Restoration of possession of cultivating tenants in certain cases

(1) Any cultivating tenant who had been evicted from any land on or after the 1st day of October 1986, but before the date of the publication of this Act in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, on the ground that such cultivating tenant was in arrear with respect to the rent payable to the landlord or the public trust, as the case may be, shall, on application to the Revenue Divisional Officer or the authorised officer, as the case may be, within a period of three months after the date of such publication, be entitled to be restored to possession of such land and to hold it with all the rights and subject to all the liabilities of a cultivating tenant under the Tenants Protection Act or under the Public Trusts Act, as the case may be : Provided that the application may be received after the period of three months aforesaid, but before the expiry of this Act, if the applicant satisfies the Revenue Divisional Officer or the authorised officer, as the case may be, that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within the said period of three months. (2) The provisions of sub-section (4) of section 4 of the Tenants Protection Act or, as the case may be, sub-section (2) of section 20 of the Public Trusts Act shall, so far as may be, apply to an application under sub-section (1).