Chapter II RIGHT OF AGRICULTURISTS TO ALIENATE LAND/INTERESTS IN LAND IN FAVOUR OF BANKS

Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force or any custom or tradition, it shall be lawful for an agriculturist, whose rights of alienation of land or of any interest therein are restricted, to alienate the land or his interest therein, including by creation of a charge or mortgage on such land or interest in favour of a bank for the purpose of obtaining financial assistance from that bank.

Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, vest any class or classes of agriculturists not having rights of alienation in land or any interest therein including,-

(i) persons belonging to Scheduled Tribes covered by the Himachal Pradesh Transfer of Land (Regulation) Act, 1969 (15 of 1969),

(ii) tenants other than occupancy tenants,

(iii) occupancy tenants of the areas falling within Himachal Pradesh prior to 1st November, 1966,

(iv) lessees of the State Government who are agriculturists, with rights of alienation including the right to create a charge or mortgage on such land or interest in favour of a bank for the purpose of obtaining financial assistance from that bank without any restrictions, or subject to such restrictions as may be specified in the notification.

(1) It shall be lawful for an agriculturist to create a charge on the movable property owned by him or on the crops raised by him, standing or otherwise, or other produce from land cultivated by him, to the extent of his interest therein, in favour of a bank, to secure financial assistance from that bank notwithstanding that he may not be owner of the land on and from which the crop is raised.

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Himachal Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1968 (3 of 1969) or any other law for the time being in force, no charge in respect of financial assistance extended by a co-operative society to an agriculturist shall have priority over a charge on the crops raised by him, standing or otherwise, or any other movable property in respect of any financial assistance given to him by a bank provided the financial assistance made by the bank is prior in point of time to that of the financial assistance extended by the co-operative society.

(3) A bank may, distrain and sell through an official of the State Government, designated in this behalf by the State Government, the crop or other produce or other movable charged to that bank to the extent of the agriculturist's interest therein and appropriate the proceeds of such sale towards all moneys due to the bank from that agriculturists.

(1) Where an agriculturist creates a charge on land, or any other immovable property which he owns or in which he has an interest in respect of any financial assistance given to him by a bank, he may make a declaration on the lines of the form set out in the schedule hereto or as near thereto as circumstances permit, declaring that thereby he creates, in favour of the bank, a charge on such land or his interest therein or other immovable property, as the case may be, to secure the financial assistance given to him by the bank. (2) A declaration made under sub-section (1) may be varied from time to time by the agriculturist with the consent of the bank in whose favour the declaration has been made. Such variation shall take effect from such date on which the variation, if it had been original declaration, would have effect under section 9.