Chapter VII Chapter VII

The Government may, by notification, appoint an officer who holds or has held an office, which in it‟s opinion is not lower in rank than that of a Deputy Collector or an Executive Engineer, to be the competent authority under this Chapter in such area, or in respect of such premises or class of premises, as may be specified in the notification and more than one officer may be appointed as competent authority in the same area in respect of different premises or different classes of premises.

(1) If the competent authority is satisfied— (a) that the person authorized to occupy any Board premises has— (i) not paid rent lawfully due from him in respect of such premises for a period of more than two months, or (ii) sub-let, without the permission of the Board, the whole or any part of such premises, or (iii) otherwise acted in contravention of any of the terms, express or implied, under which he is authorized to occupy such premises, or (b) that any person is in unauthorized occupation of any Board premises, the competent authority may, notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, by notice served— (i) by post, or (ii) by affixing a copy of it on the outer door or some other conspicuous part of such premises, or (iii) in such other manner as may be prescribed, order that person as well as any other person who may be in occupation of the whole or any part of the premises, to vacate them within one month from the date of the service of the notice: Provided that no such order shall be passed unless the person has been afforded an opportunity to show cause why such order should not be made. (2) If any person refuses or fails to comply with an order made under sub-section (1), the competent authority may evict that person from, and take over the possession of the premises and may for that purpose use such force as may be necessary. (3) If any property belonging to the evicted occupant is found deposited in the premises at the time of taking possession of the premises under sub-section (2), the competent authority shall take possession of such property, and after giving reasonable time to the owner to recover it, dispose it of by public auction and the Board shall not be liable to pay any compensation for the alleged loss on the property left behind by the evicted person. The net proceeds realized from the disposal of the property belonging to the evicted occupant shall be returned to him. (4) If a person, who has been ordered to vacate any premises under sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (iii) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) within thirty days of the date of service of the notice or such longer time as the competent authority may allow, pays to the Board the rent in arrears or carries out or otherwise complies with the terms contravened by him to the satisfaction of the competent authority, as the case may be, the competent authority shall, in lieu of evicting such person under sub-section (2), cancel it’s order made under sub-section (1) and thereupon such person shall hold the premises on the same terms on which he held them immediately before such notice was served on him. Explanation:— For the purposes of this section and section 51, the expression “unauthorized occupation” in relation to any person unauthorized to occupy any board premises, includes the continuance in occupation by him or by any person claiming through or under him of the premises after the authority under which he was allowed to occupy the premises has been duly determined.

(1) Subject to such rules as may be prescribed and without prejudice to the provisions of section 50, where any person is in arrears of rent payable in respect of any Board premises, the competent authority may, by notice served— (i) by post, or (ii) by affixing a photocopy of it on the outer door or some other conspicuous part of such premises, or (iii) in such other manner as may be prescribed, order that person to pay the same within such time not being less than thirty days as may be specified in the notice and if such person refuses or fails to pay the arrears of rent within the time specified in the notice, such arrears may be recovered as arrears of land revenue. (2) Where any person is in unauthorized occupation of any Board premises, the competent authority may, in the prescribed manner, assess such damages on account of the use and occupation of the premises as it may deem fit, and may by notice served— (i) by post, or (ii) by affixing a copy of it on the outer door or some other conspicuous part of such premises, or (iii) in such other manner as may be prescribed, order that person to pay the damages within such time as may be specified in the notice and if any person refuses or fails to pay the damages within the time specified in the notice, the damages may be recovered from him as arrears of land revenue. (3) No order shall be made under sub-section (2) until after the issue of a notice in writing to the person calling on him to show cause, within such period as may be specified in such notice why such order should not be made, and until his objections, if any, and any evidence he may produce in support of the same, have been considered by the competent authority.

(1) Any person aggrieved by an order of the competent authority under section 50 or section 51 may, within one month of the date of the service of the notice under section 50 or section 51, as the case may be, prefer an appeal to the Government: Provided that the Government may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of one month, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. (2) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the Government may, after calling for a report from the competent authority, and after making such further inquiry, if any, as may be necessary, pass such orders as it thinks fit, and the order of the Government thereon shall be final. (3) Where an appeal is preferred under sub-section (1), the Government may stay the enforcement of the order of the competent authority for such period and on such conditions as it thinks fit. (4) Where an appeal is preferred relating to the quantum of rents due or damages due, such appeal shall be entertained only after the said amount is deposited with the board under protest: Provided that the Government may for good and valid reasons, entertain such appeal without making of such deposit.