The Tamil Nadu Occupants of Kudiyiruppu (Protection from Eviction) Act, 1961

(1) This Act may be called the Tamil Nadu Occupants of Kudiyiruppu (Protection from Eviction) Act, 1961. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (1) "agricultural labourer" means a person whose principal means of livelihood is the income he gets as wages for his manual labour on agricultural land ; (2) "agricultural land" means any land used for any of the following purposes, namely :- (a) horticulture ; (b) the raising of crops, grass or garden produce; (c) grazing ; (d) the raising of manure crops ; (e) dairy farming ; (f) poultry farming ; (g) livestock breeding ; (h) growing of trees ; and (i) includes any land used for any purpose subservient to the above purposes, and any forest land, pasture land, plantation, orchard and tope; but (ii) does not include house-site or land used exclusively for non-agricultural purposes ; (3) "agriculturist" means a person who cultivates agricultural land by the contribution of his own manual labour or of the manual labour of any member of his family ; (4) "authorized officer" means any Gazetted Officer authorized by the Government by notification to exercise the powers conferred on, and discharge the duties imposed upon, the authorized officer under this Act for such area as may be specified in the notification ; (5) "Government" means the State Government ; (6) "kudiyiruppu" means the site of any dwelling house or hut occupied, either as tenant or as licensee, by any agriculturist or agricultural labourer and includes such other area adjacent to the dwelling house or hut as may be necessary for the convenient enjoyment of such dwelling house or hut ; Explanation.--It shall be presumed that any person occupying the kudiyiruppu is an agricultural labourer or an agriculturist, until the contrary is proved: (7) "tenant" means any person who has paid or has agreed to pay rent or other consideration for his being allowed by another to enjoy land of the latter under a tenancy agreement, express or implied, and includes his heirs and legal representatives.

(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, no person occupying any kudiyiruppu shall be evicted from such kudiyiruppu. (2) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, any person occupying any kudiyiruppu shall be entitled to continue to occupy the kudiyiruppu on terms and conditions not less favourable than those applicable to him on the date on which he occupied such kudiyiruppu. (3) Sub-sections (1) and (2) shall not apply to any person occupying any kudiyiruppu- (a) if he has done any act or has been guilty of any negligence which is destructive of, or injurious to, the property belonging to the owner of the kudiyiruppu ; or (b) if he has wilfully denied the title of the owner of the kudiyiruppu. Explanation.-A denial of the owner's title under a bona fide mistake of fact is not wilful within the meaning of this clause. (4) In computing the period of limitation prescribed for an application for the execution of a decree or order for the eviction of a person occupying any kudiyiruppu, the time during which he was protected by sub-section (1) from eviction shall be excluded. Explanation.-A decree or order shall be deemed to be a decree or order for the eviction of a person occupying any kudiyiruppu notwithstanding that any other relief is also granted by such decree or order.

(1) If any person who was occupying any kudiyiruppu on the 31st March 1959 has been evicted from such kudiyiruppu after such date, but before the date of publication of this Act in the Fort St. George Gazette or is evicted from such kudiyiruppu after the date of such publication, he may, within a period of six months after the date of the publication of this Act in the Fort St. George Gazette or after the date of eviction, as the case may be, apply to the authorized officer within whose jurisdiction the kudiyiruppu is situated in such form as may be prescribed for restoration to him of the possession of the kudiyiruppu from which he was evicted, and to occupy it subject to the same terms and conditions, as far as may be, as were applicable to him on the 31st March 1959. (2) If any person occupying any kudiyiruppu, to whom sub-section (1) does not apply, has been evicted from such kudiyiruppu on or after the 1st February 1969, but before the date of the publication of the Tamil Nadu Occupants of Kudiyiruppu (Protection from Eviction) Amendment Act, 1971, in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, or is evicted from such kudiyiruppu after the date of such publication, he may within a period of six months after the date of such publication or after the date of eviction, as the case may be, apply to the authorized officer within whose jurisdiction the kudiyiruppu is situated in such form as may be prescribed for restoration to him of the possession of the kudiyiruppu from which he was evicted, and to occupy it subject to the same terms and conditions, as far as may be as were applicable to him on the date on which he was evicted. (3) If any person who was occupying any kudiyiruppu on the 28th November 1973 has been evicted from such kudiyiruppu after such date, but before the date of the publication of the Tamil Nadu Occupants of Kudiyiruppu (Protection from Eviction) Re-enacting Act, 1975, in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, he may, within a period of six months after the date of such publication, apply to the authorized officer within whose jurisdiction the kudiyiruppu is situated in such form as may be prescribed for restoration to him of the possession of the kudiyiruppu from which he was evicted, and to occupy it subject to the same terms and conditions, as far as may be, as were applicable to him on the 28th November 1973.

Any owner of kudiyiruppu seeking to evict for any of the reasons mentioned in sub-section (3) of section 3 any person occupying any kudiyiruppu, may, whether or not there is an order or decree of court for the eviction of such person, make an application for such eviction to the authorized officer within whose jurisdiction the kudiyiruppu is situated, in such form and within such time as may be prescribed.

On receipt of the application under section 4 or section 5, the authorized officer shall, after giving a reasonable opportunity to the parties concerned to make their representations, hold a summary enquiry into the matter and pass an order either allowing the application or dismissing it and shall communicate a copy of such order to the party concerned.

(1) Against any order passed by the authorized officer under section 6, any person aggrieved by such order may, within sixty days from the date of the order, appeal to the District Collector : Provided that the District Collector may admit an appeal presented after the expiry of the said period if he is satisfied that the party concerned had sufficient cause for not presenting it within the said period. Explanation.-For the purposes of this sub-section, "date of the order" means the date on which the order is communicated to the party concerned. (2) The provisions of section 4 and of sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 12 of the Limitation Act, 1963 (Central Act 36 of 1963) shall, as far as may be, apply to any appeal under sub-section (1). (3) An appeal to the District Collector under sub-section (1) shall be in such form and shall be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed. (4) The District Collector may, after giving the parties to the appeal, an opportunity of being heard, pass such order thereon as he thinks fit and shall communicate a copy of such order to the party concerned. (5) The District Collector may stay the execution of any order passed by the authorized officer pending the exercise of his powers of appeal under this section.

Nothing contained in this Act shall be deemed to affect the application of the Travancore-Cochin Prevention of Eviction of Kudikidappukars Act, 1955 (Travancore-Cochin Act XIII of 1955), as in force in the Kanyakumari district and the Shencottah taluk of the Tirunelveli district, to a kudikidappukaran as defined in section 2 (c) of that Act.

Subject to the provisions of section 8, the provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force, or any custom, usage or contract or decree or order of a court or other authority.

The costs of, and incidental to, all proceedings before the authorized officer or the District Collector shall be in his discretion.

No civil court shall have jurisdiction in respect of any matter in which the authorized officer or the District Collector is empowered by or under this Act to decide and no injunction shall be granted by any court in respect of any action taken or to be taken in exercise of any power conferred by or under this Act.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the authorized officer or the District Collector for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or order made thereunder.

If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Government may, as occasion may require, by order, do anything which appears to them necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty.

(1) The Government may make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act. (2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for- (a) the form of application to be made to the authorized officer under section 4 or section 5 ; (b) the manner of holding summary enquiry under section 6 ; (c) the manner of communicating to the parties the order under section 6 or under sub-section (4) of section 7 ; (d) the form of appeal, and the fee payable, under sub-section (3) of section 7. (2-A) The Government may make rules providing for the preparation of record of persons occupying kudiyiruppu. Such rules may also provide for appeal and revision. (3) All rules made under this Act shall be published in the Fort St. George Gazette and, unless they are expressed to come into force on a particular day, shall come into force on the day on which they are so published. (4) Every rule made under this Act shall, as soon as possible after it is made, be placed on the table of both Houses of the Legislature, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so placed or the next session, both Houses agree in making any modification in any such rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.