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Bengal Presidency - Act

The Bengal Revenue-Free Lands (Non-Badshahi Grants) Regulation, 1793

BENGAL PRESIDENCY
India

The Bengal Revenue-Free Lands (Non-Badshahi Grants) Regulation, 1793

Act 19 of 1793

  • Published on 1 May 1793
  • Commenced on 1 May 1793
  • [This is the version of this document from 1 May 1793.]
  • [Note: The original publication document is not available and this content could not be verified.]
The Bengal Revenue-Free Lands (Non-Badshahi Grants) Regulation, 1793Bengal Regulation 19 of 1793[1st May, 1793.]Regulation for re-enacting, with modifications, the rules passed by the Governor General in Council on the 1st December, 1790, for trying the validity of the titles of persons holding, or claiming a right to hold, fands exempted from the payment of revenue to Government under grants not being of the description of those termed badshahi or royal; and for defers mining the amount of the annual assessment to be imposed on lands so held, which may be adjudged or become liable to the payment of public revenue.

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 (demandable in money or kind, according to local custom), unless it transfers its right thereto for a term or in perpetuity, or limits the public demand upon the whole of the lands belonging to an individual, leaving him to appropriate to his own use the difference between the value of such proportion of the produce and the sum payable to the public, whilst he continues to discharge the latter.As a necessary consequence of this law, if a zamindar made a grant of any part of his lands to be held exempt from the payment of revenue, it was considered void, from being an alienation of the dues of Government without its sanction.Had the validity of such grants been admitted, it is obvious that the revenue of Government would have been liable to gradual diminution.Previous, however, to the Company's accession to the Diwani, numerous grants of this description were made, not only by the zamindars, but by the officers of Government appointed to the temporary superintendence of the collection of the revenue, under the pretext that the produce of the lands was to be applied to religious or charitable uses.Of these grants some were applied to the purposes for which they were professed to have been made, but in general they were given for the personal advantage of the grantee, or with a view to the clandestine appropriation of the produce to the use of the grantor or sold to supply his private exigencies;In conformity to the principles which prevailed under the Native Administration, the British Government have at various times declared all grants for holding land exempt from the payment of revenue made since the date of the Company's accession to the Diwani, without their sanction, illegal and void.Their lenity, however, induced them to adopt it as a principle that grants of this description made previous to the date of the Diwani, and provided the grantees had obtained possession, should be held valid to the extent of the intentions of the grantor, as ascertainable from the terms of the writings by which the grants might have been made, or from their nature and denomination.But no complete register of these exempted lands having been formed upon the Company's accession to the Diwani, nor subsequent to that period, many zamindars, as well as the temporary farmers of the public revenue, and the officers of Government to whom the collection of the revenue in the different districts has been occasionally committed, in consequence of the zamindars refusing to pay the revenue demanded of them, have availed themselves of the abovementioned rule of limitation to make grants of extensive tracts of land to others, or in the names of their relations or dependents, for their own use, dating the deeds for these alienations previous to the Company's accession to the Diwani, or procuring them to be registered in the zamindari records as having been alienated prior to that period.Others have made such alienations without antedating the grants, and left it to the grantee to maintain himself in possession by such means as circumstances might afford, in the event of his title being brought into question.The Governor General in Council deeming it incumbent on him to recover the public dues thus alienated in opposition to the ancient and existing laws of the country, as well as to resume 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 by themselves or other, the amount in both cases being 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 I, 1793,] [The Bengal Permanent 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 which have been illegally alienated, is equally solicitous that persons holding such grants under titles that are declared valid should be secured in that possession and enjoyment of their property.It is likewise his wish that the recovery of the dues of Government from those lands which have been illegally alienated previous to the 1th December, 1790, should be attended with as little distress as possible to the possessors; and, to obviate all injustice or extortion in the inquiry into the titles of persons holding exempted lands, he has further resolved that the claims of the public on their lands (provided they register the grants as required in this Regulation) shall be tried in the Courts of Judicature, that no such exempted lands may be subjected to the payment of revenue until the titles of the proprietor shall have been adjudged invalid by a final judicial decree.Upon the above grounds, and with a view to facilitate the recovery of the public dues from lands held exempted under invalid grants, as well as to prevent any similar alienations being hereafter made, to the prejudice of the security of the public revenue which has been assessed in perpetuity upon the estates of individuals; and further, that Government and the officers employed in the collection of the public revenue 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, the following rules, containing the rules passed on the 1st December, 1790, with modifications, have been enacted.

2. Validity of grants of alienated land made before and after 12th August, 1765. First.

- All grants for holding land exempt from the payment of revenue made previous to the 12th August, 1765, the date of the Company's accession to the Diwani, by whatever authority, and whether by a writing or without a writing, shall be deemed valid, provided the grantee actually and bona fide obtained possession of the land so granted previous to the date abovementioned, and the land shall not have been subsequently rendered subject to the payment of revenue by the officers or the orders of Government.If it shall be proved, to the satisfaction of the Court, that the grantee did not obtain possession of the land so granted previous to the 12th August, 1765, or that he did obtain possession of it prior to that date but that, it has been since subjected to the payment of revenue by the officers or the orders of Government, the grant shall not be deemed valid.Second. - Reference of doubtful claims to State Government. - In the event, however, of a claim being preferred by any person to hold land exempt from the payment of revenue, under a grant made previous to the date of the Company's accession to the Diwani, and of it being proved, to the satisfaction of the Court in which the suit may be instituted in the first instance, or to which it may be appealed, that the grantee held the land exempt from the payment of revenue previous to that date, but that it was subjected to the payment of revenue posterior thereto by an officer of Government, and the Court shall entertain doubts as to the competency of such officer, under the powers vested in him, to subject the lands to the payment of revenue, the Court shall suspend its judgment and report the circumstances to the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government, to whom a power is reserved of determining whether such officer was or was not competent to subject the land to the payment of revenue; and, upon receiving the determination of the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government, the Court is to decide accordingly.No such claim, however, to hold exempt from the payment of revenue land that may have been subjected to the payment of revenue for the twelve years preceding the date on which the claim may be instituted shall be heard by any Zila or City Court unless the claimant can show good and sufficient cause for not having preferred the claim to a competent jurisdiction within the twelve years [* * * *] [Words and figures 'and proceeded in it, as required by section 14, Regulation 3, 1793' repealed by Act XVI of 1874, are omitted.].Third. - No persons, not being original grantees, entitled to hold lands free of revenue. - But no part of the two preceding clauses is to be construed to empower the Courts to adjudge any person, not being the original grantee, entitled to hold exempt from the payment of revenue land now subject to the payment of revenue, under a grant made previous to the Company's accession to the Diwani, the writing for which may expressly specify it to have been given for the life of the grantee only; or supposing no such specification to have been made in the writing, or the writing not to be forthcoming or no writing to have been executed, where the grant, from the nature and denomination of it, shall be proved to be a life-tenure only according to the ancient usages of the country.Fourth. - Nor also heirs of present possessors. - Nor to entitle the heirs of any person now holding land exempt from the payment of public revenue under a grant made previous to the Diwani, to succeed to and hold such land exempt from the payment of revenue upon the demise of the present possessor, where the writing for such grant may expressly specify it to have been given, for the life of the grantee only; or supposing no such specification to have been made in the writing, or the writing not to he forthcoming, or no writing to have been executed, where, from the nature and denomination of the grant, it shall be proved to be a life-tenure only, according to the ancient usages of the country.Nor to entitle the heir to any such person to hold the lands exempt from the payment of revenue after his demise, supposing the writing for the grant not to specify whether it was to he considered hereditary or otherwise; unless it shall be proved, to the satisfaction of the Court, that the grant, from the nature and denomination of it, is hereditary according to the ancient usages of the country.But upon the demise of the present possessor of any such grant, which may be adjudged not hereditary under this clause, if it shall appear that one or more successions, in virtue of whatever right, shall have taken place before the date of the Diwani, the lands shall not be subjected to the payment of revenue under the decree without the sanction of the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government, to whom a copy of the proceedings and decree of the court is to be transmitted, and to whom is reserved a power of declaring the lands subject to the payment of revenue or not, as may appear to [it] [Word Substituted for the word 'him' by Act 1 of 1903.] proper.Fifth. - Present possessors prohibited from transferring or mortgaging grants. - The present possessors of lands now exempt from the payment of revenue, under such life-grants made previous to the Diwani, and declared by the preceding clause not to be hereditary, are prohibited from soiling or otherwise transferring them, or mortgaging the revenue of them for a longer period than their own lives, and all such transfers and mortgages are declared illegal and void.It is to be understood, however, that if any such life-grants shall have been confirmed as hereditary tenures by Government, or by the officers of Government empowered so to confirm them, they are not to be liable to the payment of revenue on the death of the present possessors, and are to be excepted from the other rules contained in this and the preceding clause.If doubts shall arise in any Court as to the competency of the authority of any officer of Government to confirm any such life-grant as hereditary, the Court is to suspend its judgment and report the circumstances to the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government, to whom a power is reserved of determining finally whether such officer possessed competent authority to confirm the grant as hereditary, or not and the Court, upon receiving the determination of the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government is to decide accordingly.

3. First. - All grants made or confirmed since Diwani declared invalid.

- All grants for holding land exempt from the payment of revenue, which may have been made since the 12th August, 1765, and previous to the 1st December, 1790, corresponding with the 18th Aghan, 1197, [West Bengal] [Words Substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.] era, [the 10th Aghan, 1198, Fasli], the 18th Aghan, 1198, Wilayati, by any other authority than that of Government, and which may not have been confirmed by Government, or by any officer empowered to confirm them, are declared invalid.Second. - Courts how to proceed in case of doubt of authority of officer confirming grant. - If doubts shall be entertained by any Court as to the competency of the authority of any officer to confirm any such grant, the Court is to suspend its judgment, and report the circumstances of the case to the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government, to whom a power is reserved of determining finally whether the officer possessed competent authority to confirm the grants or otherwise, and the Court, upon receiving the determination of the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Government shall decide accordingly.Third. - Exception in favour of grants made by chiefs of Provincial Councils. - The rule contained in clause first is not to be considered to extend to authorize the subjecting to the payment of revenue land held exempt from the payment of it under grants made previous to the commencement of the [West Bengal] [Words Substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.] year 1178 or the [Fasli or] Wilayati year 1179] (according as the land may be situated in [West Bengal] [Words Substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.], Bihar or Orissa) under the signature of the chiefs of the late provincial councils and the seals of those councils, agreeably to an authority vested in them by Government for granting land to be held exempt from the payment of revenue, the annual produce of which did not exceed one hundred rupees.Fourth. - And also certain grants made for religions of charitable purposes. - Nor to authorize the subjecting to the payment of revenue any land the grants for which, whether for the life of the grantee or otherwise, were made previous to the commencement of the [West Bengal] [Words substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.] year 1178 or the [Fasli or] Wilayati year 1179 (according as the land may be situated in [West Bengal] [Words substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.], Bihar or Orissa,) where the quantity of land granted shall not exceed ten bighas, and the produce of it is bona fide appropriated as an endowment on temples, or to the maintenance of Brahmans, or other religious or charitable purposes.The rule in this clause is declared to extend also to all grants of land whatever, not exceeding ten bighas, made previous to the Diwani, the produce of which may be now so appropriated.

4. Disputes regarding proprietary rights.

- This Regulation, as far as regards lands alienated previous to the 1st December, 1790, respects only the question whether they are liable to the payment of revenue or otherwise.Every dispute or claim regarding the proprietary right in lands alienated previous to that date, and which, in conformity to this Regulation, may become subject to the payment of revenue, is to be considered as a matter of a private nature, to be determined by the Courts of Diwani Adalat, in the event of any dispute or claim arising respecting it between the event of any dispute or claim arising respecting it between the grantee and the grantor, or their respective heirs or successors.The grantees, or the present possessors, until dispossessed by a decree of the Diwani Adalat, are to be considered as the proprietors of the lands, with the same right of property therein as is declared to be vested in proprietors of estates or dependent taluks (according as the land may exceed or be less than one hundred bighas as specified in sections 6, 7 [* * * *] [The word and figure 'and 21' repealed by Act XII of 1891, are omitted.]), subject to the payment of revenue, and they are to execute engagements for the revenue with which their lands may be declared chargeable, either to Government, or to the proprietor of farmer of the estate in which the lands may be situated, or to the officer of Government (according as the revenue of the estate in which the land may he situated may be payable by the proprietor or a farmer, or collected khas), under the rules for the decennial settlement.If by the decision of the Diwani Adalat the proprietary right in the land shall be transferred, the person succeeding thereto is, in like manner, to be responsible for the payment if the revenue assessed or chargeable thereon.

5. Effect of continuing proprietary right to grantee in possession.

- By continuing the proprietary right in the land to the grantee or possessor, in the cases specified in the preceding section, instead of dispossessing him of the land altogether, agreeably to former usage, and assessing the land in the mode prescribed in the two following sections, a liberal provision will be left to him.Where the grant may have been made before the [West Bengal] [Words substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.] year 1178 or the [Fasli or] Wilayati year 1179, the proprietor will hold his land as an estate paying a fixed revenue of only half the amount assessed on other malguzari lands in the country;and, where the grant may have been made subsequent to the abovementioned periods, he will hold the land as subject to the payment of the same revenue as other lands assessed with revenue, under the rules for the decennial settlement, as hereafter directed.

6. To whom revenue assessed on lands, not exceeding 100 bighas alienated before 1st December, 1790, is to belong.

- The revenue assessable under section 9 on land not exceeding one hundred bighas of the measurement that may prevail in the pargana wherein it may be situated, and whether lying in one village, or two or more villages and that may have been alienated by any one grant made previous to the 1st December, 1790, and which may be adjudged or become liable to the payment of revenue, shall belong to the person responsible for the discharge of the revenue of the estate or dependent taluk in which the land may be situated, notwithstanding anything said in section 8, Regulation I 1793;and he shall not be liable to the payment of any additional revenue on account of the assessment which may be chargeable on such lands during the continuance of the engagement under which he may pay the revenue of such estate or dependent taluk, when the land may be so adjudged liable to the payment of revenue.If the estate or dependent taluk shall be held khas, when the lands are decreed liable to the payment of revenue, the amount is to be collected by, and paid to whomsoever the rents and revenue of the estate or taluk may be payable, until a settlement shall be concluded for the revenue of it, either with the proprietor or a farmer.The land which may be so adjudged subject to the payment of the revenue is to be considered as a dependent taluk.

7. Revenue on lands exceeding 100 bighas, alienated prior to 1st December, 1790, to belong to Government.

- The revenue assessable under section 8 on land exceeding one hundred bighas of the measurement that may prevail in the pargana wherein it in may be situated, and whether lying in one village, or two or more villages, and alienated by any one grant made previous to the 1st December, 1790, and which may be adjudged or become liable to the payment of revenue, is declared to belong to Government.The land specified in this section, which may be adjudged liable to the payment of revenue, are to be considered as independent taluks.

8. First. - Rules for assessment under section 7.

- The amount of the revenue payable from the lands specified in section 7 is to be adjusted according to the following rules.Second. - If grant made previous to West Bengal year 1178, or [Fasli or] Wilayati year 1179. - If the grant shall have been made previous to the [West Bengal] [Words substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.] year 1178 or the [Fasli or] Wilayati year 1179 (according as the lands may be situated in [West Bengal,] [Words substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.] Bihar or [Orissa, the revenue to be paid to Government shall be equal to one-half of the annual produce of the land, calculating according to the rates at which other lands in the pargana of a similar description may be assessed.If any part of the land shall be uncultivated, the proprietor is to be required to bring it into cultivation, and to pay such rasad or progressive increase, to be regulated with a reference to the reduced rate of the assessment on the cultivated lands, as the Board of Revenue, with the sanction of the [State] [The Bengal Permanent Settlement Regulation, 1793.] Government, may deem reasonable,The produce of the land shall be ascertained by a survey and measurement, one-half of the expense attending which is to be defrayed by the proprietor, in the event of his agreeing to the jama required of him, and the other moiety by Government; or by such other mode of investigation as the Collector, with the sanction of the Board of Revenue, may judge advisable.If the proprietor shall refuse to agree to the assessment, the lands are to be let in farm or held khas, under the rules prescribed in Regulation VIII, 1793.If the proprietor shall agree to pay the revenue that may be required of him, the amount shall not be liable to any variation in future, but he and his heirs and successors shall hold the lands at such fixed revenue for ever.Third. - If grant made after that time. - If the grant shall have been made subsequent to the [West Bengal] [Word substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.] year 1178 or the [Fasli or] Wilayati year 1179 [(according as the lands may be situated in [West Bengal] [Word substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.], Bihar or Orissa)] the revenue or jama to be paid to Government from the land shall be assessed agreeably to the rules prescribed in Regulation VIII, 1793, for forming the settlement of estates paying revenue to Government, and the produce shall be ascertained, and the expense of the investigation defrayed, in the manner specified with regard to the lands in the preceding clause.If the proprietor shall refuse to agree to the assessment the lands are to be let in farm or held khas, under the rules for the decennial settlement.If the proprietor shall agree to pay the revenue that may be required of him, the amount shall not be liable to any variation in future, but he and his heirs and successors shall hold the land at such fixed revenue for ever.

9. Rule for fixing revenue on land specified in section 6.

- The rules in the preceding section are to be held applicable to the lands specified in section 6; with this difference, that the proprietor, farmer, dependent talukdar or officer of Government to whom the revenue may be payable shall ascertain the produce of the lands without subjecting the grantee to any expense, and submit the accounts of it to the Collector, who shall fix the revenue to be paid from the lands in perpetuity, reporting the amount for the confirmation of the Board of Revenue, who are empowered, in cases in which it shall appear to them proper, to increase or reduce the amount.If the proprietor shall agree to pay the revenue required of him, he and his heirs and successors shall hold the lands as a dependent taluk, subject a to the payment of such fixed revenue for ever.

10. Grants made since 1st December, 1790, declared void.

- All grants for holding land exempt from the payment of revenue whether exceeding or under one hundred bighas, that have been made since the 1st December, 1790, or that may be hereafter made, by any other authority than that [of the State Government or, before the commencement of Part III of the Government of [India Act, 1935] [Words 'of the Provincial Government or before the commencement of Part III of the Government of India Act, 1935, of the Central Government' Substituted for the words 'of the Governor General in Council or the Local Government' by the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937, and subsequently the word 'State' Substituted for he word 'Provincial' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] Any reference to the repealed Act should be construed as a reference to the Constitution - see the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950, of the Central Government,] are declared null and void, and no length of possession shall be hereafter considered to give validity to any such grant, either with regard to the property in the soil or the rents of it.[And every person who now possesses, or may succeed to, the proprietary right in any estate or dependent taluk, or who now holds or may hereafter hold any estates or dependent taluk in farm of Government, or of the proprietor, or any other person, and every officer of Government appointed to make the collections from any estate or taluk held khas, ifs authorized and required to collect the rents from such lands at the rates of the pargana, and to dispossess the grantee of the proprietary right in the land, and to re-annex it to the estate or taluk in which it may be situated, without making previous application to a Court of judicature, or sending previous or subsequent notice of the dispossession or annexation to any officer of Government;] [So much Section 10 as authorised and requires proprietors and farmers of estates and dependent taluks (in cases in which grants for holding for land exempt from the payment of revenue have been made subsequent tot he 1st December, 1790) 'of their own authority to collect the rules of such land and to dispossess the grantees of the proprietary right in the land and to re-annex it to the estate or taluk in which it may be situate', repealed by Act X of 1859.]nor shall any such proprietor, farmer or dependent talukdar be liable to an increase of assessment on account of such grants which he may resume and annul, during the term of the engagements that he may be under for the payment of the revenue of such estate or taluk when the grant may be so resumed and annulled.The managers of the estates of disqualified proprietors, and of joint undivided estates, are authorized and required to exercise, on behalf of the proprietors, the powers vested in proprietors by this section.

11. How proprietors and farmers to recover revenue on lands specified in section 6.

- Proprietors or farmers of land, or dependent talukdars, who may deem themselves entitled to the revenue of any land of the description of that specified in section 6 situated in their respective estates, farms or taluks, are to institute a suit for the recovery of it in the Court of Diwani Adalat.Any proprietor or farmer of land, or dependent talukdar, or other person, subjecting such lands to payment of revenue, without having previously obtained a judicial decree for that purpose, shall be liable to be sued for damages by the parties injured.Where estates or dependent taluks may be held khas, the right of suing for the recovery of the revenue from the lands specified in section 6 is to be considered as vested in the party to whom the collections from the estate or taluk may be payable.If the estate or taluk be held khas by Government, the tahsildar or other officer is to sue for the revenue chargeable on such lands in the room of the proprietor, but under the directions of the Collector.

12. to 14. Suits by Collectors for the recovery of invalid lakhiraj.

- Repealed by the Bengal Land-revenue Assessment (Resumed Lands) Regulation, 1819 (II of 1819).

15. Suits by or against Government.

- The Collectors of the revenue are to defend all suits that may be instituted against Government, by any individual claiming a right to hold lands exempt from the payment of public revenue; and such suits, and the suits which the Board of Revenue may direct the Collector to institute, are to be defended and prosecuted by the vakil of Government under the instructions of the Collector;and in the event of Government being cast, either wholly or in part, or if the Collector shall be dissatisfied with the decree in any respect, all the rules contained in section 30, [Regulation XIV, 1793] [Bengal Regulation XIV of 1793 repealed by Act XVI of 1874 but this reference is saved by the proviso to that Act.] and the other sections in that Regulation respecting decisions given against a Collector in any Zila Court, in suits instituted against him by any proprietor or fanner of land, for sums of money demanded or actually received by him as arrears of revenue, are to be held applicable to such decree; with this difference, that the suit, from the commencement of it, is to be defended or carried on at the expense of Government, and in the event of the Board of Revenue not deeming it proper to order an appeal against the decision of the Zila Court to be preferred to the [State] [The Bengal Permanent Settlement Regulation, 1793.] Court of Appeal, or against the decision of the [State] [The Bengal Permanent Settlement Regulation, 1793.] Court to the War Diwani Adalat, in the event of their ordering the cause to be appealed to the [State] [The Bengal Permanent Settlement Regulation, 1793.] Court, and of its being given against them therein, they are to report their reasons, in both cases, for not preferring the appeal, to the [State] [The Bengal Permanent Settlement Regulation, 1793.] Government, who will direct the cause to be appealed, or not, in either case as may appear to [it] [Word Substituted for the word 'him' by the Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.] proper.

16. Courts to award costs in cases of groundless prosecution.

- Repealed by the Bengal Land-revenue Assessment (Resumed Lands) Regulation, 1819 (II of 1819).

17. Grants forged or altered in any respect or ante-dated, declared void.

- If it shall appear to any Court of Judicature during the course of a trial that a grant for land to be held exempt from the payment of revenue, dated prior to the 1st December, 1790, has been forged, or that the name of the original grantee has been erased and any other name substituted, or that any name not in the original grant has been inserted, or that the denomination of the tenure in the original grant has been erased or altered, or that the date of the grant has been changed or that the grant has been ante-dated, the grant shall be adjudged null and void as far as regards the exemption of the land from the payment of revenue, and the land shall be subjected to the payment of revenue accordingly.

18. Persons concerned in fraud liable to criminal prosecution.

- Repealed by the Repealing Act, 1874 (XVI of 1874).

19. Revenue to be paid from date of first decree for resumption.

- Repealed by the Bengal Land-revenue Assessment (Resumed Lands) Regulation, 1819 (II of 1819).

20. Transfer of grants.

- Grants of land, which from the terms of the grant or the nature of the tenure are hereditary, and are declared valid by this Regulation, or which have been or may be confirmed by the [Government] [Word Substituted for the word 'Crown' by Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.], or any of its officers possessing competent authority to confirm them, are declared transferable by gift, sale or otherwise;and all persons succeeding to such grants, by whatever mode, are required to register their names in this office of the Collector within six months after they may succeed to the grant.But all such purchases are to be considered as made at the risk of the purchaser; and in the event of the grant not proving to be hereditary, or not to have been made or confirmed by the [Government] [Word Substituted for the word 'Crown' by Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950.], or its officers possessing competent authority, the transfer is not to preclude the land from being subjected to the payment of revenue under this Regulation.

21. to 22. Payment of revenue where to be made; register of lands held exempt from revenue prior to 1st December, 1790.

- Repealed by the Land Registration Act, 1876 (Bengal Act VII of 1876).

23. Form for periodical-Register.

- Repealed by the Repealing Act, 1868 (VIII of 1868).

24. Time for registry of grants.

- All persons actually holding lands exempt from the payment of public revenue, whether exceeding or under one hundred bighas, in virtue of grants made previous to the 1st December, 1790, and whether made or confirmed by the Government of the country; for the time being, or any other authority, shall be allowed one year from the date of the publication prescribed in the following section to register the required particulars respecting their grants in the office of the Collector of the revenue of the zila in which the lands may be situated.

25. Publication to be made requiring all persons to register grants.

- Repealed by the Amending Act, 1903 (I of 1903).

26. Lands not registered within prescribed time.

- If any person in possession of any such grant of land now held exempt from the payment of revenue shall omit to register it by the time prescribed in the publication) together with as accurate a detail of the particulars thereby required as he may be able to furnish, the land included in the grant shall, by such omission, become subject to the payment of revenue in the same manner as if it had been adjudged liable to the payment of revenue by a final decree of a Court of Judicature, and the Collector, if the land shall exceed one hundred bighas, shall proceed to assess the lands accordingly; and, if it shall be under one hundred bighas, the party to whom the revenue of the land may be payable under section 6 is empowered to assess the lands as therein directed.The [State] [The Bengal Permanent Settlement Regulation, 1793.] Government, however, reserves to [itself] [Word Substituted for the word 'himself' by the Government of India (Adaptation Indian of Laws) Order, 1937.] the power of admitting any grant upon the register after the expiration of the prescribed time, in the event of the possessor of the land showing good and sufficient cause, to, [its] [Word substituted for the word 'him' by the Government of India (Adaptation Indian of Laws) Order, 1937.] satisfaction, for not having registered it within the limited period, and the Board of Revenue are to report to the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'himself' by the Government of India (Adaptation Indian of Laws) Order, 1937.] Government every case in which persons who may have omitted to register their grants as required may appear to them entitled to have their grants admitted upon the register.

27. Grants not registered within prescribed period, etc., invalid.

- After the expiration of the period limited for registering grants, all grants not registered within the prescribed time, and which may not be subsequently admitted on the register by the [State] [Word Substituted for the word 'himself' by the Government of India (Adaptation Indian of Laws) Order, 1937.] Government, are declared invalid, as far as regards the exemption from the payment of revenue, and the land shall be assessed with revenue as directed in section 26.

28. Effect of registry of lands.

- It is expressly declared, however, that the registry of grants under this Regulation is not to be considered as an admission of the right of the person in whose name they may be registered to the property in the soil, or of his title to hold the lands exempt from the payment of revenue.Any person will be at liberty to sue him in the Diwani Adalat for the former, and he will be liable to be sued for the recovery of the latter by the Collector with the sanction of the Board of Revenue in the event of it appearing, to that Board that the lands are liable to the payment of revenue.

29. to 34. Preparation of registers; counterpart registers; entries regarding exempted lands and documents respecting some.

- Repealed by the Land Registration Act, 1876 (Bengal Act VII of 1876).

35. How separations and annexations of exempted lands are to be notified to the Courts.

- Repealed by the Amending Act, 1903 (I of 1903).

36. to 46. Registers of intermediate resumptions, and periodical registers; correction of errors in same; registry of disputed grants; liability of holders of grants to furnish information; to whom copies of periodical registers are to be sent; penalty for receiving bribes in connection with the registry of grants.

- Repealed by the Land Registration Act, 1876 (Bengal Act VII of 1876.)

47. Rules respecting life-grants applicable to grants for a term.

- All the rules in this Regulation respecting lands now held, or that may be claimed to be held, exempt from the payment of revenue, under life-grants made previous to the date of the Company's accession to the Diwani, are to be considered equally applicable to grants made previous to that date for a term only.

48. Saving of grants made or confirmed by late superintendents of the bazi-zamin daftar.

- No part of this Regulation is to be considered to annual any grants for holding land exempt from the payment of revenue, made or confirmed by the late superintendents of the bazi-zamin daftar in [West Bengal] [Words substituted for the word 'Bengal' by the Indian Independence (Adaptation of Bengal and Punjab Acts) Order, 1948.], in virtue of the powers vested in them.

49. And of badshahi grants.

- Nor to extend to jagir, altamgha, mudad-mash, aima or other grants of land termed badshahi or royal, and held, or Stated to be held, under a royal farman.The rules applicable to such grants are contained in [Regulation XXXVII, 1793.] [The Bengal Revenue-free Lands (Badshahi Grants) Regulation, 1793.]