Chapter III PROVISIONS RELATING TO PROPRIETORS

Notwithstanding anything entered in any statement of conditions issued under the Government Tenants (Punjab) Act, 1893, a tenant who, either in pursuance of any such condition or otherwise by agreement with or under rules issued by the State Government, has acquired proprietary right in any land included in his tenancy shall in respect of such land cease to be subject to any statement of conditions issued under the above-mentioned Act : Provided always that he shall in respect of such land be bound by the conditions set out in

Right of alienation in respect of, and rule of succession to, certain proprietary rights acquired by a female A.

1. (1) Notwithstanding any custom and the provisions of any law to the contrary, when after the commencement of the Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) (Amendment) Act, 1944, proprietary rights in any land are acquired by a female tenant, her rights of alienation of any such land shall be the same -
   • (a) if she succeeded to the tenancy directly or indirectly from a male tenant, as if the proprietary rights had been acquired by the last male tenant, and she had succeeded to such rights as his heir, and
   • (b) if the tenancy was first allotted on account of some male person, either to her, or to another female to whom she succeeded either directly or in a continuous line of female succession, as if the proprietary rights had been acquired by such male person and she had succeeded to such rights as his heir ; and in cases falling under clause
   • (a) or clause
   • (b) in the event of such female proprietor dying while in possession of the proprietary rights in question, the said rights shall devolve upon the persons who would be entitled to succeed, if such rights had been acquired by the last male tenant, or the male person on whose account the tenancy was first allotted, as the case may be.
2. (2) Nothing herein contained shall be construed to alter the law of succession applicable to any female tenant, in respect of proprietary rights in land acquired by her, if the tenancy in such land was acquired by or accrued to her in circumstances other than those specified in sub-section (1).
3. (3) For the purposes of this section the expression "any such land" shall be deemed to include any land obtained in exchange for part or all of the land in which proprietary rights have been acquired.

No mare or camel or other animal maintained in accordance with any prescribed statement of conditions and no progeny, if less than eighteen months old, of any mare or camel so maintained, shall be liable to attachment or sale in execution of any decree.

When the Collector is satisfied that any person has taken or is in possession of land in a colony to which he has no right or title, the Collector may, in addition to any other powers he may possess, forthwith re-enter upon the land and resume possession of it and take possession of all crops, trees and buildings thereon on behalf of the

Penalties If any person, without permission of a Revenue Officer of a grade to be specified by the State Government -

1. (a) clears or breaks up for cultivation, or cultivates any land which is owned by, or is in the possession of the Government and is not included in any tenancy or allotted residential enclosure or which has been set apart for the common purposes of a town or village community or section of the same or for a road, canal or watercourse ; or
2. (b) erects any building on any such land ; or
3. (c) fells or otherwise destroys standing trees on such land ; or
4. (d) otherwise encroaches on any such land ; or
5. (e) makes an excavation or constructs a water channel on any such land ; he shall, on complaint made by order of or under authority from the Collector, be punished on conviction with a fine not exceeding Rs. 200 : Explanation. -The felling of trees planted by an owner or tenant on any village road or watercourse traversing his holding is not an offence under this section.

When the Collector is satisfied that an act punishable under section 33 has been committed, he may in lieu of proceeding against the offender under that section or after conviction of the offender under that section -

1. (i) in the case of an offence under section 33 (a), confiscate the crops growing on any land cultivated in contravention of this Act or, if the crops have been cut, recover such sum as he may assess as the value thereof from the offender ;
2. (ii) in the case of an offence under section 33 (c), recover such sum as he may assess as the value of the trees or tree destroyed ;
3. (iii) in the case of an offence under section 33 (b), (d) or (e), cause the building or other encroachment to be demolished or removed or the excavation or channels to be filled up, and levy the costs of so doing from the person responsible for such act.

1. (1) If in any estate the majority of the tenants and owners of the estate shall apply for the levy of a cess for village purposes, the Collector may order the payment of such a cess from the proprietors, tenants and inhabitants of the village in such way and at such rates as he hold to be suitable.
2. (2) Any cess leviable under this section shall be recoverable by suit under section 77 (3)
   • (j) of the Punjab Tenancy

Jurisdiction of Civil Court barred as regards matter arising under the Act A Civil Court shall not have jurisdiction in any matter of which the Collector is empowered by this Act to dispose, and shall not take cognizance of the manner in which the State Government or Collector or any other Revenue

Public servants indemnified for acts done under this Act Public servants indemnified for acts done under this Act.

Legalization of orders passed previous to the Act Legalization of orders passed previous to the Act.

1. (1) Any Act hitherto done or order passed by the [State] Government or by an officer holding the post of Colonization Officer, Assistant Colonization Officer or Settlement Commissioner, or exercising the powers of an Assistant Collector: or of a Revenue Officer of higher class within any area to which the Government Tenants (Punjab) Act, 1893, has been applied or to which this Act may hereafter be applied which is not contrary to the provisions of this Act, shall be deemed to have been done or passed under this Act.
2. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing subsection, no right of occupancy or right of ownership and no condition applicable thereto shall be invalidated by reason of -
   • (i) the right having been granted before the particulars regarding it have been entered in a prescribed register; or
   • (ii) the prescribed register not having been signed by the tenant ; or
   • (iii) the prescribed statement of conditions having been affixed to the prescribed register instead of being prefixed thereto : Provided that if the register has not been signed by the tenant, the statement of conditions applicable to the tenancy shall be deemed to be that which was in force for tenancies of the same description at the time when the land was allotted.