner shall always be evaluated for
converting in standard acres as if the evaluation was being made on
the date of such acquisition].