Section 1 in The Bengal Revenue-Free Lands (Badshahi Grants) Regulation, 1793
1. Preamble.
- By the ancient law of the country the ruling power is entitled to a certain proportion of the produce of every bigha of land, unless it transfers its right thereto for a term or in perpetuity.As a necessary consequence of this law every grants or alienation of Government's proportion of the produce of lands without its sanction was considered null and void.Had the validity of such grants or alienation been admitted it is obvious that the public revenue would have been liable to gradual diminution.Under the Native Government grants were occasionally made of the Government's share of the produce of lands, for the support of the families of persons who had performed public service, for religious or charitable purposes, for maintaining troops and for other services.The British Government continued to the grantees or their heirs such of these grants as were hereditary, and were made before, the date of the Company's accession to the Diwani, provided the grantees or their heirs had obtained possession previous to that date; but those grants which were for life only have been invariably considered as resumable on the death of the grantees.No complete register of these grants having been formed on the Company's accession to the Diwani, nor subsequent to that period, many persons have retained possession of lands under fabricated or ante-dated, grants, or have succeeded to life-grants on the demise of the original grantee or former possessor, without the sanction of Government.The Governor General in Council, deeming it incumbent on him to resume the public dues from lands held under invalid tenures, as well as the revenue of all lands the grants for which might expire, and as the proprietors of estates were not entitled to collect such of the public dues from the lands included in their estates as Government had judged it advisable to transfer to individuals, or to resume those which had been alienated or were appropriated without authority, the amount of the revenue of the lands having in both cases been excluded from the assets on which the settlement was to be concluded, it was made a rule at the time of forming the decennial settlement, and which has been re-enacted by section 36, [Regulation VIII, 1793] [The Bengal Decennial Settlement Regulation, 1793.], that the jama assessed upon the estates of individuals was to be considered as exclusive and independent of all existing lakhiraj lands, whether exempted from the khiraj or public revenue, with or without due authority,and by the third clause of the seventh article of the Proclamation contained in [Regulation 1, 1793,] [The Bengal Decennial Settlement Regulation, 1793.] which specifies the conditions under which Government declared the decennial settlement permanent, it is expressly stipulated that the Governor General in Council will impose such assessment as he may deem equitable on all lands at present alienated and paying no public revenue which have been or may be proved to be held under illegal or invalid titles.The Governor General in Council however at the same time that he is desirous of recovering the public dues from lands held under invalid tenures, is equally solicitous that persons holding lands under grants that are declared valid should be secured in the quiet possession and enjoyment of them,With this view, and to obviate all injustice or extortion in the inquiry in to the titles of persons possessing lands under such grants, he has resolved that all claims of the public for the resumption of such grants (provided the grantees or persons in possession register their grants as required in this Regulation) shall be tried in the Courts of Judicature, that no such grants may be resumed until the title of the grantee or present possessor shall have been adjudged invalid by a final judicial decree.Upon the above grounds, and with a view to facilitate the resumption of invalid grants, as well as to prevent any grants being hereafter made without the authority of Government, and further that Government and its officers may at all times have in their possession a correct register of the lands in the several zilas held exempt from the payment of revenue under badshahi : grants, the following rules, containing the rules passed on the 23rd April, 1788, and subsequent dates, with modifications, have been enacted.
