Chapter V MISCELLANEOUS

The '[Financial Commissioner, Director of Consolidation,] Deputy Director of Consolidation, Settlement Officer (Consolidation),'[Consolidation Tehsildar and Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar] shall have all such powers and rights and privileges as are vested in a Civil Court on the occasion of any action in respect of the following matters: -

(a) enforcing of the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, affirmation or otherwise and the issue of a commission or request to examine witnesses abroad;

(b) Compelling anyone for the production of any documents;

(c) Punishing of persons guilty of contempt and «a summons signed by such officer may be substituted for and shall be equivalent to any formal process capable of being issued in any action by a Civil Court for enforcing the attendance of a witness and compelling the production of a document.

(1) Subject to any conditions or restrictions that may be prescribed, the '[Financial Commissioner, Director of Consolidation], Deputy Director of Consolidation, Settlement Officer (Consolidation,) 2 [Consolidation Tehsildar or Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar] may, by written order, require any person to produce such documents, papers and registers or to furnish such information as he may deem necessary for the proper exercise of Jus powers or the proper discharge of his duties under this Act.

(2) Every person required to produce any document, paper or register or to furnish an information under this section shall be deemed legally bound to do so within the meaning of sections 175 and 176 of the Jammu and Kashmir State Ranbir Penal Code, Svt.1989.

Proceedings ahead of the '[Financial Commissioner, Director of Consolidation,] Deputy Director of Consolidation, Settlement Officer (Consolidation,) Consolidation Tehsildar and Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar] shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 and for the purposes of section 196 of the Jammu and Kashmir State Ranbir Penal Code, Svt.1989.

Unless otherwise expressly provided by or under this Act, the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, Svt.1996, shall apply to all the proceedings including appeals and applications under this Act.

(1) The Government may appoint such number of officers and authorities as may be required for the purposes of consolidation.

(2) The Director of Consolidation and the Deputy Director of Consolidation shall perform such duties and exercise such powers of supervision and superintendence over the work of the Settlement Officer (Consolidation),2[Consolidation Tehsildar, Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar, Consolidation Girdawar ] and Consolidation Patwari as may be prescribed.

(3) The Settlement Officer (Consolidation), the '[Consolidation Tehsildar, the Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar, Consolidation Girdawar] and Consolidation Patwari shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed upon them by or under this Act or the rules framed thereunder.

(4) The Government may, by Notification in the Government Gazette, empower the Deputy Director of Consolidation to discharge all or such of the functions of the Director of Consolidation as may be specified in the notification and thereupon all references to the Director of Consolidation in this Act shall, in respect of the functions so specified, be deemed to include reference to the Deputy Director of Consolidation also.

(5) Where powers are to be exercise or duties are to be performed by any authority under this Act or the rules made thereunder, such powers or duties may also be exercised or performed by an authority superior to it.

Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, if the 2 [Director of Consolidation or Settlement Officer (Consolidation) ] or the '[Consolidation Tehsildar ] is satisfied that a clerical or arithmetical mistake or error apparent on the face of the record exists in any document prepared under any provision of this Act he shall, either on his own motion or on the application of any person interested, correct the same.

(i) The Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar shall constitute for each unit a Consolidation Committee consisting of not less than five and not more than seven members elected from amongst the tenure-holders of the unit in such manner as may be prescribed:

Provided that land-owner, an occupancy tenant, a protected tenant, a tenant under the State, a non-occupancy tenant and an allottee of land under the State shall be given representation in proportion to the incidence of their population in such unit. (2) The Settlement Officer (Consolidation) may nominate not more than two persons on a Consolidation Committee whose addition will, in his opinion, facilitate consolidation proceedings in the unit. The person so nominated shall, for purposes of this Act, have all the powers and be subject to all the liabilities of elected members of the Committee. (3) Where at any time the Director of Consolidation is satisfied that the Consolidation Committee has refused or failed without reasonable cause or excuse to discharge the duties or perform the functions imposed or assigned by or under this Act or circumstances have so arisen that the Committee has been rendered unable to discharge the duties or perform the functions aforesaid or it is otherwise expedient or necessary to do so, he may, by an order duly published, either have, the Consolidation Committee reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of sub-sections (1) and (2) or appoint some other authority to perform the functions or discharge the duties of the Consolidation Committee under this Act and thereupon all references to the Consolidation Committee under this Act shall be deemed to include references to the Consolidation Committee so reconstituted or the authority so appointed, as the case may be:

Provided that no such Committee shall be reconstituted or authority appointed unless the Consolidation Committee has been given an opportunity to show cause why it should not be dissolved for reasons of refusal, failure or inability to discharge the duties or perform the functions imposed upon or assigned to it by or under this Act.

The Government may, by notification in the Government Gazette, delegate to any officer or authority or any of the powers conferred upon it by this Act to be exercised subject to such restrictions and conditions as may be specified in the notification.

The Officers mentioned in this Act or any person acting under the orders of any one of them may, in the discharge of any duty under this Act, enter upon and survey land and erect survey marks thereon and demarcate the boundaries thereof and do all other acts necessary for the proper performance of that duty.

Every village officer shall be bound to furnish the [Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar] concerned with information regarding the destruction or removal of, or any injury done to, any survey mark lawfully erected under this Act at any place within his jurisdiction as such village officer.

(1) any person who contravenes the provisions of section 5 (d) (i) or who obstructs the consolidation proceedings without lawful excuse, shall be liable under orders of a [Consolidation Tehsildar] to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees.

(2) A transfer made in contravention of provisions of section 5 (d) (ii) shall not be valid or recognized, notwithstanding to the contrary anything contained in any law for the time being in force.

(3) Any person aggrieved by the order of the Consolidation Tehsildar under sub-section (1) may, within thirty days of the date of the order appeal to the Settlement Officer (Consolidation) and any person aggrieved by the order of the Settlement Officer (Consolidation) may, within thirty days, appeal to the Director of Consolidation. The decision of the Director of Consolidation shall, except as otherwise provided by or under this Act, be final.

(1) Where a Consolidation Scheme has come into force and a tenure-holder —

(a) has, in pursuance of section 31,entered into possession of the plots allotted to him ;or

(b) has, in pursuance of section 33,been put into physical possession of the holdings allotted to him ; he shall not enter into possession of any plot or holding held by him prior to the enforcement of such scheme unless such plot or holding--

(i) is shown as forming part of the plots or holdings allotted to him under the Consolidation Scheme ;or

(ii) has developed upon him in the normal course of succession or as a result of the Consolidation Scheme being revoked or in consequence of any new scheme being preferred and enforced or in pursuance of a decree of a Civil Court.

(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be liable under orders of a Consolidation Tehsildar to ejectment and to a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees; and to a further fine of one rupee for every subsequent day till the contravention continues:

[Provided that where the consolidation operations have been closed under section 61, saction under this section regarding ejectment and fine shall be taken by a Revenue Officer not below the rank of Assistant Collector, first class, having jurisdiction in the area.]

Any fine imposed under section 52 or section 52-A shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue and for that purposes, the Consolidation Tehsildar shall be competent to exercise all the powers of an Assistant Collector of the first class.

(i) If any person destroys willfully or injures or removes without lawful authority a survey mark lawfully erected, he may be ordered by a Consolidation Tehsildar to pay such compensation not exceeding fifty rupees for each mark so destroyed, injured or removed as may in the opinion of that officer be necessary to defray the expenses of restoring the same and of rewarding the person, if any, who gave information of such destruction injury or removal.

(2) The orders for the payment of compensation under sub-section (1) shall not bar a prosecution under section 434 of the Jammu and Kashmir State Ranbir Penal Code, Svt.1989.

No appeal and no application for revision shall lie from any order passed under the provisions of this Act except as provided by or under this Act.

The Financial Commissioner may call for the record of any case or proceeding pending before or decided by any consolidation court or authority appointed under this Act and after affording reasonable opportunity of hearing to the parties concerned, pass such orders in the case or proceeding as he thinks fit:

Provided that no order shall be revised where an application for revision is not made within-- (a) Three months in case of an order made by the Consolidation Naib-Tehsildar or Consolidation Tehsildar; (b) Two months in case of an order made by the Settlement Officer (Consolidation) ; and (c) One month in case of an order made by the Director of Consolidation.

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Act,

(a) no decision of the Custodian of evacuee property (hereinafter in this section referred to as the Custodian) in relation to title to any land vested in him as evacuee property under the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir State Evacuees'(Administration of Property) Act,Svt.2006,shall be called in question and varied or reversed by any officer or authority under this Act; and

(b) nothing hi this Act shall be construed as requiring the Custodian to stay any proceedings in relation to title to any such land pending before nun on the date of coming into force of those provisions of this Act under which proceedings in relation to title to land are required to be stayed or as empowering the Consolidation Tehsildar or any other officer or authority to determine any question of title in relation to such land involved in any proceedings pending before the Custodian on such date.

(2) Where as a result of consolidation operations in any estate —

(a) lands which are vested as evacuee property in the Custodian under he provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir 'State Evacuee' (Administration of Property) Act,Svt.2006 are included hi the holdings which are not vested in the Custodian as evacuee property, such land shall, on and from the date of the coming into force of the Consolidation Scheme, cease to be so vested hi the Custodian and the provisions of the said Act shall thereupon cease to apply in relation thereto; and

(b) in lieu of such lands corresponding lands shall be included in holdings which are vested hi the Custodian as evacuee property and such lands shall, on and from the date of coming into force of the Consolidation Scheme, be deemed to be evacuee property declared as such within the meaning of Jammu and Kashmir State Evacuees (Administration of Property) Act, Svt.2006,and be vested in the Custodian and the provisions of the said Act shall thereupon .apply, so far as may be, in relation to such lands.

Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being hi force, the declaration and adjudication of rights of tenure-holders hi respect of land lying in an area, for which a declaration has been issued under section 4, or adjudication of any other right arising out of consolidation proceedings and hi regard to which a proceeding could or ought to have been taken under this Act, shall be done hi accordance with the provisions of this Act and no Civil or Revenue Court shall entertain any suit or proceeding with respect to rights in such land or with respect to any other matters for which a proceeding could or ought to have been taken under his Act.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings, shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

No Court fee shall be payable on any application made or any document filed with the exception of a Vakalatnama, in any suit or proceeding under the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder.

Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force--

(a) no instrument in writing shall be necessary in order to give effect to a transfer involved in carrying out any scheme of consolidation of holdings; and

(b) no instrument, if executed, shall require registration.

As soon as may be after fresh maps and records have been prepared under section 32, the Government shall issue a notification in the Government Gazette that the consolidation operations have been closed in the unit and the estate or estates forming part of the unit shall then cease to be under consolidation operations.

(1) The Government may make rules for purposes of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality to the foregoing powers such rules may provide for-

(a) the form of declaration under section 4,

(b) the matters pertaining to the cancellation of declaration regarding consolidation under section 6 ;

(c) procedure relating to the revision of maps and records including declaration of rights under sections 7 and 8 and partition, and amalgamation of holdings under sections 14 and 16 ;

(d) determination of land revenue or rent over new holdings and distribution thereof on the portions of old holdings under section 13;

(e) the method and the procedure for determination of valuation of plots, formation of blocks and determination of compensation for trees, private sources of irrigation and other improvements under sections 18 and 19 ;

(f) the procedure and the manner relating to preparation and publication of the Statement of Principles and Statement of Proposals and the confirmation thereof under Chapter III;

(g) the procedure and the manner in which the views of the Consolidation Committee shall be obtained on the matters specified for this purpose ;

(h) the determination of public purposes for which areas may be earmarked and the manner in which this shall be done ;

(i) the matters relating to transfer of rights from the public land to other land earmarked for public purposes ;

(j) the form and the procedure and the manner relating to the issue of allotment orders under section 29 ;

(k) the procedure 'for entering into possession under sections 31 and 33;

(1) the principles and the manner for determination of compensation to be paid to or received from any tenure-holder under this Act;

(m) the circumstances and matters which shall be taken into consideration in distributing the cost of consolidation including the proportion in which the distribution may be made ;

(n) election of members of the Consolidation Committee under section 49,their term of membership and vacation of seats by such members; (o) the matters relating to the mode of service of, notice or document under this Act;

(p) imposing limits of time within which things to be done for the purposes of the rules must be done with or without powers to any authority therein specified to extend limits imposed ;

(q) the procedure to be followed in all proceedings including applications and appeals under this Act;

(r) the duties of any officer or authority having jurisdiction under this Act and the procedure to be followed by such officer and authority;

(s) the time within which applications and appeals may be presented under this Act in cases for which no specific provision in that behalf has been made therein ;

(t) the transfer of proceedings from the authority or officer to another ; and

(a) any other matter which is to be or may be prescribed.

(3) Power to make rules given by this Act is subject to the condition of the rules being made after previous publication.

The Jammu and Kashmir Consolidation of Holdings Act,1960 (V of 1960) and the Jammu and Kashmir Consolidation of Holdings Ordinance, 1961 (VI of 1961) are hereby repealed.

Any order made, thing done, or action taken in connection with the consolidation of holdings in various estates notified under section 4 of Jammu and Kashmir Consolidation of Holdings Act,1960 before the commencement of this Act, shall for all purposes be deemed to have been made, done or taken under this Act, as if this Act were in force on the day on which such order was made, thing was done or action was taken.