29. Procedure on receipt of such application - (1) When any such application has been received, the Deputy Commissioner,-
(a)shall forthwith give notice of the contents thereof to the Raiyat, and(b)may if he thinks fit, order a measurement of the land, and(c)may, upon consideration of all the circumstances set forth in the application, and after hearing any objection advanced by the Raiyat by order, fix such enhanced rent, or otherwise vary the rent for the said land, as to him may seem fair and reasonable :Provided that no enhancement shall be ordered except on one or more of the following grounds, namely:-(i)that the rate of rent paid by the Raiyat is below the prevailing rate paid by occupancy-Raiyats for land of similar quality and with similar advantages [in the same village or in the neighbouring villages, and that there is no sufficient, reason for his holding at so low a rate;](ii)that there has been a rise in the average local prices of staple food-crops during the currency of the present rent;(iii)that the productive powers of the land held by the Raiyat have been increased by an improvement effected during the currency of the present rent, otherwise than by the agency or at the expense of the Raiyat:Provided also that no enhancement shall be ordered which is, under the circumstances of the case, unfair or inequitable :Provided further that all enhancement shall be limited in the prescribed manner (if any).(2)The rent as fixed or varied under sub-section (1) shall be payable by the said Raiyat from the commencement of the agricultural year following the year in which the order is passed, and may be recovered in any suit instituted against him for arrears of rent.(3)Nothing in this Section shall bar the right of a Raiyat to claim at any time under Section 34 a reduction of the rent previously paid by him.
