Persons deemed to be tenants

A person lawfully cultivating any land belonging to another person (hereinafter in this section referred to as the owner) on or after the 1st of July, 1962 but before the commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to be a tenant if such land is not cultivated personally by the owner and if such person is not — (i) a member of the owner’s family, or (ii) a servant on wages payable in cash or kind but not in crop share or a hired labourer cultivating the land under the personal supervision of the owner or of any members of the owner’s family, or (iii) a mortgagee in possession: Provided that if upon an application made by the landlord within one year from the commencement of this Act to the Mamlatdar within whose jurisdiction the land is situated:— (a) the Mamlatdar declares that such person is not a tenant and his decision is not reversed on appeal or revision, or (b) the Mamlatdar refuses to make such declaration but his decision is reversed on appeal or revision, such person shall not be deemed to be a tenant under this section: Provided further that a sub-tenant cultivating any land belonging to, another person "on or after the 1st of July, 1962, but before the commencement of this Act" shall, notwithstanding the fact that the creation of the sub-tenancy might have been prohibited by any law for the time being in force, be deemed to be lawfully cultivating the land as a tenant for the purposes of this section; and in such cases, the intermediary tenant or tenants prior to the creation of the sub-tenancy shall not be deemed to be tenant or tenants for the purposes of this Act: "Provided further that in the case of a person claiming to be a tenant on the ground that he was a sub-tenant cultivating any land after the 1st July, 1962 but before the commencement of this Act, the application by the landlord for a declaration that such person is not a tenant may be made within three months of the commencement of the Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1966". An application for recovery of arrears of rent shall be made by the landlord in Form I. (1) Whenever the Government thinks it expedient so to do, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct any or all of the following officers to conduct the revenue survey of any local area with a view to the preparation of record of rights connected therewith or for the revision of any existing record of rights: (a) Collector; (b) Director of Land Survey; (c) Sub-Divisional Officers; (d) Mamlatdars; (e) Survey Officers. The Director of Land Survey or the Collector may in turn and by a similar notification, appoint the following officers in respect of local areas as may be specified therein: (a) Awal Karkuns; (b) Circle Inspector; (c) Talathis. (1) It shall be the duty of the General Body of the Association:— (i) to elect the Managing Committee and the Office bearers, namely, the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman, the Honorary Secretary and the Honorary Treasurer and Attorney; (ii) to approve the annual Statement of Accounts to be prepared by the Managing Committee; (iii) to consider and decide the matters regarding the conservancy, maintenance and repairs of any bund, embankment, ridge, sluice-gate or any other matter which may be specially referred to by the Managing Committee for consideration or which the majority of the members of the General Body want to raise. (iv) to consider and decide the terms and conditions of lease of fishing rights of sluice gate or “Umalo” in the vicinity of sluice gate, “pons” or “murados” or in the rivulet and also to decide whether the public auction of fishing rights of the sluice gate or vicinity thereof, “pons” or “murados” shall be reserved exclusively for the members of Tenants Association or not. (2) The General Body shall meet once in a year, in the first fortnight of the month of December, to decide on general matters. For the purpose election of the Officer bearers of the Managing Committee, a special meeting shall be convened by the Mamlatdar with a notice of at least of 10 days in advance and the same will be presided over by the Mamlatdar or his representative. The notice in Form IV appended to these rules, for any meeting of the General Body shall be displayed in Village Panchayat Offices, Comunidade Offices, Block Development Office and Mamlatdar’s office and also a wide publicity of the same shall be given by beat of drum in the village. The voting at such meeting shall be by show of hands and the results shall be declared by the Mamlatdar or his representative, as the case may be, immediately after the voting is over for any post of office bearer. (3) Special meeting of the General Body can be convened by the Chairman of the Managing Committee on a written request made by more than 50% of the members of the association for discussing matters of general interest. A copy of such request shall be endorsed to the Mamlatdar. If the Chairman fails to call the meeting, the Mamlatdar will have the power to call the same if he is satisfied that calling the General Body meeting is in the interest of the association. All the ordinary and special meetings shall be presided over by the Chairman or in his absence by the vice-chairman except the special meeting called by the Mamlatdar. The meeting called by the Mamlatdar shall be presided over either by the Mamlatdar or by any person duly authorized by him. (4) (a) All the decisions of the general body shall be taken by the majority of the members present. (b) The quorum for all meetings of the General Body shall be ten and for that convened for electing the Managing Committee shall be half of the members of the Association. If there be no quorum at any meeting, the meeting shall be adjourned to another date not earlier than seven days of the original date fixed for meeting and the business shall be transacted in such adjourned meeting even if there be no quorum in such meeting. (c) A member may authorize in writing, any other person who may be a member or not, to represent him in any of the meetings of the Association and such authorized person shall have a right to participate in the deliberations of the meeting and also to cast his vote. (1) The public notice to be published or caused to be published by the Mamlatdar under section 18C shall be in Form IIA. The Notice shall be published by affixing a copy thereof on the notice board of the Mamlatdar’s Office and the village Panchayats Office in which the land is situated. For the purpose of serving a notice to the concerned parties the procedure under Rule 5 of the Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Rules, 1965 shall, as far as practicable, be followed. (2) The Mamlatdar shall record the statement of tenant under sub-section (3) of section 18C on oath in any of the official languages of the territory. Such statement shall also be read over or explained to the tenant and his signature taken on it. This order shall apply only to leases in respect of paddy fields and areca groves valid and subsisting on or after the 1st July, 1962 and shall apply to suits in respect of such leases filed or pending on or after the 1st July, 1962 and to those filed hereafter. (In its application to Diu, the reference to areca groves is omitted). (1) If in any proceedings before a Civil Court, a question arises as to whether a person is or is not a tenant within the meaning of this Act, such Court shall refer the said question to the Mamlatdar for his decision. (2) Every decision or order made by the Mamlatdar under sub-section (1) or under sub-section ( ) of section 3 shall be subject to the revision of the Collector under sub-section (2) of section 22 of the Goa, Daman and Diu Mamlatdar’s Court Act, 1966, (9 of 1966) as if such a decision or order had been made in a suit or proceeding under that Act, subject to the condition that revision application under this Act shall be filed within thirty days from the date of the decision or order as aforesaid. (3) Every decision or order made by the Mamlatdar under this Act shall, subject to any orders that may be passed by the Collector under sub-section (2), be final. (4) Every order made by the Mamlatdar under this Act shall be executed as if it had been made under the Goa, Daman and Diu Mamlatdar’s Court Act, 1966 (9 of 1966).