State of Gujarat - Act
Gujarat Surviving Alienations Abolition Act, 1963
GUJARAT
India
India
Gujarat Surviving Alienations Abolition Act, 1963
Act 33 of 1963
- Published on 22 July 1963
- Not commenced
- [This is the version of this document from 24 March 1965.]
- [Note: The original publication document is not available and this content could not be verified.]
- [Amended by Gujarat Surviving Alienations Abolition (Amendment) Act, 1965 (Act 3 of 1965) on 24 March 1965]
An Act to abolish certain alienations which are not affected by the enactments so far enacted for the abolition of various kinds of alienations and in force in the State of Gujarat and to provide for matters consequential and incidental thereto.It is hereby enacted in the Fourteenth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-* (Received the assent of the President on 22nd July, 1963 and published in the "Gujarat Government Gazette" on the 22nd July 1963)(2)It extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat. (3)It shall come into, force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. (1)"aghat land" means land originally belonging to a taluqdar of a taluka or estate in the former Kathiawar but sold by him to any person by executing a sale deed before the merger of is taluka or estate, as the case may be, in the former State of Saurashtra under an agreement executed by him in accordance with the Covenant without claiming or accepting privy purse; (2)"aghat holder" means a person for the time being holding an aghat land subject to the stipulations contained in the sale deed referred to in clause (1) of this section and pertaining to the land; (3)"alienation" means-(a)any right in respect of an aghat land enjoyed by in aghat holder immediately before the appointed day, (b)any right in respect of a Taluqdari wanta enjoyed by the holder thereof immediately before the appointed day, (c)any right, with or without any condition of service, in respect of any other land, village or portion of a village and consisting of-(i)any proprietary interest in the soil coupled or not coupled with exemption from the payment of the whole on part of the land revenue, or (ii)a right only to the land revenue or a share of land revenue of the land, village or portion of a village, enjoyed by the holder thereof for the time being and subsisting immediately before the appointed day in limitation of the right of the State Government to assess the land or village or portion of a village to land revenue in accordance with the Code, whether by virtue of an express grantor recognition as a grant by the ruling authority for the time being or otherwise, or(d)any right to any cash allowance or allowance in kind, by whatever name called, payable by the State Government and enjoyed by any person immediately before the appointed day; (4)"alienated land" means an aghat land, Taluqdari Wants or any other land, village or portion of a village held under an alienation; (5)"alienee" means the holder of an alienation and include his co-sharer if any; (6)"appointed day" means the date on which this Act comes into force; (7)"assessment" in relation to any land means-(a)the assessment fixed on the land under the law relating to land revenue applicable to the land immediately before the commencement of this Act, and (b)where no such law was in existence or no assessment was fixed on the land, the amount which would have been fixed as assessment on the land under section 52 of the Code, had the Code been applicable; (8)"authorised holder" in relation to an alienated land means a person in whom the ownership of such land vests permanently whether by virtue of the operation of the tenancy law or of any kind of valid transfer made otherwise than under the tenancy law; (9)"Code" means-(i)in the Bombay and Saurashtra areas of the State of Gujarat, the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879, and (ii)in the Kutch area of the State of Gujarat, the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879 (Bom. V of 1879) as extended to that area; (10)"Collector" includes an officer appointed by the State Government to perform the functions and exercise the powers of the Collector under this Act; (11)"commutation settlement" means a settlement made or confirmed under the law applicable to a watan relieving the holder, his heirs and successors of the liability to perform the services appertaining to the watan; (12)"community service inam" meana an alienation held for the purpose of performing service useful to the village community and includes an alienation held for such service even where such service has ceased to be demanded; (13)"Covenant" means the covenant as defined in cluase (14) of section 2 of the Saurashtm Acts (Interpretation) Act, 1952; (Sau. X of 1952) (14)"forest land" means any alienated land or part thereof declared as forest under section of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (XVI of 1927) before the appointed day, provided such declaration was in force immediately before the appointed day; (15)"inferior holder" moans a person who is in possession of an alienated land whether by inheritance or succession or valid transfer under the tenancy law or otherwise and holds such land not on payment of rent but on payment of assessment in cash or kind to the alienee or jiwaidar; (16)"jiwai land" means land held by a cadet of the alienee's family for the purpose of maintenance; (17)"jiwaidar" means a cadet of the alienee's family holding jiwai land for his maintenance; (18)"Land Acquisition Act" means-(i)in the Bombay and Kutch areas of the State of Gujarat the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (I of 1894) as in force therein for the time being, and (ii)in the Saurashtra area of the State of Gujarat, the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (I of 1894) as adapted and applied to that area; (19)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (20)"Taluqdari wanta" means an alienation comprising of a wanta belonging to a Taluqdar in so for as it is not affected by the Bombay Taluqdari Tenure Abolition Act, 1949 (Bom. XLII of 1949) and the Bombay Personal Inanta Abolition Act, 1952; (21)"tenancy law" means- (Bom. XLII of 1953)(i)in the Bombay area of the State of Gujarat the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, (Bom. LXVII of 1948) (ii)in the Kutch area of the State of Gujarat, the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarrbha Region and Kutch Area) Act, 1968, (Bom. XCIX of 1958) and (iii)in the Saurashtra area of the State of Gujarat, any law regulating agricultural tenancies in force for the time being in that area; (22)"watan" means an alienation held for any service useful to Government other than service appertaining to the office of a revenue or police pate and service appertaining to the office of an inferior village servant within the meaning of the Bombay Inferior Village Watans Abolition Act, 1958; (Bom. I of 1959) (23)the other words or expressions used but not defined in this Act shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Code. (2)For the purposes of this section a Devasthan inam or an inam held by a religious or charitable institution means an inam granted or recognised as a grant by the ruling authority for the time being for a religious or charitable institution and entered as such in the revenue record or any public record maintained in respect of alienations or determined as such by a decision under section 5 but does not include an alienation held for feeding poor people or birds or feeding animals otherwise than in a Paujrapole or an alienation commonly known as a Tajia or Tabut grant for the purposes of tajias in connection with the Moharam festival. (2)Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Collector may file an appeal to the State Government within ninety days from the date of such decision. (3)Where from a decision of the Collector no appeal is filed under sub-section (2), the State Government may, after the expiry of the period for appeal but not later than one year from the date of the decision, call for the record of the proceeding on the Collector for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the legality, propriety or regularity of such proceeding or decision and may pass such order thereon as it thinks fit. (4)The decision of the Collector, subject to an appeal under sub-section (2) or revision under sub-section (3), and the decision of the State Government under sub-section (2) or under sub-section (3), as the case may be, shall be final and conclusive and shall not be questioned in any suit or proceeding in any court. (5)The provisions of sections 4, 5, 12 and 14 of the Indian Limitation Act, 1908 (IX of 1908) shall apply to the filing of an appeal under sub-section (2). (a)all alienations shall be and are hereby abolished; (b)save as expressly provided by or under this Act, all rights legally subsisting on the said day under such alienations and all other incidents of such alienatione (including any right to hold office, or any liability to render service appertaining to an alienation) shall be and are hereby extinguished; (c)subject to the other provisions of this Act, all alienated lauds shall be, and are hereby made liable to the payment of land revenue in accordance with the provisions of the code and the rules made thereunder; and accordingly the provisions therein relating to unalienated land shall apply to all alienated lands. (a)if such land be in the actual possession of the authorised holder or inferior holder, such authorised holder or inferior holder, as the case may be, and (b)if it be in the actual possession of the alienee or of a person other than an authorised holder or inferior holder, the alienee- shall be deemed to be the occupant of the land and shall be primarily liable to the State Government for the payment of land revenue due in respect thereof in accordance with the provisions of the Code and the rules made thereunder:Provided that if under the terms of the alienation such land is resumable for non-performance of service, the alienee, the authorised holder or inferior holder, as the case may be, shall be entitled to the rights of an occupant in respect of such land on payment to the State Government of the occupancy price equal to six times the amount of the full assessment of such land within the prescribed period;Provided further that if such land under the terms of alienation was not alienable except with the permission of a competent authority, such land shall not be transferable or partible by metes and bounds without the previous sanction of the Collector and except on payment of such amount as the State Government may by general or special order determine.(2)In the case of an alienated land held under a watan which is not a grant of soil and is held subject to a total or partial exemption from payment of land revenue or the commutation settlement in respect of which permits a transfer of the land-(i)the resumption under sub-section (1) shall he by levy of full Assessment on the land in accordance with the Code and the rules made thereunder, and (ii)the alienee, or, as the case may be, authorised holder holding the land shall be deemed to be an occupant of the land and shall he primarily liable to pay land revenue to the State Government in respect thereof in accordance with the provisions of the Code and the rules made thereunder. (3)(a)An alienated land held under a watan to which sub-section (2) does not apply, shall be regranted to the alienee or, as the case may be, authorised holder on payment by him or on his behalf to the State Government of the occupancy price equal to twelve times the amount of full assessment of such land within the prescribed period and in the prescribed manner and to shall be denied to be the occupant and be primarily liable to pay land revenue to the State Government in accordance with the provisions of the Code and the rules made thereunder: Provided that where the land has not been assigned towards the emoluments of the person performing the service appertaining to the watan, the occupancy price shall be equal to six times the amount of the full assessment.(b)The occupancy of the land regranted under clause (a) shall not be transferable or partible by metes and bounds without the previous sanction of the Collector and except on payment of such amount as the State Government may by general or special order determine. (1)where such land is jiwai land,-(i)if it be in the actual possession of an authorised holder or inferior holder, such authorised holder, or as the case may be, inferior holder, (ii)if it be in the actual possession of the jiwaidar or of a person other than an authorised holder or inferior holder, the jiwaidar, (2)where such land is land to which clause (1) does not apply-(i)if it be in the possession of an authorised holder or inferior holder, such authorised holder or, as the case may be, inferior holder, and (ii)if it be in the actual possession of the alienee or of a person other than an authorised holder or inferior holder, the alienee: Provided that if under the terms of the alienation, the alienated land was not alienable except with the permission of a competent authority, the occupancy of the land shall not be transferable or partible by metes and bounds without the previous sanction of the Collector and except on payment of such amount as the State Government may by general or special order determine. (2)For the purpose of sub-section (1), the amount of land revenue shall be the amount received or due to the alienee for the year immediately preceding the appointed day. (2)For the purpose of sub-section (1) the amount of cash allowance shall be the amount paid or payable to the alienee for the year immediately preceding the appointed day and the value of the allowance in kind shall he the value of the allowance in kind paid or payable to the alienee for the year immediately preceding the appointed day, such value being determined in the prescribed manner. (i)if the property in question is waste or uncultivated but is cultivable land, or pasture land the amount of compensation shall not exceed three times the assessment of the land; and where the waste or uncultivated land is not cultivable, the amount of compensation shall not exceed the amount of annual assessment leviable thereon: Provided that if the land has not been assessed, the amount of compensation shall not exceed such amount of assessment as would be leviable in the same village on the same extent of similar land used for the same purpose;(ii)if the property in question is land over which the public has been enjoying or has acquired a right of way or any individual has any right of easement, the amount of compensation shall not exceed the amount of the annual assessment leviable in the village for uncultivated land in accordance with the rules made under the Code or if such rules do not provide for the levy of such assessment, such amount as in the opinion of the Collector shall be the market value of the right or interest held by the claimant; (iii)in the case of minerals, the amount of compensation shall be equivalent to the average of the net annual income received by the alienee in respect of minerals during the three years immediately preceding the date of vesting; (iv)in the case of forest land, the amount of compensation shall be equivalent to seven times the average of the net annual income of forest revenue including grazing fees, if any, received by the alienee during the ten years immediately preceding the date of vesting, such annual income being calculated on the basis of data regarding average yield for the said ten years; (v)if there are any trees or structures on the land to which clause (i) or (ii) applies the amount of compensation shall be the market value of such trees or structures, as the case may be. Explanation.-For the purposes of this section, the "market value" shall mean the value as estimated in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 23 and section 24 of the Land Acquisition Act in so far as the said provisions may be applicable.(2)On receipt of an application under sub-section (1), the Collector shall after mailing formal enquiry in the manner provided by the Code, make an award determining the amount of compensation. Where there are co-sharers claiming compensation, the Collector shall by his award apportion the compensation between the co-sharers, (2)The application under sub-section (1) shall be made to the Collector in the proscribed form within the prescribed period. The Collector shall, after holding a formal inquiry in the manner provided by the Code, make an award determining the compensation in the manner and according to the method provided for in sub-section (1) of section 23 and section 24 of the Land Acquisition Act:Provided that the amount of compensation under this section shall in no case exceed two hundred rupees. (3)Nothing in this section shall entitle any person to compensation on the ground that any alienated land which was wholly or partially exempt from payment of land revenue has been under the provisions of this Act made subject to the payment of full assessment in accordance with the provisions of the Code. (2)No award of compensation under this Act in excess of five thousand rupees shall be made by an officer not being a Collector under section 8 of the Code ??? with the previous approval of-(a)the Collector appointed under section 8 of the Code, if the amount of ??? does not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees, or (b)the Commissioner, if the amount of compensation exceeds twenty-five thousand rupees. (3)No such award of compensation in excess of twenty-five thousand rupees shall be made by an officer who is also a Collector under section 8 of the Code, except with the previous approval of the Commissioner. (2)In deciding an appeal under this Act, the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal shall exercise all the powers which a Court has and shall follow the same procedure which a Court follows in deciding appeals from the decree or order of an original court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (V of 1908). (i)if not exceeding Rs. 1000, be payable in cash, and (ii)if it exceeds Rs. 1000, shall be payable in cash upto a sum of Rs. 1000 the balance being payable in transferable bonds which shall carry interest at the rate of three percent per annum from the date of issue and be repayable during such period not exceeding twenty years from the said date as may he prescribed by equated annual instatements of principal and interest. The bonds shall be of such denomination and in such form as may be prescribed: Provided that the amount of compensation payable under the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 13 shall be paid in cash.(2)If the alienee fails without reasonable cause to deliver any such records, he shall; on conviction, be punished with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees. In the case of a continuing failure to deliver, any such records the alienee shall be punished with an additional fine which may extend to twenty five rupees for every day during which such failure continues after conviction for the first failure. (2)All rules made under this section shall be laid for not less than thirty days before the State Legislature as soon as possible after they are made and shall be subject to rescission by the Legislature, or to such modification as the Legislature may make during the session in which they are so laid, or the session immediately following. (3)Any rescission or modification so made by the State Legislature shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall thereupon take effect.