Chapter I PRELIMINARY

Short Title, Extent and Commencement.—

1. (1) This Act may be called the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.
2. (2) It shall extend to the whole of the State of Karnataka.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification, appoint.

Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

1. (1) “alienated” means transferred in so far as rights of the State Government to payment of the rent or revenue are concerned, wholly or partially, to the ownership of any person;
2. (2) “building site” means a plot of land held for building purposes, whether any building is actually erected thereupon or not, and includes the open ground or courtyard enclosed by, or adjacent to, any building erected thereupon;
3. (3) “boundary mark” means any erection, whether of earth, stone or other material and also any hedge, unploughed ridge, or strip of ground or other object, whether natural or artificial, set-up, employed or specified by a Survey Officer, or other Revenue Officer, having the authority in that behalf, in order to determine the boundary of any division of land;
4. (4) “certified copy” or “certified extract” means copy or extract, as the case may be, certified in the manner prescribed by section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (Central Act 1 of 1872);
5. (5) “chavadi” includes, in any village in which there is no chavadi, such place as the Deputy Commissioner may by notification direct to be the chavadi for the purpose of this Act;
6. (6) “city” includes any local area declared as a Municipal Corporation, a City Municipality or a Borough Municipality under any law for the time being in force;
7. (7) “classification value” means the relative valuation of any class of land as recorded in the survey records having regard to its soil, water and other advantages;
8. (8) ‘class of land’ means any of the following classes of land, namely, dry land, wet land, garden land or plantation land; Explanations.—For purposes of this Act,—
   • (a) ‘dry land’ means,—
     • (i) land classified as dry land under any law repealed by section 202, or any law in force at any time before the commencement of this Act;
     • (ii) land in which wet crops cannot be grown except when irrigated by water obtained from any source of water which is the property of the State Government;
   • (b) “wet land” means land in which wet crops can be grown by use of rain water or water obtained from any source of water which is not the property of the State Government;
   • (c) ‘garden land’ means land in which garden crops other than plantation crops can be grown, and shall consist of dry garden land and wet garden land; and
     • (i) ‘dry garden land’ means land classified as such under any law repealed by section 202 or any law in force at any time before the commencement of this Act, or garden land in which wet garden crops cannot be grown except when irrigated by water obtained from any source of water which is the property of the State Government;
     • (ii) ‘wet garden land’ means land in which wet garden crops can be grown by use of rain water or water obtained from any source of water which is not the property of the State Government;
   • (d) ‘plantation land’ means land in which a plantation crop, that is, cardamom, coffee, pepper, rubber or tea, can be grown.
9. (9) “estate” means any interest in land and the aggregate of such interests vested in a person or body of persons capable of holding the same;
10. (10) “group” means all lands in a zone which, in the opinion of the State Government or an officer authorised by it in this behalf, are sufficiently homogeneous in respect of the factors enumerated in section 116 to admit of the application to them of the same standard rates for the purpose of the assessment of land revenue;
11. (11) “to hold land” or to be a “land-holder” or “holder of land" means to be lawfully in possession of land, whether such possession is actual or not;
12. (12) “holding” means a portion of land held by a holder;
13. (13) “joint holders” or “joint occupants” mean holders or occupants who hold land as co-sharers, whether as co-sharers in a family undivided according to Hindu law, or otherwise, and whose shares are not divided by metes and bounds; and where land is held by joint holders or joint occupants, “holder” or “occupant”, as the case may be, means all of the joint holders or joint occupants;
14. (14) “land” includes benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth, and also shares in, or charges on, the revenue or rent of villages or other defined areas;
15. (15) “landlord” means a person who has leased land to a tenant and includes a person entitled to receive rent from a tenant;
16. (16) “land records” means records maintained under the provisions of or for the purposes of this Act;
17. (17) “local authority” means,-
    • (i) in any municipal area, the Corporation, the Municipal Council, the Cantonment Board, the Sanitary Board or Notified Area Committee, as the case may be;
    • (ii) in any village, the Village Panchayat or the Town Panchayat constituted under the Karnataka Village Panchayats and Local Boards Act, 1959;
18. (18) “notification” means a notification published in the official Gazette;
19. (19) “occupation” means possession, and “to occupy land” means to possess or take possession of land;
20. (20) “occupant” means a holder in actual possession of unalienated land other than the tenant: Provided that where the holder in actual possession is a tenant, the landlord or superior landlord, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the occupant; Explanation.—A ryotwari pattadar in the Mangalore and Kollegal Area and Bellary District, a pattadar or shikmidar in the Gulbarga Area and a holder or land-holder in the Coorg District shall be deemed to be an occupant of such land for purposes of this Act.
21. (21) “occupancy” means the portion of land held by an occupant;
22. (22) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
23. (23) “rental value” means the consideration (including premia, if any, or any sum of money paid or promised, or a share of crops or any other thing of value rendered periodically or on specified occasions) for which land is or could be leased for a period of one year for its most advantageous use:
24. (24) “Revenue Officer” means every officer of any rank whatsoever appointed under or employed for the purposes of this Act;
25. (25) “revenue year” means the year commencing on the first day of July;
26. (26) “settlement” means the result of the operations conducted in a zone in order to determine the land revenue assessment;
27. (27) “standard rate” means with reference to any particular class of land in a group, the value of four per cent of the average yield of crops per acre on land in that class of one hundred per cent classification value; Provided that with reference to any plantation land, the standard rate shall be the value of one per cent of the average yield of crops per acre on the land in that class of one hundred per cent classification value;
28. (28) “superior holder” means a land holder entitled to receive rent or land revenue from other land holders (hereinafter called ‘inferior holders’), whether he is accountable or not for such land or land revenue or any part thereof, to the State Government: Provided that where land has been granted free of rent or land revenue, subject to the right of resumption in certain specified contingencies by a Jahgirdar, Inamdar, or other such holder of an alienated land, whose name is authorisedly entered as such in the land records, such Jahgirdar, Inamdar or holder, shall, with reference to the grantee, be deemed to be the superior holder of the land so granted by him and the grantee, with reference to the grantor be deemed to be the inferior holder of such land;
29. (29) “survey” includes all operations incidental to the determination, measurement and record of a boundary or boundaries or any part of a boundary and includes a re-survey;
30. (30) “survey mark” means any mark or object, erected, made, employed or specified by a Survey Officer to indicate or determine or assist in determining the position or level of any point or points;
31. (31) “Survey Officer” means an officer appointed under or in the manner provided by section 18;
32. (32) “survey number” means a portion of land of which the area and assessment are separately entered under an indicative number in the land records; and “sub-division of a survey number” means a portion of a survey number of which the area and assessment are separately entered in the land records under an indicative number subordinate to that of the survey number of which it is a portion;
33. (33) “survey settlement” includes a settlement made under the provisions of Chapter X;
34. (34) “tenant” means a lessee, whether holding under an instrument or an oral agreement and includes,—
    • (i) a person who is or is deemed to be a tenant under any law for the time being in force;
    • (ii) a mortgagee of a tenant’s rights with possession; or
    • (iii) a lessee holding directly under the State Government or a local authority or body corporate;
35. (35) “terms of settlement” means the period for which the State Government has declared that a settlement shall remain in force;
36. (36) “town” includes a Panchayat town or a town area under the Karnataka Village Panchayats and Local Boards Act, 1959;
37. (37) “Tribunal” means the Karnataka Revenue Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 40;
38. (38) “village” means a local area which is recognised in the land records as a village for purposes of revenue administration and includes a town or city and all the land comprised within the limits of a village, town or city;
39. (39) “Village Accountant” means a Village Accountant appointed, or deemed to be appointed, under section 16;
40. (40) “zone” means a local area comprising a taluk or group of taluks or portions thereof of one or more district, which, in the opinion of the State Government, or an officer authorised by it in this behalf is contiguous and homogeneous in respect of,—
    • (i) physical configuration,
    • (ii) climate and rainfall.
    • (iii) principal crops grown in the area, and
    • (iv) soil characteristics.