Chapter I PRELIMINARY

Short title, extent and commencement. (1) This Act may be called the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Himachal Pradesh. (3) It shall come into force at once.

Definitions. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,- (1) “agricultural labourer” means a person whose principal means of livelihood is manual labour on land; (2) “agriculturist” means a landowner who cultivates land personally in an estate situated in Himachal Pradesh; (3) “arrear of rent” means rent which remains unpaid after the date on which it becomes payable; (3-A) ‘bank’ has the same meaning as assigned to it in the Himachal Pradesh Agricultural Credit Operation and Miscellaneous Provisions (Banks) Act, 1972. (4) “to cultivate personally” with its grammatical variations and cognate expression means- (i) by one’s own account ; (ii) by one’s own labour; (iii) by the labour of any member of one’s family ; or (iv) under the personal supervision of one-self or any member of one’s family by hired labour or by servant on wages payable in cash. Explanation.-In the case of a joint family the land shall be deemed to have been cultivated personally if it is cultivated by any member of such family. (5) “family” means husband, his wife and their children, including step or adopted children, and includes his parents, grand parents, brothers and unmarried, widowed, separated and divorced sisters ; (6) “improvement” with reference to a tenancy means any work which is suitable to the tenancy and consistent with the conditions on which it is held, by which the value of the tenancy has been and continues to be increased and which, if not executed on the tenancy, is either executed directly for its benefit, or is, after execution, made directly beneficial to it. Explanation I.-It includes among other things- (a) the construction of wells and other works for the storage or supply of water for agricultural purposes; (b) the construction of works for drainage and for protection of land from floods or from erosion; (c) the planting of trees, the reclaiming, enclosing, levelling and terracing of land for agricultural purposes and other works of a like nature; (d) the erection of buildings required for the more convenient or profitable cultivation of a tenancy ; and (e) the renewal or construction of any of the foregoing works or such alteration therein, or additions thereto, as are not of the nature of mere repairs and as durably increase their value; but it does not include such clearances, embankments, levellings, enclosures, temporary wells and water channels as are made by tenants in the ordinary course of cultivation and without any special expenditure, or any other benefit accruing to land from the ordinary operations of husbandry. Explanation ll.-A work which benefits several tenancies may be deemed to be, with respect to each of them, an improvement. Explanation III.-A work executed by a tenant is not an improvement if it substantially diminishes the value of any other part of his landowner's property; (7) “land” means land which is not occupied as the site of any building in a town or village and is occupied or has been let for agricultural purposes or for purposes subservient to agriculture, or for pasture and includes- (a) the sites of buildings and other structures on such land, (b) orchards, (c) ghasnies, (d) banjar land, and (e) private forests ; (8) “landless person” means a person who, holding no land for agricultural purposes, whether as an owner, or a tenant, earns his livelihood principally by manual labour on land and intends to take the profession of agriculture and is capable of cultivating the land personally ; (9) "kismi tenant" means a tenant who is recorded as a tenant of any kind, i.e., 'madd' or 'kisam' in the record-of-rights of the estate in which the tenancy is situate; (10) "landowner" means a person defined as such in the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954, (6 of 1954) or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, (17 of 1887) as the case may be, and shall include the predecessor or successor in interest of the landowner ; (11) “land revenue” means land revenue assessed under any law for the time being in force or assessable under the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954) or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (17 of 1887) as the case may be ; (12) “member of the Armed Forces” means a person in the service of the Armed Forces of the Union or in the service of an organisation raised by the Central Government or the State Government for the defence or security of the country and declared by a notification as Armed Forces for the purpose of this Act ; (13) “orchard” means a compact area of land, having fruit bearing trees grown thereon in such number that they preclude, or when fully grown would preclude, a substantial part of such land from being used for any agricultural purpose; (14) “allied pursuits” means dairy farming, poultry farming, breeding of livestock, grazing (other than the pasturage of one’s own agricultural cattle) and such other pursuits as may be prescribed ; (15) “rent” means whatever is payable to landowner in money or kind by a tenant on account of the use or occupation of land held by him; but shall not include the rendering any personal service or labour ; (16) “Revenue Officer” or “Revenue Court” in any provision of this Act, means a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court having authority under this Act to discharge the functions of a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court, as the case may be, under that provision; (17) “tenant” means a person who holds land under a landowner, and is, or but for a contract to the contrary would be liable to pay rent for that land to that landowner, and includes- (i) a sub-tenant; and (ii) the predecessors or successors in interest of a tenant or a sub-tenant, as the case may be; but it does not include- (a) a mere mortgagee of the rights of landowner, or (b) a person to whom a holding has been transferred or an estate or holding has been let in farm under the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954) or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (17 of 1887) as the case may be, for the recovery of an arrear of land revenue or of a sum recoverable as such an arrear; or (c) ; (18) “tenancy” means a parcel of land held by a tenant of a land owner under one lease or one set of conditions; (18-A). “village artisan” means a person who does not hold any agricultural land and whose principal means of livelihood is production or repair of traditional tools, implements and articles or things used for agriculture purposes or purposes ancillary thereto and also a person who normally earns his livelihood by practicing a craft either by his own labour or by the help of the labour of the members of his family in the rural area and whose annual house hold income does not exceed the income limit fixed for the persons living below poverty line; and. (19) “agricultural year”, “estate”, “holding”, “legal practitioner”, “pay”, “rates and cesses”, “village cess” and “village officer” have the meanings respectively assigned to these terms in the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954) or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (17 of 1887), as the case may be.