THE
(Act XVI of 1887)
C O N T E N T S
CHAPTER 1
PRELIMINARY
Sections
1. Title, extent and commencement.
2. [Repealed]
3. [Repealed]
4. Definitions.
CHAPTER II
RIGHT OF OCCUPANCY
5. Tenants having right of occupancy.
6. Right of occupancy of other tenants recorded as having the right before passing of Punjab Tenancy Act, 1868.
7. Right of occupancy in land taken in exchange.
8. Establishment of right of occupancy on grounds other than those expressly stated in Act.
9. Right of occupancy not to be acquired by mere lapse of time.
10. Right of occupancy not to be acquired by joint owner in land held in joint ownership.
11. Continuance of existing occupancy rights.
CHAPTER III
RENT
Rents generally
12. Respective rights of land-lord and tenant to produce.
13. Commutation and alteration of rent.
14. Payments for land occupied without consent of landlord.
15. Collection of rents of undivided property.
15-A. Rights and liabilities regarding rent and government dues.
Produce rent
16. Presumption with respect to produce removed before division or appraisement.
17. Appointment of referee for division or appraisement.
18. Appointment of assessors and procedure of referee.
19. Procedure after division or appraisement.
20. Enhancement of produce rents of occupancy tenants.
21. Reduction of rents referred to in the last foregoing section.
Cash-rents paid by tenants
having rights of occupancy
22. Enhancement of cash rents of occupancy tenants.
23. Reduction of rent referred to in the last foregoing section.
General
provisions relating to suits
for enhancement or reduction of rent
24. Enhancement and reduction of rent by suit.
25. Discretion as to extent of enhancement or reduction.
26. Time for enhancement or reduction to take effect.
Adjustment of rents expressed
in terms of the land-revenue.
27. Adjustment of rents expressed in terms of the land revenue.
Adjustment of rents paid by occupancy
tenants
in Attock District.
27-A. Adjustment of rents paid by occupancy tenants in Attock District.
Alteration of rent on alteration of area
28. Alteration of rent on alteration of area.
Remission
29. Remission of rent by Courts decreeing arrears.
30. Remission and suspension of rent consequent on like treatment of land revenue.
Deposits
31. Power to deposit rent in certain cases with Revenue Officer.
32. Effect of depositing rent.
Recovery of rent from attached produce
33. Recovery of rent from attached produce.
Leases for period exceeding term
of assessment of land revenue
34. Treatment of leases for period exceeding or equal to term of assessment of land revenue.
CHAPTER IV
RELINQUISHMENT, ABANDONMENT AND EJECTMENT
Relinquishment
35. Relinquishment by tenant for a fixed term.
36. Relinquishment by any other tenant.
37. Relinquishment of part only of a tenancy.
Abandonment
38. Abandonment of tenancy by occupancy tenant.
Liability to ejectment
39. Grounds of ejectment of occupancy tenant.
40. Grounds of ejectment of tenant for a fixed term.
41. Ejectment of tenant from year to year.
Procedure on ejectment
42. Restriction on ejectment.
43. Application to Revenue Officer for ejectment.
44. Ejectment for failure to satisfy decree for arrear of rent.
45. Ejectment of tenant from year to year by notice.
46. Power to make rules.
General provisions respecting ejectment
47. Time for ejectment.
48. Relief against forfeiture.
49. Rights of ejected tenants in respect of crops and land prepared for sowing.
Relief for wrongful dispossession
50. Relief of wrongful dispossession or ejectment.
50-A. Bar to civil suits.
51. Bar of relief by suit under section 9, Act I of 1877.
Power to vary dates prescribed by this
Chapter
52. Power of Provincial Government to fix dates for certain purposes.
CHAPTER
V
ALIENATION
OF, AND SUCCESSION TO, RIGHT OF OCCUPANCY
Alienation
52-A. Provisions of Chapter V not to apply to muqarraridars.
53. Private transfer of right of occupancy under section 5 by tenant.
54. Procedure on foreclosure of mortgage of right of occupancy under section 5.
55. Sale of right of occupancy under section 5 in execution of decree.
56. Transfer of right of occupancy under any other section than section 5.
57. Rights and liabilities of transferee of right of occupancy.
58. Sub-letting.
58-A. Transfer of right of occupancy under any section of the Act by exchange.
Succession
59. Succession to right of occupancy.
Irregular transfers
60. Irregular transfer of right of occupancy.
CHAPTER V-A
Succession to Non-occupancy Tenancies.
60-A. Succession to non-occupancy tenancies.
CHAPTER VI
IMPROVEMENTS AND COMPENSATION
Improvements by landlords
61. Improvements by landlords on tenancies of occupancy tenants.
62. Enhancement of rent in consideration of an improvement made by a landlord on the tenancy of an occupancy tenant.
Improvements by tenants
63. Title of occupancy tenant to make improvements.
64. Title of tenants not having right of occupancy to make improvements.
65. Improvements made before commencement of this Act.
66. Improvements begun in anticipation of ejectment.
67. Tender of lease for twenty years to tenant to be a bar to right to compensation.
68. Liability to pay compensation for improvements to tenants on ejectment or on enhancement of his rent.
Compensation for disturbance of clearing
tenants
69. Compensation for disturbance of clearing tenants.
Procedure in determining compensation
70. Determination of compensation by Revenue Court.
71. Determination of compensation by Revenue Officers.
72. Matters to be regarded in assessment of compensation for improvements.
73. Form of compensation.
Relief in case of ejectment before
determination of compensation
74. Relief in case of ejectment before determination of compensation.
CHAPTER VII
JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE
Jurisdiction
75. Revenue Officers.
76. Applications and proceedings cognizable by Revenue Officers.
77. Revenue Courts and suits cognizable by them.
Procedure where revenue matter is raised in a Civil Court.
Administrative control
78. Superintendence and control of Revenue Officers and Revenue Courts.
79. Power to distribute business and withdraw and transfer cases.
Appeal, Review And Revision
80. Appeals.
81. Limitation for appeals.
82. Review by Revenue Officers.
83. Computation of periods limited for appeals and applications for review.
84. Power to call for, examine and revise proceedings of Revenue Officers and Revenue Courts.
Procedure
85. Procedure of Revenue Officers.
86. Persons by whom appearances may be made before Revenue Officers as such and not as Revenue Courts.
87. Costs.
88. Procedure of Revenue Courts.
89. Power of Revenue Officer or Revenue Court to summon persons.
90. Mode of service of summons.
91. Mode of service of notice, or order or proclamation or copy thereof.
92. Additional mode of publishing proclamation.
93. Joinder of tenants as parties to proceeding relating to rent.
94. Exception of suits under this Act from operation of certain enactments.
95. Payment into Court of money admitted to be due to a third person.
96. Execution of decree for arrears of rent.
97. Prohibition of imprisonment of tenants in execution of decrees for arrears of rent.
98. Power to refer party to Civil Court.
99. Power to refer to High Court questions as to jurisdiction.
100. Power of High Court to validate proceedings held under mistake as to jurisdiction.
Miscellaneous
101. Place of sitting.
102. Holidays.
103. Discharge of duties of Collector dying or being disabled.
104. Retention of powers by Revenue Officer on transfer.
105. Conferment of powers of Revenue Officer or Revenue Court.
106. Power of Board of Revenue to make rules.
107. Rules to be made after previous publication.
108. Powers exercisable by Board of Revenue from time to time.
CHAPTER
VIII
EFFECT
OF THIS ACT ON RECORDS-OF-RIGHTS AND AGREEMENTS
109. Nullity of certain entries in records-of-rights.
110. Nullity of certain agreements contrary to the Act.
111. Saving of other agreements when in writing.
112. Effect of certain entries made in records-of-rights before November, 1871.
113. Nothing but rent or seed supplied recoverable.
114. Extinction of occupancy tenancies.
114-A. Extinction of Muqarraridari rights.
114-B. Removal of doubts.
115. Limits of holding for personal cultivation.
116. Offences.
THE SCHEDULE
[Repealed]
THE PUNJAB
TENANCY ACT, 1887
(Act XVI of
1887)
[23 September 1887]
An Act to amend the law relating to the tenancy of land in the Punjab.
WHEREAS it is expedient to amend the law relating to the tenancy of land in the Punjab;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
CHAPTER
1
PRELIMINARY
1. Title, extent and commencement.– (1) This Act may be called the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887.
[1][(2) It extends to the whole of the Punjab]; and
(3) It shall come into force on such day as the [2][Provincial Government], by notification, appoint in this behalf.
2. [Power to make rules in anticipation of commencement]. Repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1891 (XII of 1891], section 2(1).
3. [Repeal]. Repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1891 (XII of 1891)].
4. Definitions.– In this Act, unless there is something repugnant in the subject or context:-
(1) “Land” means land
which is not occupied as the site of any building in a town or village and is
occupied or has been let for agricultural purposes or for purposes subservient
to agriculture or for pasture, and includes the sites of buildings and other
structures on such land:
[3][(1-A) “Government” shall, unless the context otherwise provides, mean the Provincial Government]:
(2) “pay”, with its
grammatical variations and cognate expressions, includes, when used with
reference to rent, “deliver” and “render”, with their grammatical variations
and cognate expressions:
(3) “rent” means whatever is payable to a land-lord in money, kind or service by a tenant on account of the use or occupation of land held by him; [4][but it shall not include any cess, village cess or other contribution or due or any free personal service]:
(4) “arrear of rent” means rent which remains unpaid after the date on which it becomes payable:
(5) “tenant” means a person who holds land under another person, and is or but for a special contract would be, liable to pay rent for that land to that other person: but it does not include–
(a) [5][* * * * * * * * * * *]
(b) a mortgagee of the rights of a land-owner, or
(c) a person to whom a holding has been transferred, or an estate or holding has been let in farm, under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, [6][1967], for the recovery of an arrear of land revenue or of a sum recoverable as such an arrear, or
(d) a person who takes from the [7][Government] a lease of unoccupied land for the purpose of sub-letting it:
(6) “land-lord” means a person under whom a tenant holds land, and to whom the tenant is or but for a special contract would be, liable to pay rent for that land:
(7) “tenant” and “land-lord” include the predecessors and successors-in-interest of a tenant and land-lord, respectively:
(8) “tenancy” means a parcel of land held by a tenant of a land-lord under one lease or one set of conditions:
(9) “estate”,
“land-owner” and “holding” have the meanings respectively assigned to those
words in the Punjab Land Revenue Act,
[8][1967]:
(10) “land revenue” means land revenue assessed under any law for the time being in force or assessable under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, [9][1967], and includes–
(a) any rate imposed in respect of the increased value of land due to irrigation; and
(b) any sum payable in respect of land, by way of quitrent or of commutation for service, to the [10][Government] or to a person to whom the [11][Government] has assigned the right to receive the payment:
(11) “rates and cesses” means rates and cesses which are primarily payable by land-owners, and includes–
(a) [12][* * * * * * * * * * *]
(b) the local rate, if any, payable under the [13][Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001];
(c) any annual rate chargeable on owners of lands under section 59 of the[14][* * *] Canal and Drainage Act, 1873;
(d) the [15][* * *] village officer’s, cesses; and
(e) sums payable on account of village expenses:
[16][(12) “village
cess” means any cess, contribution or due which is customarily leviable, from
land-owners and non-land-owners alike, within an estate for the common purposes
of the inhabitants thereof, and is neither a payment for the use of any private
property or for personal service, nor imposed by or under any enactment for the
time being in force, and does not mean any cess, contribution or due leviable,
for the benefit of any individual residents or class of residents in the
estate, or in relation to any property which is not meant for the common use of
all the residents:
Explanation– If any question arises whether any cess,
contribution or due is or is not a village cess, the decision of the
[17][Board of Revenue] shall be conclusive and shall
not be liable to be questioned in any Court]:
(13) “Village
Officer” means a chief headman, headman or Patwari:
(14) “Revenue
Officer” or “Revenue Court”, in any provision of this Act, means a Revenue
Officer or Revenue Court having authority under this Act to discharge the
functions of a Revenue Officer or Revenue Court, as the case may be, under that
provision:
(15) “Jagirdar” includes any person, other than a village servant, to whom the land revenue of any land has been assigned in whole or in part [18][by the Government] or by [19][a servant of the State]:
(16) “legal practitioner” means any legal practitioner within the meaning of the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879, except a mukhtar:
(17) “agricultural
year” means the year commencing on the sixteenth day of June, or on such other
date as the
[20][Provincial Government] may, by notification
appoint for any local area:
(18) “notification”
means a notification published by authority of the
[21][Provincial Government] or
[22][the Board of Revenue] in the Official Gazette:
(19) “improvement” means with reference to a tenancy, any work which is suitable to the tenancy and consistent with the conditions on which it is held, by which the value of the tenancy has been and continues to be increased, and which, if not executed on the tenancy, is either executed directly for its benefit, or is, after execution made directly beneficial to it;
Explanation I– It includes, among other things–
(a) the construction of wells and other works for the storage or supply of water for agricultural purposes;
(b) the construction of works for drainage and for protection against floods;
(c) the planting of trees, the reclaiming, enclosing, levelling and terracing of land for agricultural purposes and other works of a like nature;
(d) the erection of buildings required for the more convenient or profitable cultivation of a tenancy; and
(e) the renewal or reconstruction of any of the foregoing works, or such alterations therein, or additions thereto, as are not of the nature of mere repairs and as durably increase their value;
But it does not include such clearances, embankments, levelling, enclosures, temporary wells and water channels as are made by tenants in the ordinary course of cultivation and without any special expenditure, or any other benefit accruing to land from the ordinary operations of husbandry;
Explanation II– A work which benefits several tenancies may be deemed to be, with respect to each of them, an improvement;
Explanation III– A work executed by a tenant is not an improvement if it substantially diminishes the value of any other part of his land-lord’s property; and
[23][(20) “Muqarraridar”
means any person who holds land in
[24][the Attock and Rawalpindi District] and who, on
the date of the commencement of the Punjab Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1952, was recorded
in the revenue records as muqarraridar in respect of such land or who, after
the said date, was so recorded with his consent and the consent of the
proprietor of such land and includes the successors-in-interest of a
muqarraridar.
CHAPTER II
RIGHT OF OCCUPANCY
5. Tenants having right of occupancy.– (1) A tenant–
(a) who at the commencement of this Act has, for more than two generations in the male line of descent through a grandfather or grand uncle and for a period of not less than twenty years, been occupying land paying no rent therefore beyond the amount of the land revenue thereof and the rates and cesses for the time being chargeable thereon, or
(b) who having owned land, and having ceased to be land-owner thereof otherwise than by forfeiture to the Government or than by any voluntary act, has, since he ceased to be land-owner, continuously occupied the land, or
(c) who, in a village or estate in which he settled alongwith, or was settled by, the founder thereof as a cultivator therein, occupied land on the twenty-first day of October, 1868, and has continuously occupied the land since that date, or
(d) who, being jagirdar of the estate or any part of the estate in which the land occupied by him is situate, has continuously occupied the land for not less than twenty years, or having been such jagirdar, occupied the land while he was jagirdar and has continuously occupied it for not less than twenty years,
has a right of occupancy in the land so occupied, unless, in the case of a tenant belonging to the class specified in clause (c), the land-lord proves that the tenant was settled on land previously cleared and brought under cultivation by, or at the expense of, the founder.
(2) If a tenant proves that he has continuously occupied land for thirty years and paid no rent therefor beyond the amount of the land revenue thereof and the rates and cesses for the time being chargeable thereon, it may be presumed that he has fulfilled the conditions of clause (a) of sub-section (1).
(3) The words in that
clause denoting natural relationship denote also relationship by adoption,
including therein the customary appointment of an heir and relationship, by the
usage of a religious community.
6. Right of
occupancy of other tenants recorded as having the right before passing of
Punjab Tenancy Act, 1868.– A
tenant recorded in a record-of-rights sanctioned by the
[25][Provincial Government], before the twenty-first
day of October, 1868, as a tenant having a right of occupancy in land which he
has continuously occupied from the time of the preparation of that record,
shall be deemed to have a right of occupancy in that land unless the contrary
has been established by a decree of a competent Court in a suit instituted
before the passing of this Act.
7. Right of occupancy in land taken in exchange.– If the tenant has voluntarily exchanged the land, or any portion of the land, for merely occupied by him for other land belonging to the same land-lord, the land taken in exchange shall be held to be subject to the same right of occupancy as that to which the land given in exchange would have been subject if the exchange had not taken place.
8. Establishment
of right of occupancy on grounds other than those expressly stated in Act.– Nothing in the foregoing sections of this Chapter
shall preclude any person from establishing a right of occupancy on any ground
other than the grounds specified in those sections.
9. Right of occupancy not to be acquired by mere lapse of time.– No tenant shall acquire a right of occupancy by mere lapse of time.
10. Right of occupancy not to be acquired by joint owner in land held in joint ownership.– In the absence of a custom to the contrary, no one of several joint owners of land shall acquire a right of occupancy under this Chapter in land jointly owned by them.
11. Continuance of existing occupancy rights.– Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing sections of this Chapter, a tenant who immediately before the commencement of this Act has a right of occupancy in any land under an enactment specified in any line of the first column of the following table shall, when this Act comes into force, be held to have, for all the purposes of this Act, a right of occupancy in that land under the enactment specified in the same line of the second column of the table:-
Punjab Tenancy Act, 1868 |
This Act |
|||
|
First Column |
Second column |
|||
|
Section |
Clause |
Section |
Sub-section |
Clause |
|
5 |
(1) |
5 |
(1) |
(a) |
|
5 |
(2) |
5 |
(1) |
(b) |
|
5 |
(3) |
5 |
(1) |
(c) |
|
5 |
(4) |
5 |
(1) |
(d) |
|
6 |
.. |
6 |
.. |
.. |
|
8 |
.. |
8 |
.. |
.. |
CHAPTER
III
RENT
Rents
generally
12. Respective rights of land-lord and tenant to produce.– (1) The rent for the time being payable in respect of a tenancy shall be the first charge on the produce thereof.
(2) A tenant shall be entitled to tend, cut and harvest the produce of his tenancy in due course of husbandry without any interference on the part of his land-lord.
(3) Except where rent is taken by division of the produce, the tenant shall be entitled to the exclusive possession of the produce.
(4) Where rent is taken by division of the produce:-
(a) the tenant shall be entitled to the exclusive possession of the whole produce until it is divided;
(b) the land-lord shall be entitled to be present at,