Exemptions.

(1) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to- (a) lands owned or held by the Government of Kerala or the Government of any other State in India or the Government of India or a local authority or any other authority which the Government may, in public interest, exempt, by notification in the Gazette, from the provisions of this Chapter. Explanation.-"Lands owned by the Government of Kerala" shall, for the purposes of this clause, have the same meaning as "Government lands" under sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Kerala Government Land Assignment Act, 1960; (b) lands taken under the management of the court of wards : Provided that the exemption under this clause shall cease to apply at the end of three years from the commencement of this Act; (c) lands comprised in mills, factories or workshops and which are necessary for the use of such mills, factories or workshops; (d) private forests; (e) plantations; (f) cashew estates existing at the commencement of this Act and having a contiguous extent of ten acres or more. Explanation.-For the purposes of this clause, "cashew estate" shall mean dry lands principally cultivated with cashewnut trees; (g) pure pepper gardens and pure arecanut gardens existing at the commencement of this Act and having a contiguous extent of five acres or more. Explanation I.-For the purposes of this clause, "pure pepper garden" shall mean a garden planted with not less than 300 pepper vines per acre and "pure arecanut garden" shall mean a garden planted with not less than 600 arecanut trees per acre. Explanation II.-For the purposes of this clause, in calculating the number of pepper vines in a pure pepper garden, the vines, if any, trained on cocoanut trees or arecanut trees shall not be taken into account; (h) lands mortgaged to the Government, or to a co-operative society (including a co-operative land mortgage bank) registered or deemed to be registered under the Cooperative Societies Act for the time being in force, or to the Kerala Financial Corporation, or to the Kerala Industrial Development Corporation, or to the State Small Industries Corporation, as security for any loan advanced by the Government or by such society or Corporation, so long as the mortgage subsists : Provided that the exemption under this clause shall cease to apply at the end of three years from the commencement of this Act; (i) lands purchased by the Kerala Co-operative Central Land Mortgage Bank or a primary mortgage bank under section 18 of the Kerala Co-operative Land Mortgage Banks Act, 1960, so long as such lands continue in the possession of the bank; (j) lands purchased by the Kerala Financial Corporation or lands the management of which has been taken over by that Corporation, under section 32 of the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951, so long as such lands remain in the ownership, or continue under the management, as the case may be, of the said Corporation; (k) lands belonging to or held by an industrial or commercial undertaking at the commencement of this Act, and set apart for use for the industrial or commercial purpose of the undertaking: Provided that the exemption under this clause shall cease to apply if such land is not actually used for the purpose for which it has been set apart, within such time as the District Collector may, by notice to the undertaking, specify in that behalf; (l) kayal padasekharams of Kuttanad area specified in Schedule IV, so long as such padasekharams are used for the cultivation of paddy or such other crops as the Government may, by notification in the Gazette, specify; (m) house sites, that is to say, sites occupied by dwelling houses, tanks, wells or any other structures, together with the land necessary for the convenient enjoyment of the same; (n) unculturable waste lands; (o) Sites of temples, churches, mosques and cemeteries and burial and burning grounds; (p) sites of buildings including warehouses; (q) commercial sites; (r) lands occupied by educational institutions including land necessary for the convenient use of the institutions and playgrounds attached to such institutions; (s) lands vested in the Bhoodan Yagna Committee; (t) lands owned or held by- (i) a University established by law; or (ii) a religious, charitable or educational institution of a public nature; or (iii) a public trust (which expression shall include a wakf): Provided that- (i) the entire income of such lands is appropriated for the University, institution or trust concerned, and (ii) where the University, institution or trust comes to hold the said lands after the commencement of this Act, the Government have certified previously that such lands are bona fide required for the purposes of the University, institution or trust, as the case may be, and (u) lands granted to defence personnel for gallantry. (2) The Government may exempt any land required by any person bona fide for any industrial or commercial purpose, the promotion of which will, in the opinion of the Government, be in the public interest : Provided that such land shall be used for the purpose for which it is intended within such time as the Government may specify in that behalf, and, where the land is not so used within the time specified, the exemption shall cease to be in force. (3) The Government may, if they are satisfied that it is necessary to do so in public interest on account of any special use to which any land is put, or on account of any land being bona fide required for the purpose of conversion into plantation or for the expansion or preservation of an existing plantation, or for starting dairy farms or cattle breeding farms, by notification in the Gazette, exempt such land from the provisions of this Chapter, subject to such restrictions and conditions as they may deem fit to impose.