THE KARNATAKA VILLAGE OFFICES ABOLITION ACT, 1961

Act No. 14 of 1961

8th July, 1961

An Act to abolish Village Offices in the State of Karnataka. WHEREAS it is expedient in the public interest to abolish the village offices which were held hereditarily before the commencement of the Constitution and the emoluments appertaining thereto in the State of Karnataka and to provide for matters consequential and incidental thereto; BE it enacted by the Karnataka State Legislature in the Twelfth Year of the Republic of India as follows:

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S.1 Short title, extent and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the 1[Karnataka]1 Village Offices Abolition Act, 1961.

(2) It extends to the whole of the 1[State of Karnataka]1.

(3) It shall come into force on such 1[date]1 as the State Government may, by notification, appoint.

1. Adapted by the Karnataka Adaptations of Laws Order, 1973 w.e.f. 01.11.1973.

1. Act has came into force on 01.02.1963 by notification. Text of the notification is at the end of the Act.

S.2 Definitions

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

• (a) "appointed date" means the date appointed under sub-section (3) of section 1;
• (b) "authorised holder" means a person in whose favour a land granted or continued in respect of, or annexed to, a village office by the State or a part thereof has been validly alienated permanently, whether by sale, gift, partition or otherwise, under the existing law relating to such village offices;
• (c) "Code" means,—
  • (i) in relation to the Mysore Area excluding Bellary District, the Mysore Land Revenue Code, 1888;
  • (ii) in relation to the 1[Belgaum Area,]1 the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879;
  • (iii) in relation to the 1[Gulbarga Area,]1 the Hyderabad Land Revenue Act, 1317-F;
  • (iv) in relation to the Coorg District, the Coorg Land and Revenue Regulation, 1899;
  • (v) in relation to the 1[Madras Area]1<
    

S.3 Powers of Deputy Commissioner to decide certain questions and appeals

(1) If any question arises,—

• (a) whether any land was granted or continued in respect of or annexed to a village office by the State; or
• (b) whether any person is a holder of a village office; or
• (c) whether any person is an authorised holder; or
• (d) whether any person is an unauthorised holder,

-the Deputy Commissioner shall, after giving the party affected an opportunity to be heard and after holding an enquiry in the prescribed manner decide the question.

(2) Any person aggrieved by such decision may file an appeal to the District Judge of the district within ninety days of such decision and the decision of the District Judge on such appeal shall be final. 1[The provisions of sections 4, 5, 12 and 14 of the Limitation Act, 1963 (Central Act 36 of 1963) shall be applicable to such appeal.]1

1. Inserted by Act 13 of 1978 w.e.f. 07.08.1978.

S.4 Abolition of village offices together with incidents thereof

Notwithstanding anything in any usage, custom, settlement, grant, agreement, sanad, or in any decree or order of a Court, or in an existing law relating to village offices, with effect on and from the appointed date,—

• (1) all village offices shall be and are hereby abolished;
• (2) all incidents (including the right to hold office and the emoluments attached thereto, the right to levy customary fees or prequisites in money or in kind and the liability to render service) appertaining to the said village offices shall be and are hereby extinguished;
• (3) subject to the provisions of section 5, section 6 and section 7, all land granted or continued in respect of or annexed to a village office by the State shall be and is hereby resumed, and shall be subject to the payment of land revenue under the provisions of the Code and the rules and orders made thereunder as if it were an unalienated land or ryotwari land.

S.5 Re-grant of land resumed under section 4 to the holder of the village office

(1) A land resumed under clause (3) of section 4 shall, in cases not falling under section 6 and section 7, be granted to the person who was the holder of the village office immediately prior to the appointed date (hereinafter referred to as the holder) on payment, by or on behalf of such holder to the State Government, of the occupancy price equal to three times in the case of holders of inferior village office and six times in the case of holders of other village offices, the amount of the full assessment of such land within the prescribed period and in the prescribed manner and the holder shall be deemed to be an occupant or holder of a ryotwari patta within the meaning of the Code in respect of such land and shall primarily be liable to pay land revenue to the State Government from the appointed date in accordance with the provisions of the Code and the rules and orders made thereunder; and all the provisions of the Code and the rules and orders relating to unalienated land or

S.6 Re-grant of land resumed under section 4 to authorised holders

Where any land resumed under clause (3) of section 4 is held by an authorised holder, it shall be regranted to the authorised holder on the payment by him to the State Government of the occupancy price equal to six times the full assessment of the land and subject to the conditions and consequences mentioned in section 5; and all the provisions of section 5 shall mutatis mutandis apply in relation to the re-grant of the land under this section to the authorised holder as if he were the holder of the village office.

S.7 Eviction of unauthorised holders etc.

1(1) Where any land resumed under clause (3) of section 4 is in the possession of an unauthorised holder such unauthorised holder shall be summarily evicted therefrom and the land shall be taken possession of by the Deputy Commissioner in accordance with law:

Provided that no such summary eviction shall be made except after giving the person affected a reasonable opportunity of making representation.

(2) Any order of eviction passed under sub-section (1) shall be final and shall not be questioned in any court of law and no injunction shall be granted by any court in respect of any proceeding taken or about to be taken by the Deputy Commissioner in pursuance of the power conferred by sub-section (1).

(3) The land from which an unauthorised holder is evicted under sub-section (1) shall,—

• (a) if it was granted or continued in respect of or annexed to an inferior village office be regranted to the holder of such village office; and
• 
  

S.7A Restriction on transfer etc.

1(1) No person shall transfer or acquire by transfer 2[for a period of fifteen years from the date of re-grant made on or after the date of commencement of the Karnataka Village Offices Abolition (Amendment) Act, 2003]2 any land disposed or regranted under sub-section (4) of section 7 and any transfer of such land in contravention thereof shall be null and void. The land so transferred shall vest in the State Government free from all encumbrances. The provisions of sub-section (5) of section 5 shall mutatis mutandis apply to transfer of such land.

(2) Any person who acquires by transfer such land in contravention of sub-section (1) shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment which may extend to six months.]1

1. Inserted by Act 13 of 1978 w.e.f. 07.08.1978.

2. Substituted by Act 22 of 2003 w.e.f. 9.5.2003.

S.8 Application of Tenancy Law

If any land granted or continued in respect of or annexed to a village office by the State has been lawfully leased and such lease is subsisting on the appointed date, the provisions of the tenancy law for the time being in force in that area in which the land is situate shall apply to the said lease and the rights and liabilities of the person to whom such land is granted under sections 5, 6 or 7 and his tenant or tenants shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be governed by the provisions of the said tenancy law.

Explanation.—For the purpose of this section, the expression "land" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the tenancy law referred to above.

S.9 Relief to holder of a village office

(1) A holder of a village office abolished under this Act, shall be paid in such manner and in such installments as may be prescribed,—

• (i) in the case of a holder of an inferior village office, an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts calculated in the manner provided in the following clauses (a), (b) and (c);
• (ii) in the case of a holder of any other village office, an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts calculated in the manner provided in the following clauses (a) and (b).—
  • (a) where the full or a portion of the assessment of the land granted or continued in respect of or annexed to, any village office by the State was assigned towards the emoluments of the holder of such officer, six times the amount equal to the difference between the amount of such assessment or portion and the amount of quit rent or jodi, if any payable to the State Government by the holder;
  • (b) six times the amount equal to the annual cash
    

S.10 Inquiries and proceedings to be judicial proceedings.

All inquiries and proceedings before the Deputy Commissioner under this Act shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193, 219 and 229 of the Indian Penal Code.

S.11 Rules.

(1) The State Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication, by notification, make rules for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

(2) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the sessions immediately following, both Houses agree in making any modification in any rule or both Houses agree that the rules should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

S.12 Repeal and savings.

(1) The enactments specified in Schedule I and any existing law relating to a village office in force in any area of the 1State of Karnataka1 so far as they apply to village offices or to emolument attached to such offices are hereby repealed.

(3) Nothing in sub-sections (1) 1[ x x x ]1 shall be deemed to affect—

• (a) any obligation or liability already incurred by the holder of a village office or other person before the appointed date;
• (b) any proceeding or remedy in respect of such obligation or liability and any such proceeding may be continued or any such remedy may be enforced as if this Act had not been passed.

1. Adapted by the Karnataka Adaptations of Laws Order, 1973 w.e.f. 01.11.1973.

1. Omitted by Act 22 of 2000 w.e.f. 29.11.2000.

SCHEDULE I.

Section 12(1)

Year	No.	Short title	Extenent of repeal
1908	IV	The 1[Karnataka]1 Village Offices Act, 1908.	The whole
1895	III	The Madras Hereditary Village Offices Act, 1895.	Do
1874	III	The Bombay Hereditary Offices Act, 1874.	Do
1886	V	The Bombay Hereditary Offices (Amendment) Act, 1886.	Do
1894	II	The Madras Proprietary Estates village Service Act, 1894.	Do
1802	XX I	The Madras Karnams Regulation, 1802.	Do
Do

1. Adapted by the Karnataka Adaptations of Laws Order, 1973 w.e.f. 01.11.1973.

SCHEDULE II.

1[SCHEDULE II x x x ]1

1. Omitted by Act 22 of 2000 w.e.f. 29.11.2000.