Sylhet Non-Agricultural Urban Areas Tenancy Act, 1947
No: 10 Dated: May, 21 1947
THE SYLHET NON-AGRIGULTURAL URBAN AREAS TENANCY ACT, 1947
ASSAM ACT X OF 1947
An Act to make better provisions relating to the law of landlord and tenant in respect of non-agricultural tenancies in the urban areas of the District of Sylhet.
Preamble:- Whereas it is expedient to make better provisions relating to the law of landlord and tenant in respect of non-agricultural tenancies in the urban areas of the District of Sylhet ;
And whereas the previous sanction of the Governor under section 299(3) of the Government of India Act, 1935, has been obtained to the introduction of this Bill ;
It is hereby enacted as follows :—
1. Short title, Extent, Commencement:- (1) This Act may be called the Sylhet Non-Agricultural Urban Areas Tenancy Act, 1947.
(2) It extends to all urban areas in the District of Sylhet.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Appication:- Notwithstanding anything contained in any contract or in any law for the time being in force, the provisions of this Act shall apply to all non-agricultural tenancies whether created before or after the date on which this Act comes into force :
(i) Provided that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to—
(a) Temporarily-settled Government land, or
(b) Land owned by the Central or Provincial Government or by any Local Authority, or
(c) A holding which contains one or more buildings owned by the landlord with or without any land appurtenant thereto, and which has been let out to any person, or
(d) Lands used for residence of the landlord or reserved for being used for such purpose in its vicinity and let out to persons or let out in lieu of service or merely in consideration of relationship or affection.
(ii) Provided further that nothing in this Act shall affect the permanent, heritable and transferable rights acquired under any existing law or contract or otherwise.
3. Definitions:- In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subjectmatter or context:—
(a) ‘Building’ includes a house, outhouse, stable, latrine, shed, hut and any other structure whether made of masonry, bricks, wood, m ud, metal, bamboo, sungrass or any other material whatsoever, but does not include the land on which it stands.
(b) ‘Holding’ means a parcel or parcels of land or an undivided share thereof held by a tenant, and forming the subject-matter of one and the same tenancy.
(c) ‘Land’ means land which is let or occupied for residential or business purposes or for purposes incidental thereto, and includes sites for buildings, water, waterways, drains, ditches, canals and tanks appertaining to such land.
(d) ‘Landlord’ means a person immediately under whom a tenant holds.
(e) ‘Occupancy tenant’ is a tenant who has acquired a permanent heritable and transferable right of use and occupation in his - holding under the provisions of section 4 of this Act.
(f) ‘Prescribed’ means prescribed by a rule made under this Act.
(g) ‘Rent’ means whatever is lawfully payable in money or in kind by a tenant to his landlord on account of the use and occupation of his holding under such landlord.
(h) ‘Tenant’ means a person who holds land under another person, and who is, but for a special contract, liable to pay rent for that land to the latter, and includes a person who derives his title from a tenant, and a person who continues in possession of any land after termination of his tenancy in respect of that land.
(i) ‘Urban area’ means any area declared to be included in a Municipality under the provisions of clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (2) of section 5, or declared to be a notified area under the provisions of sub-section (4) of section 328, or deemed to be such under the proviso to that sub-section, of the Assam Municipal Act, 1923.
4. Acquisitioin of occupaney right:- (1) Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, every person who has possessed any land as a tenant continuously for a period of twelve years, either wholly before, or wholly after, or partly before and partly after, the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to have acquired at the expiration of that period, a permanent, heritable and transferable right of use and occupation in that land subject to the payment of rent, if any, to his landlord.
(2) In computing the period of twelve years, a tenant shall be entitled to tack to the length of his possession any periods during which his predecessors-in*interest were in possession of the land, provided that there is no break between the periods to be tacked.
(3) For the purpose of this section, a person will be deemed to have been in possession of any land during any particular period if he was legally entitled to possess such land physically, although he may not have actually possessed the same physically during such period.