Chapter IV SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS

Mares, camels, or their progeny maintained under prescribed conditions not to be attached or sold.-No mare or camel or other animal maintained in accordance with any prescribed statement of conditions and no progeny, if less than eighteen months old, of any mare or camel so maintained, shall be liable to attachment or sale in execution of any decree.

Power of re-entry in case of squatters and trespassers.-When the Collector is satisfied that any person has taken or is in possession of land in a colony to which he has no right or title, the Collector may, in addition to any other powers he may possess, forthwith re-enter upon the land and resume possession of it and take possession of all crops, trees and buildings thereon on behalf of the Government without payment of any compensation whatsoever.

Penalties.-If any person, without permission of a Revenue Officer of a grade to be specified by the State Government -

1. (a) clears or breaks up for cultivation, or cultivates any land which is owned by, or is in the possession of the Government and is not included in any tenancy or allotted residential enclosure or which has been set apart for the common purposes of a town or village community or section of the same or for a road, canal or watercourse; or
2. (b) erects any building on any such land ; or
3. (c) fells or otherwise destroys standing trees on such land ; or
4. (d) otherwise encroaches on any such land ; or
5. (e) makes an excavation or constructs a water channel on any such land ; he shall, on complaint made by order of or under authority from the Collector, be punished on conviction with a fine not exceeding Rs. 200. Explanation.-The felling of trees planted by an owner or tenant on any village road or water-course traversing his holding is not an offence under this section.

Additional powers of Collector in regard to offences.-When the Collector is satisfied that an act punishable under section 33 has been committed, he may in lieu of proceeding against the offender under that section or after conviction of the offender under that section :-

1. (i) in the case of an offence under section 33 (a), confiscate the crops growing on any land cultivated in contravention of this Act or, if the crops have been cut, recover such sum as he may assess as the value thereof from the offender ;
2. (ii) in the case of an offence under section 33(c), recover such sum as he may assess as the value of the trees or tree destroyed;
3. (iii) in the case of an offence under section 33 (b)

1. (d) or (e), cause the building or other encroachment to be demolished or removed or the excavation or channels to be filled up and levy the costs of so doing from the person responsible for such act.

Power to levy a cess for administration of common village expenses.-

1. (1) If in any estate the majority of the tenants and owners of the estate shall apply for the levy of a cess for village purposes, the Collector may order the payment of such a cess from the proprietors, tenants and inhabitants of the village in such way and at such rates as he holds to be suitable:
2. (2) Any cess leviable under this section shall be recoverable by suit under section 77 (3)
   • (j) of the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887.

Jurisdiction of Civil Court barred as regards matter arising under the Act.-A Civil Court shall not have jurisdiction in any matter of which the Collector is empowered by this Act to dispose, and shall not take cognizance of the manner in which the State Government or Collector or any other Revenue Officer exercises any power vested in it or him by or under this Act.

Public servants indemnified for acts done under this Act.-No suit shall lie against any public servant for anything done by him in good faith under this Act.

Legalisation of orders passed previous to the Act.-Anything hitherto done or order passed by the State Government acting in the capacity of, or by any officer holding the post of Colonization Officer, Assistant Colonization Officer or Settlement Commissioner, or exercising the powers of an Assistant Collector or of a Revenue Officer of higher class within any area to which the Government Tenants (Punjab) Act, 1893, has been applied or to which this Act may hereafter be applied, which is not contrary to the provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have been done or passed under this Act.

1. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing sub-section, no right of occupancy or right of ownership and no condition applicable thereto shall be invalidated by reason of-
   • (i) the right having been granted before the particulars regarding it have been entered in a prescribed register ; or
   • (ii) the prescribed register not having been signed by the tenant; or
   • (iii) the prescribed statement of conditions having been affixed to the prescribed register instead of being prefixed thereto : Provided that if the register has not been signed by the tenant, the statement of conditions applicable to the tenancy shall be deemed to be that which was in force for tenancies of the same description at the time when the land was allotted.