Right of protected tenants to exchange lands

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any other law and notwithstanding any agreement or usage, all or any of the persons holding lands as protected tenants in the same village may agree and may make an application to the Tahsildar in the prescribed form for exchange of their tenancies in respect of the lands held by them as protected tenants.

(2) On receipt of the application, the Tahsildar after giving notice to the landholders concerned and after making an inquiry, may sanction the exchange on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed and may issue certificate in the prescribed form to the applicants.

(3) The certificates so issued shall be conclusive of the fact of such exchange against the landholders and all persons interested in the lands exchanged.

(4) Each of the protected tenants shall hold the land received by him as the result of such exchange on the same terms and conditions on which it was held by the original tenant immediately before the exchange subject to such modifications as may have been sanctioned by the Tahsildar.