Section 2 in The Hyderabad Agricultural Debtors Relief Act, 1956
2. Definitions.
- In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-(1)"agricultural labourer" means a person who earns his livelihood by engaging himself in agricultural operations on agricultural land, either as a tenant or servant or hired labourer;(2)"award" means an award made under sub-section (4) of section 8 or sections 9, 32, 33, 52 or 66 or as confirmed or modified by the Court in appeal;(3)"co-operative society" means a society registered under the Hyderabad Co-operative Societies Act, 1952;(4)"Court" means the Court of [the Munsiff or the Subordinate Judge] [In clause (4), the words 'the Munsiff, 01 the Subordinate Judge' were substituted for the words 'the Munsiff, Subordinate Judge or a Judge of the City Civil Court' by the Bombay (Hyderabad Area) Adaptation of Laws (State and Concurrent Subjects) Order, 1956.], having ordinary jurisdiction in the area in which the debtor ordinarily resides, according as the total amount of the debts due from the debtor at the date of the application as specified therein does not exceed the pecuniary jurisdiction of [the Munsiff, or the Subordinate Judge, as the case may be] [The words 'the Munsiff, Subordinate Judge as the case may be' were substituted for the words 'the Munsiff. Subordinate Judge or, as the case may be, the Judge of the City Civil Court', by the Bombay (Hyderabad Area) Adaptation of Laws (State and Concurrent Subjects) Order, 1956.], and includes any Court to which an application may be referred for disposal under section 14 :[* * *] [The first proviso was omitted, by the Bombay (Hyderabad Area) Adaptation of Laws (State and Concurrent Subjects) Order, 1956, in clause (4).]Provided [* * * *] [The word 'further' in the second proviso was omitted, by the Bombay (Hyderabad Area) Adaptation of Laws (State and Concurrent Subjects) Order, 1956, in clause (4).] that every application shall be filed in the Court of the lowest pecuniary jurisdiction competent to try it;(5)"debt" means any liability in cash or kind, whether secured or unsecured due from a debtor whether payable under a decree or order of any Civil Court or otherwise and includes mortgage money the payment of which is secured by the usufructuary mortgage of immovable property but does not include arrears of wages payable in respect of agricultural or manual labour, or any liability for the recovery of which remedy is barred by limitation;(6)"debtor" means -(a)an individual -(i)who is indebted;(ii)who holds land used for agricultural purposes or has held such land at any time not more than 30 years before the 30th January, 1943 which has been transferred whether under an instrument or not and which transfer is in the nature of a mortgage although not purporting to be so;(iii)who has been cultivating land personally for the cultivating seasons in the two years immediately preceding the date of the coming into operation of this Act or of the establishment of the Board concerned under the repealed Act; and(iv)whose annual income from sources other than agricultural and manual labour does not exceed 33 ⅓ per cent, of his total annual income or does not exceed Rs. 500, whichever is greater;(b)an undivided Hindu family -(i)which is indebted;(ii)which holds land used for agricultural purposes or has held such land at any time not more than 30 years before the 30th January, 1943 which land has been transferred whether under an instrument or not and which transfer is in the nature of a mortgage although not purporting to be so;(iii)which has been cultivating land personally for the cultivating seasons in the two years immediately preceding the date of the coming into operation of this Act or of the establishment of the Board concerned under the repealed Act; and(iv)the annual income of which from sources other than agriculture and manual labour does not exceed 40 per cent, of the total annual income and the aggregate of such incomes of the members of which does not exceed Rs. 1, 500;Explanation I. - For the purposes of this clause "agriculture" includes horticulture, the raising of crops or garden produce, dairy farming, poultry farming, stock breeding and grazing, but does not include leasing of land or cutting only of wood.Explanation II. - In the case of -(a)any person who dies leaving as his heir, a widow or a minor or a person who is subject to physical or mental disability, or(b)an undivided Hindu family, in which there are no adult male coparceners capable of cultivating the land personally, the income derived by such heir or family by the lease of land for an agricultural purpose shall, notwithstanding anything contained in Explanation I, be deemed to be income from agriculture.(7)"financing of crops" means advancing of loans for the raising of crops during the ploughing season or later for ploughing, sowing, harrowing, weeding, harvesting, purchase of seeds, manure or for such other purposes as may be prescribed, such loans being repayable during the season when the crops for which the loans were advanced are harvested;(8)"holder" means a holder as defined in section 2 of the Hyderabad Land Revenue Code, 1317 Fasli, and includes a holder of land held for the performance of service useful to Government or village community which service is actually being performed but does not include a holder of any land held on behalf of a religious or charitable institution; and the expression "to hold land" shall be construed accordingly;Explanation. - A protected tenant as defined in the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950, shall be deemed to be a holder for the purposes of this clause;(9)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules;(10)"repealed Act" means the Debt Conciliation Act, 1349 Fasli;(11)"rules" means rules made under section 64;(12)"scheduled bank" means a bank included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934;(13)"seasonal finance" means advancing of loans for such purposes as may be prescribed, such loans being repayable on or before the 15th May, following;(14)"to cultivate personally" means to cultivate by one's own labour or by the labour of any member of one's family or by servants or hired labour under one's personal supervision or the personal supervision of any member of one's family;Explanation I. - If a person who was cultivating personally dies leaving as his heir a widow or a minor or a person who is subject to physical or mental disability, such heir shall be deemed to cultivate the land personally notwithstanding the fact that the land is cultivated on behalf of such heir by servants or hired labour or by tenants.Explanation II. - In the case of an undivided Hindu family, the land shall be deemed to have been cultivated personally if it is cultivated by any member of such family. If there are no adult male coparceners in such family capable of cultivating the land personally, such family shall be deemed to be cultivating the land personally if the land is cultivated on behalf of such family by servants or hired labour or by tenants.(15)Words and expressions used in this Act, but not defined, shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, or the Hyderabad Land Revenue Code, 1317 Fasli, as the case may be.
