Chapter II LOWERING OF CEILING ON HOLDINGS

1[CHAPTER II LOWERING OF CEILING ON HOLDINGS 3. Prohibition on holding land in excess of ceiling area; and area in excess of ceiling to be surplus lands.- (1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter and Chapter III, no person or family unit shall, after the commencement date, hold land in excess of the ceiling area, as determined in the manner hereinafter provided. Explanation.- A person or family unit may hold exempted land to any extent.

1. (2) All land held by a person, or as the case may be, a family unit whether in this State or any other part of India in excess of the ceiling area, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force or usage, be deemed to be surplus land, and shall be dealt with in the manner hereinafter provided for surplus land. In determining surplus land from the holding of a person, or as the case may be, of a family unit, the fact that the person or any member of the family unit has died (on or after commencement date or any date subsequent to the date on which the holding exceeds the ceiling area, but before the declaration of surplus land is made in respect of that holding) shall be ignored; and accordingly, the surplus land shall be determined as if that person, or as the case may be, the member of a family unit had not died. Explanation.- In calculating the ceiling area to be held in this State, and determining the surplus land, the area of land in any other part of India (being land which a person or family unit is entitled to hold in such other part of India under any law relating to ceiling on land) shall be taken into consideration. Only land held in this State may be declared as surplus.
2. (3) Where any land-
   • (a) is held by a family of which a person is a member,
   • (b) is held in or operated by a co-operative society of which a person is a member,
   • (c) is held by a person jointly with others,
   • (d) is held by a person as a partner in a firm, and the holding of such person or of a family unit of which such person is a member including the extent of share of such person, if any, in the land answering to any of the descriptions in clauses (a), (b), (c) or (d) above exceeds the ceiling area on or before the commencement date or on any date thereafter (hereinafter referred to as the relevant date), then for the purpose of determining the ceiling area and the surplus land in respect of that holding, the share of such person in the land aforesaid shall be calculated in the following manner :-
     • (i) in the land held by a family of which the person is a member, the share of each member of the family shall be determined so that each member who is entitled to a share on partition, shall be taken to be holding separately land to the extent of his share, as if the land had been so divided and separately held on the relevant date ;
     • (ii) in the land held in or operated by a co-operative society or held jointly with others or held by a firm, the share of the person shall be taken to be the extent of land such person would hold in proportion of his share in the co-operative society, or his share in the joint holding or his share as partner in the firm, as if the land had been so divided and separately held on the relevant date.
3. (4) No land shall be taken into consideration more than once in calculating the ceiling area for the holding of any person, or as the case may be, of family unit.

1. (1) All land held by each member of a family unit, whether jointly or separately, shall for the purposes of determining the ceiling area of the family unit, be deemed to be held by the family unit. 1* * * 2* * * Explanation.- A "family unit" means,-
   • (a) a person and his spouse (or more than one spouse) and their minor sons and minor unmarried daughters, if any; or
   • (b) where any spouse is dead, the surviving spouse or spouses, and the minor sons and minor unmarried daughters; or
   • (c) where the spouses are dead, the minor sons and minor unmarried daughters of such deceased spouses.
2. (2) For the purposes of this section, all declarations of dissolution of marriage made by a Court after the 26th day of September, 1970, and all dissolutions of marriage by custom, or duly made, pronounced or declared on or after that date shall, for the purposes of determining the ceiling area to be held by a family unit, be ignored; and accordingly, the land held by each spouse shall be taken into consideration for that purpose, as if no dissolution had taken place. But, if a proceeding for dissolution of marriage has commenced before any Court before the aforesaid date, then the dissolution of marriage shall have full effect (whether the marriage is dissolved before or after that date), and shall be taken into consideration in determining the ceiling area of family unit.

1. (1) In each of the districts and talukas specified in column 1 of the First Schedule, for each class of land described in columns 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 thereof, the ceiling area shall be the area mentioned under each such class of land against such district or taluka.
2. (2) If a person, or a family unit, holds land of only one class, the ceiling area for his or its holding shall be the ceiling area for that class of land.
3. (3) Where a person or a family unit holds different classes of land, then, for calculating whether the holding is equal to or in excess of the ceiling area, that total area of the holding shall be calculated in the following manner :- The area of each class of land falling under sub-clauses (a), (b) or (c) of clause (5) of section 2 shall be converted into dry crop land falling under sub-clause (d) or as the case may be, sub-clause (e) of clause (5) of the section on the basis of the proportion which the ceiling area for the class of land to be converted, bears to the ceiling area for dry crop land, aforesaid. Where a person or family unit holds dry crop land falling under sub-clauses (d) and (e) of clause (5), then the conversion shall be made into land falling under sub-clause (e). If the area in terms of dry crop land so arrived at, together with the area of such dry crop land, if any, in his or its holding, is equal to the ceiling area for drycrop land falling under sub-clause (d), or as the case may be, sub-clause (e), aforesaid, the holding shall be deemed to be equal to the ceiling area. If it exceeds the ceiling area, the holding shall be deemed to be in excess of the ceiling area.]

1[6. Lands held in excess of ceiling area deemed to be within ceiling area in certain circumstances.- Where a family unit, consists of members which exceed five in number, the family unit shall be entitled to hold land exceeding the ceiling area to the extent of one-fifth of the ceiling area for each member in excess of five, so however that the total holding shall not exceed twice the ceiling area, and in such case, in relation to the holding of such family unit, such area shall be deemed to be the ceiling area.]

Where a person or family unit holds both exempted land and other land (that is, land which is not exempted land) then,-

1. (a) if the area of exempted land is less than the ceiling area, he or it shall be entitled to hold so much only of other land as together with the area of exempted land, equals the ceiling area; and in such case, in relation to the holding of that person, or as the case may be, family unit, such area shall be deemed to be the ceiling area;
2. (b) in any other case, he or it shall not be entitled to hold any land which is not exempted land.