The Himachal Pradesh Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilisation Act, 1974

(AUTHORITATIVE ENGLISH TEXT) THE HIMACHAL PRADESH VILLAGE COMMON LANDS VESTING AND UTILIZATION ACT, 1974 (Act No.18 of 1974)

(1)This Act may be called the Himachal Pradesh Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization Act, 1974.

1. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Himachal Pradesh.
2. (3) It shall come into force at once.

context-

1. (a) “Collector” means the Collector of the district in which the estate is situated and includes an Office, not below the rank of an Assistant Collector of the First Grade, appointed by the State Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act; 1[(a-1) “common purposes” means and includes grazing, collection of fuel wood and tree leaves for fodder, school buildings, Panchayat Ghars, Mahila mandal Bhawans, School Playgrounds, Community Hals, Janj Ghars, Dispensaries; Government Officers, Kisan Mandies, tree plantation under various State Government Schemes and any other public facilities.] 2[(aa) “Handicapped persons” means a crippled or physically or medically deficient person whose annual income from all sources does not exceed 3[the limit fixed for persons living below poverty line as notified by the State Government from time to time] and on account of injury, disease or congenital deformity, is substantially prevented from or is incapable of landing a normal life or earning full wages for the work in which he is employed; or obtaining or keeping of 2001. employment or undertaking work on his own of a kind in view of that injury, disease or deformity which work would have suited his age, experience and qualifications. Explanation—For the purposes of this clause, a person who has incurred physical disablement to the extent of fifty percent or more shall, be deemed to be substantially incapable or disabled person;]
2. (aaa) “houseless person” means a person who owns no house or a site to construct a house for himself; Provided that a person whose father is alive or whose annual income from all sources exceeds 1[the limit fixed for persons below poverty line as notified by the

¹ Inserted vide Section 2 of Act No.20 of 2001.

² Inserted by Section 2(a) of H.P. Act of 1987.

³ Substituted for words “rupees seven thousand and five hundred” vide section 2(b) of Act No. 20

State Government from time to time] shall not be deemed to be a houseless

person,

1. (b) “inhabitant of an estate” means a person, whether a proprietor or a non- proprietor, who ordinarily resides in an estate: Provided that a temporary absence or absence in relation to employment elsewhere shall not affect his residence in the estate;
2. (c) “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: Provided that a person whose father is alive or whose annual income from all sources exceeds 1[the limit fixed for persons below poverty line as notified by the State Government from time to time] shall not be deemed to be a landless person;
3. (d) “landowner” means a person, having a share in the shamilat land as recorded in the land records and includes a Panchayat;
4. (dd) other eligible person means a person;
   • (i) who, holding land for agricultural purposes less than an area 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;
   • (ii) whose father is alive; and
   • (iii) whose annual income from all sources does not exceeds 1[the limit fixed for persons below poverty line as notified by the State Government from time to time]; (amendment) Act, 1987. and shall not include a person who holds a share or a portion of an estate jointly owned or cultivated by two or more persons;
5. (e) “panchayat” means a panchayat constituted under the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1968 (19 of 1970);
6. (f) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
7. (g) “State Government” means the Government of Himachal Pradesh;
8. (h) the words “land” and “private forests” have the same meanings as assigned to these words in the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972; (19 of 1973) and
   • (i) all other words and expressions used in this Act but not defined in it shall have the same meanings as assigned to such words and expressions in the

¹ Substituted for words “Rs.3000/-” vide section 2(c) of Act No. 20 of 2001.

² Inserted by section 2 of the H.P. Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization

Vesting of rights in the State Government.- Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force or in an agreement, instrument, custom or usage or any decree or order of any court or other authority all rights, title and interests including the contingent interest, if any, of the landowner in the lands in any estate-

1. (a) vested in a Panchayat under section 4 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (18 of 1961 as in force in the areas added to Himachal Pradesh under section 5 of the Punjab Re-organization Act, 1966 (31 of 1966) except lands used or reserved for the benefit of village community including streets, lanes, playgrounds, schools, drinking wells or ponds within abadi deh or garah deh;

1[(b) described in the revenue records as shamlat taraf, pattis, pannas, thola,

shamlat, shamlat deh, shamlat chak, shamlat tika or by any such other description and not used according to revenue records for the benefit of the community in the village or a part thereof or for common purposes of the village in the areas added to Himachal Pradesh under section 5 of the Punjab Re-organisation Act,1966; and

1. (c) described in revenue records as shamlat, shamlat deh, shmlat taraf, shmlat chak, pattti or by any other such description in the areas, comprised in Himachal Pradesh, immediately before 1 st November,1966;] shall stand extinguished and all such rights, title and interest shall vest in the State Government free from all encumbrances.

¹ Substituted vide section 3 (a) of Act No.20 of 2001.

(2). The provisions of sub-section (1) of this section shall not apply to lands

described in clause (b) and (c) of that sub-section if, before the date of commencement of this Act-

1. (a) partition of such lands is made by the individuals co-sharers through a process of law by a competent court or authority,
2. (b) transfer of such lands is made by the landowner by way of sale, gift or exchange,
3. (c) such land built upon by an inhabitant by raising a residential house or cow-shed,

revenue and has been continuously recorded in cultivating possession of the Co- sharers so recorded before 26 th January,1950 to the extent of their shares therein: Provided that the provisions of this clause shall not be applicable to such lands which have already been put to use by the Government.]

2[(2-a). The land reverted back to co-sharers under clause (d) of sub-section (2) shall not be transferred by such co-sharers, by way of sale, gift, mortgage or otherwise, during a period of twenty five years from the date of mutation of such land. (2-b). No Registrar or the Sub-Registrar, appointed under (16 of 1908) the Registration Act, 1908, shall register any document pertaining to transfer of such land, which is in contravention of sub-section (2-a) and such transfer shall be void abinitio and the land involved in such transfer, if made in contravention of sub- section (2-a), shall vest in the State Government free from all encumbrances.]

1. (3) The State Government shall be liable to pay, and the landowners whose rights have been extinguished under sub-section (1) of this section shall be entitled to receive the amount in lieu thereof at the following rates:- 1. Added vide section 3 (b) of Act No.20 of 2001. 2. Added vide Section 2 of Act No.32 of 2005.
   • (i) for the land reserved for grazing and other common purpose under clause(a) of sub-section (1) of section 8, five

times the annual land revenue including rates and

cesses chargeable thereon; and

1. (ii) for the remaining land, fifteen times the annual land

revenue including rates and cesses chargeable thereon:

Provided that where the land vested in the State Government under this Act is not assessed to land revenue, the same shall be construed to

be assessed as on similar land in the estate and if not available in the estate then in the adjoining estate or estates, as the case may be.

1. (4) The amount paid to a Panchayat under section 7 shall be deemed to be the Sabha Fund and shall be utilized for such purposes as are mentioned in section 40 of the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act,1968.(19 of 1970).
2. (5) The collector may, by order in writing, at any time after the land vested in the State Government, direct the landowners to deliver possession thereof within 10 days from the service of the order to such person as may be specified in the order.
3. (6) If the landowners refuse or fail without reasonable cause to comply with the order made under sub-section (5), the Collector may take possession of the land and may for that purpose use such force as may be necessary.

Panchayats in his district the record of cases, contracts or agreements entered into by the Panchayats in respect of any land vested in the Panchayats under the Punjab Village common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (18 of 1961) and the rules made thereunder and examine such record himself as to the legality or proprietary of such leases, contracts or agreements;

1. (2) Where on examination of the record under sub-section (1) and after making such enquiry as he deems fit the Collector is satisfied that such leases, contracts or agreements are in accordance with the provisions of the said Act and rules, he shall pass orders declaring such leases, contracts or agreements having been made on behalf of the State Government 1[and will fix the lease money at the rate notified by the State Government from time to time. Such lease money shall be recovered by the Panchayat concerned from the lessee].
2. (3) Where on such examination and enquiry the Collector finds that a lease, contract or agreement has been entered into in contravention of any of the provisions of the said Act or the rules made thereunder or has been entered into as a result of fraud or concealment of facts or is detrimental to the interest of the estate right-holders, he shall cancel such a lease contract or agreement and such person shall be liable to ejectment under the provisions of section 150 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act 1887 (17 of 1887): Provided that no order under sub-section (2) and (3) of this section shall be passed by the Collector without affording an opportunity of being heard to the parties to the lease, contract or agreement.

¹ Inserted vide Section 4 of Act No.20 of 2001.

Government.- Where the land vested in the State Government or the shamlat land by whatever term it is recorded in the revenue records, which has not vested in the State Government, has been encroached upon by any person or co-sharer before or after the commencement of this Act the Revenue Officer may of his own motion or on the report of the Patwari of the circle duly verified by the Kanungo of the circle or on the application of any estate right holder or co-sharer, eject such person in accordance with the provisions of section 163 of the Himachal

Determination of amount payable to landowners.- (1) The Collector shall cause a notice to be served, in the prescribed form and manner, to the landowner, whose rights have been extinguished under sub-section (1) of section 3, stating therein, the area of land vested in the State Government and the amount proposed therefore, immediately after the commencement of this Act, calling upon him to prefer objections, if any, within60 days from the receipt of the notice: Provided that the Collector may entertain the objections after the expiry of the said period of 60 days if he is satisfied that the landowner was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the objections within the prescribed time.

1. (2) The Collector after giving the landowner or landowners, as the case may be, an opportunity of being heard and making such inquiry as may be necessary, shall make an award determining the amount payable by the State Government to the landowners in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 3 and also apportion the amount thereof among the landowners.
2. (3) Where the amount is payable to a minor, the Collector may make such arrangements as may be equitable having regard to the interest of the minor.

The amount payable to a landowner under section 6 shall be paid in the manner and in such number of six monthly instalments not exceeding ten as may be prescribed.

State Government under this Act shall be utilized for the following purposes:-

1. (a) an area not less than fifty per cent of the total area vested in the State Government under section 3 of this Act for grazing and other common purposes of the inhabitants of an estate; and
2. (b) the remaining land-
   • (i) for allotment to a landless person 2[,a victim of natural calamities] or any other eligible person; or
   • (ii) for allotment of site to a handicapped or houseless person for the construction of a house; under a scheme to be framed by the State Government by notification in the official Gazette and the allottee shall pay an amount at the rate of forty-eight times of the land revenue and rates and cesses chargeable on the land allotted to him under the said scheme, either in lump sum or in six monthly instalments not exceeding four. (iii)3[for allotment of land to the eligible persons under the schemes notified by the State Government for providing houses to the poorer sections of the society.]

1. (2) The land reserved under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of this section shall be demarcated by such Revenue Officer and in such manner as may be prescribed.
2. (3) Any scheme framed by the State Government under clause (b) of sub-section
3. (1) of this section may provide for the terms and conditions on which the land is to be allotted.
4. (4) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, add to, amend, vary or revoke any scheme made under this section. 4[Explanation.- For the purpose of this section, the expression ‘natural calamities’ shall mean and include calamities caused by floods, earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, snow-storms hail-storms, fire, excessive rains, cloud burst, wind storms and lightening.] 3. Added vide Section 6 of Act No.20 of 2001. 4. Added vide Section 2 (b) of Act No.12 of 1997. 1[8-A. Utilization of land for development of the State.- Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 8 of the Act, the State Government 2[or any other officer authorized by the State government in this behalf] may utilize any area of the land vested in it under the Act

¹ Substituted for clause (b) by section 2 of the Amendment Act, 1987.

² Inserted vide Section 2 (a) of Act No.12 of 1997.

3[by transfer whether by way of lease or

exchange to any person] or by transfer to any department of the Government in the interests of the development in the interests of the development of the State, if the State Government

2[or the officer authorized by it] is satisfied that there are

sufficient reasons to do so subject to the condition that land for the purposes mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 8 in no case shall be less than fifty percent of the land vested in the Government under the Act: Provided that when lands not used by a person for the purpose for which it has been leased, the lease shall stand terminated free from all encumbrances and the Government shall re-enter on the demised premises and lease money if paid to the Government, shall be forfeited and no person shall be entitled to any compensation for any improvement made and for any building constructed thereunder.

4[8-B. Conferment of proprietary rights on Chakotadars.- Not-withstanding anything contained in sections 4 and 5 of this Act, the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, frame a scheme providing for conferment of proprietary rights on Chakotadars, who have been leased out lands on Chakota basis by the Panchayats under the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation)

Appeal.- An appeal from the order of a Collector passed under this Act shall lie to the State Government or an Officer to be authorized by it, by a notification, within 60 days, of passing of the order.

5[9-A. Review.- (1) The Collector or the Officer authorized by the State Government under section 9 may, either on his own motion or on the application of any party interested, review and on so reviewing, modify, reverse or confirm any order passed by himself or by any of his predecessors in office.

1. (2) No order shall be modified or reversed in review unless a notice has been given to the parties affected thereby to appear and be heard in support of the order. 1. Added vide Act No.18 of 1981. 4. Added vide Act No. 21of 2015.
2. (3) An order against which an appeal has been preferred shall not be reviewed.
3. (4) An application for review of an order shall not be entertained unless it is made within 90 days of the passing of the order, or unless the applicant satisfies the Collector or an Officer authorized by the State Government that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within that period.]

² Inserted vide Section 7 (a) and (b) of Act No.20 of 2001.

³ Substituted for words “by lease to any person” vide Section 3 of Act No.12 of 1997.

⁵ Inserted vide Section 8 of Act No.20 of 2001.

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no order made by the Collector or the State Government or any officer authorized by it as the case may be, shall be called in question by any court or before any officer or authority.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the State Government or any officer or authority for any act which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or of any rules made thereunder.

In all enquiries and proceedings under this Act, the Collector and any other officer or authority shall have such powers and follows such procedure as may be prescribed.

Official Gazette make rules for carrying out the purpose of this Act.

1. (2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:-
   • (a) the form and manner in which a notice is to be served under section 6;
   • (b) for fixing of instalments and the manner in which, the payment of amount is to be made under section 7;
   • (c) the manner in which the land under sub-section (3) of section 8 to be demarcated;
   • (d) the manner and procedure in which enquiries may be held under section 12; and
   • (e) any other matter which has to be or may be prescribed under this Act.
2. (3) The power to make rules under sub-section (1) and (2) is subject to the condition of the rule being made after previous publication.
3. (4) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be, after it is made, before the State Legislature while it is in session for a total period of not less than seven days, which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, the legislature requires any modification in the rule or desires that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State Government, may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions or give such directions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as may appear to it to be necessary or expedient for the removal of the difficulty.

Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (18 of 1961) in its application to the territory added to Himachal Pradesh under Section 5 of the Punjab Re-organization Act, 1966 (31 of 1966) shall stand repealed.

1. (2) Save as provided in section 4 the repeal of the said Act shall not affect anything done or any action taken thereunder.
2. (3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) no authority shall pass an order in any proceedings whether instituted before or after the commencement of this Act which is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. 1. Extracts from the H.P. Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization (Amendment) Act, 1981. Section 1 (2).- It shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from 1 st January, 1979. 2. Extracts from the H.P. Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization (Amendment) Act, 1987. Section 1 (2).- It shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from the date of commencement of the H.P. Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization Act, 1974. 3. Extracts from the H.P. Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization (Amendment) Act, 2001. Section 1 (2).- The provisions of this Act, shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from the date, the Himachal Pradesh Village Common Lands Vesting and utilization Act, 1974 came into force. 4. Extracts from the H.P. Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilization (Amendment) Act, 2005. Section 1 (2).- It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 8 th day of July, 2005.