The Tamil Nadu Revenue Recovery (Amendment) Act, 1981

The term "landholder" as used in this Act, shall be taken to comprise the following persons: All persons holding under a Sanad-i-Milkiyat-i-istimrar, all other Zamindars, Shrotriyamdars, Jagirdars, Inamdars, and all persons farming the Land Revenue under the State Government. All holders of land under Ryotwar settlements, or in any way subject to the payment of revenue direct to the State Government. Public revenue due on land shall, for the purposes of this Act, be taken to include- (a) assessment, quit-rent, ground-rent or other charge upon the land payable to the State Government; (aa) cesses or other dues payable to the State Government on account of water supplied for irrigation; and (b) pattom due on landulrishi lands in the Kanyakumari district. Public revenue due on land shall, for the purposes of this Act, be taken to include— (a) assessment, quit-rent, ground-rent or other charge upon the land payable to the State Government; (aa) cesses or other dues payable to the State Government on account of water supplied for irrigation; and (b) pattom due on landulzrishi lands in the Kanyakumari district. (1) This Act may be called the Tamil Nadu Revenue Recovery (Amendment) Act, 1981. (2) Sections 2 to 9 and 11 shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of July 1974.

The land, the buildings upon it, and its products shall be regarded as the security of the public revenue. In sections 5, 9, 10, 23, 27, 42, 44, 48 and 50 of the Tamil Nadu Revenue Recovery Act, 1864 (Tamil Nadu Act II of 1864) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), for the word "interest", the word "penalty" shall be substituted.

Every landholder shall pay to the Collector, or other officer empowered by him to receive it, the revenue due upon his land on or before the day on which it falls due, according to the kistbandi or other engagement, and where no particular day is fixed, then within the time when the payment falls due according to local usage: Provided that, except where property is held under a Sanad-i Milkiyat-i-istimrar or other similar instrument, it shall be lawful for the Board of Revenue, by notification published in the District Gazette, to alter and fix, from time to time, the amount of the several kists or instalments, and the dates at which they shall respectively become payable. For section 7 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely :-"7. Penalty on arrears.--Penalty shall be charged on arrears of revenue at the rate of 5 per cent per fasli year or part thereof; provided that no such penalty shall be charged for the fasli year in which the revenue falls due and for the next succeeding fasli year.".

When the whole or portion of a kist shall not be so paid, the amount of the kist or of its unpaid portion shall be deemed to be an arrear of revenue. In section 8 of the principal Act, in rule Second, for the word "interest", the word "penalty" shall be substituted.

Whenever revenue may be in arrear, it shall be lawful for the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to proceed to recover the arrear, together with interest and costs of process, by the sale of the defaulter's movable and immovable property, or by execution against the person of the defaulter in manner hereinafter provided. In section 17 of the principal Act, for the word "interest", the words and figure "interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum" shall be substituted.

If the defaulter hold under a Sanad-i-Milkiyat-i-istimrar or other similar instrument, the mode of recovering the arrear shall be in accordance with the terms of such Sanad. In the case of other defaulters, the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, may at his discretion, proceed to realize the arrear by the sale of either the movable or immovable property of the defaulter, or of both. In section 34 of the principal Act,--(a) for the words "interest thereon at the rate of six per cent per annum", the words and figure "penalty chargeable under section 7" shall be substituted; (b) for the words "all arrears, interest", the words "all arrears, penalty" shall be substituted.

Arrears of revenue shall bear interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum. In section 35 of the principal Act, for the words "arrears, interest", the words "arrears, penalty" shall be substituted.

In the seizure and sale of movable property for arrears of revenue, the following rules shall be observed :— First.—The Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, shall furnish to the person employed to distrain the property of a defaulter, a demand in writing and signed with his name, specifying the name of the defaulter, the amount of the arrear for which the distress may be issued, and the date on which the arrear fell due. The person employed to distrain shall produce the writing which, if the arrear together with the batta due to him, under section 63, be not at once paid, shall be his authority for making the distress, and on the day on which the property may be distrained, shall deliver a copy of such writing to the defaulter, endorsing thereon a list or inventory of the property distrained, and the name of the place where it may be lodged or kept. Second.—The writing shall further set forth that the distrained property will be immediately brought to public sale, unless the amount, with interest, batta, and all the expenses of the distress, be previously discharged. Third.—When a defaulter may be absent, a copy of the writing, with the endorsement, shall be fixed or left at his usual place of residence, or on the premises where the property may have been distrained, before the expiration of the third day, calculating from the day of distress. In section 37 of the principal Act, for the word "interest thereon", the words "penalty thereon" shall be substituted.

When the amount due shall not have been paid pursuant to the terms of the demand, and no arrangement for securing the same shall have been entered into to the satisfaction of the Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, the distrainer shall transmit an inventory of the property distrained to the nearest public officer empowered to sell distrained property, under Act VII of 1839, in order that it may be publicly sold for the discharge of the arrear due, with interest, batta, and cost of distraint. In clause (h) of sub-section (1) of section 37-A of the principal Act, for the words "interest thereon", the words "penalty thereon" shall be substituted.

Where a defaulter may tender payment of the arrear demanded after his property may have been distrained, and prior to the day fixed for sale, together with payment of interest, batta, and all necessary expenses attending distress, the distrainer shall receive the amount immediately upon the same being tendered, and shall forthwith release the property. In section 38 of the principal Act, after sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely :--"(3-A) No sale shall be set aside by the Collector under sub-section (2) or sub-section (3) unless the purchaser has had a reasonable opportunity of making his representations.".

The distrainer attaching the crops or ungathered products of the land belonging to a defaulter, may cause them to be sold when fit for reaping or gathering, or at his option, may cause them to be reaped or gathered in due season and stored in proper places until sold. In the latter case, the expense of reaping or gathering and storing such crops or products shall be defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property, or from the proceeds of the sale in the event of its being sold. When crops or products belonging to a tenant shall have been sold, it shall be lawful for such tenant to deduct the value of the crops or products so sold from any rent which may be due by him, then or afterwards, to the defaulter, in respect of the land on which such crops or products have been grown. It shall also be lawful for a tenant whose crops are attached for an arrear of revenue to pay the arrear and deduct the amount in the aforesaid manner from any rent due by him, then or afterwards. In section 54 of the principal Act,--(a) in the marginal heading, for the word "interest", the word "penalty" shall be substituted; (b) for the word "interest", the word "penalty" shall be substituted.

The distrainer shall not work the bullocks or cattle, or make use of the goods or effects distrained; he shall provide the necessary food for the cattle or livestock, the expense attending which shall be defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property, or from the proceeds of the sale in the event of its being sold. Notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or other authority, any penalty charged or collected or purporting to have been charged or collected under the principal Act, on or after the 1st day of July 1974 and before the date of publication of this Act in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, shall for all purposes be deemed to be, and to have been validly charged or collected in accordance with law as if sections 2 to 4, 6 to 9 and 11 of this Act had been in force at all material times when such penalty was charged or collected and accordingly,--(a) all acts, proceedings or things done or taken by any authority, officer or person in connection with the charge or collection of such penalty shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be and to have always been done or taken in accordance with law; (b) no suit or other proceedings shall be maintained or continued in any court for the refund of any penalty so paid; (c) no court shall enforce any decree or order directing the refund of any penalty so paid.

Where property distrained may be stolen or lost, or damaged by reason of the necessary precautions for its due preservation not having been taken, or from its having been improperly worked or made use of, the amount of such loss or damage shall be recoverable by summary process by the Collector from the officer whose neglect or act occasioned the loss or damage, and the amount when recovered shall be paid to the person distrained.

The distress levied shall not be excessive, that is to say, the property distrained shall be as nearly as possible proportionate to the amount of the arrear.

The following articles shall not be distrained for arrears of revenue, namely :— (a) the necessary wearing apparel, cooking vessels, beds and bedding of the defaulter or of his wife and children, and such personal ornaments of a woman as in accordance with religious usage cannot be parted with by her.

Where it may be proved to the satisfaction of any Civil Court of competent jurisdiction that any person has forcibly or clandestinely taken away property once distrained, the Court may summarily cause such property to be restored to the distrainer. The offender shall further be liable to the penalty prescribed by the Indian Penal Code.

It shall be lawful for the distrainer to force open any stable, cow-house, granary, godown, out-house, or other building, and he may also enter any dwelling house the outer door of which may be open, and may break open the door of any room in such dwelling house for the purpose of attaching property belonging to a defaulter and lodged therein; provided always that it shall not be lawful for such distrainer to break open or enter any apartment in such dwelling house appropriated for the zenana or residence of women, except as hereinafter provided.

Where a distrainer may have reason to suppose that the property of a defaulter is lodged within a dwelling house, the outer door of which may be shut, or within any apartments appropriated to women, which, by the usage of the country, are considered private, such distrainer shall represent the same to the officer in charge of the nearest Police station. On such representation, the officer in charge of the said station shall send a police officer to the spot, in the presence of whom the distrainer may force open the outer door of such dwelling house, in like manner as he may break open the door of any room within the house except the zenana. The distrainer may also, in the presence of the police-officer, after due notice given for the removal of women within a zenana, and after furnishing means for their removal in a suitable manner (if they be women of rank, who, according to the customs of the country cannot appear in public), enter the zenana apartments for the purpose of distraining the defaulter's property deposited therein, but such property, if found, shall be immediately removed from such apartments after which they shall be left free to the former occupants.

Persons entering the apartments of women, or forcing open the outer door of dwelling houses, contrary to the provisions of this Act, shall, on conviction before a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding Rs. 500, or imprisonment of either description for any period not exceeding six months.

The public officer, empowered under Act VII of 1839 to sell distrained property, shall cause to be fixed to the outer door of the defaulter's house, or on the premises where the property may have been distrained, a list of the property to be sold, with a notice specifying the place where, and the day and hour at which the distrained property will be sold and shall cause proclamation of the intended sale to be made by beat of drum in the village to which the lands on which the arrear has accrued may belong, and in such place or places as the Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, may consider necessary to give due publicity to the sale. No sale shall take place until after the expiration of a period of fifteen days from the date on which the notice may be so affixed: Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent the sale of any distrained property which is subject to speedy and natural decay at any time after the date on which the notice may be so affixed.

At the appointed time, the property shall be put up in one or more lots, as the said officer may consider advisable, and shall be disposed of to the highest bidder. Where the property may sell for more than the amount of the arrear, the overplus, after deducting expenses of process and interest, shall be paid to the defaulter.

The property shall be paid for in ready money at the time of the sale, or as soon after as the officer holding the sale shall appoint, and the purchaser shall not be permitted to carry away any part of the property until he has paid for the same in full. Where the purchaser may fail in the payment of the purchase money, the property shall be re-sold, and the defaulting purchaser shall be liable for any loss arising, as well as the expenses incurred, on the re-sale. Where the property may, on the second sale, sell for a higher price than at the first sale, the difference or loss shall be recovered from him on whose account the said sale was made.

Before a Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, proceeds to attach the land of the defaulter, or buildings thereon, he shall cause a written demand to be served upon the defaulter, specifying the amount due, the estate or land in respect of which it is claimed, the name of the party in arrear, the batta due to the person who shall serve the demand, and the time allowed for payment, which shall be fixed with reference to the distance from the land on which the arrear is due to the place at which the money is to be paid. Such demand shall be served by delivering a copy to the defaulter, or to some adult male member of his family at his usual place of abode, or to his authorized agent, or by affixing a copy thereof on some conspicuous part of his last known residence, or on some conspicuous part of the land about to be attached.

When the amount due shall not have been paid pursuant to the terms of the demand, and no arrangement for securing the same shall have been entered into to the satisfaction of the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, he shall proceed to recover the arrear by the attachment and sale of the defaulter's land in the following manner.

The attachment shall be effected by fixing a notice thereof to some conspicuous part of the land. The notice shall set forth that unless the arrear, with interest and expenses, be paid within the date therein mentioned, the land will be brought to sale in due course of law. The attachment shall be notified by public proclamation on the land, and by publication of the notice in the District Gazette.

It shall be lawful for the Collector, while attaching the land of a defaulter, or at any time during such attachment, to assume the management of the property, and to appoint an agent for the management of the same with written instructions under his seal; and the expenses of management shall be defrayed out of the income of the property; provided always, that where the property may be too inconsiderable to admit of its being charged with the salary of an agent, it shall be committed to the care of such Revenue officer as the Collector may select, who shall be subject to all the provisions herein contained in respect of an agent.

Notice of the assumption of management shall forthwith be served on the defaulter in the manner described in section 25, and shall be notified by public proclamation on the land, and by publication in the District Gazette.

It shall be the duty of the agent, during the continuance of management under section 28, to collect the rents and profits due, or accruing due upon the estate according to the engagements subsisting between the defaulter and the parties holding under him, or according to established usage where no specific engagements exist. The agent shall keep accounts of all his receipts and disbursements, and submit the same, and pay over the balance, to the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, monthly, or whenever required, and the defaulter shall be at liberty to inspect the accounts at all reasonable times and to take copies of the same at his own expense, without fee.

It shall be lawful for the defaulter to proceed by prosecution or suit against the agent, in respect of any criminal or illegal act done by him to the injury of the defaulter or his estate, and all tenants, or other persons holding by subordinate title, shall have the same remedies against him as they would have had against the defaulter if the act were done by the defaulter.

All engagements entered into by the defaulter with any party after the attachment of the land, and with a view to defeat or delay the effect of the attachment, and all leases of land at a rate lower than the asked rates of assessment, and not made bona fide for the purpose of erecting factories or buildings, or of bringing waste land into cultivation, and all engagements made subsequently to attachment, shall be null and void against the Collector, if he shall so declare; subject, however, to the right of the parties to such agreement to bring a suit against the Collector in the ordinary tribunals to establish the same; and all charges or incumbrances upon such land shall be postponed to the payment of the public revenue.

All payments on account of rent or profits actually due made before public notice of assumption of management to or on behalf of any landholder by any person holding under him, shall be valid against the Collector, and all such payments made after public notice of such assumption or made before they were actually due, shall be null and void against the Collector, who shall be entitled to recover, as arrears of rent, the full amount from the parties by whom it was paid, leaving them to sue the defaulter in the ordinary Courts of law.

All sums received from the attached land, after paying the expenses of attachment and management, shall be carried to the credit of the defaulter in discharge of the arrears due, and interest thereon at the rate of six per cent per annum, and as soon as all arrears, interest, costs of attachment, and expense of management shall have been liquidated, the attachment shall be withdrawn, and a full account rendered of all receipts and disbursements during its continuance.

It shall be lawful for any person claiming an interest in land which has been, or is about to be, attached, to obtain its release by paying the arrears, interest, and costs incurred; and all such sums, if paid by a tenant, may be deducted from any rent then or afterwards due by him to the defaulter; and if paid by a bona fide mortgagee or other incumbrancer upon the estate, or by any person not being in possession thereof but bona fide claiming an interest therein adverse to the defaulter, may be recovered in the manner provided in section 36.

In the sale of immovable property under this Act the following rules shall be observed: First. - The sale shall be by the Collector of the district in which the property is situated, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf. The time may be either previous to or after the expiration of the fasli year. Second. - Before the sale the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, shall issue a notice thereof in English and in the language of the district, specifying the name of the defaulter; the position and extent of land and of his buildings thereon; the amount of revenue assessed on the land, or upon its different sections; the proportion of the public revenue due during the remainder of the current fasli; and the time, place, and conditions of sale. This notice shall be fixed up one month at least before the sale in the Collector's office and in the Taluk cutcherry, in the nearest police station-house, and on some conspicuous part of the land. Third. - A sum of money equal to fifteen per cent of the price of the land shall be deposited by the purchaser in the hands of the Collector, or other officer. Fourth. - Where the purchaser may refuse or omit to deposit the said sum of money, or to complete the payment of the remaining purchase-money, the property shall be resold at the expense and hazard of such purchaser, and the amount of all loss or expense which may attend such refusal or omission shall be recoverable from such purchaser in the same manner as arrears of public revenue. Where the lands may, on the second sale, sell for a higher price than at the first sale, the difference or increase shall be the property of him on whom account the said first sale was made.

Provided that such tender must be made before sunset on the day previous to that appointed for the sale, and all sums paid under this or the next succeeding section by any tenant, or bona fide mortgagee, or other incumbrancer or any person bona fide claiming an interest in the estate adverse to the defaulter may be recovered in the manner provided in section 36.

(1) Any person owning or claiming an interest in immovable property sold under this Act may, at any time within thirty days from the date of sale, deposit in the treasury of the taluk in which the immovable property is situated- (a) a sum equal to five per centum of the purchase-money, (b) a sum equal to the arrears of revenue for which the immovable property was sold, together with interest thereon and the expenses of attachment, management and sale and other costs due in respect of such arrears, and may apply to the Collector to set aside the sale. (2) If such deposit and application are made within thirty days from the date of sale, the Collector shall pass an order setting aside the sale, and shall repay to the purchaser the purchase money so far as it has been deposited, together with the five per centum deposited by the applicant: Provided that if more persons than one have made deposit and application under this section, the application of the first depositor to the officer authorized to set aside the sale shall be accepted. (3) If a person applies under section 38 to set aside a sale of immovable property, he shall not, unless he withdraws such application, be entitled to make an application under this section.

(1) At any time within thirty days from the date of the sale of immovable property, application may be made to the Collector to set aside the sale. (2) If the application be allowed, the Collector shall set aside the sale and may direct a fresh one. (3) On the expiration of thirty days from the date of the sale, if no application to have the sale set aside is made under section 37-A or under clause (1) of this section or if such application has been made and rejected, the Collector shall make an order confirming the sale; provided that, if he shall have reason to think that the sale ought to be set aside notwithstanding that no such application has been made or on grounds other than those alleged in any application which has been made and rejected, he may, after recording his reasons in writing, set aside the sale. (4) Whenever the sale of any lands is not so confirmed or is set aside, the deposit or the purchase-money, as the case may be, shall be returned to the purchaser. (5) After the confirmation of any such sale, the Collector shall register the lands sold in the name of the person declared to be the purchaser and shall execute and grant a certificate of sale bearing his seal and signature to such purchaser. Such certificate shall state the property sold and the name of the purchaser, and it shall be conclusive evidence of the fact of the purchase in all Courts, and it shall be published by the Collector in the official Gazette of the district, and in the District Gazette, the name of the purchaser and the date of purchase, together with a declaration of the lawful succession of such purchaser to all the rights and property of the former landholder in the said lands.

The Collector shall publish in the taluk, in the head cutcherry of the district, and in the District Gazette, the name of the purchaser and the date of purchase, together with a declaration of the lawful succession of such purchaser to all the rights and property of the former landholder in the said lands.

Where, notwithstanding such publication, any lawful purchaser of land may be resisted and prevented from obtaining possession of his purchased land, any Court of competent jurisdiction, on application and production of certificate of sale provided for by section 38, shall cause the proper process to be issued for the purpose of putting such purchaser in possession in the same manner as if the purchased lands had been decreed to the purchaser by a decision of the Court.

All contracts entered into by the defaulter with his tenants, and all payments to him by them shall be binding upon the purchaser to the same extent and under the same conditions as laid down in sections 32 and 33 of this Act.

All lands brought to sale on account of arrears of revenue shall be sold free of all incumbrances, and if any balance shall remain after liquidating the arrears with interest and the expenses of attachment and sale and other costs due in respect to such arrears, it shall be paid over to the defaulter unless such payment be prohibited by the injunction of a Court of competent jurisdiction.

Arrears of rent which on the day of sale may be due to the defaulter from his under-tenants shall, in the event of the sale, be recoverable by him after the sale by any process, except distraint which might have been used by him for that purpose before the said sale.

It shall be lawful for the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to sell the whole or any portion of the land of a defaulter in discharge of arrears of revenue; provided always that, so far as may be practicable, no more land shall be sold than shall be sufficient to make good the arrears of revenue, with interest and cost of attachment and management, and an expense of sale.

Where only a part of a landed estate held under a Sanad-i-Milkiyat-i-istimrar, or otherwise subject to the payment of a lump assessment, may be sold, the assessment upon such part shall be apportioned by the Collector previous to sale in manner following: - The amount of revenue to be assessed on each division shall bear the same proportion to the actual value of such division as the total amount of the revenue of the whole estate may bear to the total actual value of the entire estate previous to such division.

[Repealed]

When arrears of revenue, with interest and other charges as aforesaid, cannot be liquidated by the sale of the property of the defaulter, or of his surety, and the Collector shall have reason to believe that the defaulter or his surety is wilfully withholding payment of the arrears, or has been guilty of fraudulent conduct in order to evade payment, it shall be lawful for him to cause the arrest and imprisonment of the defaulter, or his surety, not being a female, as hereinafter mentioned; but no person shall be imprisoned on account of an arrear of revenue for a longer period than two years, or for a longer period than six months, if the arrear does not exceed Rs. 500, or for a longer period than three months, if the arrear does not exceed Rs. 50; provided that such imprisonment shall not extinguish the debt due to the State Government by the defaulter, or his surety.

The Collector shall issue his warrant for the arrest of the defaulter, or his surety, or both, not being a female, which shall specify his or their name, the amount of revenue due and the date on which it became payable, and the warrant shall be signed and sealed by the authority by whom it was issued. The officer charged with the execution of the warrant shall thereupon arrest the defaulter; or his surety, or both and convey him or them to the District Jail or the Central Jail, Madras, and deliver the warrant to the Jailer, which shall be a sufficient authority to him to receive the prisoner or prisoners. A copy of such warrant shall be retained by the Jailer, who shall forthwith despatch the original to the officer in charge of the jail.

All the remedies prescribed by this Act in case of revenue defaulters may be employed against their sureties, and it shall be lawful for any Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to enforce the same, simultaneously with, or either previously or subsequently to, their enforcement against the principal; so, nevertheless, that no more than the total sum in arrears, and interest with costs and charges, shall be realized from both.

When land-revenue is payable in kind, it shall be lawful for the Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to prevent the removal of the crop from the land until a division has been made, and the portion which belongs to the State Government has been set apart, unless the landholder furnishes such security as the Collector may deem satisfactory.

All arrears of revenue other than land-revenue due to the State Government, all advances made by the State Government for cultivation or other purposes connected with the revenue, and all fees or other dues payable by any person to or on behalf of the village servants employed in revenue or police duties, and all cesses lawfully imposed upon land and all sums due to the State Government, including compensation for any loss or damage sustained by them in consequence of a breach of contract, may be recovered in the same manner as arrears of land-revenue under the provisions of this Act, unless the recovery thereof shall have been or may hereafter be otherwise specially provided for.

Without prejudice to any other mode of recovery which is being taken or may be taken, all sums due to the loans granted and all advances made to any person— (i) by the Tamil Nadu Agro-Industries Corporation Limited, Madras, or (ii) by such other Corporation (the shares of which have been contributed, underwritten or guaranteed by the State Government) as may be notified in this behalf by the State Government in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, or (iii) from out of the Amalgamated Tamil Nadu Shares of the Post War Services Re-construction Fund and the Special Fund for Re-construction and Rehabilitation of Ex-servicemen together with interest on such loans and advances, and all sums due to the Corporations mentioned in clauses (i) and (ii) may be recovered in the same manner as arrears of land revenue under the provisions of this Act.

Persons employed in serving notices, or in other process under this Act, shall be entitled to batta at such rates as may, from time to time, be fixed by the Board of Revenue with the sanction of the State Government, and published in the District Gazette.

The batta mentioned in the foregoing section, as well as interest, and all costs and charges incurred under the authority of this Act, shall be recoverable from the defaulter and his sureties in the same manner as arrears of revenue.

Where property has been attached or distrained may be ordered to be put up for sale, and the sale may be countermanded, the proprietor shall, nevertheless, be responsible for the expenses incurred in consequence of the attachment or distraint, in the same manner as if the sale had taken place; and in the event of such proprietor omitting to discharge the amount, it shall be recoverable by the process under which the original demand would have been recoverable.

Every person making a payment of revenue shall be entitled to a receipt for the same, signed by the Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf; such receipt shall state the name of the person making the payment and the subject-matter in respect of which it is paid, and, in case of land-revenue, shall describe the land on which the assessment is due and the names of the persons entered in respect thereof in the settlement account.

Where a defaulter or his surety may reside or hold property out of the district wherein default shall have been made, the Collector of the district in which such defaulter or surety resides or holds property shall, on the written application of the Collector in whose district such default has been made, proceed in all respects against the defaulter and his surety, and his or their property in the same manner as if the default had been made in his own district. Every such application shall be signed and sealed by the Collector making it and shall be conclusive as to the amount due, and the party in arrear, in all proceedings against the Collector acting upon such application, or any person acting under his authority; and no proof of the seal, or signature or official character of the Collector mentioning the application shall be required, unless the Collector to whom it is made shall see reason to doubt its genuineness; provided always, that nothing herein contained shall affect the right of any party to sue in his own district the Collector who made the application. A Collector may delegate all or any of his powers and duties under this section to any subordinate revenue officer not below the rank of Deputy Tahsildar.

No Court of Civil Judicature shall have authority to take into consideration or decide any question as to rate of land-revenue payable to the State Government, or as to the amount of assessment fixed, or to be hereafter fixed on the portions of divided estate.

Nothing contained in this Act shall be held to prevent parties deeming themselves aggrieved by any proceedings under this Act, except as hereinbefore provided, from applying to the Civil Courts for redress ; provided that Civil Courts shall not take cognizance of any suit instituted by such parties for any such cause of action, unless such suit shall be instituted within six months from the time at which the cause of action arose.

No suit brought against any Collector by any person deeming himself aggrieved by anything done or purporting to be done under this Act, shall abate by reason of the departure from his district of the Collector against whom such suit shall have been brought ; but the suit shall be continued against the successor of such Collector in all respects as though it had been instituted against himself. A suit may be brought against any Collector in his official capacity on account of anything done or purporting to have been done under this Act by his predecessor, subject to the limitation prescribed in the preceding section ; provided that no Collector shall be personally liable for any official act of his predecessor.

Regulations I and II of 1803 shall be inoperative as respects arrears of revenue recoverable under this Act.

Nothing in this Act shall be held to bar the operation of the provisions of Regulation X of 1831, in respect to the sale of lands of minors and other disqualified landholders.

[Repealed]

[Repealed]