Chapter I PRELIMINARY

1. (1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such 1date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

1. (1) "agriculture" includes-
   • (a) horticulture,
   • (b) the raising of crops, grass or garden produce or singhare (trapa bispinosa),
   • (c) the use by an agriculturist of land held by him, or part thereof, for grazing,
   • (d) the use of any land, whether or not an appanage to rice or paddy land, for the purpose of rab-manure,
   • (e) dairy farming,
   • (f) poultry farming,
   • (g) breeding of live-stock, but, does not include the cutting of wood only; 1[* * * *
2. (3) "agriculturist" means a person who cultivates land personally; 2[(3A) "Amending Act, 1972" means the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Lowering of Ceiling on Holdings) and (Amendment) Act, 1972 (Mah. XXI of 1975);]
3. (4) "appointed day" means the day on which this Act comes into force;
4. (5) "class of land" means land falling under any one of the following categories, that is to say,- 3[(a) land with an assured supply of water for irrigation and capable of yielding at least two crops in a year, that is to say,-
   • (i) land irrigated seasonally as well as perennially by flow irrigation from any source constructed or maintained by the State Government or by any Zilla Parishad or from any other natural source of water ; or
   • (ii) land irrigated perennially by a Government owned and managed lift from any source constructed or maintained by the State Government or by any Zilla Parishad or from any other natural source of water ;
   • (b) land (other than land falling in clause (c)) which has no assured perennial supply of water for irrigation, but has an assured supply of water for only one crop in a year, that is to say, land irrigated-
     • (i) seasonally by flow irrigation from any source constructed or maintained by the State Government or by any Zilla Parishad or from any other natural source of water ; or
     • (ii) perennially by a lift (other than a lift referred to in item (ii) of clause (a)) from any source constructed or maintained by the State Government or by any Zilla Parishad or from any other natural source of water ; or
     • (iii) perennially from a privately-owned well situated on land within the irrigable command of any irrigation project, or in the bed of a river, stream or natural collection of water or drainage channel (being a river, stream, natural collection of water or drainage channel which is a perennial source of water) ;
   • (c) land irrigated seasonally by flow irrigation from any source constructed or maintained by the State Government or by any Zilla Parishad or from any other natural source of water with unassured water supply, that is, where supply is given under water sanctions, which are temporary, or where such sanctions are regulated on the basis of availability of water in the storage ;
   • (d) dry crop land, that is to say, land other than land falling under sub-clause (a), (b), or (c) of this clause situated in the Bombay Suburban District and Districts of Thana, Kolaba, Ratnagiri and Bhandara and in the Brahmapuri, Gadchiroli and Sironcha Talukas of the Chandrapur District and which is under paddy cultivation for a continuous period of three years immediately preceding the commencement date ;
   • (e) dry crop land, that is to say, land other than land falling under sub-clause (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this clause. Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause,-
5. (1) land situated within the irrigable command of an irrigation project, means all lands which are irrigated or are capable of being irrigated from such project ;
6. (2) land which is irrigated from any source of irrigation specified in sub-clause (a), (b) or (c) and which was used for horticulture (other than the land used for growing of coconut, arecanut, bananas, guava or for vineyards) on or before the 26th day of September, 1970 shall be deemed to be land falling under sub-clause (e) until the 4th day of August, 1979;
7. (3) land which is irrigated from any source of irrigation specified in sub-clause (b) shall not be deemed to be land falling under the said sub-clause (b) if the irrigation is provided by a private lift irrigation work operated by diesel or electric power or operated by both methods and constructed after the 15th day of August 1972.] 4[(5A) "Code"" means the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 (Mah. XLI of 1966) ;]
8. (6) "Collector" includes an Additional Collector, and an Assistant or Deputy Collector exercising the powers or discharging the duties of a Collector under the 5[Code], and also any other officer not below the rank of an Assistant or Deputy Collector, especially empowered by the State Government to exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Collector by or under this Act ; 6[(6A) "commencement date" means the 2nd day of October 1975 ;]
9. (7) "Commissioner" includes an Additional Commissioner ;
10. (8) "to cultivate" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to till or husband land for the purpose of raising or improving agricultural produce, whether by manual labour or with the use of cattle or by machinery, or to carry on any agricultural operation thereon ; Explanation.- A person, who enters into a contract to cut grass on any land, shall not on that account only be taken to cultivate such land;
11. (9) "to cultivate personally" means to cultivate land on a person's own account,-
    • (i) by his own labour, or
    • (ii) by the labour of any member of his family, or
    • (iii) by hired labour, or by servants on wages, payable in cash or kind (but not in crop share) under the personal supervision of himself or any member of his family; Explanation I.- A person under disability shall be deemed to cultivate personally, if he cultivates through his servants, or by hired labour ; Explanation II.- In the case of joint family, land shall be deemed to be cultivated personally, if it is so cultivated by any member of such family ;
12. (10) "exempted land" means land exempted from the provisions of this Act under section 47 ;
13. (11) "family" includes, a Hindu undivided family, and in the case of other persons, a group or unit the members of which by custom or usage, are joint in estate or possession or residence ; 7[(11A) "family unit" means a family unit as explained in section 4 ;
14. (12) "farming society" means a society registered or deemed to be registered as such, under any law for the time being in force relating to the registration of co-operative societies ;
15. (13) "fragment" has the meaning assigned to it in section 2 of the Bombay Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947 (Bom. LXII of 1947);
16. (14) "to hold land", with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means to be lawfully in actual possession of land as owner or as tenant ; "and holding" shall be construed accordingly ;
17. (15) "joint farming society" means a joint farming society (registered or deemed to be registered as such, under any law for the time being in force relating to the registration of co-operative societies) the members of which cultivate jointly the land held by the members or by the society ;
18. (16) "land" means land which is used, or capable of being used, for purposes of agriculture, 8[and includes-
    • (a) the sites of farm buildings on, or appurtenant to such land;
    • (b) land on which grass grows naturally ;
    • (c) trees and standing crops on such land ;
    • (d) canals, channels, wells, pipes or reservoirs or other works constructed or maintained on such land of the supply or storage of water for the purpose of agriculture ;
    • (e) drainage-works, embankments, bandharas or any other works appurtenant to such land, or constructed or maintained thereon for the purposes of agriculture; and all structures and permanent fixtures on such land;] 9[(17) "landless person" means a person who does not hold any land or who holds land for the purpose of agriculture not in excess of one hectare of dry crop land (or irrigated land proportionately converted in the manner provided in section 5) and earns his livelihood principally by manual labour on agricultural land in either case;] 10* * * * * *
19. (19) Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal means the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal constituted under the 11Bombay Revenue Tribunal Act, 1957 (Bom. XXXI of 1958) ; 12* * * * * *
20. (21) "owner", in relation to any land, includes the person holding the land as occupant, 13[or superior holder as defined in the Code], or as lessee of Government, a mortgagee-in-possession, and a person holding land for his maintenance;
21. (22) "person" includes a family ;
22. (23) "person under disability" means-
    • (a) a widow, or
    • (b) a minor, or
    • (c) a woman, who is unmarried, or who if married is divorced or judicially separated from her husband, or whose husband is a person who is a serving member of the Armed Forces or falls under item (d), or
    • (d) a person who by reason of some mental or physical disability is incapable of cultivating land either by personal labour or under supervision, and includes a serving member of the Armed Forces;
23. (24) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 14* * * * * *
24. (26) relevant tenancy law means-
    • (a) in relation to the Vidarbha region of the State of Maharashtra, the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Vidarbha Region and Kutch Area) Act, 1958 (Bom. XCIX of 1958);
    • (b) in relation to the Hyderabad area of the State, the Hyderabad Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950 (Hyd. Act. XXI of 1950); and
    • (c) in relation to the rest of the State, the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (Bom. LXVII of 1948);
25. (27) "Schedule" means a Schedule appended to this Act;
26. (28) "serving member of the Armed Forces" means a person in the service of the Armed Forces of the Union; Provided that, if a question arises whether or not any person is a serving member of the Armed Forces of the Union the question shall be decided by the State Government, and its decision thereon shall be final ; 15* * * * * *
27. (30) "tenant" means a person who holds land on lease, and includes a person who is deemed to be a tenant under the relevant tenancy law; and "landlord" means a person from whom land is held on lease by a tenant, and includes a person who is deemed to be a landlord under the relevant tenancy law; 16* * * * * * 17[(31) "Tribunal" means the Surplus Lands Determination Tribunal or; as the case may be, the Land Distribution Tribunal constituted under section 2A;]
28. (32) words and expressions used in this Act, but not defined, shall have the meanings assigned to them 18[in the Code.]

1[2A. Constitution and reconstitution of Tribunals.- (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, from time to time, constitute as many Tribunals as may be necessary for such area or areas and for such purpose or purposes of this Act or for such provision or provisions thereof as may be specified in the notification.

1. (2) Where a Tribunal is constituted or reconstituted for the purpose of determining surplus land under the provisions of this Act, the Tribunal shall be called the Surplus Lands Determination Tribunal. Where a Tribunal is constituted or reconstituted for the purpose of distributing surplus land under this Act, it shall be called the Lands Distribution Tribunal.
2. (3) Each Tribunal shall consist of not less than three members of whom one shall be a person who holds or has held a civil post under the State not below the rank of a Tahsildar and such person shall be the Chairman of the Tribunal.
3. (4) The State Government may, from time to time, likewise reconstitute any Tribunal constituted under sub-section (1), or may at any time abolish such Tribunal. The State Government may also at any time by order in writing discontinue or remove any member from the Tribunal without assigning any reason.
4. (5) The quorum to constitute a meeting of the Tribunal and the procedure to be followed by it shall be such as may be prescribed : 2[Provided that, where within half an hour of the time fixed for the meeting of the Tribunal there is no quorum as may be so prescribed, and if the Chairman alone is present, he shall be deemed to be the necessary quorum to constitute the meeting of the Tribunal. He shall proceed further with the meeting, and record his decision in the proceedings as a decision of the Tribunal.]
5. (6) 3[Save as otherwise provided in sub-section (5), all decisions of a Tribunal] shall be by a majority opinion of the members present; and where the opinion is equally divided, the decision of the Chairman shall be the decision of the Tribunal : Provided that, where the Chairman differs from the majority opinion on the ground that the decision is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or any rules made thereunder or with evidence recorded in the proceedings, he shall make a reference to the Collector pointing out the inconsistencies for which he differs from the majority opinion. He shall also forward proceedings of the case to the Collector. On receipt of the reference, the Collector shall himself hear and dispose of the proceedings as expenditiously as possible.
6. (7) No act or proceedings of any such Tribunal shall be deemed to be invalid by reason only of the existence of any vacancy among its members or any defect in the constitution or reconstitution thereof.
7. (8) There shall be paid to the members of the Tribunal other than Chairman such travelling allowances, daily allowance and other allowances for attending the sittings of the Tribunal as are admissible to officers of Class I, and the terms and conditions of appointment of members including their term of office shall be such as the State Government may, from time to time, by order determine. The Chairman shall be entitled to such allowances as the State Government may by order determine.
8. (9) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section or any rules or orders, made thereunder, a member of the State Legislature while holding the office of member of the Tribunal shall not be entitled to receive any remuneration or allowance other than travelling allowances, daily allowance, or such other allowance which is paid to the holder of such office for the purpose of meeting the personal expenditure incurred in attending the siting of the Tribunal or in performing any other functions of the Tribunal.]