Sales of immovable property to be set aside in certain cases.

(1) Where any immovable property in which an agriculturist had an interest has been sold in execution of any decree for recovery of a debt or sold under the provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act for the time being in force for the recovery of a debt doe to a banking company in liquidation- (a) on or after the 1st day of November, 1956; or (b) before the 1st day of November, 1956, but the possession of the said property has not actually passed before the 20th day of November, 1957, from the judgment-debtor to the purchaser, and the decree-holder is the purchaser, then, notwithstanding anything in the Limitation Act, 1963 or in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or in the Revenue Recovery Act for the time being in force, and notwithstanding that the sale has been confirmed, such judgment-debtor or the legal representative of such judgment-debtor may deposit one-half of the purchase money together with the costs of execution where such costs were not included in the purchase- money, and apply to the court within six months from the date of the commencement of this Act to set aside the sale of the property, and the court shall, if satisfied that the applicant is an agriculturist, order the sale to be set aside, and the court shall further order that the balance of the purchase money shall be paid in ten equal half-yearly instalments together with the interest accrued due on such balance outstanding till the date of payment of each instalment, at six per cent per annum, the first instalment being payable within a period of six months from the date of the order of the court.. (2) Where any immovable property in which an agriculturist had an interest has been sold in execution of any decree for arrears of rent or michavaram- (a) during the period commencing on the 1st day of November, 1956 and ending with the 30th day of January, 1961 and the possession of the said property has actually passed on or before the 1st day of April, 1964, from the judgment-debtor to the purchaser; or (b) before the 1st day of November, 1956, and the possession of the said property has actually passed during the period commencing on the 20th day of November, 1957 and ending with the 1st day of April, 1964, from the judgment-debtor to the purchaser; then, notwithstanding anything contained in the Limitation Act, 1963 or in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and notwithstanding that the sale has been confirmed, such judgment-debtor or the legal representative of such judgment-debtor may deposit one-half of the purchase money together with the costs of execution, where such costs were not included in the purchase money and apply to the court within six months from the date of commencement of this Act to set aside the sale of the property, and the court shall, if satisfied that the applicant is an agriculturist, order the sale to be set aside, and the court shall further order that the balance of the purchase money shall be paid in ten equal half-yearly instalments together with the interest accrued due on such balance outstanding till the date of payment of each instalment, at six per cent per annum, the first instalment being payable within a period of six months from the date of the order of the court. (3) Where any immovable property in which an agriculturist had an interest has been sold in execution of any decree for the recovery of a debt or sold under the provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act for the time being in force for the recovery of a debt due to a banking company in liquidation, on or after the 14th day of July, 1958, and the decree-holder is not the purchaser, then, notwithstanding anything in the Limitation Act, 1963 or in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or in the Revenue Recovery Act for the time being in force, and notwithstanding that the sale has been confirmed, such judgment-debtor or the legal representative of such judgment-debtor may, deposit the purchase money and apply to the court within six months from the date of commencement of this Act to set aside the sale of the property, and the court shall, if satisfied that the applicant is an agriculturist, order the sale to be set aside. (4) No order under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) shall be passed without notice to the decree-holder, the transferee of the decree, if any, the auction purchaser and any other person who in the opinion of the court would be affected by such order and without affording them an opportunity to be heard. (5) Where improvements have been effected on the property sold after the date of the sale and before the notice under sub-section (4) , the value of such improvements as determined by the court shall be deposited by the applicant for payment to the auction-purchaser. (6) An order under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) shall not be deemed to affect the rights of bona fide aliencees of the auction-purchaser deriving rights before the date of publication of the Kerala Agriculturists' Debt Relief Bill, 1968, in the Gazette. (7) Where a sale is set aside under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) or sub-section (3), in case the applicant is out of possession of the property, the court shall order redelivery of the property to him. (8) In respect of any sale of immovable property which has not been confirmed, the judgment-debtor if he is an agriculturist shall be entitled to pay the decree debt in accordance with the provisions of sections 4 and 5 and on the deposit of the first instalment thereof, the sale shall be set aside. (9) Where the judgment-debtor fails to deposit any of the subsequent instalments, the decree-holder shall be entitled to execute the decree and recover the defaulted instalment or instalments in accordance with the provisions of this Act. ExplanationI.-For the purposes of this section,- (a) the expression "court" shall include a revenue court or authority exercising powers under the Revenue Recovery Act for the time being in force ; and (b) the expression " judgment-debtor " shall include - (i) a debtor from whom money was due to a banking company in liquidation; and (ii) a person from whom the entire amount due under a decree has been realised by sale of his immovable property. Explanation II.- For the purposes of this section, an applicant shall be deemed to be an agriculturist, if he would have been such an agriculturist but for the sale of the immovable property in respect of which he has made the application.