Act No 26 of 1948
19th April, 1949
An Act to provide for the repeal of the Permanent Settlement, the acquisition of the rights of landholders in permanently settled and certain other estates in the province of Madras, and the introduction of the ryotwari settlement in such estates. Whereas it is expedient to provide for the repeal of the Permanent Settlement, the acquisition of the rights of landholders in permanently settled and certain other estates in the Province of Madras, and the introduction of the ryotwari settlement in such estates; It is hereby enacted as follows: -- 1 1. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Fort St, George Gazette, Extraordinary, dated the 13th September 1947, Part IV-A, page 26.
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In the Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,--
With effect on and from the notified date and save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act--
As soon as may be after the passing of this Act, the Government shall appoint a Director of Settlements to carry out survey and settlement operations in estates and introduce ryotwari settlement therein. The Director shall be subordinate to the Board of Revenue.
(1) As soon as may be after the passing of this Act, the Government shall appoint one or more Settlement Officers to carry out the functions and duties assigned to them under this Act.
(2) Every Settlement Officer shall be subordinate to the Director and shall be guided by such lawful instructions as he may issue from time to time; and the Director shall also have power to cancel or revise any of the orders, acts or proceedings of the Settlement Officer, other than those in respect of which an appeal lies to the Tribunal.
(1) With effect on and from the notified date the Government shall appoint one or more persons to manage the estate.
(2) Every manager shall be subordinate to the District Collector and shall be guided by such lawful instructions as he may issue from time to time; and the District Collector shall also have power to cancel or revise any of the orders, acts or proceedings of the manager.
The Board of Revenue shall have power--
(1) The Government shall constitute as many Tribunals as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Each Tribunal shall consist of three members; one of them (who shall be its Chairman) shall be a District Judge or an officer eligible to be appointed as a District Judge, another shall be a Subordinate Judge or an officer eligible to be appointed as a Subordinate Judge, and the third shall be a Revenue Divisional Officer or an officer eligible to be appointed as a Revenue Divisional Officer.
(3) Each Tribunal shall have such jurisdiction, and over such estates or parts thereof, as the Government may, by notification from time to time, determine.
(4) Every Tribunal shall have all the powers of a civil court to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents.
(1) The landholder of an under-tenure estate or any other person interested may, within three months from the notified date, or such further time as the appropriate Settlement Officer may, in his discretion allow, apply to him for a decision as to whether such estate was created before or after the date on which the principal estate was permanently settled.
(2) The Settlement Officer shall then hear the parties and afford to them a reasonable opportunity of adducing all such evidence either oral or documentary as they may desire to, examine all such documents as he has reason to believe are in the possession of the Government and have a bearing on the claims before him and give his decision in writing
Every ryot in an estate shall, with effect on and from the notified date, be entitled to a ryotwari patta in respect of--
Provided that no person who has been admitted into possession of any land by a landholder on or after the 1st day of July 1945 shall, except where the Government, after an examination of all the circumstances otherwise direct, be entitled to a ryotwari patta in respect of such land.
Explanation.--No lessee of a
In the case of a zamindari estate, the landholder shall with effect on and from the notified date, be entitled to a ryotwari patta in respect of--
In the case of an inam estate, the landholder shall, with effect on and from the notified date, be entitled to a ryotwari patta in respect of--
The grant of a ryotwari patta to a landholder in respect of lands in an under-tenure estate shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of--
(1) The Settlement Officer shall examine the nature and history of all lands in respect of which the landholder claims a ryotwari patta under sections 12, 13 or 14, as the case may be, and decide in respect of which lands the claim should be allowed.
Provided that the Tribunal may, in its discretion, allow further time not exceeding six months for the filing of any such appeal:
Provided further that the Tribunal may, in its discretion, entertain an appeal by the Government at any time if it appears to the Tribunal that the decision of the Settlement Officer was vitiated
(1) Every person, whether a landholder or a ryot, who becomes entitled to a ryotwari patta under this Act in respect of any land shall,
(2) If in respect of any such land, the ryot was liable immediately before the notified date to make any payment to the landholder otherwise than by way of rent, whether periodically or not, the ryot shall continue to make such payments as accrue on or after that date to the Government.
(1) Where any land
Provided that
(1) Every building situated within the limits of an estate, which immediately before the notified date, belonged to any landholder thereof and was then being used by him as an office in connexion with its administration and for no other purpose, shall vest in the Government, free of all encumbrances, with effect on and from the notified date.
(2) Every building so situated which, immediately before the notified date, belonged to any such landholder and the whole or principal part whereof was then in the occupation of any religious, educational or charitable institution shall also vest in the Government, free of all encumbrances, with effect on and from the notified date:
Provided that when such institution ceases to exist, the building shall revert to such landholder, or if he is dead, to his heirs or legal representatives.
(3) Where any building so situated--
Provided that such transaction was not void or illegal under any law in force at the time:
Provided further that a person who has been admitted into possession of any ryoti land on or after the first day of July 1945 shall be entitled to no rights in respect of such land except where the Government otherwise direct.]
Provided that nothing contained herein shall apply to lands for which the landholder is entitled to ryotwari patta under section 12, 13 or 14.
(2) A direction under sub-section (1) allowing any person to remain in possession of any such land may specify--
Explanation.--In this section, 'communal land' means any land of the descripti
Provided that the transaction was not void or illegal under any law in force at the time and that any such right was created for a period not exceeding one year.
(2) (a) Where any such right was created before the 1st day of July 1945 for a period exceeding one year, the Government may, if in their opinion, it is in the public interest to do so, by notice given to the person concerned terminate the right with effect from such date as may be specified in the notice, not being earlier than three months from the date thereof.
(1) Any estate or part thereof may be surveyed or, if it has been surveyed before the notified date, may be resurveyed, as if it were Government land, in accordance with the provisions for the survey of such land contained in the Madras Survey and Boundaries Act, 1923 (Madras Act VIII of 1923):
Provided that any resurvey made under this sub-section may be limited to what is necessary for the introduction of the ryotwari settlement in the estate or part thereof.
(2) The cost of the survey or resurvey, except so much thereof as is payable by the ryots or the landholder under the provisions of section 8 of the Madras Survey and Boundaries Act, 1923 (Madras Act VIII of 1923), shall be borne by the Government.
(1) The Settlement Officer shall effect a ryotwari settlement of the estate or part thereof, in accordance with a settlement notification framed and published by the Government for the purpose.
(2) The said notification shall embody the principles adopted in making ryotwari settlements in ryotwari areas, and shall adopt--
(3) All rates of assessment imposed at a ryotwari settlement shall be liable to revision from time to time as laid down in the settlement notification referred to in sub-sections (1) and (2).
(4) Neither the
The land revenue payable to the Government
The compensation payable in respect of an estate shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions.
The compensation shall be determined for the estate as a whole, and not separately for each of the interests therein.
A sum called the basic annual sum shall first be determined in respect of the estate.
In the case of a zamindari estate, the basic annual sum shall be the aggregate of the sums specified below: --
(1) The gross annual ryotwari demand in respect of the lands referred to in section 27, clauses (i) and (ii), shall be the total of the ryotwari assessments imposed, in pursuance of a settlement effected under section 22, on the lands occupied by any person other than the landholder on the notified date.
(2) The deductions referred to in section 27, clauses(i) and (ii) shall be--
Provided that no deduction shall be made on account of the maintenance of irrigation works, if there is no such work serving the estate or if the landholder is under no legal obligation to ma
(1) (a) The average net annual income from the lanka lands referred to in section 27, clause (iii), shall be the average of the net annual income derived by the landholder from such lands during a period of twenty complete fasli years immediately preceding the notified date, or where such lands have been in existence for a shorter period not being less than five complete fasli years immediately preceding the notified date, during the complete fasli years for which the lands have been in existence:
Provided that where the particulars necessary to compute such average are not available for the full period or where the particulars available appear in material respects to be incorrect, the computation may be made in such manner as may be prescribed.
(b) Where such lands have not been in existence for a period of five complete fasli years as aforesaid, their average net annual income shall be computed in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) The deduction referr
The average net annual miscellaneous revenue from the sources referred to in section 27, clause (iv), shall be the average of the net annual income derived by the Government from such sources during the fasli year commencing on the notified date, if such date was the 1st day of July, or on the 1st day of July immediately Succeeding the notified date, if such date was not the 1st day of July and the next two fasli years.
In the case of an inam estate, the basic annual sum shall be the aggregate of the sums specified below, less the deductions specified in section 35:--
(1) The gross annual ryotwari demand in respect of the lands referred to in section 31, clauses (i) and (ii), shall be the total of the ryotwari assessments imposed in pursuance of a settlement effected under section 22 on the lands occupied by any person other than the landholder on the notified date.
(2) From the gross annual ryotwari demand as computed above, there shall be deducted 31/2 per cent of such demand on account of the maintenance of
Provided that no such deduction shall be made, if there is no irrigation work serving the estate, or if the landholder is under no legal obligation to maintain any such work serving the estate:
Provided further that where the obligation of the landholder to maintain every one of the irrigation works serving the estate is shared by him either with the Government or with the landholder of some other estate, the percentage of such deduction shall be reduced by such ex
(1) (a) The average net annual income from the lanka lands referred to in section 31, clause (iii), shall be the average of the net annual income derived by the landholder from such lands during a period of twenty complete fasli years immediately preceding the notified date, or where such lands have been in existence for a shorter period not being less than five complete fasli years immediately preceding the notified date, during the complete fasli years for which the lands have been in existence:
Provided that where the particulars necessary to compute such average are not available for the full period or where the particulars available appear in material respects to be incorrect, the computation may be made in such manner as may be prescribed.
(b) Where such lands have not been in existence for a period of five complete fasli years as aforesaid, their average net annual income shall be computed in such manner as may be prescribed.
(2) From the average net
The average net annual miscellaneous revenue from the sources referred to in section 31, clause (iv), shall be the average of the net annual income derived by the Government from such sources during the fasli year commencing on the notified date, if Such date was the 1st day of July, or on the 1st day of July immediately succeeding the notified date, if such date was not the 1st day of July and the next two fasli years.
From the aggregate of the sums referred to in section 31, clauses (i) to (iv), ascertained as aforesaid, there shall be deducted--
Provided that the amount deducted under clauses (a) and (b) shall in no case exceed one-half of the aggregate of the net amounts computed in accordance with sections 32 and 33.
In the case of an under-tenure estate, the basic annual sum shall, where it has been decided under section 10 that the estate was granted before the date of the permanent or temporary settlement of the principal estate or before the 13th day of July 1802, as the case may be, computed in accordance with the provisions of sections 31 to 35, both inclusive.
In other cases, the basic annual sum shall be the sum as computed in accordance, with the provisions of sections 27 to 30, both inclusive, less the whole of the jodi, kattubadi or other amount, if any (excluding local cesses and taxes), payable annually by the landholder of the under-tenure estate immediately before the notified date to the landholder of the principal estate, including the value, as ascertained in the prescribed manner, of whatever was deliverable in kind annually
The total compensation payable in respect of any estate shall, except in the case governed by section 38, be determined in accordance with the following scale:--
(1) Where an inam estate or part thereof was held immediately before the notified date by any religious, educational or charitable institution, the Government shall pay to the institution every year as a tasdik allowance--
(2) Where the tasdik allowance so payable is less than the difference between--
(2) Any such individual who renders the service on being required to do go by the institution as aforesaid shall be entitled to be paid by the institution every year such sum as may be fixed by agreement between the individual and the institution, and if no such agreement can be reached, such sum as may be fixed by the Board constituted under the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1926 (Madras Act II of 1927),
Provided that
(1) The Director shall determine in accordance with such of the foregoing provisions as may be applicable to the estate--
(2) Any landholder or other person interested may, within such time as may be prescribed or such further time as the Director may in his discretion allow, apply in writing to the Director for a copy of the data on the basis of which he proposes to determine the basic annual sum.
(3) On the receipt of such application, the Director shall furnish the data aforesaid to the applicant; and ho shall also, before passing any order under sub-section (1), give the applicant a reasonable opportunity of making his representations in regard thereto, in writing or orally.
(4) A copy of every order passed under sub-section (1) shall be communicated to every landholder concerned, a
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