Section 137 in Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966
137. Straightening out crooked boundaries.
(1)When any person (in this Section referred to as the applicant) desires to regularise or straighten out the boundaries of any of his field or holdings in a village, he may make an application in that behalf to the Survey Officer.The application shall be accompanied by a sketch showing the boundaries of his field or holding, and the names of holders adjoining thereto.(2)If on receipt of the application, the Survey Officer in the interest of better cultivation of the field or holding and easier maintenance of boundary marks, deems it expedient to regularise or straighten out the boundaries of the field or holding as desired by the applicant, he may, subject to the provisions of the Bombay Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947, prepare a plan to revise the boundaries of such field or holding and for payment of compensation by the applicant to person who would suffer loss of land on account of such revision and publish the same in village in such manner as may be prescribed by rules In revising the boundaries, the Survey Officer shall be guided by such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf. The amount of compensation shall be determined by him, so far as practicable, in accordance with the provisions of Section 23 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.(3)If the applicant and the persons who suffer loss of land agree to the plan prepared by the Survey Officer, the Survey Officer shall record their agreement and revise the boundaries and fix them accordingly. Such agreement shall be binding on the applicant and such persons and the amount of compensation payable by any person thereunder shall be recoverable from him as an arrear of land revenue.(4)(a)In the absence of mutual agreement, the Survey Officer snail refer the question of the amount of compensation to be paid or recovered by each person concerned under the plan for decision -(i)to a village committee consisting of such number and elected by the applicant and persons suffering loss of land in such manner as may be prescribed by rules;(ii)on the failure to elect such village committee, to a committee consisting of three persons nominated by the Survey Officer not below the rank of the District Inspector of Land Records with the approval of the Superintendent of Land Records;(b)The decision of the village committee or the committee nominated by the Survey Officer of the rank of District Inspector of Land Records, as the case may be, shall be final and binding on all the parties concerned. The amount of compensation payable by the applicant thereunder shall be recoverable from him as an arrear of land revenue. When such decision is given, the plan prepared by the Survey Officer, so far as it relates to revision of boundaries, shall also become final and the boundaries shall be deemed to be fixed accordingly.(5)When the boundary is so fixed under this Section it shall be deemed to be a settlement of boundary for the purposes of Section 138.
