19. Penalty for using land for other purposes without permission.
(1)If any land has been diverted or used for any other purpose without the permission as required under section 18, the Collector or the Settlement Officer or the Assistant Settlement Officer authorized or specified under the rules may summarily evict the land-holder or the person responsible for the diversion, from the land so diverted and any building or other construction erected thereon shall also, if not removed after such written notice issued by the Collector or the Settlement Officer or the Assistant Settlement Officer or such other officer as authorized may deem reasonable, be liable to forfeiture or summary removal. The land holder or the person responsible for the diversion shall also be liable to pay such penalty not less than Rupees one thousand per square metre, as the Collector or the Settlement Officer or the Assistant Settlement Officer or such other Officer may, subject to the rules made by the Government in this behalf, direct.(2)If any land held has been diverted for any other purpose in contravention of an order passed or a condition imposed under any of the foregoing sections, the Collector or the Settlement Officer or the Assistant Settlement Officer or such other Officer as authorized may serve a notice on the person responsible for such contravention, directing him, within a reasonable period to be stated in the notice, to use the land for its original purpose or to observe the condition, and such notice may require such person to remove any structure or to fill up any excavation, or to take such other steps as may be required in order that the land may be used for its original purpose, or that the condition may be satisfied. The Collector or the Settlement Officer or the Assistant Settlement Officer or such other Officer as authorized may also impose on such person a penalty not less than Rupees one thousand per square metre for such contravention, and a further penalty not less than Rupees one hundred for each day during which such contravention continues.(3)If any person, who is served with a notice under sub-section (2) fails to comply within the period stated in the notice for taking specific actions by the competent authority under that sub-section, the competent authority may itself take such steps or cause them to be taken including cancellation of allotment as provided in clause (e) of sub-section (1) of section 33 of this Act. Any cost incurred in the exercise shall be recoverable from such person in the same manner as an arrear of land revenue.
