Rights of certain tenants to pre-empt sale etc. of land

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, usage or contract, and subject to the provisions of section 18, a tenant of a landowner other than a small landowner,—

1. (i) who has been in continuous occupation of the land comprised in his tenancy for a period exceeding four years on the date of the sale of the land or foreclosure of the right to redeem the land, or
2. (ii) in case of a sale or foreclosure that has taken place or shall take place within a period of three years from the commencement of this Act and there is no tenant who has acquired a right under clause (i),—

1. (a) who was ejected from his tenancy after the 14th day of August, 1947, and before the commencement of this Act on grounds other than those mentioned in section 9, and was in continuous occupation of the land comprised in his tenancy for a period exceeding four years on the date of ejectment, or
2. (b) who has been restored to his tenancy under the provisions of this Act and whose period of continuous occupation of the land comprised in his tenancy immediately before ejectment and immediately after restoration of his tenancy together exceed four years, shall, in preference to the rights of other pre-emptors as provided in the Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1913 (Act I of 1913), except the descendants of vendor’s grand-father, be entitled to pre-empt the sale or foreclosure of the land other than the land comprised in the reserved area of the landowner in the manner prescribed in that Act within one year from the date of the sale or foreclosure, as the case may be: Provided that no tenant referred to in this sub-section shall be entitled to exercise any such right in respect of the land or any portion thereof, if he had sublet the land or the portion, as the case may be, to any other person unless during that period the tenant was suffering from a legal disability or physical infirmity, or, if a woman, was a widow or was unmarried.