Persons not entitled to hold agricultural land in excess or ceiling limit

(1) The State Government may by notification declare that with effect from the date mentioned in the notification (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the notified date) no person shall be entitled to hold any agricultural land in excess of the ceiling limit in the State of Sikkim and all lands in excess of the ceiling limit shall vest in the State in accordance with and under the provisions of this Act and the rules and notifications made thereunder. Explanation I - The State Government may notify different dates for different areas of the State. Explanation II - Land held by a husband in his own name along with land cultivated by him in the capacity of an Adhiadar or a Kutiadar shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be held by him. (2) [Omitted] (3) [Omitted] (4) The ceiling shall be - (a) in the case of a person having no family or a family consisting of not more than five members, twelve and a half standard acres, and (b) in the case of a person having a family consisting of more than five members, twelve and a half standard acres increased by two standard acres for each member in excess of five, so however, that the ceiling area shall not exceed twenty and a half standard acres. Explanation - (i) for the purpose of this sub-section, all lands held by a person individually or jointly with other members of his family shall be deemed to be held by him, (ii) Where any holding is held by him jointly with any person or persons other than a member of his family, the share of each person in the joint-holding shall be deemed to be held by him. (2) An adult son of a person shall be treated as a separate unit and his share in his father's holding or in ancestral holding shall be aggregated along with other lands if any, held by him for the purposes of determining his ceiling limit. Explanation I - No person who has not completed the age of eighteen years on the date of the notification referred to in sub-section 1 of Section 6 or on the date of final acquisition of land under Section 16 shall be declared to be an adult. Explanation II - The expression "adult son" includes an adult son who is dead and has left surviving behind him his widow, minor sons or daughters (other than married daughters) who either do not own any land or hold land less than twelve and a half standard acres. (3) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding sub-sections, a monastery, temple or other religious institution shall be entitled to hold - (a) sixty standard acres, if it is listed in Group A of Schedule I, and (b) twenty-five standard acres, if it is listed in Group B of Schedule I. (4) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to - (a) land used for growing tea to the extent notified by the State Government; (b) land owned by the State Government or the Union Government or an undertaking or company owned by the State or the Union Government or by a local authority; (c) land held by a co-operative society including a co-operative Bank, the State Bank of India, a subsidiary of the State Bank of India as defined in the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959, a corresponding new bank as defined in the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, the Agricultural Refinance Corporation and the Agricultural Finance Corporation; Provided that in the case of a co-operative society, no member shall be allowed to hold share of the land which together with his other land, exceeds the ceiling applicable to him under sub-section (1); and (d) land held for industrial purpose to the extent notified by the State Government in each case and for the period the land continues to be used for such purposes. Explanation - I Use of the land for a purpose other than that notified by the State Government shall be deemed to be cessation of use for industrial purposes unless such different use is approved by the State Government. Explanation II - Use of land for cultivation of crops to be used for industrial purposes shall not amount to use for industrial purposes. (5) The "standard acre" for different areas for the State shall be determined in the manner provided in Schedule II. For sub-section (1) of Section 9, the following shall be and shall always be deemed to have been substituted, namely:-"(I) on the basis of the statement filed by a person under sub-section (1) of Section 9 and in cases where a person fails to file a statement in spite of service of a notice under sub-section (2) of the said section, the Competent Authority may, after such inquiry as he may consider necessary either by himself or by any person subordinate to him, cause to be prepared a draft statement in respect of that person".