Vidhi Codex

The Maharashtra Revenue Patels (Abolition of Office) Act, 1962

The Maharashtra Revenue Patels (Abolition of Office) Act, 1962

General196227 sections4 chapters

This Act abolishes the hereditary system of village headmen, known as Patels, and terminates the special land rights and privileges, called watans, traditionally attached to their offices. Applying to hereditary Patels, landholders, and tenants in Maharashtra, the law reclaims these feudal lands for the state, making them subject to standard land taxes. It permits former holders to reclaim their lands upon occupancy payments, protects lawful tenants, and completely voids discriminatory inheritance rules that excluded female heirs. This legislation matters because it modernized rural governance, standardized agricultural land ownership across the state, and secured crucial gender equality in family inheritance laws.

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Part I PRELIMINARY

  1. 1Short title and commencement.

Part II ABOLITION OF OFFICE OF HEREDITARY PATEL AND OF WATANS APPERTAINING THERETO

  1. 2Definitions.
  2. 3Abolition of patel watans together with incidents thereof.
  3. 4Powers of Collector to decide certain questions and appeals.
  4. 5Regrant of watan land to watandar.
  5. 6Regrant of watan land to authorised holder.
  6. 7Special rule of succession to be void.
  7. 8Application of existing tenancy law.
  8. 9Eviction of unauthorised holder and regrant of watan land to him in certain circumstances and disposal of land not regranted.
  9. 10Regret of land subject to Maharashtra Act, XXVII of 1961.
  10. 11Compensation to representative watandar.
  11. 12Method of awarding compensation to the representation watandar.
  12. 13Method of awarding compensation for abolition, etc., of rights of any other person in property.
  13. 14Provisions of Land Acquisition Act applicable to the form of award and previous approval required in certain cases.
  14. 15Appeal against award of the Collector.
  15. 16Procedure before Revenue Tribunal.
  16. 17Limitation.
  17. 18Court-fees.
  18. 19Finality of award and decision of Revenue Tribunal.
  19. 20Inquiries and proceedings to be judicial proceedings.
  20. 21Mode of payment of compensation.
  21. 22Amount of arrears of land revenue, etc., to be deducted from the amount of compensation.
  22. 23Delegation of powers.
  23. 24Rules.
  24. 25Savings.

Part III ABOLITION OF OFFICE OF STIPENDIARY REVENUE PATEL

  1. 26Abolition of office of stipendiary revenue patel and construction of references.

Part IV CONSEQUENTIAL PROVISIONS

  1. 27Amendment of relevant Codes.

PDF: pending for this language.