Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, 1908
No: 6 Dated: Nov, 11 1908
The Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, 1908
Bengal Act 6 of 1908
An Act to amend and consolidate certain enactments relating to the law of Landlord and Tenant and settlement of rents in Chota Nagpur.
Whereas it is expedient to amend and consolidate certain enactments relating to the law of landlord and tenant and the settlement of rents in Chota Nagpur;
And whereas the sanction of the Governor-General has been obtained under Section 5 of the Indian Councils Act, 1892 (55 and 56 Viet, e. 14) to the passing of this Act; It is hereby enacted as follows :-
Chapter I
Preliminary
1. Short title and extent. - (1) This Act may be called the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, 1908.
(2) It extends to the North Chotanagpur, the South Chotanagpur and Palamau Divisions including the areas or parts of the areas which have been constituted into a Municipality or a Notified Area Committee under the Jharkhand Municipal Act, 1922 (Bihar and Orissa Act 7 of 1922) or which are within a cantonment.
2. Repeal. - (1) The Acts and notifications specified in Schedule A are hereby repealed in the Chota Nagpur Division.
(2) The Acts specified in Schedule B are hereby repealed in the district of Dhanbad and Patamda, Ichagarh and Chandil police stations in the district of Singhbhum.
3. Definitions - In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,
(i) "agricultural year" means the year prevailing in a local area for agricultural purposes, and such year shall be deemed to commence and terminate on such dates, respectively, as the State Government may, by notification, direct:
Provided that where the State Government is the landlord, the year commencing from the first day of April shall be the agricultural year for the purposes of this Act;
(ii) "bhugut bandha mortgage" means a transfer of the interest of tenant in his tenancy; for the purpose of securing the payment of money advanced or to be advanced by way of loan; upon the condition that the loan, with all interest thereon, shall be deemed to be extinguished by the profits arising from the tenancy during the period of the mortgage;
(iii) "Board" means the Board of Revenue for Bihar
(iii-a) "bank" means,-
(i) a banking company as defined in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949);
(ii) the State Bank of India constituted under the State Bank of India Act, 1955 (23 of 1955);
(iii) a corresponding new bank constituted under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (5 of 1970);
(iv) a Regional Rural Bank established under the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (21 of 1976);
(v) the Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation constituted under the Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation Act, 1963 (10 of 1963); and
(vi) the Agricultural Finance Corporation Ltd., a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
(iv) "Certificate Officer" means the Certificate Officer as defined in clause (3) of Section 3 of the Bihar and Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914 (B&O Act, 4 of 1914:
(v) "civil jail" means the civil jail of the district, and includes any place appointed by the State Government for the confinement of prisoners under this Act;
(vi) "Commissioner" and "Judicial Commissioner" mean respectively the Commissioner and Judicial Commissioner of Chota Nagpur; and include any other person specially empowered by the State Government to discharge the functions of the Commissioner or Judicial Commissioner, as the case may be in any particular area;
(vii) "Deputy Collector" includes an Assistant Collector and any Sub-Deputy Collector, who is especially empowered by the State Government to discharge any of the functions of a Deputy Collector under this Act;
(viii) "Deputy Commissioner" in any provision of this Act includes,-
(a) any Revenue Officer or Deputy Collector, who is specially empowered by the State Government to discharge any of the functions of a Deputy Commissioner under that provision, and
(b) any Deputy Collector to whom the Deputy Commissioner may by general or special order, transfer any of his functions under that provision;
(ix) "enhancement" and "enhanced" do not include an increase of rent in respect of land held by 'Raiyat', in excess of the area for which rent has previously been paid by him, or in respect of the conversion of upland, whether within or without his holding into 'korkar'; but include any commutation of rent payable in money into rent payable wholly or partly in kind;
(x) "estate" means land included under one entry in any of the general registers of revenue-paying lands and revenue-free lands prepared and maintained under the law for the time being in force by the Deputy Commissioner; and includes Government 'khas mahals' and revenue-free lands not entered in any register;
(xi) "forest produce" includes the following, whether taken from a forest or not, that is to say,-
(a) wood, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, resin, natural varnish,, bark lac, 'mahua' flowers and myrobalans.
(b) trees and leaves, flowers and fruits and all other parts or produce not hereinbefore mentioned of trees,
(c) plant not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss) and all parts or produce of such plants,
(d) wild animals and skins, tusks, horns, bones, silk, cocoons, honey and wax, and all other parts or produce of animals, and
(e) peat, surface-oil rock and minerals (including iron-stone, coal clay, sand and limestone when taken by any person for his own use;
(xii) "holding" means a parcel or parcels of land held by a Raiyat, and forming the subject of separate tenancy;
(xiii) "korkad" means land by whatever name locally known such as 'babhala khandwat, 'jalsasan' or 'ariat', which has been artificially levelled or embanked primarily for the cultivation of rice, and,-
(a) which previously was jungle, waste or uncultivated, or was cultivated upland, or which, though previously cultivated, has become unfit for the cultivation of transplanted rice, and
(b) which has been prepared for cultivation by a cultivator (other than the landlord), or by the predecessor-in-interest (other than the landlord);
(xiv) "landlord" means a person immediately under whom a tenant holds, and includes the Government;
(xv) "movable property" includes standing crops;
(xvi) "mundari khunt-kattidari tenancy" means the interest of a "Mundari khunt-kattidar";
(xvii) "pay", "payable" and "payment", when used with reference of rent, include "deliver", "deliverable" and "deliver";
(xviii) "permanent tenure" means a tenure which is heritable and which is not held for a limited time.
(xix) "praedial conditions" means conditions or services appurtenant to the occupation of lands other than the rent, and include rakumats' payable by the tenants to landlord and every 'mahtut mangan' and 'madad', and every other similar demand, howsoever denominated, and whether regularly recurrent or intermittent;
(xx) "prescribed" means prescribed by State Government by rule made under this Act;
(xxi) "proprietor" means a person owning, whether in trust or for his own benefit an estate or a part of an estate;
(xxii) "registered" means registered under any Act for the time being in force for the registration of documents;
(xxiii) "rent" means whatever is lawfully payable in money or kind by a tenant to his landlord on account of the use of occupation of the land held by the tenant and includes all dues (other than personal services) which are recoverable under enactment for the time being in force as if they were rent;
(xxiv) "resumable tenure" means a tenure which is held, subject to the condition that it shall lapse to the estate of the grantor and be resumable by him or his successor in title,-
(a) on failure of male heirs of the body of the original grantee in the male line, or
(b) on the happening of any definite contingency other than that referred to in subclause (a) of this clause;
(xxv) "Revenue Officer" in any provision of this Act, means any officer whom the State Government may appoint to discharge any of the functions of Revenue Officer under that provision;
(xxvi) "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 person;
(xxvii) "tenure" means the interest of a tenure-holder, and includes an under tenure, but does not include a "Mundari khunt-kattidari" tenancy,
(xxviii) "village" means,-
(a) in any local area in which a survey has been made and a record-of-rights prepared under any enactment for the time being in force the area included within the same exterior boundary in the village map finally adopted in making such survey and record, as subsequently modified by the decision (if any) of a Court of competent jurisdiction, and
(b) where a survey has not been made and a record-of-rights has not been prepared under any such enactment, such area as the Deputy Commissioner may, with the sanction of the Commissioner by general or special order, declare to constitute a village :
Provided that, when an order has been made under Section 80 directing that a survey be made, and record-of-rights prepared in respect of any local area, estate, tenure, or part thereof the State Government may, by notification declare that in such local area, estate, tenure or part thereof, 'village', shall mean the area which for thee purposes of such survey and record-of-rights may be adopted by the Revenue Officer subject to the control of the Commissioner as the unit of survey and record;
(xxix) "village headman" means the headman of a village, or of a group of villages, whether known as 'Manki', or 'Pradhan' or 'Manjhi' or otherwise, or by an equivocal designation such as 'thikadad' or 'ijaradar':
Explanation. - In the definition "village" includes a portion of a village; and
(xxx) "Permanent Settlement" means the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa made in the year 1798.