The Gujarat Surviving Alienations Abolition Act, 1963

Short title, extent and commencement.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Gujarat Surviving Alienations Abolition Act, 1963.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Gujarat.
3. (3) This section shall come into force at once; and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

Definitions. In this Act, unless the context requires otherwise,—

1. (1) "Aghat holder" means a holder of land the alienation of which is called an 'Aghat';
2. (2) "alienation" means—
   • (a) a grant or recognition as a grant of—
     • (i) any land, or
     • (ii) the land revenue of any land, or
     • (iii) the right to or any share of the villages or portions of the villages or any share of the land revenue thereof, passed or made by the ruling authority or its successor before the commencement of this Act, whether or not such grant or recognition is evidenced by an instrument in writing;
   • (b) a grant of land revenue of any land or of any share of the villages or portions of the villages in consideration of any past or future service or as a sign of favour;
   • (c) a grant of land or land revenue as 'Jiwai' or 'Jiwai grant', and in any such case, the expression 'alienated' shall be construed accordingly;
3. (3) "alienee" means the holder of an alienation and includes any person to whom the rights of the alienee have been legally transferred;
4. (4) "assessment" means the land revenue assessed or rateable on the land under the provisions of the Code and includes such land revenue as would have been leviable if the land had not been alienated;
5. (5) "authorised holder" means—
   • (i) in relation to an alienation consisting of land, a person in whose favour the alienation was originally made or his successor-in-interest,
   • (ii) in relation to an alienation consisting of land revenue, a person who is the owner of the land to which the alienation relates;
6. (6) "Code" means the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879, as in force in the State of Gujarat;
7. (7) "Collector" includes an officer not below the rank of a Deputy Collector appointed by the State Government to perform the functions of the Collector under this Act;
8. (8) "community service inam" means an alienation of land or land revenue made for the purpose of community service and includes such service inam as the State Government may by order specify;
9. (9) "covenant" means the covenant entered into by the Rulers of the former Indian States or any agreement entered into by the State Government;
10. (10) "forest" has the meaning assigned to it in the Indian Forest Act, 1927;
11. (11) "inferior holder" means a holder of land who is in possession or enjoyment of land, but who is not an occupant;
12. (12) "Jiwai" or "Jiwaidar" means a grant of land or land revenue made by a Ruler of a former Indian State for the maintenance of a member of his family or a relation;
13. (13) "land" means land of every description and includes benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth;
14. (14) "Land Acquisition Act" means the Land Acquisition Act, 1894;
15. (15) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
16. (16) "Ruler" in relation to any former Indian State, means the Prince or Chief who for the time being was recognised by the President as the Ruler of such State;
17. (17) "Schedule" means a Schedule appended to this Act;
18. (18) "settlement" means a settlement of land revenue made under the provisions of the Code;
19. (19) "surviving alienation" means an alienation to which the provisions of this Act apply under section 3;
20. (20) "village" means a village recognized as such in the revenue records.

Abolition of alienations and vesting of land in Government.

1. (1) Save as otherwise provided by or under this Act, with effect from the appointed day—
   • (a) all alienations to which this Act applies shall be deemed to have been abolished;
   • (b) save as expressly provided by or under this Act, all rights legally subsisting on the said day in the alienated lands shall, save as provided in the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been extinguished; and
   • (c) all such lands (including all standing crops, trees (except trees belonging to an alienee or any other person), mines and minerals (whether discovered or not and whether being worked or not) and all rights in the sites of houses and other structures therein) shall vest in the State Government and all such rights and interests shall stand extinguished.
2. (2) Nothing in clause
   • (b) or
   • (c) of sub-section
3. (1) shall affect any rights of an alienee to hold or continue to hold any land in his personal cultivation or occupation, or any right of an inferior holder to hold or continue to hold any land in his occupation or possession, or any right of any person to receive any sum of money as a cash allowance or hereditary allowance, as provided in this Act.
4. (3) Any person authorised by the State Government in this behalf may, after the appointed day, take possession of any land or other property which vests in the State Government under clause
   • (c) of sub-section (1), and if any person resists the taking of such possession, the Collector shall, without prejudice to any other liability to which such person may be subject, take steps to obtain possession of such land or property as provided in the Land Revenue Code.
5. (4) The vesting of any land or property under clause
   • (c) of sub-section
6. (1) shall not affect any easementary right or right of way or other right subsisting in favour of any person in respect of such land or property.

Provisions of Land Revenue Code to apply. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the provisions of the Land Revenue Code shall apply to all alienated lands which vest in the State Government under this Act, as if they were unalienated lands, and in particular, the provisions of the said Code relating to the levy, assessment and recovery of land revenue shall, with such modifications as may be necessary or as may be prescribed, apply to such lands.

Liability of land to payment of land revenue.

1. (1) All land, whether applied to agricultural or other purposes, shall be liable to the payment of land revenue to the State Government according to the provisions of the Code.
2. (2) The land revenue payable under sub-section
3. (1) shall be assessed, and shall be liable to alteration, in accordance with the provisions of the Code and the rules made thereunder.

Assessment of land revenue.

1. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any alienation or in any instrument or any decree or order of a court or any other authority, the land revenue payable by an alienee in respect of an alienated land, the alienation of which is abolished under this Act, shall be assessed at the rate at which it would have been assessed under the provisions of the Code and the rules made thereunder, if the land had not been an alienated land: Provided that, nothing in this section shall apply to any land in respect of which provisions for assessment have been made under any other law for the time being in force.
2. (2) For the purpose of assessment under sub-section (1), the land shall be deemed to be unalienated land.

Termination of tenancies.—

1. (1) Where any land is held by an inferior holder from an alienee, and the alienation is abolished under section 4, then, notwithstanding anything contained in any law, contract or decree or order of any court, the tenancy of the inferior holder shall be terminated, unless he is an authorised holder.
2. (2) Where a tenancy is terminated under sub-section (1), the inferior holder shall be entitled to the rights of an occupant in respect of the land held by him as such inferior holder, on payment to the State Government of the occupancy price equal to the amount of six times the assessment of the land or such other amount as may be prescribed.
3. (3) The inferior holder shall be entitled to be an occupant of the land under sub-section
4. (2) only if he makes an application in writing to the Collector in this behalf within the prescribed period.
5. (4) If the inferior holder fails to make an application under sub-section (3), or fails to pay the occupancy price under sub-section (2), his right to be an occupant of the land shall be extinguished, and he shall be liable to be summarily evicted from the land by the Collector.

Occupancy rights in certain cases.—

1. (1) Where any land is held by an authorised holder from an alienee, and the alienation is abolished under section 4, the authorised holder shall be deemed to be an occupant of the land in his possession.
2. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the authorised holder shall be liable to pay to the State Government the land revenue equal to the assessment as fixed under the relevant Land Revenue Code, and he shall be subject to such responsibilities and liabilities as are provided under the said Code.

Power of Collector to determine whether land is or is not alienated.

1. (1) If any question arises whether any land is or is not alienated land, the Collector shall, after holding a formal inquiry, determine the question and his decision shall be subject to an appeal to the State Government and to the finality of such decision in appeal, the decision of the Collector shall be final.
2. (2) In any inquiry under sub-section
3. (1) the Collector shall follow the procedure prescribed by the Code for a formal inquiry.
4. (3) The Collector shall from time to time submit to the State Government a report on the determination made by him under sub-section (1).

Provisions of Bombay Land Revenue Code to apply. The provisions of the Code relating to land revenue, the record of rights, survey, settlement, assessment and collection of land revenue and the other matters mentioned in the Code shall, in so far as they are not inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Act, apply to the lands in respect of which an alienation is abolished under this Act.

Calculation of compensation for abolition of rights in land.

1. (1) For the purpose of calculating the amount of compensation payable to any person for the abolition of his rights in an alienated land, the following provisions shall apply, that is to say:--
   • (a) in the case of a permanent tenant, the compensation shall be an amount equal to three times the assessment of the land;
   • (b) in the case of a superior holder, the compensation shall be an amount equal to ten times the assessment of the land but where such superior holder is entitled to receive from an inferior holder an amount as rent for the land, the compensation shall be an amount equal to ten times the amount by which the total rent payable to the superior holder exceeds the assessment of the land;
   • (c) in any other case, the compensation shall be an amount equal to three times the assessment of the land.
2. (2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), "assessment" shall mean the assessment as fixed under the relevant Land Revenue Code or the Act applicable to the alienation in force immediately before the appointed day.

Method of awarding compensation.

1. (1) Any person entitled to compensation under section 11 shall make an application in the prescribed form to the Collector within the prescribed period.
2. (2) On receipt of an application under sub-section (1), the Collector shall, after making such inquiry as he thinks fit, determine the amount of compensation in accordance with the provisions of section 11.
3. (3) Where there is any dispute as to the person or persons entitled to receive the compensation, the Collector shall decide the dispute and if he is unable to do so, he shall refer the parties to a competent court of law, and payment of the compensation shall be made in accordance with the decision of such court.
4. (4) The compensation determined under this section shall be paid in the prescribed manner.

Inquiries to be conducted by Collector.

1. (1) Where this Act requires that an inquiry shall be made by the Collector, such inquiry shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the Code for the formal inquiry.
2. (2) The Collector shall record his decision in the inquiry in the form of an order giving his reasons therefor.

Limitation. Every appeal made under this Act to the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal shall be filed within a period of sixty days from the date of the order of the Collector.

Court-fees

Finality of decision Finality of decision

1. (1) Any decision made by the Collector under this Act shall, subject to an appeal to the State Government, be final and conclusive and shall not be questioned in any suit or proceedings in any civil court.
2. (2) The State Government shall have jurisdiction to decide any appeal filed under sub-section
3. (1) and the decision of the State Government shall be final.

Inquiries and proceedings to be judicial proceedings.

1. (1) All inquiries and proceedings before any Mamlatdar or Collector under this Act shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193, 219 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code.
2. (2) Every Mamlatdar and Collector acting under this Act shall be deemed to be a court for the purposes of section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

Rules.

1. (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
2. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, such rules may provide for the following matters:—
   • (a) the manner in which the amount of compensation payable under section 10 shall be determined;
   • (b) the manner in which and the period within which appeals may be filed under section 14;
   • (c) the procedure to be followed in holding an inquiry under this Act;
   • (d) the manner in which an inquiry shall be held under this Act and the procedure to be followed in such inquiry;
   • (e) the service of notices under this Act;
   • (f) any other matter which is or may be prescribed under this Act.
3. (3) The rules made under this section shall be subject to the condition of previous publication in the Official Gazette.
4. (4) All rules made under this section shall be laid for not less than thirty days before the State Legislature as soon as possible after they are made and shall be subject to such modifications as the State Legislature may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following.

Repeal and savings.

1. (1) On the commencement of this Act, the laws specified in the Schedule appended to this Act shall, in their application to the class of alienations to which this Act applies, be repealed: Provided that the repeal of the said laws shall not affect—
   • (a) any obligation or liability already incurred before the commencement of this Act;
   • (b) any proceeding pending on the commencement of this Act before any revenue officer or in any court and any such proceeding shall be continued and disposed of as if this Act had not been passed.
2. (2) Save as provided in sub-section (1), the provisions of the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879, and any other law for the time being in force relating to any of the matters dealt with in this Act shall, save in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, continue to be in force.

Schedule 1. The Gujarat Surviving Alienations Abolition Rules, 1963 2. The Bombay Personal Inams Abolition Act, 1952 (Bom. XLII of 1953) 3. The Bombay Integrated Land Tenure Abolition Act, 1953 (Bom. LXI of 1954) 4. The Gujarat Devastan Inams Abolition Act, 1969 (Guj. 16 of 1969) 5. The Gujarat Surviving Alienations (Abolition) (Amendment) Act, 1965 (Guj. 3 of 1965)