(W.P. Act XVII of 1967)
C O N T E N T S
Sections
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
2. Power
to except any area from provisions unsuited thereto.
3. Exclusion of certain land from
operation of this Act.
4. Definitions.
CHAPTER II
DISTRICTS
5. Province to be divided into Districts.
6. Districts to be divided into Tehsils.
CHAPTER III
APPOINTMENT AND
POWERS
OF REVENUE OFFICERS
Appointment
7. Classes of Revenue Officers.
8. Appointment of Collectors.
9. Additional Collectors.
10. Assistant Collectors.
11. Tehsildars.
12. Certain appointments to be notified.
Administrative Control
13. Superintendence and control of Revenue
Officers.
14. Power to distribute business and
withdraw and transfer cases.
15. Combination of offices.
Powers
16. Conferment of powers of Revenue
Officers.
17. Functions of Revenue Officers.
18. Retention of powers by Revenue Officers
on transfer.
CHAPTER IV
PROCEDURE OF REVENUE
OFFICERS
19. Subordination of Revenue Officers.
20. Powers to make rules as to procedure.
21. Persons by whom appearance and
applications may be made before and to Revenue Officers.
22. Powers of Revenue Officers to summon
persons to give evidence and produce documents.
23. Summons to be in writing signed and
sealed.
24. Mode of service of summons.
25. Mode of service of notice, order or
proclamation, or copy thereof.
26. Mode of making proclamation.
27. Inquiries
under the Act to be deemed judicial proceedings.
28. Language of Revenue Offices.
29. Arrest of defaulter to be made upon
warrant.
30. Power of Revenue Officers to enter upon
any lands or premises for purpose of measurements, etc.
31. Place of sittings.
32. Proceedings held on holidays.
33. Seals.
34. Costs.
35. Penalty.
CHAPTER V
VILLAGE OFFICERS
36. Rules regulating appointments etc., of
Village Officers.
37. Village Officers’ cess.
38. Restrictions on attachment or
assignment of remuneration of Village Officers.
CHAPTER VI
RECORDS
Records-of-rights and Periodical Records
39. Record-of-rights
and documents included therein.
40. Making
of special revision of record-of-rights.
41. Periodical
records.
Procedure for making records
42. Making of that part of periodical
records which relates to land-owners.
43. Making of that part of periodical
record which relates to other persons.
44. Determination of disputes.
45. Restriction on variations of entries in
records.
46. Mutation fees.
47. Obligation to furnish information
necessary for the preparation of records.
48. Penalty.
Rights of Government and presumptions
with
respect thereto and to other matters
49. Rights of Government in mines and
minerals.
50. Presumption as to ownership of forests,
quarries and waste-lands.
51. Compensation for infringement of rights
of third parties in exercise of a right of Government.
52. Presumption in favour of entries in
records-of-rights and periodical records.
53. Suit for declaratory decrees by persons
aggrieved by an entry in a record.
Supplemental Provisions
54. Records-of-rights and periodical
records for groups of estates.
54-A. Power to call for information.
55. Powers to make rules respecting records
and other matters connected therewith.
CHAPTER VII
ASSESSMENT
56. Assessment
of land revenue.
56-A. Exemption
of land revenue.
57. Basis
of assessment.
58. Limit
of assessments.
General Assessments
59. Notification of intended re-assessment
and instructions as to principles of assessment.
60. Mode of determining assessment.
61. Announcement of assessment.
62. Application for reconsideration of
assessment.
63. Confirmation and duration of
assessment.
64. Duration of assessment.
65. Assessment to remain in force till new
assessment takes effect.
66. Refusal to be liable for assessment and
consequences thereof.
67. Distribution of the assessment of an
estate over the holdings comprised therein.
68. Application for amendment of the
distribution of an assessment.
69. Appeals from orders under sections 62
and 68.
Special Assessment
70. Special assessments.
70-A.
70-B. Determination of land ownership.
70-C. Information about increase in the
extent of ownership.
70-D. Change in the basis of exemption or
assessment.
70-E. Exemption or assessment of
land-revenue.
71. Power to make rules.
72. Procedure to be followed in making
rules.
73. Power to issue instructions.
CHAPTER VIII
COLLECTION OF LAND
REVENUE
74. Liability for payment of land-revenue.
75. Security for payment of land-revenue.
76. Orders to regulate payment of
land-revenue.
77. Rules to regulate collection, remission
and suspension of land-revenue.
78. Costs recoverable as part of arrear.
79. Certified account to be evidence as to
arrear.
80. Processes for recovery of arrears.
81. Notice of demand.
82. Arrest and detention of defaulter.
83. Distress and sale of movable property
and crops.
84. Transfer of holding.
85. Attachment of holding.
86. Annulment of assessment of holding.
87. Proclamation of attachment or annulment
of assessment and consequences of proclamation.
88. Sale of holding.
89. Effect of sale on encumbrances.
90. Proceedings against other immovable
property of defaulter.
91. Remedies open to person denying his
liability for an arrear.
Procedure in sales
92. Proclamation of sale.
93. Indemnity to Revenue Officer with
respect to contents of proclamation.
94. Publication of proclamation.
95. Time and conduct of sale.
96. Power to postpone sale.
97. Stay of sale.
98. Deposit
by purchaser in case of sale of immovable property.
99. Consequences of failure to pay deposit.
100. Time for payment in full.
101. Procedure in default of payment.
102. Report of sale to Executive District
Officer (Revenue).
103. Application to set aside sale.
104. Order confirming or setting aside sale.
105. Refund or deposit of purchase money
when sale set aside.
106. Proclamation after postponement or on
re-sale.
107. On confirmation of sale possession and
certificate to be granted to purchaser.
108. Sale of movable property and perishable
articles.
109. Mode of payment for movable property
when sale is concluded on the spot.
110. Mode of payment for movable property
when sale is subject to confirmation.
111. Proceeds of sale.
112. Claims to attached movable or immovable
property how to be disposed of.
CHAPTER IX
RECOVERY OF OTHER
DEMANDS
BY REVENUE OFFICERS
113. Recovery of certain arrears through
Revenue Officers instead of by suit.
114. Other sum recoverable as arrears of
land-revenue.
115. Application of Chapter VIII to sums
recoverable under this Chapter.
115-A. Charges for recovery of dues, other than Provincial dues, as
arrears of land-revenue.
CHAPTER X
SURVEYS AND
BOUNDARIES
116. Revenue
survey may be introduced by Board of Revenue in any part of Province.
117. Power of Revenue Officers to define
boundaries.
118. Surveys for purpose of preparation of
records.
119. Assistance to be given by holders and
others in the measurement or classification of lands.
120. Professional surveys.
121. Power
of Board of Revenue to make rules for demarcation of boundaries and erection of
boundary marks.
122. Effect of the settlement of boundary.
123. Power to fix boundary between riverain
estates.
124. Effect of fixing boundary between
riverain estates.
125. Application for immediate transfer of
rights.
126. Award of compensation and
extinguishment of rights thereby.
127. Voluntary transfers not affected.
128. Rights transferred to be liable to all
the incidents of tenure of the estate of which the transfer is made.
129. Cost
of erection and repair of boundary and survey marks.
130. Recovery of cost incurred by
Government.
131. Responsibility for the maintenance of
boundary and survey marks.
132. Report of destruction or removal of or
injury to boundary or survey marks.
133. Land measurement or survey to be based
on a square system or rectangulation.
134. Penalty.
CHAPTER XI
PARTITION
135. Application
for partition.
136. Restrictions and limitations on
partition.
137. Notice of application for partition.
138. Addition of parties to application.
139. Disallowance of partition.
140. Procedure on admission of application.
141. Disposal of questions as to title in
the property to be divided.
142. Disposal of other questions.
143. Administration of property excluded
from partition.
144. Distribution of revenue and rent after
partition.
145. Instrument of partition.
146. Delivery of possession of property
allotted on partition.
147. Affirmation of partition privately
effected.
148. Power to make rules as to cost of
partition.
149. Re-distribution of land according to
custom.
150. Officers
who may be empowered to act under this Chapter.
CHAPTER XII
ARBITRATION
151. Power
to refer to arbitration.
152. Order of reference and contents
thereof.
153. Nomination of arbitrators.
154. Substitution of arbitrators by parties.
155. Nomination and substitution of
arbitrators by Revenue Officers.
156. Process for appearance before
arbitrators.
157. Award of arbitrators and presentation
thereof.
158. Procedure on presentation of award.
159. Effect of award.
160. Arbitration
Act not to apply to arbitration under this Chapter.
CHAPTER XIII
APPEAL, REVIEW AND
REVISION
161. Appeals.
162. Limitation for appeals.
163. Review.
164. Revision.
165. Stay of proceedings and execution of
orders and decrees.
166. Clerical mistakes, etc.
167. Computation of period limited under
this Chapter.
CHAPTER XIV
SUPPLEMENTAL
PROVISIONS
Revenue Deposits
168. Power to deposit certain sums ther than
rent.
169. Procedure
in case of deposits.
Orders of Civil and Criminal Courts
170. Orders of Civil and Criminal Courts for
execution of processes against land, etc.
171. Preservation of attached produce.
Exclusion of jurisdiction of Civil Courts
172. Exclusion of jurisdiction of Civil
Courts in matters within the jurisdiction of Revenue Officers.
173. Powers to invest officers making
records-of-rights or general re-assessments with powers of Civil Courts.
174. Control over such officers and appeals
from and revision of their decrees and orders.
General
175. Prevention of encroachment upon common
lands.
175-A. Penalty for encroachments.
176. Papers kept by Village Officers to be
deemed public documents.
177. Maps and land record open to
inspection, etc.
178. Restriction on Revenue Officers bidding
at auctions or engaging in trade.
CHAPTER XV
MISCELLANEOUS
179. Effect of finality of orders.
180. Restriction
on appointment of Lambardars.
181. Bar
on legal proceedings against Revenue Officers.
182. Power
to make rules.
183. Rules
to be made after previous publication.
184. Repeals
and savings.
SCHEDULE
(W.P. Act XVII of 1967)
[7 December 1967]
An Act to consolidate
and amend the law relating to land revenue in the Province of
[3][the Punjab]
Preamble.— WHEREAS it is expedient to consolidate and amend
the law relating to the making and maintenance of records-of-rights, the
assessment
and collection of land-revenue, the appointment and functions of
Revenue Officers and other matters connected with the Land Revenue
Administration in the Province of
[4][the Punjab], or incidental thereto;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short
title, extent and commencement.— (1) This Act may be called
[5][the
Punjab] Land Revenue Act, 1967.
(3) It
or any specified provision thereof shall come into operation in such area or
areas and on such date or dates as Government may,
by notification[7],
appoint in this behalf.
2. Power
to except any area from provisions unsuited thereto.— (1) Should the circumstances of any area in which
this Act, or any specified provision thereof, has been brought into force be
such
that, in the opinion of Government, that provision, or any other provision
of the Act, is unsuited thereto, Government may, by notification,
except that
area from the operation of such provisions, and thereupon those provisions
shall not apply to such area until the notification
is rescinded.
(2) While such exception as aforesaid remains in
force, Government may frame rules for the regulation of the matters so
excepted. So far
as may be, the rules shall be consistent with the provisions
of this Act and shall specify the period for which such exception shall
remain
in force.
3. Exclusion
of certain land from operation of this Act.— (1) Except so far as may be
necessary for the record, recovery and administration of village cess, or for
purposes of survey, nothing
in this Act applies to land which is occupied as
the site of a town or village, and is not assessed to land revenue.
(2) It
shall be lawful for the Collector acting under the general or special orders of
the Board of Revenue, to determine for the purposes
of this Act, what lands are
included within the site of a town or village, and to fix and from time to time
to vary the limits of
the same, regard being had to all the subsisting right of
the land-owners.
4. Definitions.—
In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—
(1) “agricultural
year” means the year commencing on the first day of July, or on such other date
as the Board of Revenue, with the previous
approval of Government, may by
notification, appoint for any specified area;
(2) “arrears of land-revenue” means land-revenue
which remains unpaid after the date on which it becomes payable;
(3) “assessment
circle” means a group of estates which in the opinion of the Board of Revenue,
to be recorded in an order in writing,
are sufficiently homogeneous to admit of
a common set of rates being used as a general guide in calculating the
land-revenue to be
assessed upon them;
(4) “Board of
Revenue” means the Board of Revenue established under the
[8][Punjab]
Board of Revenue Act, 1957 (West Pakistan Act XI of 1957);
(5) “boundary mark” means any erection, whether of earth, stone, or
other material, any hedge, unploughed ridge, or strip of ground, or
other
object or mark, whether natural or artificial, set up, employed or specified by
a Revenue Officer having authority in that
behalf in order to designate the
boundary of any division of land;
(6) “commencement” shall mean the day on which
this Act or any provision thereof, as the case may be, comes into operation;
(7) “defaulter”
means a person liable for an arrear of land-revenue, and includes a person who
is responsible as surety for payment of
the arrear;
(8) “encumbrance”
means a charge upon or claim against land arising out of a private grant or
contract;
(9) “estate”
means any area—
(i) for
which a separate record-of-rights has been made; or
(ii) which
has been separately assessed to land-revenue; or
(iii) which the Board of Revenue may, by general
rule or special order, declare to be an estate;
(10) “holding” means a share or portion of an
estate held by one land-owner or jointly by two or more land-owners;
[9][(10-A) “irrigated
land” means land irrigated by a canal, tubewell, well, lift, spring, tank or by
any other artificial means of irrigation];
(11) “Kanungo” shall be deemed to include a
supervising Tapedar;
(12) “land-lord”
means a person under whom a tenant holds land, and to whom the tenant is, or
but for a special contract, would be liable
to pay rent for that land, and
shall include a lessee of such person, and the predecessors and
successors-in-interest of such person;
(13) “land-owner”
includes a person to whom a holding has been transferred, or an estate or
holding has been let in farm, under this Act,
for the recovery of an arrear of
land-revenue or of a sum recoverable as such an arrear and any other person who
is in possession
of an estate or any share or portion thereof, or in the
enjoyment of any part of the profits of an estate, but does not include a
tenant;
(14) “land-revenue” means land-revenue assessed or
assessable under this Act, or under any other law for the time being in force
relating
to land-revenue, and includes any rates imposed on account of increase
in the value of land due to irrigation.
(15) “legal
practitioner” means any legal practitioner within the meaning of the Legal
Practitioners Act, 1879 (Act XVIII of 1879), except
a Mukhtar;
(16) “net assets”
of an estate or group of estates means the estimated average annual surplus
produce of such estate or group of estates
remaining after deduction of the
ordinary expenses of cultivation as ascertained or estimated.
Explanation— Ordinary expenses of cultivation include
payments, if any, which the land-owner customarily bears, whether in kind or in
cash, and
in whole or in part whether in respect of—
(a) water
rates,
(b) maintenance
of means of irrigation,
(c) maintenance
of embankments,
(d) supply
of seed,
(e) supply
of manure,
(f) improved
implements of husbandry,
(g) concessions
with regard to fodder,
(h) special
abatements made for fallow or bad harvest,
(i) cost
of collection of rent,
(j) allowance
for shortage in collection of rent,
(k) interest
charges payable in respect of advances made in cash, free of interest, to
tenants for the purpose of cultivation,
(l) wages
or customary dues paid to village auxiliaries whose products or labour are
utilized for the purposes of cultivation and harvesting;
and
the share that would be retainable by a tenant if the land were let to a tenant
paying rent, whether in cash or in kind, at the
normal rate actually prevalent
in the estate or group of estates;
(17) “Patwari” shall be deemed to include a Tapedar and a Special or Additional Tapedar;
(18) “pay” with its
grammatical variations and cognate expressions, includes, when used with
reference to rent, “deliver” and “render”,
with their grammatical variations
and cognate expressions;
(19) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made
under this Act;
(20) “rates and
cesses” means rates and cesses which are primarily payable by land-owners, and
include—
(a) the local rate, if any,
payable under any law for the time being in force, and any fee similarly
leviable from land-owners for the
use of, or benefits derived from, embankments
and works for supply or storage of water for agricultural purposes and for the preservation and reclamation of soil
and drainage and reclamation of swamps;
(b) any annual rate chargeable
on owners of land under any law for the time being in force for the benefits
derived from drainage works
carried on for the public health, or for the
improvement of land or for the proper cultivation or irrigation thereof, or for
the
protection from floods or other accumulations of water, or from erosion by
a river;
(c) village
officers’ cess; and
(d) any
sum payable on account of village expenses;
(21) “rent” means
whatever is payable to a land-lord in money or kind by a tenant on account of
the use or occupation of land held by him,
but shall not include any cess, or
other contribution or due or any free personal service;
(22) “Revenue
Court” means a Court constituted as such under the law relating to tenancy as
in force for the time being;
(23) “Revenue
Officer” means a Revenue Officer having authority under this Act to discharge
the function of a Revenue Officer;
(24) “survey mark”
means any mark set up by the Department of Survey of Pakistan;
(25) “survey
number” or “Khasra number” means a
portion of land of which the area is separately entered under an indicative
number in the record-of-rights;
(26) “tenant” means
a person who holds land under another person, and is, or but for a special
contract would be, liable to pay rent for
that land to that other person, and
includes the predecessors and successors-in-interest of such person, but does
not include—
(a) a
mortgagee of the rights of a land-owner; or
(b) a person to whom a holding
has been transferred, or an estate or holding has been let in farm, under the
provisions of this Act, for
the recovery of an arrear of land-revenue or of a
sum recoverable as such an arrear; or
(c) a
person who takes from Government a lease of unoccupied land for the purpose of
subletting it;
(27) “tenancy” means a parcel of land held by a
tenant under one lease or one set of conditions;
[10][(27-A) “unirrigated land” means land other than
irrigated land, and includes land fed by rains, floods, hill torrents, and
uncultivable or
waste land;]
(28) “Village
Officer” means any person appointed under this Act whose duty it is to collect,
or to supervise the collection of, the revenue
of an estate, and includes Kanungos, Patawris, Zabits, Kotars or Tapedars, Peons, Arbabs, Rais and headmen (Lambardars).
CHAPTER II
[11][* * *] DISTRICTS
5. Province
to be divided into
[12][Districts].— There shall be as many
[13][Districts] in the Province, with such
limits and such areas, as Government may, by notification, direct.
[14][6. Districts
to be divided into Tehsils.— (1)
Each District shall be divided into such Tehsils having such limits, as
Government may, by notification, direct.
(2) Government
may, by notification, vary the number and limits of Districts or Tehsils in the Province.]
CHAPTER III
APPOINTMENT AND
POWERS OF REVENUE OFFICERS
Appointment
7. Classes
of Revenue Officers.— (1) There shall be the following classes of Revenue
Officers, namely:-
(a) the Board of Revenue;
(c) the Collector;
(d) the Assistant Collector of the first grade;
(e) the Assistant Collector of the second grade.
(2) The
[16][District Officer (Revenue)] of the District or
the officer performing for the time being functions as such, shall be the
Collector
thereof.
[17][8. Appointment of Collectors.— For each
District there shall be a Collector who shall be appointed by Government, and
who shall exercise throughout the District,
all the powers, and discharge all
the duties, of the Collector under this Act.]
[18][9. Additional
Collectors.— Government may
appoint in any District an Additional Collector, who shall exercise throughout
the District concerned all or any of
the powers and discharge all or any of the
duties conferred or imposed on a Collector by or under this Act, subject to the
general
supervision and control of the Collector of the District.]
10. Assistant Collectors.— (1) Government
may appoint to each District as many Assistant Collectors of the first and
second grade as it may deem expedient.
[19][(2) Government may confer on Deputy District
Officer (Revenue) of a Tehsil all or any of the powers of the Collector under
sub section
(1) of section 16.]
(3) If
any of the powers of a Collector, under this Act are conferred on an Assistant
Collector they shall be exercised by him subject
to the control of the
Collector.
[20][11. Tehsildars.— The Tehsildar entrusted with
the local revenue administration of a Tehsil, under the control and supervision
of Deputy District Officer
(Revenue) of that Tehsil, shall exercise such powers
and discharge such duties of an Assistant Collector as may be expressly
conferred
or imposed on him by or under this Act.]
12. Certain appointments to be notified.—
The appointment of all officers under this Chapter shall be by notification.
Administrative Control
13. Superintendence and control of Revenue
Officers.— (1) The Board of Revenue shall be subject to the control of
Government.
(2) The general superintendence and control over
all other Revenue Officers shall be vested in, and all such Officers shall be
subordinate
to, the Board of Revenue.
(3) Subject
to the general control of the Board of Revenue,
[21][an Executive District Officer (Revenue)] shall
control all other Revenue Officers in his
[22][District].
[23][(4) Subject
as aforesaid and to the control of the Executive
District Officer (Revenue), a District Officer (Revenue) shall control
all other Revenue Officers in his District.]
14. Power to distribute business and withdraw
and transfer cases.— (1) The Board of Revenue may, by written order
distribute, in such manner as may be deemed fit, any business cognizable by any
Revenue
Officer under its control, and by like order, withdraw any case pending
before any such Officer.
(2) The powers exercisable by the Board of Revenue
under sub-section (1) may, by like order and in like manner be exercised by
[24][an
Executive District Officer (Revenue)] or Collector in respect of any business
cognizable by, or any case pending before, other
Revenue Officers under their
respective control.
(3) Where
a case is withdrawn by the Board of Revenue under sub-section (1) the Board may
dispose of it itself, or, by written order,
refer it for disposal to any
Revenue Officer; and where a case is withdrawn by
[25][an Executive District Officer (Revenue)] or
Collector under sub-section (2) the
[26][an Executive District Officer (Revenue)] or
Collector, as the case may be, may dispose of it himself, or by like order,
refer it
to any other Revenue Officer under his control.
(4) No
order under this section shall empower any Revenue Officer to exercise any powers
or deal with any business which he would not
be competent to exercise or deal
with within the local limits of his own jurisdiction.
15. Combination
of offices.— It shall be lawful
for Government to appoint one and the same person, being otherwise competent
according to law, to any two or more
of the offices provided for in this
Chapter.
Powers
16. Conferment of powers of Revenue Officers.—
(1) Government may, by notification, confer on any person all or any of the
powers of
[27][an Executive District Officer (Revenue)]
or Collector under this Act, and may, in like manner, withdraw such powers.
(2) The Board of Revenue may, by notification,
confer on any person all or any of the powers of an Assistant Collector under
this Act,
and may, in like manner, withdraw such powers.
(3) A person on whom powers are conferred under
this section shall exercise those powers within such local limits and in such
classes
of cases as Government or the Board of Revenue, as the case may be, may
direct and, except as otherwise so directed, such person
shall, for all
purposes connected with the exercise thereof, be deemed to be the
[28][Executive District Officer (Revenue)], Collector
or Assistant Collector, as the case may be.
17. Functions
of Revenue Officers.— Except
where the class of Revenue Officers by whom any function is to be performed is
specified in this Act, the Board of Revenue
may, by notification, determine the
functions to be performed under this Act by any class of Revenue Officers.
18. Retention of powers by Revenue Officers on
transfer.— When a Revenue Officer of any class who has, under the
provisions of this Act, any powers to be exercised in any local area, is
transferred
from that local area to another as a Revenue Officer of the same or
a higher class, he shall continue to exercise those powers in
that other local
area unless Government or the Board of Revenue, as the case may be, otherwise
directs or has directed.
CHAPTER IV
PROCEDURE OF REVENUE
OFFICERS
19. Subordination of Revenue Officers.— In
all official acts and proceedings, a Revenue Officer shall, in the absence of
any express provision of law to the contrary, be
subject as to the place, time
and manner of performing his functions, to the direction and control of the
officer to whom he is subordinate.
20. Powers
to make rules as to procedure.—
(1) The Board of Revenue may, with the previous approval of Government, make
rules, not inconsistent with this Act, for regulating
the procedure of Revenue
Officers in cases in which a procedure has not been provided for by this Act.
(2) The
rules may provide, among other matters, for the mode of enforcing orders of
ejectment under this Act from, and delivery of possession
of, immovable
property, and rules providing for those matters may confer on any Revenue
Officer all or any of the powers in regard
to contempt, resistance, and the
like, which a Civil Court may exercise in the execution of a decree whereby it
has adjudged ejectment
from, or delivery of possession of such property.
(3) Subject
to the rules made under this section, a Revenue Officer may refer any case
which he is empowered to dispose of under this
Act to another Revenue Officer
subordinate to him for investigation and report, and may decide the case upon
such report after giving
the parties concerned an opportunity of being heard.
21. Persons by whom appearance and applications
may be made before and to Revenue Officers.— (1) Appearance before a
Revenue Officer, and applications to, and acts to be done before him, under
this Act may be made or done—
(a) by the parties themselves; or
(b) by their authorised agents or legal
practitioners:
Provided that the employment of an
authorised agent or legal practitioner shall not excuse the personal attendance
of a party to any
case in which personal attendance is specially required by an
order of the Revenue Officer.
(2) The
fees of a legal practitioner shall not be allowed as costs in any proceedings
before a Revenue Officer under this Act unless that
officer considers, for
reasons to be recorded by him in writing, that the fees should be allowed.
22. Powers of Revenue Officers to summon persons
to give evidence and produce documents.— (1) A Revenue Officer may summon
any person whose attendance he considers necessary for the purpose of any
business before him as
a Revenue Officer.
(2) A
person so summoned shall be bound to appear at the time and place mentioned in
the summons in person or, if the summons so allows,
by his authorised agent or
a legal practitioner:
Provided that the exemptions under
sections 132 and 133 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908),
shall be applicable
to requisitions for attendance under this section.
(3) The
person attending in obedience to the summons shall be bound to state the truth
upon any matter respecting which he is examined
or makes statements, and to
produce such documents and other things relating to any such matter as the
Revenue Officer may require.
23. Summons to be in writing signed and sealed.—
Every summons shall be in writing, in duplicate and shall state the purpose for
which it is issued, and shall be signed by the Revenue
Officer issuing it, and
if he has a seal, shall also bear his seal.
24. Mode
of service of summons.— (1) A
summons issued by a Revenue Officer shall, if practicable, be served (a) personally on the person to whom it
is addressed or, failing him, (b) on
his authorised agent or (c) an adult
male member of his family usually residing with him.
(2) If
service cannot be effected in the manner provided in sub-section (1) or if
acceptance of service is refused, the summons may be
served by affixing a copy
thereof at the usual or last known place of residence of the person to whom it
is addressed, or, if that
person does not reside in the District in which the
Revenue Officer is employed and the case to which the summons relates has
reference
to land in that District, the summons may be served by—
(a) sending
it by post to the Collector of the District in which that person has his usual
residence who shall cause it to be served in
accordance with the provisions
contained in sub-section (1); and
(b) affixing
a copy of the summons on some conspicuous place in or near the estate wherein
the land is situate.
(3) If
the summons relates to a case in which persons having the same interest are so
numerous that personal service on all of them is
not reasonably practicable, it
may, if the Revenue Officer so directs, be served by delivery of a copy thereof
to such of those persons
as the Revenue Officer nominates in this behalf, and
by proclamation of the contents thereof for the information of the other
persons
interested.
(4) A
summons may, if the Revenue Officer so directs be served on the person named
therein, either in addition to, or in substitution
for, any other mode of
service by forwarding the summons by registered post to the person concerned.
(5) When
a summons is forwarded as aforesaid, the Revenue Officer may presume that the
summons was served at the time when the letter
would be delivered in the
ordinary course of post.
25. Mode
of service of notice, order or proclamation, or copy thereof.— (1) A notice, order or proclamation, or a copy of
any such document, issued by a Revenue Officer for service on any person, shall
be served in the manner provided in section 24 for the service of a summons.
(2) No such notice, order or proclamation or copy
thereof, shall be deemed void on account of any error in the name or
designation of
any person referred to therein, unless such error has occasioned
substantial injustice.
26. Mode of making proclamation.— When a
proclamation is issued by a Revenue Officer, it shall, in addition to any other
mode of publication which may be prescribed
by or under this Act, be made by
beat of drum or other customary method and by affixing a copy thereof on a
conspicuous place in
or near the land to which it relates.
27. Inquiries under the Act to be deemed
judicial proceedings.— (1) Every inquiry under this Act shall be deemed to
be a “judicial proceeding” within the meaning of sections 193, 219 and 228 of
the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860), and the Revenue Officer
holding an inquiry shall be deemed to be a Court for the
purposes of such
inquiry.
(2) Every
hearing and decision in such inquiry shall be in public, and the parties or
their authorised agents shall have due notice to
attend.
28. Language
of Revenue Offices.— Government
may, by notification, declare what shall, for the purposes of this Act, be
deemed to be the language in ordinary use in
any specified part of the
Province.
29. Arrest of defaulter to be made upon
warrant.— Whenever it is provided by this Act that a defaulter may be
arrested, such arrest shall be made upon a warrant issued by the Revenue
Officer competent to direct such person’s arrest.
30. Power of Revenue Officers to enter upon any
lands or premises for purpose of measurements, etc.— It shall be lawful for
any Revenue Officer, and any person acting, under the orders of a Revenue
Officer, at any time to enter, when
necessary for the purpose of measurement,
demarcation, fixation or inspection of boundaries or boundary marks,
classification of
soil, or assessment, or for any other purpose connected with
the lawful exercise of his office under the provisions of this Act,
or any
other law for the time being in force relating to land-revenue, upon any lands
or premises, whether belonging to Government
or to private individuals:
Provided that no premises used as human
dwelling shall be entered upon except with the consent of the occupier thereof,
or without
serving on the occupier a notice of not less than seven days in the
prescribed form:
Provided
further that due regard shall always be paid to the social and religious
prejudices of the occupiers.
31. Place of sittings.— (1) A Revenue
Officer, other than an Assistant Collector of the first grade, may exercise his
powers under this Act at any place
within the limits of his jurisdiction.
(2) An Assistant Collector of the first grade may
exercise his powers at any place within the district in which he is employed.
32. Proceedings held on holidays.— Any
proceedings held before a Revenue Officer under this Act on a day notified as a
holiday, shall not be invalid by reason of such
proceedings having been held on
that day.
33. Seals.— Government may from time to
time, by notification, prescribe what Revenue Officers shall use a seal, and
what size and description
of seal shall be used by each of such officers.
34. Costs.— A Revenue Officer may give and
apportion the costs of any proceedings under this Act in any manner he thinks
fit:
Provided that if he orders that the cost
of any such proceedings shall not follow the event, he shall record his reasons
for the order.
35. Penalty.— If a person required by
summons, notice, order or proclamation proceeding from a Revenue Officer to
attend at a certain time and
place within the limits of the estate in which he
ordinarily resides or in which he holds or cultivates land, fails to comply
with
the requisition, he shall be liable at the discretion of the Revenue
Officer to a fine which may extend to
[29][five
hundred] rupees.
CHAPTER V
VILLAGE OFFICERS
36. Rules
regulating appointments etc., of Village Officers.— The Board of Revenue
may, with the previous approval of Government, make rules to regulate the
appointment, duties, emoluments, punishment,
suspension and removal of Village
Officers.
37. Village Officers’ cess.— (1) Government
may, by notification, impose on all or any of the estates in the Province, a
cess to be called the Village Officers’
cess, at such rate or rates, not
exceeding five per centum of the land-revenue, as it may think fit, for
remunerating Village Officers,
other than those who are Government servants.
(2) The Board of Revenue may, with the previous
approval of Government, make rules for the collection, control and distribution
of the
Village Officers’ cess.
38. Restrictions
on attachment or assignment of remuneration of Village Officers.— (1) The remuneration of a Village Officer
mentioned under sub-section (1) of section 37 shall not be liable to attachment
in execution
of a decree or order of a Civil or Revenue Court.
(2) An assignment of, or charge on, or an
agreement to assign or charge, any such remuneration shall be void unless it is
authorised by
rules made by the Board of Revenue in this behalf.
CHAPTER VI
RECORDS
Records-of-rights and Periodical Records
39. Records-of-rights and documents included
therein.— (1) Save as otherwise provided by this Chapter there shall be a
record-of-rights for each estate.
(2) The record-of-rights for an estate shall
include the following documents, namely:-
(a) statements
showing, so far as may be practicable—
(i) the persons who are land-owners, tenants or
who are entitled to receive any of the rents, profits or produce of the estate
or to occupy
land therein;
(ii) the nature and extent of the interests of
those persons, and the conditions and liabilities attaching thereto; and
(iii) the rent, land-revenue, rates, cesses or other
payments, due from and to each of those
persons and to Government;
(b) a
statement of customs respecting rights and liabilities in the estate;
(c) a
map of the estate; and
(d) such
other documents as the Board of Revenue may, with the previous approval of
Government, prescribe.
40. Making of special revision of
record-of-rights.— (1) When it appears to the Board of Revenue that a
record-of-rights for an estate does not exist, or that the existing
record-of-rights
for an estate requires special revision, the Board of Revenue
may, by notification, direct that a record-of-rights be made, or that
the
record-of-rights be specially revised, as the case may be.
(2) A notification under sub-section (1) may
direct that record-of-rights shall be made or specially revised for all or any
of the estates
in any local area.
(3) A
record-of-rights made or specially revised for an estate under this section
shall be deemed to be the record-of-rights for that
estate, but shall not
affect any presumption in favour of Government which has already arisen from
any previous record-of-rights.
41. Periodical records.— (1) The Collector shall
cause to be prepared by the Patwari
of each estate periodically, as the Board of Revenue may direct, an edition of
any record-of-rights amended in accordance with the
provisions of this Chapter.
(2) Such
edition of the record-of-rights shall be called the periodical record for the
estate, and shall comprise the statements mentioned
in clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 39, and
such other documents, if any, as may be prescribed.
(3) For
the preparation of periodical records, the Collector shall cause to be
maintained by the Patwari of each
estate a register of mutations in the prescribed form and other prescribed
registers, if any.
Procedure for making records
42. Making of that part of periodical records
which relates to land-owners.— (1) Any person acquiring by inheritance,
purchase, mortgage, gift, or otherwise, any right in an estate as a land-owner,
or a tenant
for a fixed term exceeding one year, shall, within three months
from the date of such acquisition, report his acquisition of right
to the Patwari of the estate, who shall—
(a) record
such report in the Roznamacha to be
maintained in the prescribed manner;
(b) furnish
a copy of the report so recorded, free of cost, to the person making the
report; and
(c) send
a copy of the report, within a week of its receipt by him, to the
[30][office of the Union Administration] within
which the estate is situated.
(2) If
the person acquiring the right is a minor or is otherwise unable to report, his
guardian or other person having charge of his property
shall make the report to
the Patwari.
(3) The Patwari
shall enter in his register of mutations every report made to him under
sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), and shall also make an
entry in the Roznamcha and in the register of
mutations respecting the acquisition of any such right as aforesaid which he
has reason to believe to have
taken place, and of which report should have been
made to him under either of those sub-sections and has not been so made.
(4) The
report made to the Patwari under sub-section
(1) or sub-section (2) or recorded by him under sub-section (3) shall be
displayed in such manner as may be prescribed.
(5) If
the Patwari fails to record or to
display a report made to him under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the
person making the report may make
the report, in writing, to the Revenue
Officer concerned and the
[31][Union Nazim of the Union] in which the
estate is situated, by registered post acknowledgement due and the Revenue
Officer shall thereupon cause such report
to be entered in the register of
mutations.
(6) A
Revenue Officer shall, from time to time, inquire into the correctness of all
entries in the register of mutations and into all
such acquisitions as
aforesaid coming to his knowledge of which, under the foregoing sub-sections,
report should have been made to
the Patwari
and entries made in that register, and, shall in each case make such order as
he thinks fit with respect to any entry in the periodical
record of the right
acquired.
(7) Except
in cases of inheritance or where the acquisition of the right is by a
registered deed or by or under an order or decree of
a Court, the Revenue
Officer shall make the order under sub-section (6) in the presence of the
person whose right has been acquired,
after such person has been identified by
two respectable persons, preferably from Lambardars
or members of the
[32][Zila Council, Tehsil Council or Town Council]
concerned whose signatures or thumb-impressions shall be obtained by the
Revenue Officer on the register of mutations.
(8) An
inquiry or an order under sub-section (6) shall be made in the common assembly
in the estate to which the mutation, which is the
subject matter of the
inquiry, relates.
(9) Where a Revenue Officer makes an order under
sub-section (6) in regard to the acquisition of any right, an entry shall be
made in
the periodical record by the insertion therein of a description of the
right acquired and by the omission from such record of any
entry in any record
previously prepared, which, by reason of the acquisition, has ceased to be
correct.
(10) If within three months of the making of a
report of the acquisition of a right under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2),
or the recording
by the Patwari of an
entry in the Roznamcha under
sub-section (3) respecting the acquisition of any right, no order is made by
the Revenue Officer under sub-section (6), he
shall report the cause of delay
to the Collector in the prescribed manner.
(11) The Revenue Officer shall, in the prescribed
manner, send or cause to be sent, the gist of an order made by him under
sub-section
(6), to the person whose right is acquired, and also to the
[33][office of the Union Administration] in which the estate is situated.
43. Making of that part of periodical record
which relates to other persons.— The acquisition of any interest in land
other than a right referred to in sub-section (1) of section 42 shall—
(a) if
it is undisputed, be recorded by the Patwari
in the prescribed manner; and
(b) if
it is disputed, be entered by the Patwari
in the register of mutations and dealt with in the manner provided for in
sub-sections (6) to (11) of that section.
44. Determination of disputes.— (1) If
during the making, revision or preparation of any record, or in the course of
any inquiry under this Chapter, a dispute arises
as to any matter of which an
entry is to be made in a record or in a register of mutations, a Revenue
Officer may of his own motion,
or on the application of any party interested,
but subject to the provisions of section 45, and after such inquiry as he
thinks fit,
determine the entry to be made as to that matter and record his
reasons therefor.
(2) If
in any such dispute, the Revenue Officer is unable to satisfy himself as to
which of the parties thereto is in possession of any
property to which the
dispute relates, he shall—
(a) if he be not below the rank of Assistant
Collector of the first grade, ascertain, after an inquiry in which an
opportunity shall be
given to all the parties to the dispute of being heard and
adducing evidence in support of their claims, who is the person best entitled
to the property, and shall by written order direct that the person be put in
possession thereof, and that entry in accordance with
that order be made in the
record or register; and
(b) if
he be below the rank of Assistant Collector of the first grade, report the
matter to the Assistant Collector of the first grade,
who shall thereupon
proceed in the manner provided in clause (a).
(3) A
direction under sub-section (2) shall be subject to any decree or order which
may be subsequently passed by any Court of competent
jurisdiction.
45. Restriction on variations of entries in
records.— Entries in a record-of-rights or in a periodical record, except
entries made in periodical records by Patwaris
under clause (a) of section 43 with
respect to undisputed acquisitions of interest referred to in that section,
shall not be varied in subsequent
records otherwise than by—
(a) making
entries in accordance with facts proved or admitted to have occurred;
(b) making
such entries as are agreed to by all the parties interested therein or are
supported by a decree or order binding on those
parties; and
(c) making
new maps where it is necessary to make them.
46. Mutation fees.— (1) The Board of Revenue
may fix a scale of fees for all or any classes of entries in any record or
register under this Chapter and
for copies of any such entries.
(2) A fee in respect of any entry shall be payable
by the person in whose favour the entry is made.
47. Obligation
to furnish information necessary for the preparation of records.— (1) Any person whose rights, interests or
liabilities are required to be, or have been, entered in any record or register
under this
Chapter, shall be bound, on the requisition of any Revenue Officer
or Patwari engaged in compiling or
revising the record or register, to furnish or produce for his inspection, all
such information or documents
needed for the correct compilation or revision
thereof as may be within his knowledge or in his possession or power.
(2) The
Revenue Officer or Patwari to whom
any information is furnished or before whom any document is produced in
accordance with a requisition under sub-section (1)
shall give a written
acknowledgement thereof to the person furnishing or producing the same, and
shall endorse on any such document
a note over his signature, stating the fact
of its production and the date thereof.
48. Penalty.— Any person neglecting to make,
within three months from the date of his acquisition of a right referred to in
section 42, the report
required to be made under that section or who fails to
furnish the information or produce the documents required by section 47, shall
be liable, at the discretion of the Collector, to a fine not exceeding
[34][two
hundred and fifty] rupees.
Rights of Government and presumptions
with respect thereto and to other matters
49. Rights of Government in mines and minerals.—
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law, or in any order or
decree of Court or other authority, or in any rule
of custom or usage, or in
any contract, instrument, deed or other document, all mines and minerals shall
be and shall always be deemed
to have been the property of Government, and
Government shall have all powers necessary for the proper enjoyment of its rights
thereto.
Explanation—
For the purposes of this section, “Government”, in relation to nuclear energy,
mineral oil and natural gas, shall mean the
[35][Federal]
Government, and in relation to other mines and minerals the Government of
[36][the
Punjab].
50. Presumption as to ownership of forests,
quarries and waste-lands.— (1) When in any record-of-rights completed on or
before the eighteenth day of November, 1871, in territories where the Punjab
Land
Revenue Act, 1887 (Punjab Act XVII of 1887), was, with or without
modifications, in force immediately before the commencement of
this Act
[37][*
* *] it is not expressly provided that any forest or quarry, or any unclaimed,
unoccupied, deserted or waste-land or any spontaneous
produce or other
accessory interest in land belongs to the land-owners, it shall be presumed to
belong to Government.
(2) When in any record-of-rights completed
after eighteenth day of November, 1871, or the seventeenth day of July, 1879,
as the case
may be, it is not expressly provided that any forest or quarry, or
any such land, produce or interest as aforesaid, belongs to Government,
it
shall be presumed to belong to the land-owners concerned.
(3) The
presumption created by sub-section (1) may be rebutted by showing—
(a) from
the record or report made by the assessing officer at the time of assessment,
or
(b) if the record or report is silent, then from a
comparison between the assessment of villages in which there existed, and the
assessment
of villages of similar character in which there did not exist, any
forest or quarry, or any such land, produce or interest,
that
the forest, quarry, land, produce or interest was taken into account in the
assessment of the land-revenue.
(4) Until
the presumption is so rebutted, the forest, quarry, land, produce, or interest
shall be held to belong to Government.
51. Compensation for infringement of rights of
third parties in exercise of a right of Government.— (1) Whenever, in the
exercise of any right of Government referred to in sections 49 and 50, the
rights of any person are infringed
by the occupation or disturbance of the
surface of any land, Government shall pay, or cause to be paid, to that person
compensation
for the infringement.
(2) The compensation shall be determined, as
nearly as may be, in accordance with the provisions of the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894 (Act
I of 1894).
52. Presumption in favour of entries in
records-of-rights and periodical records.— Any entry made in a
record-of-rights in accordance with the law for the time being in force, or in
a periodical record in accordance
with the provisions of this Chapter and the
rules made thereunder, shall be presumed to be true until the contrary is
proved or a
new entry is lawfully substituted therefor.
53. Suit for declaratory decrees by persons
aggrieved by an entry in a record.— If any person considers himself
aggrieved by an entry in a record-of-rights or in a periodical record as to any
right of which he
is in possession, he may institute a suit for a declaration
of his right under Chapter VI of the Specific Relief Act, 1877 (Act I
of 1877).
Supplemental Provisions
54. Records-of-rights and periodical records for
groups of estates.— The Board of Revenue may, by notification, direct that
a record-of-rights shall be made for any group of neighbouring estates instead
of separately for each of such estates and thereupon the provisions of this
Chapter with respect to a record-of-rights and a periodical
record for an
estate shall so far as they can be made applicable, apply to the record-of-rights
and the periodical record for such
group of estates as if the group were an
estate.
[38][54-A. Power
to call for information.— (1) The Board of Revenue may by notification
require a land owner or a class of land owners to furnish such information as
to the
extent of his or their ownership of land, whether such land is situated
wholly within the Province or partly within the Province
and partly outside the
Province, in such form and manner, within such time and to such person or
authority as may be specified in
the notification.
(2) Whoever fails, without reasonable cause, to
furnish the information required under sub-section (1) or furnishes information
which
he knows, or has reason to believe to be false or omits to give any
information material for the purpose for which it is required,
shall be
punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or
with fine, or with both.
(3) No
court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this section, except
on a complaint in writing by a Revenue Officer
especially or generally
empowered in this behalf by the Board of Revenue.]
55. Powers to make rules respecting records and
other matters connected therewith.— The Board of Revenue may, with the
previous approval of Government, make rules—
(a) prescribing
the language in which records and registers under this Chapter are to be made;
(b) prescribing
the form of those records and registers, and the manner in which they are to be
prepared, signed and attested;
(c) for
the survey of land so far as may be necessary for the preparation and
correction of those records and registers;
(d) for
the conduct of inquiries by Revenue Officers under this Chapter; and
(e) generally
for the guidance of Revenue Officers and Village Officers in matters pertaining
to records and registers mentioned or referred
to in this Chapter.
CHAPTER VII
ASSESSMENT
56. Assessment of land revenue.— (1) All
land, to whatever purpose applied and wherever situate, is liable to the
payment of land-revenue to Government, except—
(a) such
land as has been wholly exempted from that liability by special contract with
Government, or by the provisions of any law for
the time being in force;
(b) such
land as is included in village site;
(c) such
land as is included in Cantonment limits;
(d) land
on which property tax under the [39][Punjab]
Urban Immovable Property Tax Act, 1958 (W.P. Act V of 1958), is payable;
(e) waste
and barren land not under cultivation for a continuous period of not less than
six years immediately before the date of notification
of general assessment or
re-assessment under section 59; provided that where any waste and barren land
is brought under cultivation
at any time after the date of such notification
such land shall not be liable to the payment of land-revenue for a period of
six
years from the date it is so brought under cultivation.
(2) Land-revenue shall be assessed in cash.
(3) Land-revenue
may be assessed—
(a) as
a fixed annual charge, payable in lump sum or by installments; or
(b) in
the form of prescribed rates, per acre or other unit of area applicable to the
area recorded as sown, matured or cultivated during
any harvest or during any
year:
Provided that land-revenue shall not be
assessed in the form of sliding scales varying annually according to the market
price of any
agricultural produce prevailing during a specified period of the
year.
[40][56-A. Exemption
of land revenue.— Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in
this Act no land-owner, from Rabi 1982-83, shall be liable to pay land revenue
at any rate or cess chargeable under the provisions of this Act, if he owns—
(a) irrigated
land not exceeding 2½ acres;
(b) unirrigated
land not exceeding 5 acres;
(c) irrigated
and unirrigated land the aggregate area of which does not exceed 2½ acres of
irrigated land as determined under section
70-B.]
57. Basis
of assessment.— (1) The
assessment of land-revenue shall be based on an estimate of the average money
value of the gross produce of an estate or
a group of estates, in which the
land concerned is situated.
(2) Such estimate shall be made in the prescribed
manner.
58. Limit of assessments.— If the
land-revenue is assessed as a fixed annual charge, the amount thereof, and if
it is assessed in the form of prescribed rate,
the average amount which,
according to an estimate in writing approved by Government or the Board of
Revenue, as the case may be,
will be leviable annually, shall not, in the case
of an assessment circle, exceed one-fourth of the estimated money-value of the
net assets of such assessment circle.
General
Assessments
59. Notification of intended re-assessment and
instructions as to principles of assessment.— (1) Assessments of
land-revenue may be general or special.
(2) A
general assessment or re-assessment of the land-revenue of any area shall not
be undertaken without the previous sanction of Government
and notification of
that sanction.
(3) In
granting such sanction Government may give such instructions consistent with
the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder
as it may deem fit.
60. Mode of determining assessment.— (1) A
general assessment shall be made by a Revenue Officer.
(2) Before
making such assessment the Revenue Officer shall report through the
[41][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] for the
sanction of the Board of Revenue his proposals with regard thereto.
61. Announcement of assessment.— (1) After
consideration of the proposals submitted by the Revenue Officer under the
provisions of section 60, the Board of Revenue
shall pass such orders as it may
deem fit, subject to the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (4), and on the
receipt of such orders
the Revenue Officer shall make an order determining the
assessment proper for each estate concerned and shall announce it in such
manner as Government may by rules prescribe.
(2) At
the time of announcing the assessment the Revenue Officer shall also declare
the date from which it is to take effect, and, subject
to the other provisions
of this Act, it shall take effect accordingly.
(3) Subject
to the provisions of sub-section (4), the average rate of assessment imposed
under the provisions of sub-section (1) on any
assessment circle forming part
of any area in respect of which a notification has been issued under
sub-section (2) of section 59
shall not exceed the rate of assessment imposed
at the last previous assessment by more than one-fourth; provided that the rate
of
assessment imposed on any estate shall not exceed the rate of assessment of
the last previous assessment on the estate by more than
one-half.
(4) The
provisions of sub-section (3) shall not be applicable in the case of land which
has not been previously assessed to land-revenue
or in which canal irrigation
has been introduced after the date of the orders passed under the provisions of
sub-section (1) at the
last previous assessment, or in the case of an area
which has been notified by Government to be an urban assessment circle, and for
the purpose of calculating the increase in the incidence of the land-revenue
for the purpose of sub-section (3), all such land shall
be excluded from
calculation:
Provided that in the case of lands in
which canal irrigation has been introduced after the date specified in this
sub-section, the
average rate of assessment shall not, so far as may be, exceed
the average rate of assessment of land of similar kind imposed under
sub-section (3).
62. Application for reconsideration of
assessment.— (1) Any land owner may, within thirty days from the date of
the announcement of the assessment, present a petition to the Revenue
Officer
for a reconsideration of the amount, form or conditions of the assessment.
(2) The order passed by the Revenue Officer on the
petition shall set forth his reasons for granting or refusing it.
63. Confirmation and duration of assessment.—
(1) An assessment, the undertaking of which has been sanctioned under the
provisions of section 59, shall not be considered final
until it has been
confirmed by the Board of Revenue.
(2) At
any time before an assessment is so confirmed, the
[42][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] or Board of
Revenue may, subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), modify the
assessment
of any estate.
(3) Before
an enhancement is ordered under the provisions of sub-section (2), the
[43][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] or the
Board of Revenue, as the case may be, shall cause reasonable notice to be given
to the
land-owners by proclamation published in the manner described in section
26 , to show cause in a petition addressed to the Revenue
Officer why the proposed
enhancement should not be ordered, and the Revenue Officer shall enquire into
any objections raised by any
land-owner and submit such petition received by
him with his report thereon to the
[44][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] or the
Board of Revenue, who shall consider the petition and the report and shall also
hear
the petitioner if the petitioner so desires.
64. Duration of assessment.— (1) The Board
of Revenue shall, when confirming an assessment under sub-section (1) of
section 63, fix a period of time for which
the assessment shall remain in
force.
(2) The
period fixed under sub-section (1) shall be twenty-five years:
Provided that a period not exceeding
twenty-five years and not shorter than ten years may be fixed for any area,
specified by the
Board of Revenue, in which canal irrigation has been
introduced after the date of the orders passed under the provisions of
sub-section
(1) of section 61 at the last previous assessment or in which it
has been proposed to introduce such irrigation during the period
fixed.
65. Assessment to remain in force till new
assessment takes effect.— Notwithstanding the expiration of the period
fixed for the continuance of an assessment under the last foregoing section,
the assessment
shall remain in force till a new assessment takes effect.
66. Refusal to be liable for assessment and
consequences thereof.— (1) At any time within ninety days from the date of
the announcement of an assessment, the land-owner or, where there are more
land-owners
than one, any of them who would be individually or collectively
liable for more than half the sum assessed, may give notice to the
Revenue
Officer of refusal to be liable for the assessment.
(2) When the Revenue Officer receives a notice
under sub-section (1), the Collector may take possession of the estate and deal
with it,
as nearly as may be, as if the annulment of the assessment thereof had
been ordered as a process for the recovery of an arrear of
land-revenue due
thereon.
(3) While
the estate is in the possession of the Collector, the land-owner or land-owners
shall be entitled to receive from Government
an allowance, to be fixed by the
Board of Revenue, which shall not be less than fifty or more than seventy-five
per cent of the net
income realised by Government from the estate.
67. Distribution of the assessment of an estate
over the holdings comprised therein.— (1) If the assessment announced under
section 61 is in whole or in part a fixed assessment of an estate for a term of
years, the
Revenue Officer shall, before the date on which the first instalment
thereof becomes payable, make an order distributing it over
the several
holdings comprised the estate and make and publish a record of the
distribution.
(2) The Collector may for sufficient reasons make
an order revising that record at any time while the assessment continues to be
in force,
and publish the record so revised.
(3) If
the assessment announced under section 61 is in the form of rates chargeable
according to the results of each year or harvest,
a Revenue Officer shall from
year to year or from harvest to harvest, as the conditions of the assessment
may require, make and publish,
not later than one month before the first
instalment of the land-revenue falls due, a record of the amount payable in
respect of
each holding.
(4) Notwithstanding
anything contained in this section, arid land (whether cultivated or not) in
which well or tube-well irrigation facilities
are provided by or on behalf of
the land-owner or the tenant shall, for a period not less than four years from
the date such irrigation
facilities are first provided in such land, not be
liable to pay land-revenue at a higher rate than was payable thereon before
such
irrigation facilities were provided.
Explanation—
For the purposes of this sub-section only such land shall be deemed to be arid
land in which canal irrigation has not been introduced.
68. Application
for amendment of the distribution of an assessment.— (1) Any person affected by a record under
sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) of the last foregoing section or by the
revision of
a record under sub-section (2) of that section, may, within thirty
days from the date of the publication of the record, present a
petition to the
Revenue Officer for a re-consideration of the record so far as it affects him.
(2) The
order passed by the Revenue Officer on the petition shall set forth his reasons
for granting or refusing it.
69. Appeals from orders under sections 62 and
68.— An appeal from an order under the last foregoing section or section 62
shall lie to the
[45][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] and
from the appellate order of the
[46][Executive District Officer (Revenue)], to
the Board of Revenue.
Special Assessment
70. Special assessments.— (1)
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 64 and 65, special assessment may be
made by Revenue Officers in the following cases,
namely:-
(a) when
it is proposed to change the form of assessment;
(b) when
lands are sold, leased or granted by Government;
(c) when
the assessment of any land has been annulled or the land-owner has refused to
be liable therefor, and the term for which the
land was to be managed by the
Collector or his agent or let in farm has expired;
(d) when
assessments of land-revenue require revision in consequence of the action of
water or sand or of calamity of season or from any
other cause;
(e) when
revenue due to the Government on account of pasture or other natural products
of land, or on account of mills, fisheries or natural
products of water, or on
account of other rights described in section 49 or section 50, has not been
included in an assessment made
under the foregoing provisions of this Chapter;
(f) when
waste and barren land becomes liable to the payment of land-revenue.
(2) The
Board of Revenue may confirm any assessment made under this section.
(3) The
foregoing provisions of this Chapter with respect to general assessment shall,
subject to such modifications thereof as the Board
of Revenue may prescribe by
executive instructions issued under the provisions of section 73, regulate the
procedure of Revenue Officers
making special assessments.
[47][70-A. Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary contained in this Act, from Rabi 1982-83, every
land-owner of the categories, mentioned below
shall, in addition to the land
revenue assessed under the provisions of sections 57 and 70, be liable to pay
land revenue at the
enhanced rate mentioned against each category—
|
(a) a land owner owning:-
(i) irrigated
land exceeding 2½ acres but not exceeding 12½ acres; or
(ii) unirrigated
land exceeding 5 acres but not exceeding 25 acres; or
(iii) irrigated
land and unirrigated land the aggregate area of which exceeds 2½ acres, but
does not exceed 12½ acres of irrigated land
as determined under section 70-B.
|
50 per cent increase on land revenue determined
under the provisions of section 57 and section 70.
|
|
(b) a land owner owning:-
(i) irrigated
land exceeding 12½ acres but not exceeding 25 acres; or
(ii) unirrigated
land exceeding 25 acres but not exceeding 50 acres; or
(iii) irrigated
and unirrigated land the aggregate area of which exceeds 2½ acres, but does
not exceed 25 acres of irrigated land, as
determined under section 70-B.
|
100 per cent increase on land revenue
determined under the provisions of section 57 and section 70.
|
|
(c) a
land owner owning:-
(i) irrigated
land exceeding 25 acres but not exceeding 50 acres; or
(ii) unirrigated land exceeding 50 acres but not
exceeding one hundred acres; or
(iii) irrigated
land and unirrigated land the aggregate area of which exceeds 25 acres but
does not exceed 50 acres of irrigated land,
as determined under section 70-B.
|
200 per cent increase on land revenue
determined under the provisions of section 57 and section 70.
|
|
(d) a land owner owning:-
(i) irrigated
land exceeding 50 acres; or
(ii) unirrigated
land exceeding one hundred acres; or
(iii) irrigated and unirrigated land aggregate
area of which exceeds 50 acres of irrigated land, as determined under section
70-B.
|
300 per cent increase on land revenue
determined under the provisions of section 57 and section 70.]
|
[48][70-B. Determination
of land ownership.— For the purposes of sections 56-A and 70-A—
(a) One
acre of irrigated land shall be reckoned as equivalent to two acres of
unirrigated land, provided that in calculating the aggregate
area of a
land-owner the conversion is made from unirrigated to irrigated land;
(b) land
owned by a land-owner shall include all land owned by him, whether such land is
situated wholly within the Province or partly
within and partly outside the
Province, except the following:-
(i) land described in clauses (b), (c)
and (d) of section 56; and
(ii) share in shamlat
of a village where the total area of such shamlat
does not exceed 25 acres;
(c) “land
owner” shall include a person—
(i) who is an allottee or a grantee of any land
under any scheme of the Government, under which such allotment or grant is to
mature into
ownership;
(ii) who has mortgaged his land, or any portion
thereof;
(iii) who has permanent rights and interest in
land.]
[49][70-C. Information about increase in the extent of
ownership.— (1) A person who
after the tenth day of November, 1975, acquires land or increases the extent of
his ownership of land and by such
acquisition owns land in more than one Patwar Circle whether such land is
situated within the Province or partly within and partly outside the Province,
shall inform such authority
within such time, in such manner and form as the
Board of Revenue may by notification specify in this behalf.
(2) A land-owner who fails without reasonable
cause to comply with the provision of sub-section (1) or the rules or orders
made thereunder
or wilfully furnishes incomplete or false information shall be
deemed to have committed an offence under the provision of sub-section
(2) of
section 54-A.]
[50][70-D. Change
in the basis of exemption or assessment.— (1) Any land-owner entitled to
exemption under section 56 or section 56-A from the payment of land-revenue or
reduction in land-revenue
chargeable under section 70-A, who has not been
granted such exemption or reduction, or any land-owner aggrieved by the
categorization
of his land under section 70-A, may, at any time, make an
application, in such form and manner as may be specified by the Board of
Revenue, to the Assistant Collector of the area in which his land or any part
thereof is situated.
(2) On receipt of such application, this Assistant
Collector shall cause a notice of the application to be served on the person on
whom
the liability to pay the land-revenue may devolve as a result of the
transfer of land and after holding such inquiry as he considers
necessary,
shall pass orders, setting forth his reasons therefor.
(3) Without
prejudice to the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2), the Assistant
Collector shall have the power to hold an inquiry and
pass appropriate orders
if on receipt of any information or otherwise he is of opinion that any
land-owner who is liable to pay land-revenue,
is not paying such land-revenue
or paying less than the amount of the land-revenue which he is liable to pay:
Provided that before passing final order
he shall give fifteen days notice to the person likely to be affected by such
order for affording
him an opportunity of being heard.
(4) In
exercising his powers under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), the Assistant
Collector shall—
(a) not
question the correctness or validity of a registered deed or any mutation
sanctioned in accordance with law, relating to transfer
of land;
(b) follow,
subject to other provisions of this section, the procedure as may be laid down
by the Board of Revenue by notified instructions
in this behalf.]
[51][70-E. Exemption or assessment of land-revenue.— Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act,
Government may, at any time, by notification, prescribe the principle or the
method
or the procedure by which and the manner in which exemption under
section 56-A or assessment under section 70-A shall be determined
or
announced.]
71. Power to make rules.— Government shall,
subject to the provisions of section 72, from time to time, make rules
prescribing—
(a) the
method by which the estimate of the money-value of the net assets of an estate
or group of estates shall be made;
(b) the method by which assessment to land-revenue
shall be made;
(c) the
principles on which exemption from assessment shall be allowed for
improvements;
(d) the
manner in which assessment shall be announced;
(e) the
manner in which the rate of assessment is to be calculated for the purpose of
sub-section (3) of section 61.
72. Procedure to be followed in making rules.—
Before making any rule under the provisions of section 71, Government shall, in
addition to observing the procedure laid down in
section 22 of the
[52][Punjab]
General Clauses Act, 1956 (W.P. Act VI of 1956), publish, by notification, a
draft of the proposed rule for the information
of persons likely to be affected
thereby.
73. Power
to issue instructions.— Government or the Board of Revenue with the
approval of Government may, for the guidance of Revenue Officers, from time to
time,
issue executive instructions relating to all matters to which the
provisions of this Chapter apply; provided that such instructions
shall be
consistent with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder.
CHAPTER VIII
COLLECTION OF LAND
REVENUE
74. Liability for payment of land-revenue.—
In the case of any holding, the holding and its land-owner shall be liable for
the payment of land-revenue thereon, and if there
be joint land-owners of a
holding, the holding and all the land-owners jointly and severally shall be liable
for the payment of the
land-revenue.
75. Security for payment of land-revenue.—
(1) The land-revenue for the time being assessed and payable in respect of a
holding shall be the first charge upon the rents, profits
and produce thereof.
(2) Save with the previous consent of the
Collector, the rents, profits and produce of a holding shall not be liable to
be taken in execution
of a decree or order of any Court until the land-revenue
chargeable against the rents, profits or produce or any arrear of land-revenue
due in respect of the holding, have been paid.
76. Orders
to regulate payment of land-revenue.— (1) Notwithstanding anything in any record-of-rights, the Board of
Revenue may fix the number and amount of the installments, and
the times,
places and manner, by, at and in which the land-revenue is to be paid.
(2) Until the Board of Revenue otherwise directs,
land-revenue shall be payable by the installments at the times and places and
in the
manner, by, at and in which it is payable immediately before the
commencement of this Act.
77. Rules to regulate collection, remission and
suspension of land-revenue.— The Board of Revenue may, with the previous
approval of Government, make rules not inconsistent with this Act to regulate
the collection,
remission and suspension of land-revenue.
78. Costs recoverable as part of arrear.—
The costs of any process issued under this Chapter shall be recoverable as part
of the arrear of land-revenue in respect of which
the process was issued.
79. Certified account to be evidence as to
arrear.— A statement of account certified by a Revenue Officer shall be
conclusive proof of the existence of an arrear of land-revenue, of
its amount
and of the person who is the defaulter.
80. Processes for recovery of arrears.—
Subject to the other provisions of this Act, an arrear of land-revenue may be
recovered by any one or more of the following processes,
namely:-
(a) by
service of a notice of demand on the defaulter under section 81;
(b) by
arrest and detention of his person under section 82;
(c) by
distress and sale of his movable property and uncut or ungathered crops under
section 83;
(d) by
transfer, under section 84, of the holding in respect of which the arrear is
due;
(e) by
attachment, under section 85, of the holding in respect of which the arrear is
due;
(f) by
annulment, under section 86, of the assessment of that holding;
(g) by
sale of that holding under section 88;
(h) by
proceedings against other immovable property of the defaulter under section 90.
81. Notice of demand.— A notice of demand
may be issued by Revenue Officer on or after the day following that on which an
arrear of land-revenue accrues.
82. Arrest and detention of defaulter.—
[53][(1)
If after lapse of twenty days of the service of the notice of demand under
section 81 on a defaulter, arrears of land-revenue
due from him or any part
thereof, remain unpaid, a Revenue Officer may issue a warrant directing an
officer named therein to arrest
the defaulter or the person who furnishes
security under clause (b) of
sub-section (8) and bring him before the Revenue Officer.]
(3) When
the defaulter is brought before the Revenue Officer, the Revenue Officer may
cause him to be taken before the Collector, or may
keep him under personal restraint
for a period not exceeding ten days and then, if the arrear is still unpaid,
cause him to be taken
before the Collector.
(4) Where
the Revenue Officer keeping a defaulter under personal restraint is an
Assistant Collector of the second grade, he shall without
delay report his
action to the Collector, if the period of such restraint exceeds twenty-four
hours.
(5) When
the defaulter is brought before the Collector, the Collector may issue an order
to the officer-in-charge of the civil jail of
the District, directing him to
confine the defaulter in jail for such period not exceeding the month from the
date of the order,
as the Collector thinks fit.
(6) The process of arrest and detention shall not
be executed against a defaulter who is a female, a minor, a lunatic or an
idiot.
(7) A
warrant of arrest issued against a defaulter under sub-section (1) shall not be
executed, if the arrears due from him are paid or
the defaulter furnishes
security in the manner provided in clause (b)
of sub-section (8).
(8) Any
defaulter, who, under sub-section (3) is being kept under personal restraint,
or under sub-section (5) is being confined in the
civil jail, shall forthwith
be set at liberty—
(a) on
the arrears due from such defaulter being paid; or
(b) on
the defaulter furnishing to the Revenue Officer ordering his arrest, or the
Collector, security to the satisfaction of the Revenue
Officer or the
Collector, as the case may be, for the payment of the arrears due from him.
83. Distress and sale of movable property and
crops.— (1) At any time after an arrear of land-revenue has accrued, the
immovable property and uncut or ungathered crops of the defaulter,
may be
distrained and sold by order of a Revenue Officer.
(2) The
distress and sale shall be conducted, as nearly as may be, in accordance with
the law for the time being in force for the attachment
and sale of movable
property under the decree of a Revenue Court:
Provided that, in addition to the
particulars exempted by any law for the time being in force from liability to
sale, so much of the
produce of the land of the defaulter as the Collector
thinks necessary for seed grain and for the subsistence, until the harvest
next
following of the defaulter and his family, and of any cattle exempted by that
law shall be exempted from sale under this section.
84. Transfer
of holding.— (1) At any time
after an arrear of land-revenue has accrued on a holding, the Collector may
transfer the holding to any person being
a land-owner of the estate in which
such holding is situated and not being a defaulter in respect of his own
holding on condition
of his paying the arrear being put in possession of the
holding and on such further conditions as the Collector may deem fit to impose:
Provided that no order shall be passed
under this sub-section for the transfer of a holding unless the processes
specified in clauses
(b) and (c) of section 80 have first been taken
against the land-owner.
(2) The transfer may, as the Collector thinks fit
be either till the end of the agricultural year in which the defaulter pays to
the transferee
the amount of the arrear which the transferee paid before being
put in possession of the holding, or for a term not exceeding fifteen
years
from the commencement of the agricultural year next following the date of the
transfer.
(3) The Collector shall report to the
[55][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] any
transfer made by him under this section, and the
[56][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] may
set aside the transfer or alter the conditions thereof or pass such other order
as he thinks fit.
(4) In
respect of all rights and liabilities arising under this Act, the person to
whom the holding is transferred shall, subject to the
conditions of the
transfer, stand in the same position as that in which the defaulter would have
stood if the holding had not been
transferred.
(5) When
the transfer is for a term, the holding shall, on the expiration of the term,
be restored by the Collector to the defaulter free
of any claim on the part of
Government or the transferee for any arrear of land-revenue or rates and cess
due in respect thereof.
85. Attachment of holding.— (1) The
Collector may instead of transferring under section 84 a holding in respect of
which an arrear of land-revenue has accrued,
cause such holding to be attached
and taken under his own management or that of an agent appointed by him for
that purpose.
(2) The Collector or the agent shall be bound by
all the engagements which existed between the defaulter and his tenants, if
any, and
shall be entitled to manage the land and to receive all rents and
profits accruing therefrom to the exclusion of the defaulter until
the arrear
has been satisfied, or until the Collector restores the land to the defaulter.
(3) All
surplus profits of the land attached beyond the cost of attachment and
management and the amount necessary to meet the current
demand for land-revenue
and rates and cesses shall be applied in discharge of the arrear.
(4) Land
shall not be attached for the same arrear for a longer term than five years
from the commencement of the agricultural year next
following the date of the
attachment, but if the arrear is sooner discharged, the land shall be released
and the surplus receipts,
if any, made over to the land-owner.
86. Annulment of assessment of holding.— (1)
When an arrear of land-revenue has been due for a longer period than one year,
and the foregoing processes are not deemed sufficient
for the recovery thereof,
the Board of Revenue may, in addition to or instead of all or any of these processes,
order the existing
assessment of the holding in respect of which the arrear is
due to be annulled.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not be
put in force for the recovery of an arrear of land-revenue which has accrued on
land—
(a) while
under attachment under section 85, or
(b) while
under the charge of the Court of Wards.
(3) When the assessment of any land has been
annulled under sub-section (1), the Collector may, with the previous sanction
of the Board
of Revenue, manage the land either himself or through an agent, or
let it in farm to any person willing to accept the farm for such
term and on
such conditions as may be sanctioned by the Board of Revenue:
Provided that the term for which land may
be so managed or farmed shall not be longer than ten years from the
commencement of the
agricultural year next following the date of the annulment.
(4) Sometime
before the expiration of the aforesaid term, the Collector shall determine the
assessment in respect of the holding for the
remainder of the term of the
current assessment of the District or Tahsil, and, when that assessment has
been sanctioned by the Board
of Revenue, shall announce it to the land-owner.
(5) The
land-owner may give notice to the Collector of refusal to be liable for the
assessment within thirty days from the date on which
the assessment was
announced to him.
(6) If
notice is so given, the Collector may, with the previous sanction of the Board
of Revenue, take the holding under direct management
or farm it for the remainder
of the term of the current assessment of the District or Tahsil, or for any
period within that term
which the Board of Revenue may fix.
(7) The
Board of Revenue may direct that any contract made by the defaulter, or by any
person through whom the defaulter claims with respect
to any land comprised in
a holding of which the assessment has been annulled, shall not be binding on
the Collector or his agent
or farmer during the period the holding remains
under the management of the Collector or his agent or is let-in-farm.
87. Proclamation
of attachment or annulment of assessment and consequences of proclamation.— (1) When any land is attached under section 85,
or when the assessment of any land has been annulled under section 86, the
Collector
shall make proclamation thereof.
(2) No
payment made by any person to the defaulter before the making of the
proclamation on account of rent or any other asset in anticipation
of the usual
time for the payment shall, without the previous sanction of the Collector, be
credited to that person or relieve him
from liability to make the payment to
the Collector or his agent or farmer.
(3) No
payment made after the making of the proclamation on account of rent or any
other asset of the holding to any person other than
the Collector or his agent
or farmer shall be credited to the person making the payment or relieve him
from liability to make the
payment to the Collector or his agent or farmer.
88. Sale of holding.— When an arrear of
land-revenue has accrued and the foregoing processes are not deemed sufficient
for the recovery thereof, the Collector,
with the previous sanction of the
Board of Revenue may, in addition to, or instead of, all or any of those
processes, and subject
to the provisions hereinafter contained, sell the
holding in respect of which the arrear is due:
Provided that land shall not be sold for
the recovery of—
(a) any
arrear which has accrued while the land was under the charge of the Court of
Wards or was so circumstanced that the Court of Wards
might under the law for
the time being in force, have exercised jurisdiction over it; or
(b) any
arrear which has accrued while the land was under attachment under section 85;
or
(c) any
arrear which has accrued while the land was held under direct management by the
Collector or in farm by any other person under
section 86, after either an
annulment of assessment or a refusal to be liable therefor.
89. Effect of sale on encumbrances.— (1)
Land sold under the provisions of section 88 shall be sold free of all encumbrances;
and all grants and contracts previously
made by any person other than the
purchaser in respect of the land shall become void as against the purchaser at
the sale.
(2) Nothing
in sub-section (1) shall affect—
(a) any
lease at a fair rent, temporary or perpetual for the erection of a dwelling
house or manual factory or for a mine, garden, tank,
canal, place of worship or
burial ground, so long as the land continues to be used for the purpose
specified in the lease; or
(b) any encumbrance, grant or contract in respect
of which the
[57][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] is
satisfied was entered into in good faith, and is proclaimed as hereinafter
provided.
90. Proceedings against other immovable property
of defaulter.— (1) If the arrear cannot be recovered by any of the
processes hereinbefore provided the Collector may, where the defaulter owns any
other holding or any other immovable property, proceed under the provisions of
this Act against that property as if it were the land
in respect of which the
arrear is due:
Provided
that no interests save those of the defaulter alone shall be so proceeded
against, and no encumbrances created, grants made
or contracts entered into by
him in good faith shall be rendered invalid by reason only of his interests
being proceeded against.
(2) When
the Collector decides to proceed under this section against immovable property
other than the land in respect of which the arrear
is due, he shall issue a
proclamation prohibiting the transfer or charging of the property.
(3) The
Collector may at any time, by order in writing, withdraw the proclamation, and
it shall be deemed to be withdrawn when either
the arrear has been paid or the
interests of the defaulter in the property have been sold for the recovery of
the arrear.
(4) Any
private alienation of the property or of any interest of the defaulter therein,
whether by sale, gift, mortgage or otherwise made
after the issue of the
proclamation and before the withdrawal thereof shall be void.
(5) In
proceeding against property under this section, the Collector shall follow, as
nearly as the nature of the property may admit,
the procedure prescribed for
the enforcement of process against land on which an arrear of land-revenue is
due.
91. Remedies
open to person denying his liability for an arrear.— (1) Notwithstanding anything in section 79, when
proceedings are taken under this Act for the recovery of an arrear, the person
against
whom the proceedings are taken may, if he denies his liability for the
arrear or any part thereof and pays the same under protest
made in writing at
the time of payment and signed by him or his agent, institute a suit in a Civil
Court for the recovery of the
amount so paid.
(2) A
suit under sub-section (1) must be instituted in a Court having jurisdiction in
the place where the office of the Collector of the
District in which the arrear
or some part thereof accrued is situate.
Procedure in sales
92. Proclamation of sale.— (1) On the
receipt of the sanction of the Board of Revenue to the sale of any immovable
property, the Collector shall issue a proclamation
of the intended sale,
specifying—
(a) the
date, time and place of the sale;
(b) the
property to be sold, and if it is a holding, the land-revenue assessed thereon
or payable in respect thereof;
(c) if
the property is to be sold for the recovery of an arrear due in respect
thereof, the encumbrances, grants and contracts, if any,
served by the orders
of the
[58][Executive District Officer (Revenue)]
under clause (b) of sub-section (2)
of section 89;
(d) if
the property is to be sold otherwise than for the recovery of an arrear due in
respect thereof, any encumbrance, grant or contract
to which the property is
known to be liable; and
(e) the
amount for the recovery of which the sale is ordered.
(2) The place of sale specified under clause (a) of sub-section (1), shall be either
the office of the Collector or some other place appointed by the Collector in
this behalf and
situate in or near the property to be sold.
93. Indemnity to Revenue Officer with respect to
contents of proclamation.— A Revenue Officer shall not be answerable for
any error, mis-statement or omission in any proclamation under section 92
unless the
same has been committed or made dishonestly.
94. Publication of proclamation.— (1) A copy
of the proclamation shall be served on the defaulter and be affixed in a
conspicuous part of the office of the Tahsildar
of the Tahsil in which the property to be sold is situated and shall also be
posted in the office of the Collector.
(2) The proclamation shall further be published in
the manner prescribed in section 26, and in such other manner as the Collector
thinks
expedient.
(3) A
copy of the proclamation may also be posted in the office of the
[59][Union Administration] within the area of which
property to be sold is situate.
95. Time and conduct of sale.— (1) The sale
shall not take place on a [60][Friday]
or other holiday, or till after the expiration of at least thirty days from the
date on which the copy of the proclamation
was posted in the office of the
Collector.
(2) The sale shall be by publication and shall be
conducted either by the Collector in person or by a Revenue Officer specially
appointed
by him in this behalf.
96. Power to postpone sale.— The Collector
may, from time to time, postpone the sale for reasons to be recorded in
writing.
97. Stay of sale.— If at any time before the
bidding at an auction is completed, the defaulter or any other person having
interest in the land or in
immovable property pays the arrear in respect of which
the property has been proclaimed for sale, together with the costs incurred
for
the recovery thereof, to the officer conducting the sale, or proves to the
satisfaction of that officer that he has already paid
the same either at the
place and in the manner prescribed under section 76 or into Government
treasury, the sale shall be stayed.
98. Deposit
by purchaser in case of sale of immovable property.— When the highest bid at an auction has been
ascertained, the person who made that bid shall, on the requisition of the
officer conducting
the sale, pay to that officer a deposit of twenty-five per
centum on the amount of his bid and shall, on payment thereof, be declared
to
be the purchaser, subject to the exercise of any right of pre-emption under the
law in force for the time being.
99. Consequences of failure to pay deposit.—
If the person who made the highest bid fails to pay the deposit as required by
section 98, the property shall forthwith be put to
auction again and sold, and
all expenses attending the first sale, and the deficiency of price if any,
which may happen on the re-sale
may be recovered from him by the Collector as
if the same were an arrear of land-revenue.
100. Time for payment in full.— The full
amount of the purchase money shall be paid by the purchaser before the close of
the thirtieth day from that on which he
was declared to be the purchaser.
101. Procedure
in default of payment.— In
default of payment of the full amount of the purchase money within the period
mentioned in section 100, the deposit referred to
in section 98, shall, after
defraying the expenses of the sale, be forfeited to Government and may, if the
Collector, with the previous
sanction of the
[61][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] so
directs, be applied in reduction of the arrear, and the property shall be
re-sold, and the
defaulting purchaser shall have no claim to the property or to
any part of the sum for which it may subsequently be sold.
102. Report of sale to
[62][Executive
District Officer (Revenue)].—
Every sale of immovable property under this Chapter shall be reported by the
Collector to the
[63][Executive
District Officer (Revenue)].
103. Application
to set aside sale.— (1) At any
time within thirty days from the date of the sale, application may be made to
the
[64][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] to set
aside the sale on the ground of some material irregularity or mistake in
publishing
or conducting it.
(2) A sale shall not be set aside on any of the
grounds specified in sub-section (1) unless the applicant proves to the
satisfaction of
the
[65][Executive
District Officer (Revenue)] that he has sustained substantial injury by reason
of the irregularity or mistake.
104. Order
confirming or setting aside sale.—
(1) After the expiration of thirty days from the date of the sale, if such
application as is mentioned in section 103 has not been
made, or if such
application has been made and rejected, the
[66][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] shall make an order confirming the sale, and if
such application has been made and allowed, the
[67][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] shall make an order setting aside the sale.
(2) If at any time within thirty days from the
date of the sale, the defaulter pays the arrear in respect of which the
property has been
sold, together with the costs incurred for the recovery of
such arrear, the
[68][Executive District Officer (Revenue)]
shall make an order setting aside the sale.
105. Refund or deposit of purchase money when
sale set aside.— Whenever the sale of any property is not confirmed or is
set aside, the purchaser shall be entitled to receive back his deposit or
his
purchase-money, as the case may be.
106. Proclamation after postponement or on
re-sale.— A sale made after a postponement under section 96, and a re-sale
consequent on a purchaser’s defaulter under section 101 or on the
setting aside
of a sale under section 104, shall be made after the issue of a fresh
proclamation in the manner provided for in section
94.
107. On confirmation of sale possession and
certificate to be granted to purchaser.— (1) After a sale has been
confirmed in the manner aforesaid, the Collector shall put the person declared
to be the purchaser into
possession of the property sold, and shall grant him a
certificate to the effect that he has purchased that property.
(2) The
certificate shall state whether or not the property was sold for the recovery
of an arrear due in respect thereof, and if it was
so sold, shall set forth the
encumbrances, grants and contracts, if any, specified in the proclamation of
the sale as saved by order
of the
[69][Executive District Officer (Revenue)]
under clause (b) of sub-section (2)
of section 89.
(3) The
certificate shall be deemed to be a valid transfer of the property but need not
be registered as a conveyance.
(4) Any
suit brought in any Court against the certified purchaser on the ground that
the purchase was made on behalf of a person other
than the certified purchaser
shall not be maintainable.
(5) The
certified purchaser of any immovable property shall be entitled to all rents
and profits falling due in respect of the property
after the date of the
confirmation of the sale and be liable for all instalments of land-revenue and
rates and cesses falling due
in respect thereof after that date.
108. Sale of movable property and perishable
articles.— (1) The provisions of sections 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 103, 104,
105 and 106 shall apply, so far as they can be made applicable,
to sale of
movable property, other than perishable articles, and as if—
(a) reference
to the
[70][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] in
sections 103 and 104 were a reference to the Collector; and
(b) in
the case of sale of animals, the period of thirty days prescribed in section
95, were a period of ten days.
(2) Perishable articles shall be sold by auction
with the least possible delay in accordance with such order as may from time to
time
be made by the Collector, either generally or specially in that behalf,
and the sale of such articles shall be finally concluded
on the spot by the
officer conducting such sale and shall not require confirmation.
109. Mode of payment for movable property when
sale is concluded on the spot.— (1) When the sale of any perishable article
is finally concluded by the officer conducting the same, the price of every lot
shall
be paid for at the time of sale, or as soon thereafter as the said
officer may fix, and in default of such payment the property shall
forthwith be
again put to auction and sold.
(2) On payment of the purchase-money, the officer
conducting the sale shall grant a receipt for the same and the sale shall
become absolute
as against all persons whomsoever.
110. Mode of payment for movable property when
sale is subject to confirmation.— (1) In case of sale of movable property,
other than perishable articles, the party who is declared to be the purchaser
shall be required
to deposit immediately twenty-five per centum on the amount
of his bid, and in default of such deposit the property shall forthwith
be
again put to auction and sold.
(2) The full amount of purchase-money shall be
paid by the purchaser before the close of the seventh day after he is informed
of the sale
having been confirmed, or, if the said day be a
[71][Friday] or other holiday, then before the close
of the first working day after such day.
(3) On
receipt of the full amount of the purchase-money, the purchaser shall be
granted a receipt for the sale, and the sale shall become
absolute as against
all persons whomsoever.
111. Proceeds of sale.— (1) When any sale of
movable property under this Chapter has become absolute, or when sale of
immovable property has been confirmed,
the proceeds of the sale shall be
applied in the first place to the payment of any arrears, including costs
incurred for the recovery
thereof, due to Government from the defaulter at the
date of the confirmation of the sale, whether the arrears are of land-revenue
or of sums recoverable as arrears of land-revenue, and the surplus, if any,
shall be paid to the person whose property has been sold,
or, if the property
sold was owned by more than one person, then to the owners either collectively
or according to the amount of
their recorded interests, as the Collector thinks
fit.
(2) The surplus shall not, except under the orders
of a Court, be paid to any creditor of the person whose property has been sold.
(3) If
the proceeds of the sale fall short of such arrears as are referred to in
sub-section (1), the balance remaining due from the defaulter
may be recovered
from him by further proceedings under this Chapter or by any other means authorised
by law.
112. Claims to attached movable or immovable
property how to be disposed of.— (1) If any claim shall be set up by a
third person to movable or immovable property attached under the provisions of
this Chapter,
the Collector shall admit or reject his claim on an inquiry as
provided in section 27.
(2) If the claim be admitted, wholly or partly,
the property shall be dealt with accordingly and except in so far as it is
admitted, the
property shall be sold and the title of the purchaser shall be
good for all purposes, and the proceeds shall be disposed of in accordance
with
the provisions of section 111.
CHAPTER IX
RECOVERY OF OTHER
DEMANDS
BY REVENUE OFFICERS
113. Recovery of certain arrears through Revenue
Officers instead of by suit.— When a Village Officer required by rules
under section 36 to collect any land-revenue or sum recoverable as an arrear of
land-revenue—
(a) satisfies
a Revenue Officer that the revenue or the sum has fallen due and has not been
paid to him.
(b) has
collected such revenue or sum, but has not credited the same to Government in
the manner provided in the rules,
the Revenue Officer may, subject
to rules which the Board of Revenue may make in this behalf, recover such
revenue or sum, from the
person from whom it is due, or the Village Officer by
whom it was collected, as the case may be, as arrears of land-revenue.
114. Other sum recoverable as arrears of
land-revenue.— In addition to any sums recoverable as arrears of
land-revenue under this Act or any other enactment for the time being in force,
the following sums may be so recovered, namely:-
(a) fees,
fines, costs and other charges, including the Village Officers’ cess payable
under this Act;
(b) revenue due to Government on account of
pasture or other natural products of land, or on account of mills, fisheries or
natural products
of water, or on account of other rights described in section
49 or section 50 in case in which the revenue so due has not been included
in
the assessment of an estate;
(c) fees payable under the law for the time being
in force for the use or benefit derived from the construction and repair of
embankments,
and works for supply, storage and control of water for
agricultural purposes, and for the preservation and reclamation of soil and
drainage
and reclamation of swamps;
(d) sums leviable by or under the authority of
Government as water-rates, or on account of the maintenance or management of
canals, embankments
or other irrigation works, not being sums recoverable as
arrears of land-revenue under any enactment for the time being in force;
[72][* * *]
(e) sums
payable to Government by a person who is surety for the payment of any of the
foregoing sums or of any other sum recoverable
as an arrear of land-revenue
[73][;
and]
115. Application of Chapter VIII to sums
recoverable under this Chapter.— (1) The provisions of Chapter VIII shall,
with respect to any sum mentioned or referred to in this Chapter, apply, so far
as they
can be made applicable, as if the sum were an arrear of land-revenue,
and the person from whom, either as principal or as surety,
it is due were a
defaulter in respect of such an arrear.
(2) Unless any such sum is declared by any enactment
for the time being in force to be recoverable as if it were an arrear of
land-revenue
due in respect of the land charged therewith, the provisions of
section 90 shall apply under sub-section (1) to the recovery thereof.
[75][115-A. Charges
for recovery of dues, other than Provincial dues, as arrears of land-revenue.—
Where any sum, other than a sum which is to be credited into and to form a part
of the Provincial Consolidated Fund of West Pakistan,
is collected as an arrear
of land-revenue under the provisions of this Chapter, a commission at the rate
of two per cent of the sum
collected shall be deducted therefrom as recovery
charges, and the amount of such commission shall be credited into the
Provincial
Consolidated Fund of West Pakistan.]
CHAPTER X
SURVEYS AND
BOUNDARIES
116. Revenue survey may be introduced by Board of
Revenue in any part of Province.— (1) It shall be lawful for the Board of
Revenue, whenever it may deem expedient, to direct by notification, the survey
of any land
in any part of the Province with a view to the settlement of land
revenue, the preparation of record-of-rights and preservation thereof,
or for
any other similar purpose, and such survey shall be called a revenue survey.
(2) A
revenue survey may extend to the lands of any village, town, or city generally,
or to such land only as may be specified in the
notification.
(3) Subject to the orders of the Board of Revenue,
it shall be lawful for the officers conducting any such survey to except any
land to
which it may not seem expedient that such survey should extend.
117. Power of Revenue Officers to define
boundaries.— (1) A Revenue Officer may, for the purpose of framing any
record or making any assessment under this Act, or on the application of
any
person interested, define the limits of any estate, or of any holding, field or
other portion of an estate, and may, for the
purpose of indicating those
limits, require boundary marks to be erected or repaired.
(2) In defining the limits of any land under
sub-section (1), the Revenue Officer may cause boundary marks to be erected on
any boundary
already determined by, or by order of, any Court or Revenue
Officer or any Forest Settlement Officer appointed under the Forest Act,
1927
(Act XVI of 1927), or restore any boundary mark already set up by, or by order
of, any Court or any such officer.
118. Surveys
for purpose of preparation of records.— (1) When any land is being surveyed in pursuance of rules under clause
(c) of section 55 or under section
116, any Revenue Officer directing the survey may, by notice or proclamation,
require all persons
having rights or interests in the land to attend personally
or through authorized agent, and indicate, within a specified time, by
temporary marks of a kind to be described in the notice or proclamation, the
limits of those rights or interests.
(2) If
a person to whom the notice or proclamation is addressed fails to comply with
the requisition, he shall be liable, at the discretion
of the Revenue Officer,
to a fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
119. Assistance to be given by holders and others
in the measurement or classification of lands.— (1) It shall be lawful for
the Revenue Officer to call upon all owners of land and other persons
interested therein to assist in
the measurement or classification of the lands
to which the survey extends by providing flag-holders and chainmen, and such
owners
shall be bound to provide suitable persons to act as flag-holders and
chainmen.
(2) If the owners of land fail to provide suitable
persons to act as flag-holders and chainmen, or do not provide them in
sufficient number,
and it becomes necessary to employ hired labour for the
object aforesaid, or other similar object incidental to survey operations,
it
shall be lawful to assess the cost thereof with all contingent expenses, on the
lands surveyed, for collection as an arrear of
land-revenue from such owners.
120. Professional surveys.— (1) If it is
found necessary to make a survey by an agency other than that of Revenue
Officers and Village Officers, the Board of
Revenue may publish a notification
stating—
(a) the
local area to be surveyed and the nature of the survey;
(b) the
names or official designations of the officers by whom the survey is to be
made; and
(c) the
kind of boundary marks to be erected by those officers.
(2) From the date of the notification, the
officers specified therein, and the person acting under their orders, shall
have, for the purposes
of the survey, the powers conferred on Revenue Officers
by section 30.
121. Power of Board of Revenue to make rules for
demarcation of boundaries and erection of boundary marks.— (1) The Board of
Revenue may make rules as to the manner in which the boundaries of all or any
of the estates in any local area are
to be demarcated and as to the boundary
marks to be erected within those estates.
(2) Rules under this section may prescribe, among
other matters, the form of boundary marks and the material to be used in their
construction.
122. Effect of the settlement of boundary.—
(1) The settlement of a boundary under any of the foregoing provisions of this
Chapter shall, subject to the provisions of Chapter
XIII, be determinative—
(a) of
the proper position of the boundary line or boundary marks, and
(b) of
the rights of the land-owners on either side of the boundary fixed in respect
of the land adjudged to appertain, or not to appertain,
to their respective
holdings.
(2) Where
a boundary has been so fixed, the Collector may, under rules to be framed in
this behalf by the Board of Revenue with the previous
approval of Government,
evict any land-owner who is wrongfully in possession of any land which has been
adjudged in the settlement
of a boundary not to appertain to his holding or to
the holding of any person through or under whom he claims.
123. Power to fix boundary between riverain
estates.— (1) When any two or more estates are subject to river action and
the limits of any such estates are, by any law, rule of custom or
usage, or
order or decree of any Court or other authority, applicable thereto, liable to
vary according as variations may from time
to time occur in the course or
action of such river, the Board of Revenue may order a permanent boundary line
to be fixed between
any such estates or such portions thereof as are liable to
river action.
(2) Upon
an order being made under sub-section (1), the Collector shall fix a boundary
line between such estates or portions of such estates
accordingly, and shall
demarcate the same, in accordance with the provisions of section 117, and of
the rules, if any, made under
section 121.
(3) Every
such boundary line shall be fixed with due regard to the history of the estates
and the interests of the persons respectively
owning them or possessing rights
therein, in such manner as may be just and equitable in the circumstances of
each case.
(4) No
such boundary line shall be deemed to have been permanently fixed until it has
been approved by the
[76][Executive District Officer (Revenue)].
Explanation—
In this section, and in sections 124, 125 and 126 “Collector” shall be deemed
to include any Revenue Officer appointed by Government
to perform the functions
of Collector under all or any of the provisions thereof.
124. Effect of fixing boundary between riverain
estates.— (1) Every boundary line fixed in accordance with the provisions
of section 123 shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in
any law, rule
of custom or usage, or order or decree of any Court or other authority, be
fixed as constant boundary between the estates
affected thereby, and the proprietary
and all other rights in every holding, field or other portion of an estate
situate on each
side of the boundary line so fixed, shall, subject to the other
provisions of this section, vest in the land-owners of the estate
which lies on
that side of the boundary line on which such holding, field or other portion of
an estate is situate.
(2) If,
by the operation of sub-section (1), the proprietary or any other rights in any
land which at the time a boundary line is fixed
is under cultivation, or reasonably
fit for cultivation, or yields any produce of substantial value, be transferred
from the land-owners
and other right-holders of any one estate, to the
land-owners of any other estate, the Collector shall, by written order, direct
that the rights in such land shall not, subject to the provisions of sections
125, 126 and 127, be so transferred unless and until
the land in respect of
which any such order is made ceases to be reasonably fit for cultivation, or to
yield any produce of substantial
value, and upon any such order being made, the
transfer of the rights in such land shall be suspended accordingly.
(3) When any portion of the land specified in any
order made under sub-section (2), ceases to be reasonably fit for cultivation
or to
yield any produce of substantial value, the order shall, when the
Collector, in writing, so directs, cease to operate as to that
portion.
(4) The
decision of the Collector as to whether, for the purposes of sub-section (2),
any land is or is not reasonably fit for cultivation
or does or does not yield
any produce of substantial value, shall be final.
125. Application for immediate transfer of
rights.— When any order has been made under sub-section (2) of section 124,
the land-owners, or any of them in whom, but for such order, the
rights in the
land specified therein would vest, may apply in writing to the Collector to
forthwith transfer the rights the transfer
of which has been suspended by such
order, upon payment of compensation for the same.
126. Award of compensation and extinguishment of
rights thereby.— (1) When an application under section 25 is made, the
Collector shall—
(a) fix
a day for the hearing of the application;
(b) cause
notice of the application, and of the day fixed for the hearing thereof, to be
served on or proclaimed for the information of,
all persons recorded as having
rights in the land specified in the order made under sub-section (2) of section
124, and all other
persons interested or claiming to be interested therein;
(c) upon
the day so fixed for hearing, or any day to which the hearing may be adjourned,
inquire into the rights in the land and award
compensation in respect of all
rights found established therein to the persons severally entitled thereto;
(d) inform
the applicant of the aggregate amount of compensation so awarded and require
him to deposit the amount with the Collector on
or before a day to be fixed by
him in that behalf:
Provided that, notwithstanding anything
contained in this sub-section, it shall be lawful for the Collector, in his
discretion and
at any time before an award of compensation thereon has been
made, to reject such application.
(2) In
awarding compensation under sub-section (1), the Collector shall be guided by
the provisions of section 23 and section 24 of the
Land Acquisition Act, 1894
(Act I of 1894), so far as the same may be applicable to the circumstances of
the case.
(3) On
the fifteenth day of May next after the whole amount of compensation so awarded
has been deposited with the Collector, the order
made under sub-section (2) of
section 124 shall cease to operate, and the rights specified therein shall be
transferred and vest
in the manner provided for in sub-section (1) of that
section, and the Collector shall proceed to tender the compensation to the
persons
severally entitled to receive the same under his award.
(4) If
any such person as aforesaid refuses to accept the sum so awarded and tendered
to him, it shall be placed to his credit in Government
treasury.
(5) When
any order made under sub-section (2) of section 124 ceases, under the
provisions of sub-section (3) of the said section, to operate,
all rights
reserved to any person by such order shall be extinguished.
127. Voluntary transfers not affected.—
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 124, 125 and 126, when any person
possessing any rights in any land, in regard to the
rights in which an order
has been made under sub-section (2) of section 124, voluntarily transfers such
rights to any land-owners
of the estate, in the land-owners of which but for
such order such rights would vest under the operation of sub-section (1) of
that
section, the rights so transferred shall forthwith cease to be subject to
such order and vest in the land-owners to whom they have
been so transferred.
128. Rights transferred to be liable to all the
incidents of tenure of the estate of which the transfer is made.— In every
case in which, under the provisions of section 124, or sections 125 and 126, or
section 127, proprietary or other rights
in land are transferred from the
land-owners, and other right-holders of any one estate to the land-owners of
any other estate, such
rights shall be subject to all the incidents of tenure
and liabilities which, under any law or custom for the time being in force,
apply to the rights of the land-owners of the estate to which such rights are
so transferred.
129. Cost of erection and repair of boundary and
survey marks.— (1) Subject to any rules which the Board of Revenue may,
with the previous approval of Government, make in this behalf, boundary
and
survey marks shall be erected and kept in repair by or at the cost of the
persons interested in the land for the indication of
the limits of which they
are required:
Provided
that Government may in any case direct that the cost of erection shall be borne
by Government or be paid out of the proceeds
of the Village Officers’ cess.
(2) It
shall be the duty of the Village Officers to prevent the destruction or
unauthorised alteration of the village boundary and survey
marks.
130. Recovery of cost incurred by Government.—
(1) If the persons interested in the land fail to erect or repair a boundary or
survey mark within thirty days from the date of their
being required by a
Revenue Officer to do so, the Revenue Officer may cause it to be erected or
repaired.
(2) Where the Revenue Officer causes a boundary or
survey mark to be erected or repaired he shall, subject to any rules or
direction under
section 129, apportion the cost among the persons interested in
the land in such manner as he deems just, and certify, the same to
the
Collector.
(3) The
Collector may recover the cost from such persons as if it were an arrear of
land revenue.
131. Responsibility for the maintenance of
boundary and survey marks.— Every land-owner shall be responsible for the
maintenance and good repair of the boundary and survey marks of his holding,
and for
any charges reasonably incurred on account of the same by the Revenue
Officers in cases of alteration, removal or disrepair.
132. Report of destruction or removal of or
injury to boundary or survey marks.— Every Village Officer of an estate
shall be bound to furnish a Revenue Officer with information respecting the
destruction or removal
of, or any injury done to, any boundary or survey mark
lawfully erected in the estate.
133. Land
measurement or survey to be based on a square system or rectangulation.— (1) Save as may specifically be otherwise
provided for in the rules made in this behalf by the Board of Revenue, with the
previous
approval of Government, land measurement or survey shall be based on
square system or rectangulation, and no survey or khasra number
shall be made
less than one acre in area.
(2) The
rules made under sub-section (1) may also lay down conditions for and
restrictions upon sub-division of surveys or khasra numbers.
134. Penalty.— (1) If any person wilfully destroys or injures or
without lawful authority removes a boundary or survey mark lawfully erected, he
may be ordered by a Revenue Officer to pay such fine not exceeding
[77][five hundred] rupees for each mark so destroyed,
injured or removed as may, in the opinion of the Revenue Officer, be necessary
to
defray the expenses of restoring the same and of rewarding the person, if
any, who gave information of the destruction, injury or
removal.
(2)
The imposition of a fine under this section shall not bar a prosecution under
section 434 of the Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV
of 1860).
CHAPTER XI
PARTITION
135. Application for partition.— Any joint
owner of land may apply to a Revenue Officer for partition of his share in the
land if—
(a) at
the date of the application the share is recorded under Chapter VI as belonging
to him; or
(b) his
right to the share has been established by a decree which is still subsisting
at the date; or
(c) a
written acknowledgment of that right has been executed by all persons
interested in the admission or denial thereof.
136. Restrictions and
limitations on partition.— Notwithstanding the provisions of section 135—
(a) places
of worship and burial grounds held in common before partition shall continue to
be so held after partition; and
(b) partition
of any of the following properties, namely:-
(i) any embankment, water-course, well or tank and
any land on which the supply of water to any such work may depend;
(ii) any grazing ground; and
(iii) any land which is occupied as the site of a
town or village, may be refused if, in the opinion of the Revenue Officer, the
partition
of such property is likely to cause inconvenience to the co-sharers
or other persons directly or indirectly interested therein, or
to diminish the
utility thereof to those persons.
137. Notice of application for partition.—
The Revenue Officer, on receiving the application under section 135 shall, if
it is in order, and not against the provisions of the
West Pakistan Land
Reforms Regulation, 1959 (Martial Law Regulation No. 64), and not open to
objection on the face of it, fix a day
for the hearing thereof, and—
(a) cause
notice of the application and of the day so fixed to be served on such of the recorded
co-sharers as have not joined in the
application; and
(b) If he thinks fit, cause the notice to be
served on or proclaimed for the information of any other persons whom he may
deem to be directly
or indirectly interested in the application.
138. Addition of parties to application.— On
the day fixed under section 137 for the hearing of the application, or on any
other day to which the hearing may be adjourned,
the Revenue Officer shall
ascertain whether any of the other co-shares desire the partition of their
shares also, and if any of them
so desires, he shall add him as an applicant
for partition.
139. Disallowance of partition.— After
examining such of the co-sharers and other persons as may be present on that
day, the Revenue Officer may, if he is of opinion
that there is good and
sufficient cause for partition to be disallowed, reject the application,
recording the grounds for such rejection.
140. Procedure on admission of application.—
If the Revenue Officer does not reject the application under section 139, he
shall ascertain the questions, if any, in dispute between
any of the persons
interested, distinguishing between—
(a) questions
as to title in the property of which partition is sought; and
(b) questions
as to the property to be divided or the mode of making the partition.
141. Disposal of questions as to title in the
property to be divided.— (1) When there is a question as to title in any
property of which partition is sought, the Revenue Officer may decline to grant
the
application for partition until the question has been determined by a
competent Court, or he may himself proceed to determine the
question as though
he were such a Court.
(2) Where the Revenue Officer does not himself
proceed to determine the question of title as a Civil Court, he may, for
reasons to be
recorded by him in this behalf, require a party specified by him
to file a suit in a Civil Court, within such period not exceeding
ninety days
from the date of his order as he may fix, for obtaining a decision regarding the
question.
(3) On
the filing of a civil suit by the party required so to do within the specified
period, the Revenue Officer shall suspend further
action on the application for
partition till the said civil suit is decided by the Court and a copy of the Court’s
order is produced
before him.
(4) In
case the party so required fails to file a suit within the specified period,
the Revenue Officer may proceed with the partition
and decide the question of
title himself.
(5) Where
the Revenue Officer himself proceeds to determine the question, the following
rules shall apply, namely:-
(a) If
the question is one over which a Revenue Court has jurisdiction, the Revenue
Officer shall proceed as a Revenue Court under the
law for the time being in
force.
(b) If
the question is one over which a Civil Court has jurisdiction, the procedure of
the Revenue Officer shall be that applicable to
the trial of an original suit
by a Civil Court, and he shall record a judgement and a decree containing the
particulars required
by the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 (Act V of 1908), to be
specified therein.
(c) An
appeal shall lie from the decree of the Revenue Officer under clause (b) as though that decree were a decree
of a Civil Judge in an original suit.
(d) Upon
such an appeal being made, the District Court or the High Court, as the case
may be, may issue an injunction to the Revenue Officer
requiring him to stay
proceedings pending the disposal of the appeal.
(e) From the appellate decree of a District Court
upon such an appeal, a further appeal shall lie to the High Court, if such
further appeal
is allowed by the law for the time being in force.
142. Disposal
of other questions.— (1) When
there is a question as to the property to be divided, or the mode of making a
partition, the Revenue Officer shall, after
such inquiry as he deems necessary,
record an order stating his decision on the question and his reasons for the
decision.
(2) An appeal may be preferred from an order under
sub-section (1) within thirty days from the date thereof, and, when such an
appeal
is preferred and the institution thereof has been certified to the
Revenue Officer by the authority to whom the appeal has been preferred,
the
Revenue Officer shall stay further proceedings pending the disposal of the appeal.
(3) If
an applicant for partition is dissatisfied with an original or appellate order
under this section, and applies for permission to
withdraw from the proceedings
in so far as they relate to the partition of his share, he shall be permitted
to withdraw therefrom
on such terms as the Revenue Officer thinks fit.
(4) When
an applicant withdraws under the provisions of sub-section (3), the Revenue
Officer may, where the other applicants, if any,
desire the continuance of the
proceedings, continue them in so far as they relate to the partition of the
shares of those other applicants.
143. Administration of property excluded from
partition.— When any such property as is referred to in clause (b) of section 136 is excluded from
partition, the Revenue Officer may determine the extent to and the manner in
which the co-shares
and other persons interested therein may make use thereof,
and the proportion in which expenditure incurred thereon and profit derived
therefrom are, respectively, to be borne by and divided among those persons or
any of them.
144. Distribution of revenue and rent after
partition.— (1) The amount of revenue to be paid in respect of each of the
holdings into which land has been divided on a partition shall be
determined by
the Revenue Officer making the partition.
(2) The
decision of the Revenue Officer under sub-section (1) as to the revenue to be
paid in respect of each holding shall, where the
estate in which the holding is
situate is subject to a fixed assessment, be deemed to be an order under
sub-section (1) of section
67.
(3) Where
new estates have been created at a partition and the land-revenue has been
fraudulently or erroneously distributed among them,
the Board of Revenue may,
within twelve years from the time of discovery of the fraud or error, order a
new distribution of the land
revenue among the several estates, on an estimate
of the assets of each estate at the time of the partition to be made
conformably
to the best evidence and information procurable respecting the same.
145. Instrument
of partition.— When a partition
is completed, the Revenue Officer shall cause an instrument of partition to be
prepared and the date on which the
partition is to take effect to be recorded
therein.
146. Delivery of possession of
property allotted on partition.— An owner to whom any land is allotted in
proceedings for partition shall be entitled to possession thereof as against
the other parties
to the proceedings and their legal representatives, and a
Revenue Officer shall, on application made to him for the purpose by any
such
owner at any time within three years from the date recorded in the instrument
of partition under section 145, give effect to
that instrument so far as it
concerns the applicant as if it were a decree for immovable property.
147. Affirmation of partition privately
effected.— (1) In any case in which a partition has been made without the
intervention of a Revenue Officer, any party thereto may apply to
a Revenue
Officer for an order affirming the partition.
(2) On
receiving the application, the Revenue Officer shall enquire into the case, and
if he finds that the partition has in fact been
made, he may make an order
affirming it and proceed under sections 143, 144, 145 and 146, or any of those
sections, as circumstances
may require, in the same manner as if the partition
had been made on an application to himself under this Chapter.
148. Power to make rules as to cost of
partition.— The Board of Revenue may, with the previous approval of
Government, make rules for determining the costs of partitions under this
Chapter and the mode in which such costs are to be apportioned.
149. Re-distribution of land according to
custom.— When by established custom, any land in an estate is subject to
periodical re-distribution, a Revenue Officer may, on the application
of any of
the land-owners, enforce the re-distribution according to the custom, and for
this purpose may exercise all or any of the
powers of a Revenue Officer in
proceedings for partition.
150. Officers who may be empowered to act under
this Chapter.— The Revenue Officer by whom proceedings may be taken under
this Chapter shall be a Revenue Officer not below an Assistant Collector
of the
First Grade.
CHAPTER XII
ARBITRATION
151. Power to refer to arbitration.— (1) Any
Revenue Officer may, with the consent of the parties, refer to arbitration any
dispute arising before him in any matter under
this Act.
(2) A Collector, or any Assistant Collector of the
First Grade may, without the consent of the parties, refer to arbitration any
dispute
before him with respect to—
(a) any
matter of which an entry is to be made in any record or register under Chapter
VI;
(b) any
matter relating to the distribution of an assessment under section 67;
(c) the
limits of any estate or of any holding, field, or other portion of an estate;
or
(d) the
property to be divided at a partition or the mode of making partition.
152. Order of reference and contents thereof.—
(1) In referring a dispute to arbitration, a Revenue Officer shall make an
order of reference and specify therein the precise matter
submitted to
arbitration, the number of arbitrators which each party to the dispute is to
nominate, period within which arbitrators
are to be nominated, and the period
within which the award is to be delivered.
(2) The number of arbitrators which each party may
nominate must be the same and must not exceed two.
(3) If
from any cause arbitrators are not nominated or an award is not delivered
within the period fixed for in the order of reference,
the Revenue Officer,
may, from time to time, extend that period, or may cancel the order of
reference.
153. Nomination
of arbitrators.— (1) When an
order of reference has been made each party may nominate the number of
arbitrators specified in the order, and the Revenue
Officer shall nominate one
other arbitrator.
(2) The Revenue Officer may, for reasons to be
recorded by him, make an order disallowing any nomination made by either party
and requiring
the party to make another nomination within a time to be
specified in the order.
(3) An
order under sub-section (2) shall be final.
154. Substitution
of arbitrators by parties.— If an
arbitrator nominated by a party dies, desires to be discharged, or refuses or
becomes incapable to act, the party may nominate
another person in his stead.
155. Nomination
and substitution of arbitrators by Revenue Officers.— In any of the
following cases, namely:-
(a) if
either of the parties fails to nominate an arbitrator under sub-section (1) of
section 153 within the period fixed in the order
of reference; or
(b) if
the nomination of an arbitrator has been disallowed under sub-section (2) of
section 153 and another arbitrator is not nominated
within the time specified
in the order under that sub-section, or having been so nominated, his
nomination is also disallowed; or
(c) if
a party entitled to nominate an arbitrator in place of another arbitrator under
section 154 fails to nominate him within one week
from the date of the
communication to him of a notice requiring him to make the nomination; or
(d) if an arbitrator nominated by the Revenue
Officer dies, desires to be discharged, or refuses or becomes incapable to act,
the
Revenue Officer may nominate a person as arbitrator.
156. Process
for appearance before arbitrators.—
(1) The Revenue Officer shall, on the application of the arbitrators, issue the
same processes to the parties and witnesses whom
the arbitrators desire to
examine as he may issue in any proceedings under this Act before himself.
(2) Any such party or witness shall be bound to
appear before the arbitrators in obedience to a process issued under
sub-section (1),
either in person or by agent, as the arbitrators may require.
(3) The
person attending in obedience to the process shall be bound to state the truth
upon any matter respecting which he is examined
or makes statements, and to
produce such documents and other things relating to any such matter as may be
specified in the process.
157. Award
of arbitrators and presentation thereof.— (1) The arbitrators shall make an award in writing under their hands
concerning the matters referred to them for arbitration, and
state therein
their reasons therefor, and any arbitrator dissenting from the award made by a
majority of the arbitrators shall state
the grounds of his dissent.
(2) The
arbitrators shall present the award to the Revenue Officer in person or by
agent, or send the same to him by registered post.
158. Procedure on presentation of award.— (1)
When the award has been received, the Revenue Officer shall fix a date for the
consideration of the award.
(2) On
the date fixed under sub-section (1) or on any subsequent date to which an
adjournment may be made, the Revenue Officer shall hear
any objections which
the parties may have to make to the award.
159. Effect of award.— (1) The Revenue
Officer may accept, modify or reject the award, recording his reasons for doing
so in his decision respecting the
dispute which was referred to arbitration.
(2) An appeal shall lie from the decision of the
Revenue Officer made under sub-section (1) as if arbitrators had not been
appointed.
160. Arbitration Act not to apply to arbitration
under this Chapter.— Nothing in the Arbitration Act, 1940 (Act X of 1940),
shall apply to any arbitration under this Chapter.
CHAPTER XIII
APPEAL, REVIEW AND
REVISION
161. Appeals.— (1) Save as otherwise provided
by this Act, an appeal shall lie from an original or appellate order of a
Revenue Officer as follows,
namely:-
(a) to
the Collector, when the order is made by an Assistant Collector, of either
grade;
(c) to the Board of Revenue only on a point of
law, when the order is made by
[79][an Executive District Officer (Revenue)];
Provided that—
(i) when an original order is confirmed on first
appeal, a further appeal shall not lie;
(ii) when any such order is modified or reversed on
appeal by the Collector, the order made by the
[80][Executive District Officer (Revenue)] on
further appeal, if any, to him shall be final.
Explanation—
(1) An order passed in review, modifying or reversing a previous order, shall
be deemed to be an original order for the purposes
of this section.
(2) An
order shall not be confirmed, modified or reversed in appeal unless reasonable notice
has been given to the parties affected thereby
to appear and be heard in
support of or against the order appealed from.
162. Limitation for appeals.— Save as
otherwise provided by this Act, the period of limitation for an appeal under
section 161 shall run from the date of the order
appealed against and shall be—
(a) thirty
days, where the appeal lies to the Collector;
(c) ninety
days, where the appeal lies to the Board of Revenue.
163. Review.— (1)
[82][An Executive District Officer (Revenue)],
Collector or an Assistant Collector, may, at any time, on his own motion,
review any order passed by himself or any of his predecessors-in-office,
and on
so reviewing modify, reverse or confirm the same.
(2) Any person considering himself aggrieved by an
order passed by
[83][an Executive District Officer (Revenue)],
Collector or an Assistant Collector, and who, from the discovery of new and
important matter or evidence which, after the exercise
of due diligence was not
within his knowledge or could not be produced by him at the time when the order
was passed or on account
of some mistake or error apparent on the face of the
record or for any other sufficient reason, desires to obtain a review of the
order passed against him, may apply for a review of the order to the
[84][Executive District Officer (Revenue)],
Collector or Assistant Collector, as the case may be, and such officer may
modify, reverse or confirm any order passed by himself
or by any of his
predecessors-in-office:
Provided that—
(a) an
order passed by his predecessor-in-office shall not be reviewed under
sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) by the---
(i)
[85][Executive District Officer (Revenue)],
without first obtaining the sanction of the Board of Revenue;
(ii) Collector, without first
obtaining the sanction of the
[86][Executive District Officer (Revenue)], and no order shall be reviewed by any other
Revenue Officer, without first obtaining the sanction of the Revenue Officer to
whose
control he is immediately subject;
(b) an application for review of an order shall
not be entertained unless it is made within ninety days from the passing of the
order,
or unless the applicant satisfies the Revenue Officer that he had sufficient
cause for not making the application within that period;
(c) an
order shall not be modified or reversed unless reasonable notice has been given
to the parties affected thereby to appear and be
heard in support of the order;
(d) an
order against which an appeal has been preferred shall not be reviewed.
(3) For
the purposes of this section, the Collector shall be deemed to be
successor-in-office of any Revenue Officer of a lower class
who has left the
district or has ceased to exercise powers as a Revenue Officer, and to whom
there is no successor-in-office.
(4) An
appeal shall not lie from an order refusing to review or confirming on review a
previous order.
164. Revision.— (1) The Board of Revenue,
may, at any time, on its own motion, or on an application made to it within
ninety days of the passing
of any order, call for the record of any case
pending before, or disposed of by, any Revenue Officer, subordinate to it.
(2)
[87][An Executive District Officer (Revenue)] or
Collector may, at any time, of his own motion or on an application made to him
within
ninety days of the passing of any order, call for the record of any case
pending before, or disposed of by, any Revenue Officer under
his control.
(3) If
in any case in which a Collector has called for a record he is of opinion that
proceedings taken or order made should be modified
or reversed, he shall report
the case with his opinion thereon for the orders of the
[88][Executive District Officer (Revenue)].
(4) The
Board of Revenue may, in any case called for under sub-section (1) and
[89][an Executive District Officer (Revenue)]
may in any case called for under sub-section (2) or reported to him under
sub-section (3) pass such orders as it or he thinks fit:
Provided that no order shall be passed
under this section reversing or modifying any proceedings or order of a
subordinate Revenue
Officer affecting any person without giving such person an
opportunity of being heard.
165. Stay of proceedings and execution of orders
and decrees.— (1) An appeal or revision shall not operate as stay of
proceedings under the order or decree appealed from or under revision, except
so far as the appellate or revisional authority may order, nor shall execution
of any order or decree be stayed by reason only of
an appeal or application for
revision having been made, but the appellate or revisional authority may, for
sufficient cause, order
stay of execution of any such order or decree.
(2) No
order for stay of execution shall be made under sub-section (1), unless the
authority making it is satisfied that—
(a) substantial
loss may result to the party applying for stay of execution unless the order is
made;
(b) the
application has been made without unreasonable delay; and
(c) where
necessary, security has been given by the applicant for the due performance of
such order or decree as may ultimately be binding
upon him.
166. Clerical
mistakes, etc.— Clerical or
arithmetical mistakes in any decree or order made by any Revenue Officer, or
errors therein from any accidental slip
or omission may, at any time, be
corrected by such officer.
Explanation—
In this section, “Officer” includes the successor-in-office of the officer.
167. Computation of period limited under this
Chapter.— In the computation of the period for an appeal from or an
application for the review or revision of, an order under this Act, the
limitation therefor shall be governed by the provisions of the limitation Act,
1908 (Act IX of 1908).
CHAPTER XIV
SUPPLEMENTAL
PROVISIONS
Revenue Deposits
168. Power to deposit certain sums other than
rent.— (1) In either of the following cases, namely:-
(a) when
a headman or other land-owner to whom any sum other than rent is payable on
account of liability under this Act, refuses to receive
the sum from, or to
grant a receipt therefor to, the person by whom it is payable; or
(b) when the person by whom any such sum is
payable is in doubt as to the headman or other land-owner entitled to receive
it,
that
person may apply to a Revenue Officer for leave to deposit the sum in his office,
and the Revenue Officer shall receive the deposit
if, after examining the
applicant, he is satisfied that there is sufficient ground for the application,
and if the applicant pays
the fee, if any, which may be chargeable on any
notice to be issued of the receipt thereof.
(2) When
a deposit has been so received, the liability of the depositor to the headman
or other land-owner, for the amount thereof shall
be discharged.
169. Procedure in case of deposits.— (1) If
the deposit purports to be made on account of any payment due to Government, it
may be credited accordingly.
(2) A
Revenue Officer receiving a deposit purporting to be made on any other account
shall give notice of the receipt thereof to every
person who, he has reason to
believe, claims or is entitled to the deposit, and may pay the amount thereof
to any person appearing
to him to be entitled to the same, or may, if he thinks
fit, retain the deposit pending the decision of a Civil Court as to the person
so entitled.
(3) No
suit or other proceedings shall be instituted against Government or the Board
of Revenue, or against any servant of the State,
in respect of any thing done
in good faith by a Revenue Officer under this section, but nothing herein shall
prevent any person entitled
to receive the amount of any such deposit from
recovering it from a person to whom it has been paid by Revenue Officer.
Orders of Civil and Criminal Courts
170. Orders of Civil and Criminal Courts for
execution of processes against land, etc.— Orders issued by any Civil or
Criminal Court for the attachment, sale or delivery of any land, or for the
attachment or sale of the
produce of any land, shall be addressed to the
Collector or such Revenue Officer as the Collector may appoint in this behalf,
and
be executed by the Collector or that officer in accordance with the
provisions of the law applicable to the Court issuing the orders,
and with any
rules not inconsistent therewith made by the Board of Revenue with the
concurrence of the High Court and the previous
approval of Government.
171. Preservation of attached produce.— (1)
The attachment of the produce of any land in pursuance of an order of any Court
or other authority shall not prevent the person
to whom the produce belongs
from reaping, gathering or storing it or doing any other act necessary for its
preservation.
(2) The attaching officer shall do or cause to be
done all acts necessary for the preservation of the produce if the person to
whom it
belongs fails to do so.
(3) When
sale of produce follows on its attachment, the purchaser shall be entitled, by
himself or by any person appointed by him in this
behalf, to enter upon the
place where the produce is, and do all that is necessary for the purpose of
preserving and removing it.
Exclusion of jurisdiction of Civil Courts
172. Exclusion
of jurisdiction of Civil Courts in matters within the jurisdiction of Revenue
Officers.— (1) Except as
otherwise provided by this Act, no Civil Court shall have jurisdiction in any
matter which Government, the Board of
Revenue, or any Revenue Officer, is
empowered by this Act to dispose of, or take cognizance of the manner in which
Government, the
Board of Revenue, or any Revenue Officer exercises any powers
vested in it or him by or under this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the
provisions of sub-section (1), a Civil Court shall not exercise jurisdiction
over any of
the following matters, namely:-
(i) any question as to the limits of any land
which has been defined by a Revenue Officer as land to which this Act does or
does not apply;
(ii) any claim to compel the discharge of any
duties imposed by this Act or any other enactment for the time being in force
of any Revenue
Officer as such;
(iii) any claim to the office of a Village Officer,
or in respect of any injury caused by exclusion from such office, or to compel
the discharge
of the duties or a division of the emoluments thereof;
(iv) any notification directing the making or
revision of a record-of-rights;
(v) the framing of a record-of-rights or periodical
record, or the preparation, signing or attestation of any of the documents
included
in such a record;
(vi) the correction of any entry in a
record-of-rights, periodical record or register of mutations;
(vii) any notification of the undertaking of the general
re-assessment of a District or Tahsil having been sanctioned by Government;
(viii) any objection to the amount or rate of any
assessment of land revenue or the period
thereof authorised by Government;
(ix) the claim of any person to be liable for an
assessment of land revenue or of any other revenue as assessed under this Act;
(x) the amount of land revenue to be assessed on
any estate or to be paid in respect of any holding under this Act;
(xi) the
amount of, or the liability of any person to pay, any other revenue to be
assessed under this Act, or any cess, charge or rate
to be assessed on an
estate or holding under this Act or any other enactment for the time being in
force;
(xii) any
claim relating to the allowance to be received by a land-owner who has given
notice of his refusal to be liable for an assessment,
or any claim connected
with, or arising out of, any proceedings taken in consequence of the refusal of
any person to be liable for
an assessment under this Act;
(xiii) the formation of an
estate or determination of its boundaries;
(xiv) any claim to hold free of revenue any land,
mills, fisheries or natural products of land or water;
(xv) any claim connected with, or arising out of
the collection by Government, or the enforcement by Government of any process
for the
recovery of, land-revenue or any sum recoverable as an arrear of
land-revenue;
(xvi) any claim to set aside, on any ground other
than fraud, a sale for the recovery of an arrear of land revenue or any sum
recoverable
as an arrear of land revenue;
(xvii) the amount of, or the liability of any person
to pay, any cess, fees, fines, costs or other charge imposed under this Act;
(xviii) any claim for partition of an estate or
holding, or any question connected with or arising out of, proceedings for
partition, not
being a question as to title in any of the property of which
partition is sought;
(xix) any question as to the allotment of land on
the partition of an estate or holding, or as to the distribution of land
subject by established
custom to periodical re-distribution or as to the
distribution of land-revenue on the partition of an estate or holding or on a
periodical
re-distribution of land;
(xx) any
question connected with or arising out of or relating to any proceedings for
the determination of boundaries of estates subject
to river action under the
provision of this Act;
(xxi) any claim regarding boundaries fixed under any
of the enactments hereby repealed or any other law for the time being in force,
or
to set aside any order passed by a competent officer under any such law with
regard to boundary marks.
173. Powers
to invest officers making records-of-rights or general re-assessments with
powers of Civil Courts.— (1) The
Board of Revenue may, by notification, invest any Revenue Officer making or
specially revising record-of-rights in any local
area in pursuance of a
notification under section 40, or making a general re-assessment of land
revenue in any local area in pursuance
of a notification under section 59, or any
Revenue Officer in a Colony as defined in the Colonization of Government Lands
(Punjab)
Act, 1912 (Punjab Act V of 1912), or any Revenue Officer to whose
control that officer is subject with all or any of the powers of
any Court,
constituted under the
[90][Punjab] Civil Courts Ordinance, 1962 (West
Pakistan Ordinance II of 1962), for the purpose of trying all or any specified
classes
of suits or appeals relating to land arising in the local area.
(2) The
Board of Revenue may cancel an order notified under sub-section (1) wholly or
in part.
(3) While an order or any part of an order under
sub-section (1) continues in force, the powers conferred thereby shall be
exercised by
the officer invested therewith and not otherwise.
(4) Any
case pending before an officer under the order or subsisting part of the order
at the time of cancellation thereof may be disposed
of by him as if the order
or that part of it continued in force, unless the Board of Revenue directs, as
it is hereby empowered to
do, that those cases shall be transferred for
disposal to the Courts by which they would have been disposed of if the order
had not
been notified.
174. Control over such officers and appeals from
and revision of their decrees and orders.— (1) The Board of Revenue may by
notification direct that the provisions of this Act with respect to the
superintendence and control
over Revenue Officers shall apply to any Revenue
Officer who has been invested with the powers of a Civil Court of any of the
classes
specified in the [91][Punjab]
Civil Courts Ordinance, 1962 (West Pakistan Ordinance II of 1962), and that
appeal shall lie from his decrees and orders
to and his decrees and orders be
subject to revision by, a Revenue Officer invested under section 173 with the
powers of a Court
which would be competent under that Ordinance to hear appeals
from or revise such decrees and orders if they had been made by a Court
with
the powers of which the Revenue Officer who made them has been invested.
(2) In
the absence of any such notification, a Revenue Officer invested under section
173 with the powers of any such Civil Court as aforesaid
shall, with respect to
the exercise of those powers, be deemed to be such a Civil Court for the
purposes of the aforesaid Ordinance.
General
175. Prevention
of encroachment upon common lands.—
[92][(1) Where land which has been reserved for the
common purposes of the persons residing in the estate in which such land is
situate
has been encroached upon by any person, and the land has been shown in
the last three periodical records made before such encroachment
as so reserved,
a Revenue Officer may, on the application of a land-owner in the estate, and
after giving an opportunity to the person
alleged to have encroached upon it to
appear before him and show cause against the proposed action—
(a) eject
from the land the person who has encroached thereupon; and
(b) by
order proclaimed in the manner provided in section 26, forbid repetition of the
encroachment.
Explanation—
An edition of the record-of-rights made before the coming into force of this
Act, under the provisions of section 33 of the Punjab
Land Revenue Act, 1887,
or under the provisions of any other law repealed by this Act, shall be deemed
to be a periodical record
for the purposes of this section.]
(2) The
proceedings of the Revenue Officer under sub-section (1) shall be subject to
any decree or order which may be subsequently passed
by any Court of competent
jurisdiction.
[93][175-A. Penalty
for encroachments.— Whoever makes an encroachment on any village road, path
or other common place and fails to remove the same within a period of not
exceeding thirty days as may be fixed by a Revenue Officer by means of a notice
or repeats an encroachment shall, in addition to
any other action that may be
taken against him under any law for the time being in force, be punished by the
Revenue Officer with
fine which may extend to five hundred rupees and if the
encroachment continues with a further fine which may extend to fifty rupees
for
each day the default continues.]
176. Papers kept by Village Officers to be deemed
public documents.— (1) Any record or paper which a Village Officer is
required by law, or by any rule made under this Act, to prepare or keep shall
be deemed to be the property of Government.
(2) A Village Officer shall, with respect to any
record or paper in his custody be deemed, for the purposes of the Evidence Act,
1872
(Act I of 1872), to be public officer having the custody of a public
document which any person has a right to inspect.
177. Maps and land record open to inspection,
etc.— Subject to such rules and the payment of such fees as the Board of
Revenue may from time to time prescribe in this behalf, all maps
and
land-records prepared or required to be made under this Act shall be open to
the inspection of the public at reasonable hours,
and certified extracts from
the same or certified copies thereof shall be given to all persons applying for
the same.
178. Restriction on Revenue Officers bidding at
auctions or engaging in trade.— (1) A Revenue Officer, or a person employed
in a Revenue Office, shall not—
(a) purchase or bid for, either in person or by
agent, in his own name or in that of another or jointly or in shares with
others, any
property which any Revenue Officer or Revenue Court in the District
in which he is employed has ordered to be sold, or
(b) in
contravention of any rule made by Government in this behalf, engage in trade in
that District.
(2) Nothing
in sub-section (1) shall be deemed to preclude any person from becoming a
share-holder in a company incorporated under the
Companies Act, 1913 (Act VII
of 1913), or under any other law for the time being in force relating to a body
or bodies corporate.
CHAPTER XV
MISCELLANEOUS
179. Effect of finality of orders.— Wherever
in this Act it is provided that a decision or order shall be final, it shall be
deemed to mean that no appeal lies from
such decision or order; but nothing
herein shall be construed as precluding the Board of Revenue from modifying
reversing or setting
aside any such decision or order under the provisions of
section 164.
180. Restriction
on appointment of Lambardars.— Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act,
headman (Lambardars) shall not be
appointed in, nor shall rules for their appointment be enforced in or made applicable
to, any area or part of the Province
where the law in force immediately before
the commencement of this Act did not provide for the making of such appointment
or rules.
181. Bar on legal proceedings against Revenue
Officers.— No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie
against a Revenue Officer for anything done or ordered to be done in good
faith
by him as such in pursuance of the provisions of this Act, or of any other law
for the time being in force.
182. Power to make rules.— The Board of
Revenue, with the previous approval of Government, may, in addition to the
other rules which may be made by it under
this Act, make rules not inconsistent
with this Act—
(a) fixing the number and amount of the instalment
and the times and places and the manner, by, at and in which any sum other than
rent
or land revenue which is payable under this Act or of which a record has
been made thereunder is to be paid;
(b) fixing
the dates on which profits are to be divisible by headmen or other persons by
whom they are realized on behalf of co-shares;
(c) prescribing the fees to be charged for the
service and execution of processes issued by Revenue Officers and Revenue
Courts, the mode
in which those fees are to be collected, the number of persons
to be employed in the service and execution of those processes, and
the
remuneration and duties of those persons;
(d) regulating the procedure in cases where
persons are entitled to inspect records of Revenue Officers or records or
papers in the custody
of Village Officers, or to obtain copies of the same, and
prescribing the fees payable for searches and copies;
(e) prescribing
forms for such books, entries, statistics and accounts as the Board of Revenue
thinks necessary to be kept, made or compiled
in Revenue Offices or submitted
to any authority; and
(f) generally
for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
183. Rules to be made after previous
publication.— The power to make any rules under this Act is subject to the
condition of the rules being made after previous publication.
184. Repeals and savings.— (1) The enactments
mentioned in Part One of the Schedule are hereby repealed.
(2) On the commencement of this Act in any area
the enactments mentioned in Part Two of the Schedule shall, if and, in so far
as applicable
to that area, stand repealed; and in the event of specified
provisions of this Act being applied to any area, only the corresponding
provisions in such enactments shall stand repealed.
(3) Notwithstanding
the repeal of the enactments mentioned in sub-section (2)—
(a) all rules, appointments and transfers made,
notifications and proclamations issued, authorities and powers conferred, farms
and leases
granted, record-of-rights and other records framed, revised or
confirmed, rights acquired, liabilities incurred, times and places
appointed,
and other things done, under any such enactment shall, if not inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act, be continued
and, so far as may be, be deemed to
have been respectively made, issued, conferred, granted, incurred, appointed
and done under this
Act; and
(b) all
assessments of land-revenue duly made, approved or confirmed under any such
enactment and in force immediately before such repeal
shall continue, and
subject to the provisions of this Act, remain in force until assessments made,
approved or confirmed under those
provisions take effect.
THE SCHEDULE
(See SECTION 184)
Part One
1. The Punjab Riverain Boundaries Act, 1899 (Pb.
Act I of 1899).
2. The Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1912
(Pb. Act II of 1912).
3. The Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1928
(Pb. Act III of 1928).
4. The Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1929
(Pb. Act VII of 1929).
5. The Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1934
(Pb. Act VI of 1934).
6. The Punjab Land Revenue (North-West Frontier
Province Amendment) Act, 1935 (N.W.F.P. Act VIII of 1935).
7. The Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1950
(Pb. Act I of 1950).
8. The Punjab Land Revenue (Second Amendment)
Act, 1950 (Pb. Act XVIII of 1950).
9. The Punjab Land Revenue (North-West Frontier
Province Amendment) Act, 1954 (N.W.F.P. Act V of 1954).
10. The
Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1955 (Pb. Act IV of 1955).
11. The
Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1955 (Pb. Act XIX of 1955).
12. The
West Pakistan (Punjab Land Revenue Act) (Amendment) Act, 1956 (W.P. Act III of
1956).
13. The
Punjab Land Revenue (West Pakistan Amendment) Ordinance, 1959 (W.P. Ordinance
XXIX of 1959).
14. The
West Pakistan Determination of Land Revenue and Water Rate Ordinance, 1959
(W.P. Ordinance LV of 1959).
15. The
Punjab Land Revenue (West Pakistan Amendment) Ordinance, 1962 (W.P. Ordinance
XXVIII of 1962).
16. The
Punjab Land Revenue (West Pakistan Amendment) Ordinance, 1962 (W.P. Ordinance
XXXVII of 1962).
17. The
Punjab Land Revenue (West Pakistan Amendment) Ordinance, 1963 (W.P. Ordinance
XVIII of 1963).
Part Two
1. The
Sind Revenue Jurisdiction Act, 1876 (Sind Act X of 1876): sections 4, 5 and 6.
2. The
Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879 (Bom. Act V of 1879); except Chapters I, VI and
VII as in force for the time being in Karachi Area,
together with all
enactments modifying or amending the same in its application thereto.
[96][3. The Sind Land Revenue Code, 1879 (Sind Act V of
1879), except Chapters I and VI, together with all enactments modifying or
amending
the same.]
4. The
Sind Village Officers Act, 1881 (Sind Act IV of 1881).
5. The
Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Pb. Act XVII of 1887).
6. The
Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Pb. Act XVII of 1887), as in force for the time
being in North West Frontier.
7. The
Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Pb. Act XVII of 1887), as applied and in force
for the time being in Baluchistan, Bahawalpur and
Nasirabad Sub-Division in
Jacobabad District of Khairpur Division, together with all enactments or
notification modifying or amending
the same in its application thereto.
[1]For statement of object and
reasons, see Gazette of West Pakistan
1967 (Extraordinary), dated 7th December, 1967, pages 3603 to 3655.
This Act was passed by the West Pakistan Assembly on 4th November,
1967; assented to by the Governor of West Pakistan on 29th November
1967; and,
published in the West Pakistan Gazette (Extraordinary), dated 7th December,
1967, pages 3603-56.
[2]Substituted
by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “West
Pakistan”.
[3]Ibid.
[4]Ibid.
[5]Ibid.
[6]Ibid.
[7]This Act came into force on
the 1st day of January, 1968, vide
Govt. of West Pakistan, Revenue Department, Notification No. 599/67/319-U (I),
dated 14th December, 1967, see
Gazette of West Pakistan, (Extraordinary), page 823.
[8]Substituted
by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “West
Pakistan”.
[9]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976).
[10]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976).
[11]The words ‘DIVISIONS AND”
omitted by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of 2001),
which will remain in force
under the Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order
1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum limit of three months
prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan.
[12]Substituted ibid., for
the word “Divisions”.
[14]Section 6, substituted ibid.
[15]Substituted ibid., for
the word “Commissioner”.
[17]Substituted ibid.
[18]Substituted by the Punjab
Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of 2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional
Constitution (Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999),
Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum limit of three months prescribed under
Article
128 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[21]Substituted for the words “a
Commissioner”, by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain
in force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[27]Substituted for the words “a
Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain
in force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[29]Substituted by the Punjab
Land Revenue (Amendment) Act 1997 (V of 1997).
[30]Substituted for the words
“Union Committee, Town Committee or Union Council” by the Punjab Land Revenue
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2001
(LV of 2001), which will remain in force under the
Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4,
notwithstanding
the maximum limit of three months prescribed under Article 128
of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[31]Substituted for the words
“Chairman of the Union Committee, Town Committee or Union Council” by the
Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment)
Ordinance, 2001 (LV of 2001), which will remain
in force under the Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999),
Article
4, notwithstanding the maximum limit of three months prescribed under
Article 128 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan.
[33]Substituted for the words
“Union Committee, Town Committee or Union Council” by the Punjab Land Revenue
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2001
(LV of 2001), which will remain in force under the
Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding
the maximum limit of three months prescribed under Article 128 of the
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[34]Substituted by the Punjab
Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1997 (V of 1997).
[35]Substituted by the Punjab
Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “Central”.
[36]Substituted ibid., for “West Pakistan”.
[37]The words “or completed on or
before the seventeenth day of July, 1879, in territories where the Bombay Land
Revenue Code, 1879 (Bombay
Act V of 1879), or the Sind Land Revenue Code, 1879
(Sind Act V of 1879), was so in force”, deleted by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation)
Order, 1974 (Pb A.O. 1 of 1974)..
[38]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976).
[39]Substituted
by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “West
Pakistan”.
[40]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976), substituted by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance,
1978 (V of 1978) and again substituted by the
Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 1983 (XII of 1983).
[41]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[42]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[44]Substituted for the word “Commissioner”
by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of 2001), which will
remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of
1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum limit of three
months prescribed under
Article 128 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[45]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[47]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976), substituted by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance,
1978 (V of 1978) and again substituted by the
Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 1983 (XII of 1983).
[48]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976).
[49]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976).
[50]Ibid.
[51]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1976 (V of 1976).
[52]Substituted
by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “West
Pakistan”.
[53]Substituted
by the West Pakistan Land Revenue (Punjab Amendment) Act, 1975 (XXVII of 1975).
[54]Deleted by the West Pakistan Land Revenue (Punjab
Amendment) Act, 1975 (XXVII of 1975).
[55]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[57]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[58]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[59]Substituted for the words
“Union Committee, Town Committee or Union Council”, by the Punjab Land Revenue
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2001
(LV of 2001), which will remain in force under the
Provisional Constitution (Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4,
notwithstanding
the maximum limit of three months prescribed under Article 128
of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[60]Substituted by the Punjab
Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 1985 (XVII of 1985).
[61]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[66]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[69]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[71]Substituted by the Punjab
Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 1985 (XVII of 1985).
[72]The word “and” omitted by the
Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (XV of 2001)
[73]Substituted for the
“full-stop” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (XV of
2001).
[74]Added by the Punjab Land
Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (XV of 2001).
[75]Added by the West Pakistan
Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 1970 (X of 1970).
[76]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[77]Substituted by the Punjab
Land Revenue (Amendment) Act, 1997 (V of 1997).
[78]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[80]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[84]Substituted for the word
“Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain in
force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[87]Substituted for the words “A
Commissioner” by the Punjab Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 2001 (LV of
2001), which will remain
in force under the Provisional Constitution
(Amendment) Order 1999 (9 of 1999), Article 4, notwithstanding the maximum
limit of three
months prescribed under Article 128 of the Constitution of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
[90]Substituted by the Punjab
Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “West Pakistan”.
[91]Substituted
by the Punjab Laws (Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974), for “West
Pakistan”.
[92]Substituted by the West
Pakistan Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 1970 (X of 1970).
[93]Added by the Punjab Land Revenue
(Amendment) Act, 1997 (V of 1997).
[94]Deleted by the Punjab Laws
(Adaptation) Order, 1974 (Pb. A.O. 1 of 1974).
[95]Ibid.
[96]Substituted by the West
Pakistan Land Revenue (Amendment) Ordinance, 1969 (XXXIV of 1969).
