15. Collection of rents of undivided property. —
When two or more persons are landlord of a tenant
in respect of the same tenancy, the tenant shall not be bound to pay part of the rent of his tenancy to one
of those persons and part to another
Produce-rents.
16. Presumption with respect to produce remove before division of appraisement.— Where rent
is taken by division or appraisement of the produce, if the tenant removes any portion of the produce at
such a time or in such a manner as to prevent the due division or appraisement thereof ,or deals therewith
in a manners contrary to established usage the produce may be deemed to have been as full as the fullest
crop of the same description on similar lands in the neighborhood for that harvest.
17. Appointment of referee for division or appraisement.—If either the landlord or the tenant
neglects to attend, either personally or by agent, at the proper time for making the division or
appraisement of the produce, or if there is a dispute about the division or appraisement, a Revenue-officer
may, on the application of either party, appoint such person as he thinks fit to be a referee to divide or
appraise the produce.
18. Appointment of assessors and procedure of referee.—
(1) When a Revenue-officer appoints
referee under the last forgoing section, he may, in his discretion, give him instructions with respect to the
association with himself of any other persons as assessors, the number, qualification and selection of
those assessor, and the procedure to be followed in making the division or appraisement.
(2) The referee so appointed shall make the division or appraisement in accordance with any
instructions which he may have received from the Revenue-officer under the last foregoing
sub-section.
(3) Before making the division or appraisement the referee shall give notice to the landlord and the
tenant of the time and place at which the division or appraisement will be made, but, of either the landlord
or the tenant fails to attend either personally or by agent, the referee may proceed exparte.
(4) For the purpose of making the division or appraisement, the referee, with his assessors, if any, may
enter upon any land on which or into any building in which the produce is.
19. Procedure after division or appraisement.—
(1) The result of the division or appraisement shall
be recorded and signed by the referee, and the record shall be submitted to the Revenue-officer.
(2) The Revenue-officer shall consider the record, and, after such further inquiry, if any, as he may
deem necessary, shall make an order either confirming or varying the division or appraisement.
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(3) The Revenue-officer shall also make such order as to the costs of the reference as he thinks fit.
(4) The costs may include the remuneration of the referee and of the assessors, if any, and may be
levied from the applicant before the appointment of the referee subject to adjustment at the close of the
proceedings.
20. Enhancement of produce-rents of occupancy tenants. —Where the rent of a tenant having a
right of occupancy in any land is a share of the produce, or of the appraised value thereof, with or without
an addition in money, or is paid according to rates fixed with reference to the nature of the crops grown,
or is a rent in gross payable in kind, the tenant shall be entitled to occupy the land at that rent :
Provided that , when the land or any part thereof previously not irrigated or flooded becomes irrigated
or flooded, the rent payable in respect of the land or part may, subject to the provisions of this Act, be
enhanced to the share or rates, or with reference to the rent in gross, as the case may be, paid by tenants,
having a similar right of occupancy, for irrigated or flooded land of a similar description and with similar
advantages.
21. Reduction of rents refereed to in the last foregoing section.— When the land, or any part of the
land, held by a tenant having a right of occupancy to whom the last foregoing section applies ceases to be
irrigated or flooded, the rent payable in respect of the land or part may be reduced to the share or rates, or
with reference to the rent in gross, as the case may be, paid by tenants, having a similar right of
occupancy for unirrigated or unflooded land of a similar description and with similar advantages.
Cash-rents paid by Tenants having right of Occupancy.
22. Enhancement of cash rents of occupancy tenants.—
(1) Where a tenant having a right of
occupancy pays his rent entirely by a cash-rate on a recognized measure of area or by a cash-rent in
gross on his tenancy, the rent may be enhanced on the ground that, after deduction therefrom of the
land revenue of, and the rates and cesses chargeable on, the tenancy, it is—
(a) if the tenant belongs to the class specified in clause
(a) of sub-section
(1) of section 5, less
than two annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue;
(b) if he belongs to any of the classes specified in clauses
(b) ,
(c) and
(d) of that sub-section
less than six annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue ;
(c) if he belongs to the class specified in section 6, or if his right of occupancy is established
under section 8 and his rent is not regulated by contract, less than twelve annas per rupee of the
amount of the land-revenue.
(2) In a case to which sub-section
(1) applies, the rent may be enhanced to an amount not
exceeding two, six or twelve annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue as the case may be,
in addition to the amount of the land-revenue of the tenancy and the rates and cessers chargeable
thereon.
23. Reduction of rents referred to in the last foregoing section.—The rent payable buy a tenant
to whom the last foregoing section applies may be reduced on the ground that the productive powers
of his tenancy have been decreased by a cause beyond his control.
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General Provisions relating to Suits for Enhancement or Reduction of Rent.
24. Enhancement and reduction of rent by suit.—
(1) A Revenue Court, on the suit of either
landlord or tenant, may, subject to the provisions of this and other sections of this Act, enhance or reduce
the rent of any tenant having a right of occupancy.
(2) Where a decree for the enhancement of the rent of such a tenant has been passed under the Punjab
Tenancy Act, 1868, (XXVIII of 1868) a suit for a further enhancement of his rent shall not lie till the
expiration of five years from the date of the decree, unless in the meantime the local area in which the
land comprised in the decree is situate has been generally reassessed and the revenue payable in respect of
that land has been increased.
(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section
(2), a suit instituted for the enhancement of the rent of a
tenant having a right of occupancy shall not be entertained in either of the following cases, namely:—
(a) if within the ten years next preceding its institution his rent has been commuted under
section 13 or enhanced under this section,
(b) if within that period a decree has been passed under this Act dismissing on the merits a suit for
the enhancement of his rent, unless the land or some part of the land comprised in his tenancy, not
having been irrigated or flooded at the time of such commutation, enhancement or decree, has become
irrigated or flooded.
25. Discretion as to extent of enhancement or reduction.—In enhancing or reducing the rent of any
land under the foregoing provisions of this chapter, the Court shall within the limits prescribed by those
provisions, enhance or reduce the rent to such an amount as it considers fair and equitable, but shall not in
any case fix the rent at a sum less than the amount of the land-revenue of the land and the rates and cesses
chargeable thereon.
26. Time for enhancement or reduction to take effect.—
(1) Unless the Court decreeing an
enhancement of rent otherwise directs, the enhancement shall take effect from the commencement of the
agricultural year next following the date of the decree.
(2) A Court decreeing a reduction of rent shall specify in the decree the date on from which the
reduction is to take effect.
Adjustment of Rents expressed in terms of the Land-revenue.
27. Adjustment of rents expressed in terms of the land-revenue.—
(1) Where the rent of a tenancy
is the whole or a share of the land-revenue thereof, with or without an addition in money, kind or service,
and the land-revenue of the holding in which the tenancy is situate is altered, a Revenue-officer having
authority under section 56 of the Punjab Land-revenue Act, 1887 (XVII of 1887), to determine the
land-revenue payable in respect of the several holdings comprised in the estate in which the tenancy is
situate shall determine also the amount of the land-revenue of the tenancy, or the proportionate share
thereof, payable by the tenant as rent.
(2) Where an addition referred to in sub-section
(1) is a percentage fixed with reference to the
land-revenue of the tenancy, or the whole or a share of the rates and cesses chargeable thereon, or both,
the Revenue-officer shall in like manner from time to time alter the amount of the addition in proportion
to any alteration of such land-revenue or rates and cesses.
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(3) The sum or sums determined under the foregoing sub-sections, together with any addition
previously payable other than the additions referred to in sub-section
(2), shall be the rent payable in
respect of the tenancy until there is again an alterations of the land-revenue thereof or of the rates and
cesses chargeable thereon or until the rent is enhanced by a suit under this Act.
(4) An alteration of rent under this section shall not be deemed an enhancement or reduction of rent
within the meaning of this Act.
Alteration of Rent on Alteration of Area.
28. Alteration of rent on alteration of area.—
(1) Every tenant shall-
(a) be liable to pay additional rent for all land proved to be in excess of the area for which rent has
been preciously paid by him, unless it is proved that the excess is due to the addition to his tenancy of
land which, having previously belonged to the tenancy, was lost by alluvion or otherwise without any
reduction of the rent being made; and
(b) be entitled to and abatement of rent in respect of any deficiency proved to exist in the area of
his tenancy as compared with the area for which rent has been previously paid by him, unless it is
proved that the deficiency is due to the loss of land which was added to the area of the tenancy by
alluvion or otherwise, and that an addition has not been made to the rent in respect of the addition to
the area.
(2) In determining the area for which rent has been previously paid, the Court shall have regard to the
following, among other matters, namely:—
(a) the origin and conditions of the tenant’s occupancy, for instance whether the rent was a rent in
gross for the entire tenancy;
(b) whether the tenant has been allowed to hold additional land in consideration of and addition to
his total rent or otherwise with the knowledge and consent of the landlord; and
(c) the length of time during which there has been no dispute as to rent or area.
(3) In adding to or abating rent under this section, the Court shall add to or abate the rent to such an
amount as it deems to be fair and equitable, and shall specify in its decree the date on and from which the
addition or abatement is to take effect.
(4) An addition to or abatement of rent under this section shall not be deemed an enhancement or
reduction of rent within the meaning of this Act.
Remission
29. Remission of rent by Courts decreeing arrears.—Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing
sections of this Chapter, if it appears to a Court making a decree for and arrear of rent that the area of a
tenancy has been so diminished by diluvion or otherwise, or that the produce thereof has been so
diminished by drought, hail, deposit of sand or other like calamity, that the full amount of rent payable by
the tenant cannot be equitably decreed, the Court may, with the previous sanction of the Collector, allow
such remission from the rent payable by the tenant as may appear to it to be just.
30. Remission and suspension of rent consequent on like treatment of land
revenue.—
(1) Wherever from any cause the payment of the whole or any part of the land-revenue
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payable in respect of any land is remitted or suspended, a Revenue-officer may, by order, remit or
suspend, as the case may be, the payment of the rent of that land to an amount which may bear the same
proportion to the whole of the rent payable in respect of the land as the land-revenue of which the
payment has been remitted or suspended bears to the whole of the land-revenue in respect of the land.
(2) An order passed under sub-section
(1) shall not be liable to be contested by suit in any Court.
(3) A suit shall not lie for the recovery of any rent of which the payment has been remitted, or, during
the period of suspension, of any rent of which the payment has been suspended.
(4) Where the payment of rent has been suspended, the period during which the suspension has
continued shall be excluded in the computation of the period of limitation prescribed for a suit for the
recovery of the rent.
(5) If the landlord collects any rent of which the payment has been remitted, or before the expiration of
the period of suspension collects any rent of which the payment has been suspended, the whole of the
land-revenue remitted or suspended in his favour shall become immediately payable by him.
(6) The provisions of this section relating to the remission and suspension of the payment of rent may
be applied, so far as they can be made applicable, to land if which the land-revenue has been released,
compounded for or redeemed, in any case in which, if the land-revenue in respect of the land had not been
released, compounded for or redeemed, the whole or any part of it might, in the opinion or the Revenue-
officer, be remitted or suspended under the rules for the time being in force for regulating the remission
and suspension of land-revenue.
Deposits.
31. Power to deposit rent in certain cases with Revenue-officer.—In either of the following cases,
namely:—
(a) when a landlord refuses to receive, or grant a receipt for, any rent payable in money when
tendered to him by a tenant,
(b) when a tenant is in doubt as to the person entitled to receive rent payable in money, the tenant
may apply to a Revenue-officer for leave to deposit the rent 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, chargeable for the issue of the notice next
hereinafter referred to.
32. Effect of depositing rent.—
(1) When a deposit has been so received, it shall be deemed to be a
payment made by the tenant to his landlord in respect of rent due.
(2) The Revenue-officer receiving the deposit 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 thereto, or may, if he thinks fit, retain the deposit pending the
decision of a competent Court as to the person so entitled.
(3) No suit or other proceeding shall be instituted against the Secretary of State of India in Council, or
against any officer of the Government, in respect of anything done by a Revenue-officer under this
section, but noting in this sub-section 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 a Revenue-officer.
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Recovery of Rent form attached Produce.
33. Recovery of Rent from attached produce.—
(1) If an order is made by any Court for the
attachment of the produce of a tenancy or of any part of a tenancy, the landlord may apply to the
Revenue-officer by whom the attachment is to be or has been made to sell the produce and pay to him out
of the proceeds of the sale thereof the amount or value of —
(a) any rent which has fallen due to him in respect of the tenancy within the year immediately
preceding the application and
(b) the rent which will be falling due after the harvesting of the produce and is chargeable
against it.
(2) The Revenue-officer shall give the person at whose instance the attachment was made an
opportunity of showing cause why the application of the landlord should not be granted, and, if he finds
the landlord’s claim to the whole or any part of the rent to be proved, he shall cause the produce or such
portion thereof as he may deem necessary to be sold, and shall apply the proceeds of the sale in the first
instance to satisfy the claim.
(3) The finding of the Revenue-officer under sub-section
(2) shall have the force of a decree in a suit
between the landlord and the tenant.
Leases for period exceeding term of Assessment of Land-revenue.
34. Treatment of leases for period exceeding or equal to term of assessment of land-revenue.—
(1) Where a lease has been granted, or an agreement has been entered into, by a landowner in respect of
any land assessed to land-revenue, fixing for a period exceeding the term for which the land-revenue has been
assessed the rent or other sum payable in respect of the land under the lease or agreement, and that term has
expired, the lease or agreement shall be voidable—
(a) at the option of the landowner if the land-revenue of the land has been enhanced and the person to
whom the lease has been granted or with whom the agreement has been entered into refuses to pay such
rent or other sum as a Revenue Court, on the suit of the landowner, determines to be fair and equitable;
and
where the relation of landlord and tenant exists between the grantor and grantee of the lease or between
the persons who entered into the agreement—
(b) at the option of the tenant if the land-revenue of the land has been reduced and the landlord refuses
to accept such rent as a Revenue Court, on the suit of the tenant, determines to be fair and equitable.
(2) Any agreement relative to the occupation, rent, profits or produce of any land which has been entered
into for the term of the currency of an assessment shall, unless a contrary intention clearly appears in the
agreement or the agreement is terminated by consent of parties or course of law, continue in force until a
revised assessment takes effect.
CHAPTER IV
RELINQUISHMENT, ABANDONMENT AND EJECTMENT.
Relinquishment.
35. Relinquishment by tenant for a fixed term.—A tenant holding for a fixed term under a contract
or a decree or order of competent authority may relinquish his tenancy without notice at the end of that
term.
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36. Relinquishment by any other tenant.—
(1) Any other tenant may relinquish his tenancy by
giving verbally or in writing to his landlord, or to his landlord’s agent, on or before the fifteenth day of
January in any year, notice of his intention to relinquish the tenancy at the end of the agricultural year
then current.
(2) The tenant may, instead of, or in addition to giving the notice in the manner mentioned in
sub-section
(1), apply to a Revenue-officer on or before the date aforesaid to cause the notice to be served
on the landlord, and the Revenue-officer, on receiving the cost of service from the tenant, shall cause the
notice to be served as soon as may be.
(3) If the tenant does not give notice in the manner prescribed in this section, he shall be liable to pay
the rent of his tenancy for any part of the ensuing agricultural year during which the tenancy is not let by
the landlord to some other person or is not cultivated by the landlord himself.
37. Relinquishment of part only of tenancy.—A tenant cannot, without the consent of his landlord,
relinquish a part only of his tenancy.
Abandonment.
38. Abandonment of tenancy be occupancy tenant.—If a tenant having a right of occupancy fails
for more than one year without sufficient cause to cultivate his tenancy, either by himself or some other
person, and to arrange for payment of the rent thereof as it falls due, the right of occupancy shall be
extinguished from the end of that year.
Ejectment.
LIABILITY TO EJECTMENT.
39. Grounds of ejectment of occupancy tenant.—A tenant having a right of occupancy shall be
liable to be ejected from his tenancy on any of the following grounds, namely:—
(a) that he has used the land comprised in the tenancy in a manner which renders it unfit for the
purposes for which he held it;
(b) where rent is payable in kind, that he has without sufficient cause failed to cultivate that land in
the manner or to the extent customary in the locality in which the land is situate;
(c) that a decree for an arrear of rent in respect of the tenancy has been passed him and remains
unsatisfied.
40. Grounds of ejectment of tenant for a fixed term.—A tenant not having a right of occupancy by
holding for a fixed term under a contract or a decree or order of competent authority, shall be liable to be
ejected from his tenancy at the expiration of that term, and, on any of the following grounds, before the
expiration thereof, namely:—
(a) that he has used the land comprised in the tenancy in a manner which renders it unfit for the
purposes for which he held it ;
(b) where rent is payable in kind, that he has without sufficient cause failed to cultivate that land in
the manner or to the extent customary in the locality in which the land is situate;
(c) on any ground which would justify ejectment under the contract, decree or order.
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41. Ejectment of tenant from year to year.—A tenant who has not a right of occupancy, and does
not hold for a fixed term under a contract or a decree or order of competent authority, may be ejected at
the end of any agricultural year.
PROCEDURE ON EJECTMENT.
42. Restriction on ejectment.—A tenant shall not be ejected otherwise than in execution of a decree
for ejectment except in the following cases, namely:—
(a) when a decree for an arrear of rent in respect of his tenancy has been passed against him and
remains unsatisfied;
(b) when the tenant has not a right of occupancy and does not hold for a fixed term under a contract
or a decree or order of competent authority.
43. Application to Revenue-officer for ejectment.—In any such case as is mentioned in clause
(a) or
clause
(b) of the last foregoing section, the landlord may apply to a Revenue-officer for the ejectrment of
the tenant in the case mentioned in the former clause or for the service on the tenant of a notice of
ejectment in the case mentioned in the latter clause.
44. Ejectment for failure to satisfy decree for arrear of rent.—
(1) On receiving the application in
any such case as is mentioned in clause
(a) of section 42 the Revenue-officer shall, after such inquiry with
respect to the existence of the arrear as he deems necessary, cause a notice to be served on the
tenant, stating the date of the decree and the amount due there under, and informing his that if he does not
pay that amount to the Revenue-officer within fifteen days from receipt of the notice he will be ejected
from the land.
(2) If the amount is not so paid, the Revenue-officer shall, subject to the provisions of this Act with
respect to the payment of compensation, order the ejectment of the tenant unless good cause is shown to
the contrary.
45. Ejectment of tenant from year to year by notice.—
(1) On receiving the application of the
landlord in any such case as is mentioned in clause
(b) of section 42, the Revenue-officer shall, if the
application is in order and not open to objection on the face of it, cause a notice of ejectment to be served
on the tenant.
(2) A notice under sub-section
(1) shall not be served after the fifteenth day of November in any year.
(3) The notice shall specify the name of the landlord on whose application it is issued, and describe the
land to which it relates, and shall inform the tenant that he must vacate the land before the first day of
May next following, or that, if he intends to contest his liability to ejectment, be must institute a suit for
that purpose in a Revenue Court within two months from the date of the service of the notice.
(4) The notice shall also inform the tenant that if he does not intend to contest his liability to be ejected
and he has any claim for compensation on ejectment he should, within two months from the date of the,
service of the notice, prefer his claim to the Revenue-officer having authority under the next following
sub-section to order his ejectment in the circumstances described in that sub-section.
(5) If within two months from the date of the service of the notice the tenant does not institute a suit to
contest his liability to be ejected, a Revenue-officer, on the application of the landlord, shall, subject to
the provisions of this Act with respect to the payment of compensation, order the ejectment of the tenant:
18
Provided that the Revenue-officer shall not make the order until he is satisfied that the notice was duly
served on the tenant.
(6) If within those two months the tenant institutes a suit to contest his liability to be ejected and fails
in the suit, the Court by which the suit is determined shall by its decree direct the ejectment of the tenant.
46. Power to make rules.—The Financial Commissioner may make rules prescribing—
(a) the form and language of applications and notices under the two last foregoing sections ; and
(b) the manner in which those applications and notices are to be signed and attested.
GENERAL PROVISIONS RESPECTING EJECTMENT.
47. Time for ejectment.—A decree or order for the ejectment of a tenant shall not be executed at any
other time than between the first day of May and the fifteenth day of June (both days inclusive), unless
the Court making the decree or, where the order is made under section 44, the officer making the order
otherwise directs.
48. Relief against forfeiture.—
(1) If in a suit for the ejectment of a tenant on either of the grounds
mentioned in clauses
(a) and
(b) of section 39 or of section 40 it appears to the Court that the injury
caused by the act or omission on which the suit is based is capable of being remedied, or that an award of
compensation will be sufficient satisfaction to the landlord therefore, the Court may, instead of making a
decree for the ejectment of the tenant, order him to remedy the injury within a period to be fixed in the
order, or order him to pay into Court, within such a period, such compensation as the Court thinks fit.
(2) The Court may from time to time, for special reasons, extend a period fixed by it under
sub-section
(1).
(3) If within the period, or extended period, as the case may be, fixed by the Court under this section,
the injury is remedied or the compensation is paid, a decree for the ejectment of the tenant shall not be
made.
49. Rights of ejected tenants in respect of crops and land prepared for sowing.—
(1) Where at the
time of the proposed ejectment of a tenant from any land his uncut or ungathered crops are standing on
any part thereof, he shall not be ejected from that part until the crops have ripened and he has been
allowed a reasonable time to harvest them.
(2) The Co
