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State of Andhra Pradesh - Act

Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling On Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973

ANDHRA PRADESH
India

Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling On Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973

Act 1 of 1973

Published on 17 April 2012
Commenced on 17 April 2012
[This is the version of this document from 17 April 2012.]
[Note: The original publication document is not available and this content could not be verified.]

Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling On Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973(Act No. 1 of 1973)Last Updated 16th September, 2019Statement of Objects and Reasons - (Act No. 19 of 2009). - Section 14 of the A.P. Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 deals with the disposal of land vested in the Government. According to subsection (6) thereof notwithstanding anything contained in the section, the Government may lease out any such land vesting in them under the Act for such purposes and on such terms and conditions as may be specified or reserve such land for any common use or benefit of the community.Due to unprecedented growth in Urban areas and consistent demand for providing infrastructure facilities and in order to meet the present day demand for effective utilization of the lands, Section 14(6) of the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 has been amended suitably enabling the Government to utilize such lands by way of sale also, besides the existing provisions in the section.In order to meet the increasing demand for infrastructure/industrial development all over the State, it has been decided to utilize/sell the ceiling surplus land for infrastructure/industrial development or any such public purpose also besides the existing provisions in the section by suitably amending sub-section (6) of Section 14 of the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973. As the Legislature of the State was not then in session, having been prorogued, the Governor has promulgated the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009 (Ordinance No. 2 of 2009).This Bill seeks to replace the said Ordinance.Published in A.P. Gazette, Part IV-B, Extraordinary No. 1, dated 1-1-1973.An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the fixation of ceiling on agricultural holdings and taking over of surplus lands and to provide for the matters connected therewith.Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Andhra Pradesh in the Twenty-third Year of the Republic of India, as follows:-

1. Short title, extent and commencement.

- This Act may be called [the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973.] [This Act of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature which was reserved by the Governor on the 18th September, 1972 for the consideration and assent of the President, received the assent of the President on the 1st January, 1973, and the said assent was first published on the 1st January, 1973, in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, for general information.]

(2)It extends to the whole of the State of A.P.

(3)[It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, appoint.] [The Notified date is 1-1-1975. (Vide A.P. Gazette, (Ext.), dated 18-12-1974.)]

2. Declaration as to giving effect to certain directive principles.

- It is hereby declared that this Act is for giving effect to the policy of the State towards securing the principles specified in Clauses (b) and (c) of Article 39 of the Constitution of India.

3. Definitions.

- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a)'Appellate Tribunal' means the Appellate Tribunal constituted under Section 20; and where no such Appellate Tribunal is in existence the District Collector concerned;

(b)'bank' means a banking company as defined in Section 6 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and includes the State Bank of India, constituted by the State Bank of India Act, 1955, a subsidiary bank as defined in State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959, and a corresponding new bank defined in the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, and such other financial institution owned, controlled or managed by a State Government or the Central Government as may be notified in this behalf by the Government;

(c)'ceiling area' means the extent of land [specified in Section 4 or Section 4-A] [Substituted by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.] to be ceiling area;

(d)'double crop wet land' means any wet land registered as double crop or compounded double crop wet land in the land revenue accounts of the Government and includes any wet land not to be registered,-

(i)for which in accordance with any scheme of localisation being adopted under any Government source of irrigation, water is available in both the first and second crop seasons during a Fasli year including the lands covered by Schedule B and Part II of Schedule C appended to the draft rules for the irrigation of lands in the Godavari Western, Eastern and Central deltas published in the Rules Supplement to Part II, Extraordinary of the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, dated the 16th July, 1962;

(ii)on which two crops per Fasli year have or a dufassal crop has been raised with the use of water from a Government source of irrigation in any four Fasli years within a continuous period of six Fasli years immediately before the specified date;

(iii)which is capable of raising two crops per Fasli year with the use of water from a tube well constructed by the Government or any person :

Provided that-

(a)any land entitled to the supply of water from a Government source of irrigation and on which two irrigated crops per Fasli year have or a dufassal crop has, not been raised with the use of water from such source, in any four Fasli years within a continuous period of six Fasli years immediately before the specified date, for want of supply of water from such source;

(b)any land for which in accordance with any scheme of localisation being adopted under any Government source of irrigation, water is made available during the second crop seasons solely in consideration of the likelihood of the loss of the first crop on account of submersion, salinity, tidal action or the like;

(c)any land to which water has been specifically supplied on a temporary basis for raising a second crop by diversion of water intended for eventual utilisation elsewhere;

(d)any land irrigated by a Government source of irrigation covered by proviso (iii) to sub-section (5);

shall not be deemed to be double crop wet land;

(e)'dry land' means land registered as dry, manavari, asmantari, baghat or garden land, or special rate dry land, in the land revenue accounts of the Government or assessed as such; and includes any other land, excluding wet land;

(f)'family unit' means-

(i)in the case of an individual who has a spouse or spouses, such individual, the spouse or spouses and their minor sons and their unmarried minor daughters, if any;

(ii)in the case of an individual who has no spouse, such individual and his or her minor sons and unmarried minor daughters;

(iii)in the case of an individual who is a divorced husband and who has not remarried, such individual and his minor sons and unmarried minor daughters, whether in his custody or not; and

(iv)where an individual and his or her spouse are both dead, their minor sons and unmarried minor daughters.

Explanation. - Where a minor son is married, his wife and their offspring, if any, shall also be deemed to be members of the family unit of which the minor son is a member;

(g)'Government' means the State Government;

(h)'Government source of irrigation' means a source of irrigation registered in the land revenue accounts of the Government as such, including a well constructed or maintained by the Government or any local authority; but does not include a spring channel, parrekalava, naddinala, vagunala, kasam, sona, bila, uppalwat bonda, doruvu, bhukri, kole or cross bunding;

(i)'holding' means the entire land held by a person,

(i)as an owner;

(ii)as a limited owner;

(iii)as an usufructuary mortgagee;

(iv)as a tenant;

(v)who is in possession by virtue of a mortgage by conditional sale or through part performance of a contract for the sale of land or otherwise; or in one or more of such capacities, and the expression "to hold land" shall be construed accordingly;

Explanation. - Where the same land is held by one person in one capacity and by another person in any other capacity, such land shall be included in the holding of both such persons.

(j)'land' means land which is used or is capable of being used for purposes of agriculture, or for purposes ancillary thereto, including horticulture, forest land, pasture land, waste land, plantation and tope; and includes land deemed to be agricultural land under this Act.

Explanation I. - Where any land is held under ryotwari settlement it shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to be land under this Act;Explanation II. - 'land' shall not include the land appurtenant to a building;

(k)'Law' includes any enactment, Ordinance, regulation, order, bye-law, rule, scheme, notification or other instrument having the force of law;

(l)'notification' means a notification published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette; and the expression "notify" shall be construed accordingly;

(m)'notified date' means the date notified under sub-section (3) of Section 1;

(n)'owner' includes a person by whom or in whose favour a trust is created; [xxx] [The words 'and a person entitled to a vested remainder but does not include a limited owner' omitted by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.] and in the case of any land not held under ryotwari settlement, a person who is or would be entitled to the grant of a ryotwari patta or to the registration as an occupant in respect of such land under any law for the time being in force providing for the conversion of such land into ryotwari tenure and where there is no such law, any person holding such land immediately before the specified date otherwise than in any one of the capacities specified in items (ii) to (v) Clause (i); [but does not include a limited owner] [Added by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.].

(o)'person' includes an individual, a family unit, a trustee, a company, a firm, a society or an association of individuals, whether incorporated or not;

(p)'prescribed' means prescribed by rules made by the Government under this Act;

(q)'Revenue Divisional Officer' means the Revenue Divisional Officer within whose jurisdiction the land is situated and includes any officer of the Revenue Department not below the rank of a Deputy Collector empowered by the Government to exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Revenue Divisional Officer under this Act;

(r)'specified date' means-

(i)in the case of declaration required to be filed under Sec. 8, the notified date;

(ii)in the case of a declaration required to be filed under Section 18, the date of acquisition, usufructuary mortgage, lease, marriage, adoption or alteration in the classification of the land referred to therein, as the case may be;

(s)'standard holding' means the extent of land specified in Sec. 5 to be the standard holding;

(t)'tenant' means a person who cultivates by his own labour or that of any other member of his family or by hired labour under his supervision and control, any land belonging to another under a tenancy agreement, express or implied: and includes a person who is deemed to be a tenant under any tenancy law for the time being in force;

(u)'Tribunal' means a Tribunal constituted under Section 6; and where no such Tribunal is in existence, the Revenue Divisional Officer concerned;

(v)'Wet land' means land registered as wet, single crop wet, compounded double crop wet or special rate wet land, in the land revenue accounts of the Government or assessed as such; and includes any land not registered as wet which has been-

(i)included in the ayacut of any Government source of irrigation;

(ii)irrigated by water from any Government source of irrigation in any four Fasli years within a continuous period of six Fasli years immediately before the specified date; or

(iii)irrigated by a tube well constructed by the Government or any person :

Provided that any land which has been registered as wet land in the land revenue accounts of the Government and on which no irrigated crop has been raised with the use of water from a Government source of irrigation in any four Fasli years within a continuous period of six Fasli years immediately before the specified date for want of supply of water from such source, shall not be deemed to be wet land.

4. Ceiling Area.

(1)The ceiling area in the case of family unit consisting of not more than five members shall be an extent of land equal to one standard holding.

(2)The ceiling area in the case of a family unit consisting of more than five members shall be an extent of land equal to one standard holding plus an additional extent of one-fifth of one standard holding for every such member in excess of five, so however that the ceiling area shall not exceed two standard holdings.

(3)The ceiling area in the case of every individual who is not a member of a family unit, and in the case of any other person shall be an extent of land equal to one standard holding.Explanation. - In the case of a family unit, the ceiling area shall be applied to the aggregate of the lands held by all the members of the family unit.

4A. [ Increase of ceiling area in certain cases. [Inserted by Act 10 of 1977, w.e.r.f. 1-1-1975.]

- Notwithstanding anything in Section 4, where an individual or an individual who is a member of a family unit, has one or more major sons and any such major son either by himself or together with other members of the family unit of which he is a member, holds no land or holds an extent of land less than the ceiling area, then, the ceiling area, in the case of the said individual or the family unit of which the said individual is a member computed in accordance with Section 4, shall be increased in respect of each such major son by an extent of land equal to the ceiling area applicable to such major son or the family unit of which he is a member, or as the case may be, by the extent of land by which the land held by such major son or the family unit of which he is a member falls short of the ceiling area.]

5. Standard holding for different classes of lands and Computation.

(1)For the purposes of this Act, land shall be classified as set out in the First Schedule. The extent of land which shall constitute a standard holding for the class of lands specified in column (1) of the Table below shall be as specified against it in column (2) thereof:Provided that-

(i)in the case of any double crop wet land falling under sub-clause (i) of Clause (d) of Section 3, covered by Part II of Schedule C appended to the draft rules referred to in that sub-clause for the irrigation of lands in the Godavari Western, Eastern and Central deltas, the extent of standard holding shall be increased by twelve and a half per centum;

(ii)[ in the case of any double crop wet land irrigated solely by a private tube well, the extent of standard holding shall be increased by twenty-five per centum, so however, that the said extent shall in no case exceed 7.28 hectares (18 acres).] [Substituted by Act No. 9 of 1974, w.e.f. 19-3-1974]

(iii)in the case of any wet land irrigated by a Government source of irrigation classified as Class V in the settlement or revenue accounts of the Government, excluding a source fed by a project, river, nala or channel in the Andhra Area; and in the case of wet land irrigated by similar source notified by the Government in this behalf in the Telangana area, the extent of standard holding shall be increased by sixteen and one-fourth per centum;

(iv)in the case of any dry land situated in any area declared by the Government by notification to be a drought-prone area, the extent of standard holding shall be increased:-

(a)by twelve and a half per centum, in the case of any dry land falling under Class G or Class H of the Table below; and

(b)by twenty per centum in the case of any dry land falling under Class I, Class J or Class K of the said Table;

(v)in the case of any land in the Telangana area situated in any tract in respect of which the settlement operations were conducted by an agency other than the Government, if the land falls within Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D or Class E of the Table below the ceiling area shall be computed as if the land fell within Class B, Class C, Class D, Class E or Class F of the said Table respectively and if the land falls within Class G, Class H, Class I or Class J, the ceiling area shall be computed as if such land fell within Class H, Class I, Class J or Class K respectively;

(vi)[ in the case of any lanka or padugai land, or any land on which a coconut garden, a guava garden or a grape garden is raised, the extent of standard holding shall in no case exceed 10.93 hectares (27 acres)] [Substituted by Act No. 9 of 1974, w.e.f. 19-3-1974.].

TABLE

Class of Land		Extent of Standard holding
1		2
Wet	Double crop wet land a Hectares	Wet land other than double crop wet land bHectares
Wet:
Class A	...4.05 (10 acres)	6.07	(15 acres)
Class B	...4.86 (12 acres)	7.28	(18 acres)
Class C	...5.46 (13.5 acres)	8.09	(20 acres)
Class D	...6.07 (15 acres)	9.11	(22.5 acres)
Class E	...6.68 (16.5 acres)	10.12	(25 acres)
Class F	...7.21 (18 acres)	10.93	(27 acres)
Dry:
Class G	...	14.16 (35 acres)
Class H	...	16.19 (40 acres)
Class I	...	18.21 (45 acres)
Class J	...	20.23 (50 acres)
Class K	...	21.85 (54 acres)

(2)In computing the holding of a person or family unit consisting of lands of different classes, the relative proportion of the extent of land of each such Class to the extent of a standard holding of the appropriate Class shall be taken into account in the manner prescribed and the aggregate of all such proportions shall be deemed to be the holding of the person or the family unit in relation to the ceiling area.

(3)In computing the holding of an individual who is not a member of a family unit, but is a member of a joint family the share of such an individual in the lands held by the joint family shall be taken into account and aggregated with the lands, if any, held by him separately and for this purpose such share shall be deemed to be the extent of land which would be allotted to such individual had there been a partition of the lands held by the joint family.

(4)In computing the holdings of the member of family unit who is a member of a joint family, the share of such member in the land held by the joint family shall be taken into account aggregated with the lands, if any, held by him separately and for this purpose, such share shall be deemed to be the extent of land which would be allotted to such member, had there been a partition of the lands held by the joint family.

(5)Where an individual or a member of the family unit is a member of a Co-operative society, company or firm the share of such individual or of a family unit in the land held by such Co-operative society, company or firm shall be also included in the holding of the individual or member of the family unit, as the case may be, and for this purpose the share of land so held shall be deemed to be the extent of the land which would have been allotted to him on a winding up of the Co-operative society or company or dissolution of the firm.

(6)Lands owned or held under a private trust shall-

(a)in a case where the trust is revocable by the author of the trust, be deemed to be held by such author or his successor-in-interest; and

(b)in other cases, be deemed to be held by the beneficiaries of the trust in proportion to their respective interests in such trust, or the income derived therefrom.

Explanation. - Where a trust is partly private and partly public, this sub-section shall apply only to lands covered by that part of the assets of the trust which is relatable to the private trust.

6. Constitution of Tribunal.

(1)The Government may, by notification, constitute as many Tribunals as may be necessary for the purpose of this Act, and shall specify in such notification, the jurisdiction of each such Tribunal.

(2)Each Tribunal constituted under sub-section (1) shall consist of not more than three members, of whom one shall be a person who holds or has held a civil post under the State, not below the rank of a Deputy Collector, or a person who holds or has held or is qualified to hold the post of a District Munsiff; and such person shall be the Chairman of the Tribunal.

(3)The Government may, from time to time, likewise reconstitute any Tribunal constituted under sub-section (1) or may at any time abolish such Tribunal.

(4)The quorum to constitute a meeting of the Tribunal and the procedure to be followed by it shall be such as may be prescribed.

(5)No act or proceeding of any such Tribunal shall be deemed to be invalid by reason only of the existence of any vacancy among its members or any defect in the constitution or reconstitution thereof.

7. Special provision in respect of certain transfers, etc., already made.

- Where on or after the 24th January, 1971 but before the notified date, any person has transferred whether by way of sale, gift, usufructuary mortgage, exchange, settlement, surrender or in any other manner whatsoever, any land held by him or created a trust of any land held by him,then the burden of proving that such transfer or creation of trust has not been effected in anticipation of, and with a view to avoiding or defeating the objects of any law relating to a reduction in the ceiling on agricultural holdings, shall be on such person, and where he has not so proved, such transfer or creation of trust, shall be disregarded for the purpose of the computation of the ceiling area of such person.

(2)Notwithstanding anything in sub-section (1), any alienation made by way of sale, lease for a period exceeding six years, gift, exchange, usufructuary mortgage or otherwise, any partition effected or trust created of a holding or any part thereof, or any such transaction effected in execution of a decree or order of a Civil Court or any award or order of any other authority, on or after the 2nd May, 1972 and before the notified date, in contravention of the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Lands (Prohibition of Alienation) Act, 1972 shall be null and void.

(3)Where at any time within a period of five years before the notified date, any person has converted any agricultural land held by him into a non-agricultural land, then the land so converted shall be deemed to be agricultural land on the notified date for the purposes of this Act.

(4)Where on or after the 24th January, 1971 but before the notified date,-

(a)any declaration of dissolution of marriage has been made by a Court on an application made on or after the 24th January, 1971; or

(b)any other dissolution of marriage in accordance with any law or custom has taken place, then the land held by each spouse immediately before the date of such dissolution shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be land held on the notified date by the Family unit of which they were members immediately before such dissolution.

(5)Where on or after the 24th January, 1971, but before the notified date, any person has been given in adoption, then the land held by such person immediately before the date of such adoption shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be held on the notified date by the family unit of which he was a member immediately before such adoption.

(6)In every case referred to in sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) the computation of the ceiling area shall first be made in respect of the family unit referred to in the said sub-section, and after the surrender of the land held in excess of the ceiling area by such family unit, the remaining land held by such divorced spouse or adopted person, as the case may be, shall be included in the holding of such divorced spouse or adopted person, whether as an individual or as a member of a family unit of which such spouse or person has become a member.

(7)If any question arises,-

(a)whether any transfer or creation of a trust effected on or after the 24th January, 1971 had been effected in anticipation of, and with a view to avoiding or defeating the objects of, any law relating to a reduction in the ceiling on agricultural holdings:

(b)whether any alienation made, partition effected or trust created on or after the 2nd May, 1972 is null and void;

(c)whether any conversion of agricultural land into non-agricultural land had taken place within a period of five years before the notified date;

(d)whether any dissolution of a marriage had taken place on or after the 24th January, 1971 either on an application made on or after the said date, or in accordance with any law or custom;

(e)whether any person had been given in adoption on or after the 24th January, 1971;

such question shall be determined by the Tribunal, after giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected parties, and its decision thereon shall, subject to an appeal and a revision under this Act, be final.

(8)If the Tribunal decides that any transfer, or creation of trust had been effected in anticipation of, and with a view to avoiding or defeating the objects of any law relating to a reduction in the ceiling on agricultural holdings or that any alienation made or partition effected or trust created is null and void if as a result of such transfer, alienation or creation of trust, the holding of the person or the family unit, that remains on the notified date does not exceed the extent of land that he or the family unit is liable to surrender then the Tribunal shall treat the entire holding thus left over as the extent of land to be surrendered under the provisions of this Act by the person or the family unit, as the case may be :Provided that the balance of extent of land that remains liable to be surrendered by the person or family unit shall, subject to such rules as may be prescribed, be surrendered by the alienee who is in possession of such holding by virtue of any transaction effected in contravention of the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Lands (Prohibition of Alienation) Act, 1972.

8. Declaration of holding.

(1)Every person, whose holding on the notified date together with any land transferred by him on or after the 24th January, 1971, whether by way of sale, gift, usufructuary mortgage, exchange, settlement, surrender or in any other manner whatsoever, and any, land in respect of which a trust has been created by him on or after the 24th January, 1971, exceeds the specified limits, shall, within thirty days from the notified date or within such extended period as the Government may notify in this behalf, furnish a declaration in respect of his holding together with such land, to the Tribunal within whose jurisdiction the whole or a major part of his holding is situate containing such particulars including those relating to lands held by him in any part of India outside the State, and in such from as may be prescribed.Explanation I. - Where the land is held or is deemed to be held by a minor, lunatic, an idiot or other person subject to like disability, not being a member of the family unit, the declaration shall be furnished by the guardian, manager or other person-in-charge of the property of such person; and where the land is held or is deemed to be held by a company, firm, association or other corporate body, the declaration shall be furnished by any person competent to act for such company, firm, association or corporate body in this behalf.Explanation II. - Where the land is held or is deemed to be held by a family unit, the declaration shall be furnished by a person in management of the property of such family unit and the declaration so furnished shall be binding on all the members of the family unit :Provided that the Tribunal shall in the event of a dispute as to the declaration furnished by the person in management, give to the other members of the family unit an opportunity of making their representation or of adducing evidence, if any in respect of such declaration and shall consider such representations and evidence before determining the ceiling area under this Act.Explanation III. - In this sub-section specified limit means,

(a)in the case of wet land -4.05 hectares (10 acres);

(b)in the case of dry land -10.12 hectares (25 acres);

and for the purpose of computing the specified limit in a case where the holding of any person includes both wet land and dry land, one hectare of wet land shall be deemed to be equal to two and half hectares of dry land.

(2)Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section(1), the Tribunal shall have power to issue notice requiring any person holding land or residing within its jurisdiction who, it has reason to believe, holds or is deemed to hold land in excess of the ceiling area to furnish a declaration of his holding, or that of his family unit, under sub-section (1) within such period as may be specified in the notice not being less than fifteen days from the date of its communication, and such person shall furnish the declaration accordingly.

(3)If any person who is liable to furnish a declaration under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) fails to furnish the declaration within the specified time, the Tribunal may obtain the necessary information in such manner as may be prescribed.

9. Determination of ceiling area.

- Tribunal shall on receipt of the declaration furnished or information obtained under Section 8, publish the same, and make an enquiry, in such manner as may be prescribed, and pass orders determining whether the person holds or is deemed to hold on the notified date an extent of land in excess of the ceiling area and if so, the extent of land so held in excess as on that date.Explanation. - Save as otherwise provided in this Act, in the case of a family unit, the number of members of the family unit shall be reckoned with reference to the notified date.

9A. [ Reopening of Cases by the Tribunal. [Inserted by Act No. 10 of 2012, dated 17.4.2012.]

(1)Notwithstanding anything repugnant to the provisions of this Act, in respect of cases where, it is found that orders were passed due to any fraud or misrepresentation or suppression of facts, and where no subsequent orders were passed in appeal or revision, on the same, the Tribunal may, either suo motu or on application or direction of the Collector, Chief Commissioner of Land Administration or Government, reopen such cases and pass orders, afresh as if no declaration has been filed under Section 8 of the Act:Provided that in respect of cases where, it is found that orders were passed due to any fraud or misrepresentation or suppression of facts, and where subsequent orders were passed in appeal or revision, confirming such orders, the Tribunal may, either suo motu or on application or direction of the Collector, Chief Commissioner of Land Administration or Government, review such cases and pass orders for filling of review petition against the orders in appeal or as the case may be the orders of revision, in the Court or the Authority, which passed such orders:Provided further that no order shall be passed without giving an opportunity of being heard to the parties interested.

(2)The provisions of the Limitation Act, 1963 (Central Act 36 of 1963) shall not apply to initiation of action under sub-section (1).]

10. Surrender of land in certain cases.

(1)If the extent of the holding of a person is in excess of the ceiling area, the person shall be liable to surrender the land held in excess.

(2)The Tribunal shall serve on every person, who is liable to surrender the land held in excess of the ceiling area under sub-section (1), a notice specifying therein the extent of land which such person has to surrender and requiring him to file a statement within such period not being less than fifteen days, as it may fix, indicating therein, full particulars of the lands which such person proposes to surrender.

(3)If the person on whom a notice is served under sub-section (2), files the statement referred to in that sub-section within the period fixed therefor, and the Tribunal is satisfied, after making such enquiry as it deems fit that the proposed surrender of the land is in accordance with the provisions of this Act, it shall pass an order approving the surrender and the said land shall thereupon be deemed to have been surrendered by such person.

(4)If the person on whom a notice is served under sub-section (2) does not file the statement referred to in that sub-section within the period fixed therefor or files such statement within the period fixed but does not specify therein the entire extent of land which such person has to surrender, the Tribunal may, after giving an opportunity to the person concerned of being heard, itself select, in the former case the entire extent, and in the latter case, the balance of the extent which such person has to surrender, and pass an order to that effect, and thereupon the said land or balance of land, as the case may be, deemed to have been surrendered by such person.

(5)

(a)Notwithstanding anything in the Section, it shall be open to the Tribunal to refuse or to accept the surrender of any land-

(i)which has been converted into non-agricultural land and has been rendered incapable of being used for purposes of agriculture;

(ii)the surrender of which is not acceptable on account of a dispute as to the title to the land or an encumbrance on the land or on account of the land being in the possession of any person mentioned in [x x x] [The words 'item (ii) or' omitted by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.] item (v) of Clause (i) of Section 3 or on account of the land proposed to be surrendered becoming inaccessible by reason of its severance from the remaining part of the holding; and the Tribunal shall, in every such case, serve a notice on the person concerned requiring him to surrender any other land in lieu thereof; and thereupon the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4) shall, mutatis mutandis apply to such surrender :

Provided that where land proposed to be surrendered under this Section is burdened with a mortgage, the Tribunal may, on an application made by the mortgagor with the consent of the mortgagee, by order, transfer such mortgage from the land so proposed to be surrendered to the residuary holding of the mortgagor or to any part thereof.

(b)Where the land so surrendered under Clause (a) is also not acceptable to the Tribunal, the Tribunal shall, after giving an opportunity to the person concerned of being heard, select any other land in lieu thereof, and thereupon, the said land shall be deemed to have been surrendered by such person.

(6)Before passing an order under sub-section (3), sub-section (4) or sub-section (5), the Tribunal shall publish the particulars of land proposed to be surrendered or selected, in such manner as may be prescribed and consider the objections, if any received in pursuance of such publication.Explanation I. - In the case of a surrender of land of a family unit-

(a)where the extent to be surrendered by each member is agreed upon by or on behalf of all the members of the family unit, the extent surrendered by each such member shall be in accordance with such agreement, so however, that the extent surrendered by any female member of the family unit shall not exceed the extent which she would be liable to surrender in proportion to the total land held by her to the lands held by all the members of the family unit:

[Provided that the Tribunal may, on an application made by any female member, permit the surrender of land by her in excess of each proportionate extent in case an extent equivalent to such excess in terms of standard holding is transferred to her by any male member of the family unit.] [Proviso added by Act No. 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.]

(b)where there is no such agreement, the extent surrendered shall be in proportion to the lands held by each member of the family unit;

(c)where any land is held in the name of any female member of the family unit, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is provided, that such female member is the owner of such land.

Explanation II. - Where any person surrenders any land being the whole or part of his share of the land held by a Co-operative society, company or firm, the share of such person in such Co-operative society, company or firm, as the case may be, shall, to the extent required for such surrender, be deemed to have been correspondingly reduced.Explanation III. - Where any person required to surrender any land under this Act is a member of a Co-operative society, company or firm, he may be required to surrender the land, if any, held by him separately and may then be required to surrender from his share of the land held by the Co-operative society, company or firm only to make up the deficiency.Explanation IV. - Where it is proposed to accept the surrender by any person of his share of the lands held by a joint family, Co-operative society, company or firm of which he is a member, the lands so surrendered shall be selected in accordance with any agreement that may be arrived at between such person and the other members of such joint family, Co-operative society, company or firm, and where there is no such agreement, the share of such person in the lands so held shall, as far as practicable, be determined prorata with reference to each class of land held by such joint family, Co-operative society, company or firm.Explanation V. - In the case of lands covered by proviso (c) to Clause (d) of Section 3, the Government may, as soon as may be, notify the area in which the lands are proposed to be localised as double crop wet lands and any person whose holding falls within such notified area shall be required to surrender, in the first instance, only such extent of land as he would be liable to surrender treating it as single crop wet land, and on the localisation of such land as double crop wet; he shall be required to surrender the balance extent which he is liable to surrender; and the provisions of Section 17 shall continue to apply until the surrender of such balance extent.Explanation VI. - Where the holding of any person comprises any land falling under sub-clause (i) of Clause (v) of Section 3, which has not been supplied with water from the Government source of irrigation up to the specified date, and the ceiling area in respect of such holding has been determined on the basis that such land is a wet land, such person shall be required to surrender in the first instance only such extent of land as he would have been liable to surrender had such land been treated as dry land, and on the supply of water to such land, he shall be required to surrender the balance extent which he is liable to surrender and the provisions of Section 17 shall continue to apply until the surrender of such extent.

11. Vesting of land surrendered.

- Where any land is surrendered or is deemed to have been surrendered under this Act by an owner the Revenue Divisional Officer may, subject to such rules as may be prescribed, by order take possession or authorise any officer to take possession of such land which shall thereupon vest in the Government free from all encumbrances from the date of such order :Provided that any claim of liability enforceable against that land immediately before the date of vesting in the Government may be enforced only-

(i)against the amount payable under this Act in respect of such land; and

(ii)against any other property of the owner;

to the same extent to which such claim or liability was enforceable against that land or other property, as the case may be, immediately before the date of vesting.Explanation. - Nothing in this section shall affect the provisions of any law, custom, usage or agreement relating to right of easements available for any land vesting in the Government under this section over any other land.

12. Reversion and vesting of land surrendered.

- Where any land is surrendered or is deemed to have been surrendered under this Act by any usufructuary mortgagee or tenant, the possession of such land shall subject to such rules as may be prescribed revert to the owner.

(2)The owner to whom the possession of the land reverts under sub-section (1) from an usufructuary mortgagee shall be liable to pay the mortgage money due to usufructuary mortgagee in respect of the land with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum from the date of such revision, and the said land shall continue to be the security for such payment.

(3)The owner to whom the possession of the land reverts under sub-section (1) from a tenant shall be entitled to receive from the tenant rent due for the period ending with the last crop harvested by such tenant.

(4)Where any land is surrendered or is deemed to have been surrendered under this Act [x x x] [The words 'by any limited owner or' omitted by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.] by any person in possession by virtue of a mortgage by conditional sale or through a part performance of contract for sale or otherwise, the possession of such land shall subject to such rules as may be prescribed, revert to the owner.

(5)The owner to whom the possession of the land reverts under sub-section (4) shall be liable to discharge the claim enforceable against the land by [x x x] [The words 'the limited owner or' omitted by ibid.] person in possession : and the land surrendered shall if held as a security, continue to be the security.]Inserted by ibid.[(5A) Where any land is surrendered or is deemed to have been surrendered under this Act by any limited owner, the possession of such land shall, subject to such rules as may be prescribed; reverted to the person having a vested interest in the remainder and such person shall be liable to discharge the claim enforceable against the land by the limited owner; and the said land shall, if held as a security, continue to be the security.]

(6)Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, where any land surrendered by an usufructuary mortgagee or a tenant [x x x] [The words 'or a limited owner' omitted by ibid.] or a person in possession referred to in sub-section (4), is also a land surrendered by the owner, the provisions of Section 11 shall apply.

13. Special provision for protected tenants.

(1)Where the holding of any owner includes any land held by a protected tenant, the Tribunal shall, in the first instance, determine whether such land or part thereof stands transferred to the protected tenant under Section 38-E of Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Tenancy and Agricultural Land Act, 1950, and if so, the extent of land so transferred; and such extent of land shall thereupon be excluded from the holding of such owner and included in the holding of such tenant, as if the tenant was the owner of such land for the purposes of this Act.

(2)Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), the relevant provisions of this Act aforesaid shall apply in the matter of such land by such protected tenant.

14. Disposal of land vested in Government.

(1)The lands vested in the Government under this Act shall be allotted for use as house-sites for agricultural labourers, village artisans or other poor persons owning no houses or house sites, or transferred to the weaker-sections of the people dependent on agriculture for purposes of agriculture or for purposes ancillary thereto, in such manner as may be prescribed:Provided that, as far as may be practicable, not less than one half of the total extent of land so allotted or transferred shall be allotted or transferred to the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and out of the balance, not less than two-thirds shall be allotted or transferred to the members of the backward class, classes of citizens notified by the Government for purposes of Clause (4) of Article 15 of the Constitution.

(2)[ The land allotted to a person for the use of house-site or transferred for agriculture or for the purposes ancillary thereto, shall be assigned free of cost] [Substituted by Act. No. 3 of 2008, w.e.f. 16-4-2008. Prior to its substitution it read as below: '(2) Every person, to whom the land has been allotted for use as house-site or transferred for the purposes of agriculture or for purposes ancillary thereto, shall pay to the Government within a period of fifteen years from the date of allotment or transfer or within a shorter period at his option, and in such instalments as may be prescribed, a sum calculated at fifty times the land revenue payable on such land, subject to a maximum of Rs. 1,250 per hectare in the case of wet land and Rs. 375 per hectare in the case of dry land and on payment of the entire amount such person shall be granted a patta in respect of that land.]

(2)[ The land allotted to a person for the use of house-site or transferred for agriculture or for the purposes ancillary thereto, shall be assigned free of cost] [Explanation:- Where any land transferred under this sub-section contains any fruit-bearing trees or permanent structures, the transferee shall also be liable to pay the value of such trees or structures calculated in such manner as may be prescribed.]

(3)[x x x] [[ Omitted by Ibid. Prior to its omission it read as below:'(3) Where any person fails to pay the sum referred to in sub-section (2) or any instalment thereof the Revenue Divisional Officer may, subject to such rules as may be prescribed, resume the land after giving an opportunity to the person concerned of making a representation in this behalf and the amount already paid by such person to the Government shall be liable to be forfeited to the Government.']]

(4)Any transfer of the land under this Section shall be subject to;

(i)the condition that the land shall not be alienated by the transferee by way of sale, gift, mortgage, lease or in any manner whatsoever otherwise than by way of mortgage in favour of the Government, a bank or a Co-operative society, including a land mortgage bank; and

(ii)the condition that where the land transferred in an orchard, the transferee shall continue to maintain such land as an orchard; and

(iii)such other condition as may be prescribed.

(5)Any alienation effected or other act done in respect of any land in violation of the conditions specified in sub-section (4) shall be null and void; and the [Tahsildar] [Substituted for 'Revenue Divisional Officer' by Act. No. 3 of 2008, w.e.f. 16-4-2008.] shall resume the land after giving an opportunity to the persons affected of making a representation in this behalf.

(6)Notwithstanding anything in this section, the Government may;

(i)lease out any land vesting in them under this Act for such purposes and on terms and conditions as may be specified by them; or

(ii)reserve such land for any common use or benefit of the community; [or [Substituted by Act. No. 19 of 2009, w.r.e.f. 1-1-2004. Prior to its substitution it read as below: 'or, (iii) utilise/sell such lands in the notified areas of Urban Development Authority/Authorities for infrastructure development or any such public purpose.]

(iii)utilise/sell such lands for infrastructure/industrial development or any such public purpose.]

15. Amount payable for lands vested in the Government.

- The amount payable for any land vested in the Government under this Act, shall be a sum calculated at the rates specified in the Second Schedule and it shall be paid at the option of the Government, either in cash or in bonds or partly in cash and partly in bonds. The bonds shall be issued on such terms and carry such rate of interest as may be prescribed.

16. Claims for the amount payable.

- The Tribunal shall, after giving the persons known or believed to be interested in the land vested in the Government an opportunity of being heard, determine the amount payable under Section 15 and publish a notification containing particulars of the land so vested and the amount payable therefor. Any person having an interest in the said land, may file a claim for the amount due to him from out of the amount payable, within thirty days from the date of publication of the notification and the Tribunal shall after making an enquiry into the validity of the claim, determine the persons who, in its opinion, are entitled to payment from out of the said amount and the amount to which each of them is entitled and subject to such rules as may be prescribed, make payments in accordance with such determination.

17. Prohibition of alienation of holding.

(1)No person whose holding, and no member of family unit, the holding of all the members of which in the aggregate, is in excess of the ceiling area as on the 24th January, 1971 or at any time thereafter, shall on or after the notified date, alienate his holding or any part thereof by way of sale, lease, gift, exchange, settlement, surrender, usufructuary mortgage or otherwise, or effect a partition thereof, or create a trust or convert on agricultural land into non-agricultural land, until he or the family unit, as the case may be, has furnished a declaration under Section 8, and the extent of land, if any, to be surrendered in respect of his holding or that of his family unit has been determined by the Tribunal and an order has been passed by the Revenue Divisional Officer under this Act taking possession of the land in excess of the ceiling area and a notification is published under Section 16; and any alienation made or partition effected or trust created in contravention of this section shall be null and void and any conversion so made shall be disregarded.

(2)For the purpose of determining whether any transaction of the nature referred to in sub-section (1) in relation to a land situated in this State, took place on or after the notified date, the date on which the document relating to such transaction was registered shall, notwithstanding anything in Sec. 47 of the Registration Act, 1908, be deemed to be the date on which the transaction took place, whether such document was registered within or outside the State.

(3)The provisions of sub-section (1) shall apply to any transaction of the nature referred to therein in execution of a decree or order of a Civil Court or of any award or order of any other authority.

18. Declaration of future acquisitions.

- [(1)] [The original Sec. 18 re-numbered as sub-sec. (1) by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1.1.1975.] Where on or after the notified date there takes place-(a)any acquisition in any manner whatsoever, usufructuary mortgage, or lease of any land; or(b)any marriage or adoption; or(c)any alteration in the classification of the land;and after such acquisition, usufructuary mortgage, lease, marriage, adoption or alteration, the total extent of land held by any person or by all the members of any family unit in the aggregate exceeds the ceiling area such person or family unit shall within a period of sixty days from the date of such acquisition, usufructuary mortgage, lease, marriage, adoption or alteration furnish a declaration of the holding of such person or family unit; and all the relevant provisions of this Act shall apply as if it was a declaration furnished under Section 8.Explanation I. - For the purpose of this Section, the number of members of a family unit shall be reckoned with reference to the date of such acquisition, usufructuary mortgage, lease, marriage, adoption or alteration, as the case may be.Explanation II. - For the purpose of the application of the provisions of Sections 9 and 17, the expression 'notified date' shall be construed as the date of acquisition, usufructuary mortgage, lease, marriage, adoption or alteration, as the case may be.Explanation III. - For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that no declaration under this Section need be furnished where the total extent of land held by all the members of a family unit in the aggregate exceeds the ceiling area solely on account of any reduction in the number of members of the family unit.Explanation IV. - Where a land surrendered by a family unit under this Act is land held by a joint family, it shall be open to the members of the joint family unit and other members of the joint family to partition the land remaining with such joint family after such surrender and if such family unit comes to hold land in excess of the ceiling area solely on account of such partition, such family unit shall not be required to furnish a fresh declaration under this Section and the relevant provisions of this Act applicable to a family unit holding land in excess of the ceiling area shall not apply to such family unit.[Explanation V. - For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that when a land held by a limited owner reverts to the person having a vested interest in the remainder by virtue of sub-section (5A) of Section 12 or otherwise, there shall be deemed to be an acquisition of such land by such person for the purposes of this Section.] [Inserted by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.]

(2)[ Where any land is acquired or taken on lease by a person solely for a non-agricultural purpose connected with or incidental to an industry, the Government may, after making such enquiry as they may deem fit, by order, exempt, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in order, such land from the provisions of sub-section (1).Explanation. - For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression "non-agricultural purpose" means a purpose which is not an agricultural purpose or a purpose ancillary thereto, including horticulture; and the expression "industry" means any business, profession, trade, undertaking or manufacture.] [Inserted by Act 10 of 1977, w.r.e.f. 1-1-1975.]

19. Declaration to be furnished before registering officer.

(1)Notwithstanding anything in the Registration Act, 1908 every person presenting before a registering officer appointed under the said Act, for registration on or after the notified date, any document relating to alienation of any land or creation of a trust in respect of any land shall, at the time of such presentation, furnish a declaration, in duplicate by the transferor making the alienation, or creating the trust, to the effect that the holding of the transferor does not exceed the ceiling area, and in a case where such transferor is a member of a family unit, that the holdings of all the members of such family unit in the aggregate do not exceed the ceiling area.

(2)The declaration mentioned in sub-section (1) shall be in such form and contain such particulars as may be prescribed.

(3)On or after the notified date, no registering officer shall accept for registration, any document relating to the alienation, or the creation of any trust, of any land, if the document is not accompanied by the declaration mentioned in sub-section (1).

(4)The registering officer shall, as soon as may be after the date of registration of the document, forward one copy of the declaration referred to in this Section to the Revenue Divisional Officer within whose jurisdiction the holding which is the subject matter of the document or a major part thereof, is situate and on receipt of such copy, the Revenue Divisional Officer may obtain such information as may be necessary for verifying as to the correctness of the statements contained in the declaration.

(5)Every village officer and every officer of the Revenue, Registration and Survey and Settlement Departments of the Government, shall report to the Revenue Divisional Officer any information which they may receive of transactions in respect of any land made in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act and on receipt of such information the Revenue Divisional Officer may verify the correctness of the same.

(6)Where it appears to the Tribunal or the Revenue Divisional Officer, as the case may be, as a result of verification under sub-section (4) or sub-section (5) or in any other manner that a transaction has taken place in contravention of the provisions of this Act it or he shall, after giving an opportunity of making representation to the parties likely to be affected and holding such enquiry as it or he may consider necessary, by order, determine whether or not the transaction is in contravention of the provisions of this Act; and where any transaction is so determined to be in contravention of the said provisions, it shall be null and void.

20. Appeal.

(1)The Government may, by notification, constitute as many appellate Tribunals as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act, and shall specify in such notification, the jurisdiction of each such Appellate Tribunal.

(2)Each Appellate Tribunal constituted under sub-section (1) shall consist of not more than three members, of whom one shall be a person who holds or has held a civil post under the State, not below the rank of a District Revenue Officer, or a person who holds or has held or is qualified to hold the post of a District Judge, and such person shall be the Chairman of the Tribunal.

(3)An appeal shall lie against an order passed by the Tribunal or the Revenue Divisional Officer to the Appellate Tribunal within thirty days of the date of communication of the order, and the Appellate Tribunal shall pass such orders on the appeal as it deems fit and such order shall, subject to revision under Section 21, be final.

(4)The provisions of sub-sections (3), (4) and (5) of Section 6 shall apply in relation to an Appellate Tribunal as they apply in relation to the Tribunal with the substitution of references to the Appellate Tribunal for references to the Tribunal.

(5)Where the Government are aggrieved by an order passed by the Tribunal or the Revenue Divisional Officer, they may file an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against that order.

21. Revision.

- An application for revision from any party aggrieved, including the Government, shall lie to the High Court, within the prescribed period, from any order passed on appeal by the Appellate Tribunal on any of the following grounds, namely:-

(a)that it exercised a jurisdiction not vested in it by law, or

(b)that it failed to exercise a jurisdiction so vested, or

(c)that it acted in the exercise of its jurisdiction illegally or with material irregularity.

22. Power of Authorities under this Act.

(1)The Appellate Tribunal, the Tribunal, the Revenue Divisional Officer and any Officer authorised by the Tribunal or the Revenue Divisional Officer to exercise any power under this Act shall have the same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, for summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath and for requiring production of any document.

(2)The Appellate Tribunal, the Tribunal, the Revenue Divisional Officer or Any Officer authorised by the Tribunal or the Revenue Divisional Officer in this behalf may, at any time, enter upon any land but not a dwelling house, with such officers or other persons as it or he considers necessary and make a survey and take measurements thereof or do any other act which it or he considers to be necessary for carrying out any of the provisions of this Act.

(3)The Revenue Divisional Officer or any officer authorised by him to take possession of any land vesting in the Government under this Act may, while taking such possession, remove any obstruction that may be caused or offered thereto and may for that purpose use such force as may be necessary.

23. Exemptions.

- Nothing in this Act shall apply to the following lands, namely:-

(a)lands held by the State or the Central Government or any local authority;

(b)lands held by religious, charitable or educational institutions, including a Wakf, of a public nature [existing on the date of the commencement of this Act] [Added by Act No. 9 of 1974, Section 3, w.e.f. 19-3-1974.];

(c)lands held by an undertaking owned, controlled or managed by-

(i)a Government company as defined in Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956;

(ii)a Corporation established by or under a Central, Provincial or State Act, which is controlled or managed by a State Government or the Central Government;

(d)lands covered by tea, coffee, cocoa, cardamom or rubber plantations;

(e)lands held by-

(i)such Co-operative farming societies of weaker-sections as may be approved by the Government in this behalf which approval the Government may for good and sufficient reason withdraw at any time;

(ii)other Co-operative societies including land mortgage banks;

(f)lands held by a bank;

(g)lands vested in the Andhra Pradesh Bhoodan Yagna Board or in a Gram Sabha;

(h)lands in any area notified by the Government in this behalf as required for acquisition in connection with any major irrigation, power, industrial or other project under construction as on the date of commencement of this Act :

Provided that where any of the lands specified in Clause (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g), are held by any person other than the authority, institution, body corporate or society specified in such clause, whether as a tenant or usufructuary mortgagee or otherwise, the provisions of this Act shall apply to such person in respect of such land:Provided further that the exemptions under item (ii) of Clause (e) and clause (f) shall be available only in respect of the lands acquired by such co-operative societies or banks in pursuance of the recovery of their dues:Provided also that the exemptions under item (i) of clause (c) shall be available only in respect of such part of the land as may be relatable to the share held by a State or Central Government in such Government company, and for this purpose, the share of the land so relatable shall be deemed to be the extent of the land which would have been allotted to the said Government on a winding up of the company.

24. Penalty.

(1)If any person, who is liable to furnish a declaration under this Act wilfully and without reasonable cause or excuse, fails to furnish the declaration within the period prescribed or specified therefor by or under this Act or furnishes any declaration which he knows or has reason to believe to be false, incorrect or incomplete, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both.

(2)If any person wilfully and without reasonable cause or excuse, contravenes any other provisions of this Act or of any rules made or orders issued thereunder, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both.

(3)If any Village Officer, or any officer of the Revenue, Registration or Survey and Settlement Department of the Government wilfully and without reasonable cause or excuse fails to report to the Revenue Divisional Officer any information which he may receive of any transaction in respect of any land made in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both.

(4)No Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this Act except with the previous sanction of the District Collector, which sanction shall be accorded subject to such rules as may be prescribed.

25. Protection of action taken under this Act.

(1)No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any person, officer or authority for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act, or any rules made thereunder.

(2)No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Government for any damage caused or likely to be caused or for any injury suffered or likely to be suffered, by virtue of any provision of this Act, or for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rules made thereunder.

26. Bar of jurisdiction.

- Save as otherwise provided in this Act, no order passed or proceeding taken by an officer or authority under this Act shall be called in question in any suit or application and no injunction shall be granted by any Court in respect of any action taken or to be taken by such officer or authority in pursuance of any power conferred by or under this Act.

27. Power to make rules.

(1)The Government may, by notification, make rules to carry out all or any of the purposes of this Act.

(2)Every rule made under this Act, shall immediately after it is made, be laid before each House of the State Legislature if it is in session and if it is not in session in the session immediately following for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiration of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or in the annulment of the rule, the rule shall, from the date on which the modification or annulment is notified, have effect only in such modified form or shall stand annulled, as the case may be; so however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

28. Act to override other laws.

- The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith in any other law for the time being in force or any custom, usage or agreement or decree or order of a Court, Tribunal or authority.

29. Power to remove difficulties.

- If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Government may, by general or special order, published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as appear to them to be necessary or expedient for the removal of the difficulty :Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiration of two years from the commencement of this Act.

30. Repeals.

(1)The Andhra Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings Act, 1961 is hereby repealed and all proceedings pending thereunder shall abate:Provided that where any land surrendered has been taken over on payment of compensation under that Act the proceedings shall be continued in respect of such land under that Act, as if this Act had not been passed.

(2)The Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Lands (Prohibition Alienation) Act, 1972 (13 of 1972), is hereby repealed.First Schedule[See Section 5]Classification Of Lands

1. Wet Lands bearing the tarams or bhagannas in each of the settlement tracts or groups, as the case may be, shall be classified into respective Classes A, B, C, D, E and F as shown in the table below.

TABLE

Region---------District	Settlement tract or group	Tarams or Bhagannas which fall under Class
			A	B	C	D	E	F
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
ANDHRA AREA
1	Srikakulam	Ichapuram	...	...	...	...	1 to 4	5 to 11
	Visakhapatnam	Srikkakulam	..	..	..	1	2 to 4	5 to 8
	-do-	Visakhapatnam	..	..	1	2 to 4	5 & 6	7 & 8
	-do-	Gudem	..	..	1 to 4	4 & 6	7 & 8	...
2	East Godavari &	Delta	1	2 & 3	4 & 5	6 to 8	9 to 11	..
	West Godavari	Delta-dry(wet on ground)	1 & 2	3 & 4	5 & 8	9	10 to 14	..
		Upl&	..	..	1 to 5	6 to 10	11 to 14	15
		Kolleru	..	..	..	..	5 to 8	9 & 10
		Kolleru-dry (wet on ground)	..	..	..	..	7 to 10	..
		Yeleru-turn-Government villages	..	1 to 4	..	..	..	..
		Yeleru-Taken over villages-turn	..	2	..	..	..	..
		Yeleru-taken over villages-nonturn	..	2 to 4	5 to 9	10	10 to 13	14 to 16
		Yeleru-taken over-turn dry (wet on ground)	..	1 to 8	9	..	..	..
		Yeleru - taken over-non turn dry (wet on ground)	..	1 & 2	..	3 to 9	10 to 13	..
3	Krishna	Delta	..	1 & 2	3 & 4	5 to 7	8	9 to 11
		Delta-dry(wet on ground)	..	1 to 4	5	6 & 7	8 to 13	..
		Upl&	..	1 & 2	3 to 7	8	..	..
		Divi(irrigated dry)	..	1 to 4	5 to 7	8 to 11	..	..
		Muniyeru	..	1 to 6	7	..	..	..
		Muniyeru-dry (wet on ground)	..	..	6 to 103	11 & 12	..	..
4	Guntur &	Delta	1	2 to 5	6 & 7	8 & 9	10 to 12	..
	Prakasam districts	Delta-dry (wet on ground)	..	3 to 9	7 to 9	10 to 13	..	..
		Upl&	..	..	1,1A & 2	3 to 7	8 to 13	..
		Sattenappalli & Palnad	..	..	..	1 to 6	7 to 10	..
		Vinukonda	..	1	2 & 3	4 to 7	8 to 10	..
		Ongole	..	..	1 & 3	4 to 12	13 to 17	18 to 22
5	Nellore & Prakasam districts	Tract 1(entire formerdistrict of Nellore exceptthe village in the Tracts II & III).	..	1	2 & 3	4 to 7	8 to 15	16 to 23
		Delta-dry(wet on ground)	..	..	1 to 8	9 to 17	20 to 26	..
		Tract II : Uggumadi,	..	..	..	..	4 & 5	6 to 9
		Damanellore, Suggupalli & 2 Shrotrium villages.	..	..	..	5 to 8	9 & 10	..
		Tract III : Manganellore.
		Atchukattu, Suddamadugu & Tagelu.
6	Kurnool & Prakasam districts.	Tract I : Kurnool,Dhone N&ikotkur, N&yal,Allagadda & Atmakur taluks.	...	1 & 2	3	4	5 & 6	7 to 10
		Tract II : Cumbum & Markapur taluks.	..	1	2 & 3	4	5 & 6	7 to 10
		Tract III : Alluru & Adoni taluks.	...	1 to 4	4A & 5	6 & 6A	7A,8,8A	9 to 19
		Tract IV : Kolikuntla & Banaganaplli taluks.	..	1 to 5	2 & 3	4	5 & 6	7 to 10
		Tract V : Banaganapalli erstwhile estate villages	..	1 to 3	4	5	6 & 7	8 to 11
		Tract VI : Pattikonda taluks	..	1 to 4	..	4	5 & 6	7 to 10
7	Anantapur	Tract I :Anantapur(part) Dharmavaram, Hindupur,Madakasira, Penukonda & Kaly&urg,(part) taluk.	...	...	1 & 2	3	4 & 5	6 to 10
		Tract II : Kadiri taluk	...	...	1 & 2	3	4 & 5	6 to 10
		Tract III : Gooty, Tadpatri & Uravakonda taluks	...	1 to 3A	4A & 5A	6A	7A & 8A	8 to 13
		Tract IV : Rayadurg & Kaly&urg	...	...	4A & 5A	6A	7A & 8A	9 to 13
		Tract V :Anantapur(Part), 16 villages transferredfrom Gooty taluk.	...	...	...	1 to 6	7	9 to 13
8	Cuddapah	Tract I : Caddapah,Jammala madugu, Proddatur,Kamalapuram taluks.	...	1 & 2	3	4	5 & 6	7 to 10
		Tract II : Pulivendula & Rayachoti(Part).	...	2	3	4	5 & 6	7 to 10
		Tract III : Badvel, Sidhout & Rajampet taluks.	...	2	3	4	5 & 6	7 to 9
		Tract IV : Rayachoti(part)	...	1	2	3	4 & 5	6 to 10
9	Chittoor	Tract I : Ch&ragiri,Chittoor, Puttur,Kalahasti, Satyavedu(part) & Bangarupalem taluks.	...	1 & 2	3 & 4	5 to 8	2 to 13	14 to 18
		Tract II-A : Punganur & Palamaner(part).	...	...	1 to 3	4 to 6	8 to 13	14 to 18
		Tract II-B : Palamaner(Part) & Kuppam.	...	...	...	1 to 4	5 to 9	10 to 14
		Tract III - Madanapalli(Part) & Vayalpad.	...	1	2	3	4 & 5	6 to 10
		Tract IV : Satyavedu(part)	...	...	...	1 to 3	4 & 5	6 to 11
		Tract V : West Warthur& Chilakur villagestransferred from Nellore to Kalahasti taluk.	...	...	...	6	9 & 14	16 to 19
10	Telangana	Group 1 :(Rs. 24.00)
	Telangana Group	2 :(Rs.22.28)
	Telangana Group	3 :(Rs.21.43)
	Telangana Group	4 :(Rs.20.57)
	Telangana Group	5 :(Rs.19.71)
	Telangana Group	6 :(Rs.19.28)	...	16 annas & above	15-1/2 annas 15 annas	14-1/2 annas 14 annas	13-1/2 annas to 10 annas	9-1/2 annas & below
	Telangana Group	7 :(Rs.18.85)
	Telangana Group	8 :(Rs.18.00)
	Telangana Group	9 :(Rs.17.14)
	Telangana Group	10 :(Rs.16.28)
	Telangana Group	11 :(Rs.15.43)
	Telangana Group	12 :(Rs.15.00)
	Telangana Group	13 :(Rs.14.17)	...	...	16 annas	15-1/2	01/02/74	10/01/02
	Telangana Group	14 :(Rs.13.71)	...	...	& above	annas to	annas to	annas & below
	Telangana Group	15 :(Rs.13.49)	...	...	...	15 annas	11 annas	-do-
	Telangana Group	16 :(Rs.12.85)
	Telangana Group	17 :(Rs.12.72)
	Telangana Group	18 :(Rs.12.00)
	Telangana Group	19 :(Rs.11.71)
	Telangana Group	20 :(Rs.11.14)	...	...	...	-do-	14-1/2 annas to 12 annas	11-1/2 annas & below
	Telangana Group	21 :(Rs.10.58)
	Telangana Group	22 :(Rs.10.28)	...	...	...	16 annas & above	15-1/2 annas to 12 annas	below
	Telangana Group	23 :(Rs.9.42)
	Telangana Group	24 :(Rs.8.57)	...	...	...
	Telangana Group	25 :(Rs.7.71)	...	...	...	-do-	15-1/2 annas 13 annas & below	12-1/2 annas & below
	Telangana Group	26 :(Rs.6.85)	...	...	...	...
	Telangana Group	27 :(Rs.4.81)	...	...	...	...

2. Dry lands bearing settlement tarams or bhagannas in each of the settlement tracts or groups, as the case may be; shall be classified into respective classes G, H, I, J and K as shown in Table below:

TABLE

Region---------District	Settlement tract or group	Tarams or Bhagannas which fall under Class
		G	H	I	J	K
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
ANDHRA AREA
1	Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam.	Ichapuram	...	1 & 2	3 to 7	8	...
		Srikakulam	1 to 4	5 to 8	..	...	...
		Visakhapatnam	do	5 to 7	8 & 9	10 & 11	...
		Gudem	1 to 6	7 to 9	10 & 11	...	...
2	East Godavari and West Godavari	Delta	1 to 10	11 to 14	...	...	...
		Upland	1 to 7	8 to 14	...	...	...
3	Krishna	Delta	-do-	8 to 13	...	...	...
		Upland	-do-	1 to 9	...	...	...
4	Guntur and Prakasam Districts.	Upland	1 to 12	...	...	...	...
		Sattenapalli and Palnad	1 to 10	11	12	...	...
		Vinukonda	...	1 to 3	4 to 6	7	8
		Ongole	1 to 16	17 & 18	19 to 28	...	...
5	Nellore and Prakasam districts.	Entire former district of Nellore except thevillages in Tracts II and III	1 to 13	14 to 16	17 to 21	22 to 26	27 & 28
		Tract II Trace III Trace II: Uggumadi, Damanellore,Suggupalli and 2 Shrotrium villages.	4M,5M	4,6M	5,6,7M,8M	7	8 & 9
		Tract III : Manganellore, Atchugattu, SuddamaduguTegelu villages transferred Chittoor district.	2	3	4	...	...
6	Kurnool and Prakasam districts.	Tract I : Kurnool Dhone, Nandaikotkur, Nandyal,Allagadda and Atmakur taluks.	1 & 2	3	4 & 5	6 & 7	8 to 13
		Tract II : Cumbum and Markapur taluks	-do-	3	-do-	-do-	8 to 10
		Tract III : Alur and Adoni taluks	-do-	3	-do-	6	7 & 8
		Tract IV : Koilkuntla Banaganapalli taluks.	1 to 5	6	7 & 8	9 & 10	11
		Tract V : Banaganapalli erswhile estate villages.	1 to 3	4	5	6 & 7	8 to 11
		Tract VI : Pattikonda	1 to 4	5	6 & 7	8 & 9	10
7	Anantapur	Tract I: Anantapur Dharmavaram, HindupurMadakasira, Penugonda, Kalyandurg(part) taluks.	1	2	2	4 & 5	6 to 9
		Tract II : Kadiri taluk	...	1 & 2	2 & 4	5 & 6	7 & 8
		Tract III : Gooty,	1,2,3A	3 and 4A	4,5,6A	6	7 & 13
		Tadpatri, Uravakonda taluks.
		Tract IV : Rayadurg part	1 & 2	3 & 4		5	6 to 8
8	Cuddapah	Tract I : Cuddapah, Jammalamadugu, Proddatur andKamalapuram taluks.	1 to 5	6	7 to 9	10	11
		Tract II : Pulivendula and Rayachoti(part)	1 to 4	5 & 6	7 to 10	...	11
		Tract III : Badvel	1 to 5	6	7 to 9	10 & 11	12
		Tract IV : Rayachoti	...	1 & 2	3 to 5	6	7 & 8
9	Chittoor	Tract I : Chittoor, Chandragiri, Puthur, Kalahasti,Satyavedu(part), Bangarupalem.	1 & 2	3	4 & 5	6	7
		Tract IIA : Punganur and Palameneru(part)	1 & 2	3	4 & 5	6	7
		Tract IIB : Palamaneru(part) and Kuppam	1 & 2	3	4 & 5	6	7
		Tract III : Madanapalli and Vayalpad.	...	1 & 3	3 to 5	6	7 & 8
		Tract IV : Satyavedu	3,3M,4	6M	5,6,7M	7	8 & 9
		(part)	4M,5M	8M,9M
		Tract V : Warthur and Chilakur villages transferredfrom Nellore district to Kalahasti taluk.	9 & 13	...	17 & 22	26	...
10	Telengana Area Group 1 :(Rs.3.78)
		Group 2 :(Rs.3.83)
		Group 3 :(Rs.3.43)
		Group 4 :(Rs.3.21)	16 annas and above	13-1/2 annas to 11 annas	10-1/2 to 7 annas	6-1/2 to 2 annas	1-1/2 annas and below.
		Group 5 :(Rs.3.15)
		Group 6 :(Rs.3.09)
		Group 7 :(Rs.3.00)
		Group 8 :(Rs.2.94)
		Group 9 :(Rs.2.88)	...	11 annas and above	-do-	6-1/2 annas to 3 annas	2-1/2 annas and below.
		Group 10 :(Rs.2.78)
		Group 11 :(Rs.2.67)
		Group 12 :(Rs.2.64)
		Group 13 :(Rs.2.57)
		Group 14 :(Rs.2.46)
		Group 15 :(Rs.2.35)	...	14 annas and above	13-1/2 to 9 annas	8-1/2 annas to 3 annas	-do-
		Group 16 :(Rs.2.24)
		Group 17 :(Rs.2.14)
		Group 18 :(Rs.2.09)
		Group 19 :(Rs.2.02)
		Group 20 :(Rs.1.92)
		Group 21 :(Rs.1.81)	...	15 annas and above	14-1/2 annas to 9 annas	-do-	-do-
		Group 22 :(Rs.1.71)
		Group 23 :(Rs.1.60)
		Group 24 :(Rs.1.53)
		Group 25 :(Rs.1.49)
		Group 26 :(Rs.1.38)
		Group 27 :(Rs.1.28)
		Group 28 :(Rs.1.16)
		Group 29 :(Rs.1.06)	...	...	12 annas and above	11-1/2 annas to 3 annas	2-1/2 annas and below
		Group 30 : (Rs.0.95)
		Group 31 : (Rs.0.85)
		Group 32 : (Rs.0.65)

Explanation I. - Tarama and bhaganna shall be as registered in the revenue ans settlement records of the Government as on the notified date.Explanation II. - If in respect of any land for which no taram or bhaganna is recorded in the revenue and settlement records of the Government or if any land bears a taram not shown in the Tables under Clause 1 or 2 of this Schedule, then such land shall be deemed to bear the taram or bhaganna which a similar land in the vicinity for which a taram or bhaganna has been specified in the said Tables bears.Explanation III. - In the case of a land registered as dry or wet in the land revenue accounts of the Government and bearing a paricular taram or bhaganna, but which is deemed to be wet or dry land respectively under the provisions of this Act, it shall be deemed to bear the same taram or bhaganna which a similar wet or dry land as the case may be in the vicinity bears.Explanation IV. - In this Act, 'Telangana area' means the territories specified in sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the State Reorganisation Act, 1956, and 'Andhra area' means the territories of the State of Andhra Pradesh other than the Telanagana area.Second Schedule(See Section 15)

1. The amount payable for any land vested in the Government under this Act shall be calculated in the manner hereinafter laid down.

2. The total land revenue payable on all the lands surrendered by the person and vested in the Government shall first be calculated. On the total land revenue so calculated the amount payable shall be computed as follows:-

(i)when the total land revenue payable does not exceed Rs. 50, one hundred times the land revenue;

(ii)when the total land revenue payable exceeds Rs. 50 but does not exceed Rs. 150, fifty times the land revenue subject to a minimum of Rs. 5,000;

(iii)when the total land revenue payable exceeds Rs. 150 but does not exceed Rs. 500, twenty times the land revenue subject to a minimum of Rs. 7,500;

(iv)when the total land revenue payable exceeds Rs. 500, ten times the land revenue subject to a minimum of Rs. 10,000 and a maximum of Rs. 1 lakh.

3. Where the land contains any fruit bearing trees or permanent structures, the amount payable therefor shall be calculated in such manner as may be prescribed.

Explanation : In this Act, 'land revenue' means the land revenue as defined in Clause (0 of Section 2 of the Andhra Pradesh Land Revenue Enhancement Act, 1967 or as determined under that Act together with additional land revenue as levied under that Act as on the notified date :Provided that in the case of land registered as dry in the land revenue accounts but deemed to be wet land under this Act or vice versa the land revenue in respect of the land so deemed shall be the same as for similar wet or dry land in the vicinity as the case may be :Provided further that in the case of any land in respect of which no land revenue is payable, the land revenue ill respect of such land shall be the same as the land revenue payable for similar land in the vicinity.

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State of Andhra Pradesh - Act