Chapter I PRELIMINARY

1. (1) This Act may be called the 1[Maharashtra Agricultural Debtors Relief Act.]
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the 2[State] of Bombay except the City of Bombay.

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

1. (1) "award" means an award made under sub-section (4) of section 8 or section 9, 32 or 33 or as confirmed or modified by the Court in appeal;
2. (2) "Co-operative society" means a society registered under the provisions of the Bombay Co-operative Societies Act, 1925 (Bom. VII of 1925);
3. (3) "Court" means the court of the Civil Judge (Senior Division), having ordinary jurisdiction in the area where the debtor ordinarily resides and if there is no such Civil Judge, the court of the Civil Judge (Junior Division), having such jurisdiction 1[and includes any court to which an application may be referred to for disposal under section 13A];
4. (4) "debt" means any liability in cash or kind, whether secured or unsecured, due from a debtor whether payable under a decree or order of any civil court or otherwise 2[and includes mortgage money the payment of which is secured by the usufructuary mortgage of immovable property[ but does not include arrears of wages payable in respect of agricultural or manual labour;
5. (5) "debtor" means
   • (a) an individual-
     • (i) who is indebted;
     • (ii) who holds land used for agricultural purposes or has held such land at any time not more than 30 years before the 30th January 1940, which has been transferred whether under an instrument or not and which transfer is in the nature of a mortgage although not purporting to be so;
     • (iii) who has been cultivating land personally for the cultivating seasons in the two years immediately preceding the date of the coming into operation of this Act or of the establishment of the Board concerned under the repealed Act; and
     • (iv) whose annual income from sources other than agriculture and manual labour does not exceed 33 per cent. of his total annual income or does not exceed Rs. 500, whichever is greater;
   • (b) an undivided Hindu family-
     • (i) which is indebted;
     • (ii) which holds land used for agricultural purposes or has held such land at any time not more than 30 years before the 30th January 1940, which land has been transferred whether under an instrument or not and which transfer is in the nature of a mortgage although not purporting to be so;
     • (iii) which has been cultivating land personally for the cultivating seasons in the two years immediately preceding the date of the coming into operation of this Act or of the establishment of the Board concerned under the repealed Act; and
     • (iv) the annual income of which from sources other than agricultural and manual labour does not exceed 40 per cent. of its total annual income and the aggregate of such incomes of the members of which does not exceed Rs. 1,500. Explanation 3[I].- For the purposes of this clause "agriculture" includes horticulture, the raising of crops or garden produce, dairy farming, poultry farming, stock breeding and grazing, but does not include leasing of land or cutting only of wood; 4[Explanation II.- In the case of-
   • (a) any person who dies leaving as his heir, a widow or a minor or a person who is subject to physical or mental disability, or
   • (b) an undivided Hindu family, in which there are no adult male co-parceners capable of cultivating the land personally, the income derived by such heir or family by the lease of land for an agricultural purpose shall, notwithstanding anything contained in Explanation I, be deemed to be income from agriculture.] 5[(6) "financing of crops" means advancing of loans for the raising of crops during the ploughing season or later for ploughing, sowing, harrowing, weeding, harvesting, purchase of seeds, manure or for such other purposes as may be prescribed, such loans being repayable during the season when the crops for which the loans were advanced are harvested[;
6. (7) "holder" means a holder as defined in clause (11) of section 3 of the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879 (Bom. V of 1879), and includes a holder of land held for the performance of service useful to Government or village community which service is actually being performed but does not include a holder of any land held on behalf of a religious or charitable institution; and the expression "to hold land" shall be construed accordingly; 6[(7a) "merged state bank" means a bank incorporated as such in merged territories and notified by the State Government in the Official Gazette for the purposes of this Act as a merged State bank;]
7. (8) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules;
8. (9) "repealed Act" means the Bombay Agricultural Debtors Relief Act, 1939 (Bom. XXVIII of 1939);
9. (10) "resource society" shall have the same meaning as it has in the Bombay Co-operative Societies Act, 1925 (Bom. VII of 1925);
10. (11) "rules" means rules made under section 55;
11. (12) "scheduled bank" means a bank included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (II of 1934);
12. (13) "Seasonal finance" means advancing of loans for such purposes as may be prescribed, such loans being repayable on or before the 15th May following;
13. (14) "to cultivate personally" means to cultivate by one's own labour or by the labour of any member of one's family or by servants or hired labour under one's personal supervision or the personal supervision of any member of one's family. Explanation I.- If a person who was cultivating personally dies leaving as his heir a widow or a minor or a person who is subject to physical or mental disability, such heir shall be deemed to cultivate the land personally notwithstanding the fact that the land is cultivated on behalf of such heir by servants or hired labour or by tenants. Explanation II.- In the case of an undivided Hindu family, the land shall be deemed to have been cultivated personally if it is cultivated by any member of such family. If there are no adult male co-parceners in such family capable of cultivating the land personally, such family shall be deemed to be cultivating the land personally if the land is cultivated on behalf of such family by servants or hired labour or by tenants.
14. (15) Words and expressions used in this Act, but not defined, have the meanings assigned to them in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (V of 1908), or the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879 (Bom. V of 1879), as the case may be.

Save as otherwise expressly provided, nothing in this Act shall affect the debts and liabilities of a debtor falling under the following heads, namely :-

1. (i) any revenue or tax payable to Government or any other sum due to it by way of loan or otherwise,
2. (ii) any tax payable to a local authority or any other sum payable to such authority by way of loan or otherwise,
3. (iii) any sum due to a co-operative society,
4. (iv) any sum advanced solely for the purpose of financing of crops as provided in the repealed Act or for the purpose of seasonal finance as provided in this Act,
5. (v) any sum due under a decree or order for maintenance passed by a competent Court, 1[* *]
6. (vi) any sum due to a scheduled bank, 2[and
7. (vii) any sum due to a merged State bank.]