Chapter XI Chapter XI

Nothing in this Act shall affect any custom, usage or customary right not inconsistent with, or not expressly or by necessary implication modified or abolished by its provisions. Illustrations (i) A custom or usage whereby a 'Raiyat obtains a right of occupancy as soon as he is admitted to occupation of the tenancy, whether he is a settled 'Raiyat of the village or not, is not inconsistent with, and is not expressly or by necessary implication modified or abolished by, the provisions of this Act. That custom or usage, accordingly wherever it exists, will not be affected by this Act. (ii) A custom or usage by which an under Raiyat can obtain rights similar to those of an occupancy 'Raiyat is similarly, not inconsistent with, and is not expressly or by necessary implication modified or abolished by the provisions of this Act, and will not be affected by this Act. (iii) A custom or usage whereby a 'Raiyat is entitled to make improvements on his tenancy and to receive compensation therefor an ejectment is not inconsistent with, and is not expressly or by necessary implication modified or abolished by the provisions of this Act. That custom or usage, accordingly, wherever it exists, will not be affected by this Act. (iv) A custom or usage whereby 'Korkar' is held,- (a) during preparation for cultivation, rent-free, or (b) [x x x] after preparation, at a rate of rent less than the rate payable for ordinary 'Raiyati' land in the same village tenure or estate, is not inconsistent with, and is not expressly or by necessary implication modified or abolished by the provisions of this Act. That custom or usage, accordingly wherever it exists, will not be affected by this Act.

Except in so far as the [State] Government may otherwise direct by notification, nothing in this Act shall affect any incident of a Ghatwali or other service tenure or holding.

When a Raiyat holds his homestead otherwise than as part of his holding as a Raiyat, the incidents of his tenancy of the homestead shall be regulated by local custom or usage, and, subject to local custom or usage, by the provisions of this Act applicable to land held by a Raiyat.

(1) Nothing in any contract between a landlord and tenant made before or after the commencement of this Act shall,- (a) bar in perpetuity the acquisition of an occupancy-right in land, or (b) take away an occupancy-right in existence at the date of the contract, or (c) entitle a landlord to eject a tenant otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (2) Nothing in any contract made between a landlord and a tenant between the 1st January, 1903, and the commencement of this Act shall prevent a Raiyat from acquiring, in accordance with this Act, an occupancy right in land, not being landlord's privilege lands as defined in Section 118. (3) Nothing in any contract made between a landlord and a tenant after the commencement of this Act shall,- (i) prevent a Raiyat from acquiring, in accordance with this Act, an occupancy-right in land, or (ii) take away or limit the right of an occupancy 'Raiyat' to use land as authorised by Section 21, or (iii) take away the right of an occupancy 'Raiyat' to transfer his holding or any portion thereof subject to, and in accordance with, the provisions of this Act, or (iv) take away the right of an occupancy 'Raiyat' to apply for a reduction of rent under Section 34, or (v) affect the provisions of Section 58 relating to interest payable on arrears of rent, or (vi) take away the right of a tenant or landlord to apply for a commutation of rent under Section 61, or (vii) take away the right of a Raiyat to surrender his holding in accordance with Section 72: [Provided that when a landlord has converted waste land into 'korkar' and subsequently lets the same or a part thereof to a Raiyat on registered lease, nothing in this Act shall affect a condition of such lease whereby the 'Raiyat is prevented from acquiring an occupancy-right in the land or part during the period of twenty years from the date on which the landlord commenced to convert the land into 'korkar' if within the six months next preceding such commencement the landlord intimated to the Deputy Commissioner in manner prescribed his intention to covert the land into 'korkar', and satisfied him that it was then waste land.]

Nothing in any contract, express or implied, between a landlord and a tenure-holder or a Raiyat made before or after the date on which Section 21 of the Chota Nagpur Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1938 (Bihar Act 2 of 1938) came into force, shall entitle the landlord to more than nine-twentieths of the produce as rent in respect of a tenure or an occupancy holding if rent is payable in kind by division of the produce.