Powers of the Land Board and the Land Tribunal

(1) The Land Board and the Land Tribunal constituted under this Act shall have all the powers of a civil court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, in respect of the following matters, namely:— (a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath; (b) requiring the discovery and production of any document; (c) receiving evidence on affidavit; (d) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or for local investigation; and (e) any other matter which may be prescribed. (2) The Land Board shall have superintendence over all the Land Tribunals, and the Land Board may— (a) call for returns from the Land Tribunals; (b) make and issue general rules and prescribe forms for regulating the practice and proceedings of the Land Tribunals; (c) prescribe forms in which books, entries and accounts shall be kept by the Land Tribunals; and (d) on the application of any of the parties and after notice to the parties and after hearing such of them as desire to be heard, or of its own motion, without such notice, transfer any application or other proceeding pending before any Land Tribunal to any other Land Tribunal or retransfer the same for trial or disposal to the Land Tribunal from which it was originally transferred. (3) Where in any proceeding before the Land Tribunal a question arises whether a person is a small holder or not or whether a person is or is not a tenant, it shall be competent for the Land Tribunal to decide the question. (4) If, for the purposes of sub-clause (b) of clause (44) of section 2, any question arises as to whether any land is in the vicinity or within the boundaries of the area cultivated with the crops referred to in the said sub-clause, or whether it is reserved and fit for the expansion of such cultivation, the question shall be decided by the Land Board, and the decision of the Land Board shall be final. (5) If any question arises as to whether any land is principally used for the purposes specified in clause (5) of section 2, the question shall be decided by the Land Board, after taking into account the extent of, the amount invested in, and the income from, the portion of the land so used and the remaining portion and other relevant matters, and the decision of the Land Board shall be final.