Issue of pass book etc.

(1) On the commencement of this Act, it shall be lawful for a Revenue Officer to provide for facilities for agricultural credit by the issue of pass books, in such form as may be prescribed, to land-holders having, for the time being, land within the local limits of his jurisdiction. (2) A land-holder, who desires to have a pass book, may make an application to the concerned Revenue Officer, in such form and on payment of such fee, as may be prescribed, for the issue of such pass book to him. (3) Every application referred to in sub-section (2) shall contain full particulars of the parcels of land owned by the applicant or in relation to which the applicant holds an interest or in relation to the crops, if any, standing on such parcels of land or in relation to which the applicant holds any interest. (4) On receipt of the application made under sub-section (2), the Revenue Officer shall make, or cause to be made, in such manner as may be prescribed, an inquiry about the creditworthiness of the applicant, and in doing so, in particular, he shall make an inquiry about the title of the applicant in relation to the parcels of land specified in the application or any interest held by the applicant therein or in respect of any crops standing thereon ; and where, after such inquiry, the Revenue Officer is satisfied with regard to the title of the applicant relating to all or any of the properties aforesaid or any part thereof, he may issue a pass book to the applicant indicating therein the extent of creditworthiness of the applicant and the properties in relation to which the applicant has title and the extent of incumbrances, if any, existing in relation to any of such properties on the date of issue of the pass book. (5) The Revenue Officer shall retain a copy of the pass book issued by him under sub-section (4) and send a true-copy thereof to the Registrar/Sub-Registrar within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the properties specified in the pass book are situate, and on receipt thereof, the Registrar or Sub-Registrar shall place the copy of the pass book on his records. (6) If the Revenue officer is satisfied that any pass book issued by him has been lost or destroyed, he may issue a duplicate pass book, on payment of such fee, as may be prescribed. (7) Every entry made by the revenue Officer in a pass book issued by him shall be presumed to be correct. (8) The entries in the pass book shall be prima-facie evidence of the title of the holder thereof in respect of the land or other interest in the land or crops specified therein and shall be accepted as such by a bank for the purpose of granting financial assistance to the holder of the pass book whether or not on the security of the properties specified in the pass book.