#THE OUDH TALUQDARS’ RELIEF ACT, 1870 
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##ARRANGEMENT SECTION 
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SECTIONS. 

###I. — PRELIMINARY. 

1. Short title. 
2. Interpretation-clause. 

###II. — VESTING ORDER. 

3.  Power  to  vest  management  of  taluqdár's  property  in  an  officer  appointed  by  Chief 
Commissioner. 
4. Effect of order. 

###III. — DUTIES OF MANAGER. 

5. Manager to receive rents and profits. 

###IV. — SETTLEMENT OF DEBTS. 

6. Notice to claimants against taluqdár. 
7. Claim to contain full particulars. 
8. Debt or liability not duty notified, to be barred. 
9. Determination of debts and liabilities. 
10. Appeal. 
11. Scheme for settlement of debts and liabilities. 
12. Restoration of taluqdár to his property. 

###V. — POWERS OF MANAGER. 

13. Power to call for further particulars. 
14. Power to summon witnesses and compel production of documents. 
15. Power to administer oaths. 
16. Investigation to be deemed a judicial proceeding. 
17. Manager to have powers of a taluqdar. 
18. Power to lease. 
19. Power to raise money by mortgage or sale. 

###IV. — MISCELLANEOUS. 

20. Power to make rules. 
21. Power to appoint new Managers. 
22. Managers to be public servants. 
23. Bar of suits. 
24. Petitions, &c., under Act exempt from Court fees. 
25. Saving of jurisdiction of Courts in Oudh in respect of certain suits. 



#THE OUDH TALUQDARS’ RELIEF ACT, 1870 

##ACT NO. 24 OF 1870 

[7th September, 1870] 

PASSED BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL. 

(*Received the assent of the Governor General on the 7th September 1870.*)

An Act to relieve from incumbrances the estates of Taluqdárs in Oudh. 

**PREAMBLE.**—  WHEREAS many  of  the  taluqdárs  of  Oudh  are  in  debt,  and  their  immoveable 
property is subject to mortgages, charges and liens; and whereas it is expedient to provide for their 
relief in manner hereinafter appearing; It is hereby enacted as follows:— 

###I.— PRELIMINARY. 

1. **Short title.**— This Act may be called “The Oudh Taluqdárs' Relief Act. ”

2. **Interpretation-clause.**— In this Act— 

‘Chief Commissioner’ means the Chief Commissioner of Oudh: 

‘taluqdár’  means  a  person whose  name  is  entered in the first  of  the  lists  mentioned  in  the  Oudh 
Estates’ Act, 1869, section eight: 

‘heir’ means the person for the time being entitled under the same Act as heir to a taluqdár. 

###II.—VESTING ORDER. 

3. **Power to vest management of taluqdár's property in an officer appointed by Chief 
Commissioner.**—Whenever, within twelve months after the passing of this Act, any taluqdár, 

or (when such taluqdár is an infant, or of unsound mind, or an idiot) his guardian, committee, or 
other legal curator, 

or the person who would be heir to such taluqdár if he died intestate, 

or  (when  such  person  is  an  infant, or of unsound mind, or an idiot) his guardian, committee, or 
other legal curator, 

applies  in  writing  to  the  Chief  Commissioner,  stating  that  the  taluqdár  is  subject  to,  or  that  his 
immoveable property is charged with, debts of liabilities other than debts due, or liabilities incurred to 
Government, and requesting that the provisions of this Act be applied to his case, 

the  Chief  Commissioner  may,  with  the  previous  consent  of  the  Governor  General  of  India  in 
Council  by  order  published  in  the  local  official  Gazette,  appoint  an  officer  (hereinafter  called  the 
Manager), and vest in him the management of the immoveable property of or to which the taluqdár is 
then  possessed  or  entitled  in  his  own  right,  or  which  he  is  entitled  to  redeem  or  which  may  be 
acquired by or devolve on the taluqdár or his heir during the continuance of such management.

4. **Effect of order.**— On such publication, the following consequences shall ensue:— 

**Bar of suits against taluqdár.**— *first*, all proceedings in respect to such debts of liabilities which 
may then be pending in any Civil Court in British India, shall be barred; and all processes, executions 
and attachments for or in respect of such debts and liabilities shall become null and void ; 

**Taluqdár freed from arrest.**— *secondly*, so long as such management continues, the taluqdár and 
his heir shall not be liable to arrest for or in respect of the debts and liabilities to which the taluqdár 
was immediately before the said publication subject, or with which his immoveable property or any 
part thereof was then charged, other than debts due, or liabilities incurred, to Government ;

**and  his  moveable  property  from  attachment  for  prior  debts.**—  nor  shall  their  moveable 
property be liable to attachment or sale, under process of any Civil Court in British India, for or in 
respect of such debts and liabilities other than as aforesaid; and 
 
**Cessation, of his power to alienate.**— *thirdly*, so long as such management continues, 

(a)  the  taluqdár  and  his  heir  shall  be  incompetent  to  mortgage,  charge,  lease  or  alienate  their 
immoveable property or any part thereof, or to grant valid receipts for the rents and profits arising or 
accruing therefrom, 

**Immoveable property freed from attachment.**— and (b) such, property shall be exempt from 
attachment or sale under such process as aforesaid except for or in respect of debts due, or liabilities 
incurred, to Government. 

###III.—DUTIES OF MANAGER. 

5. **Manager to receive rents and profits.**—The Manager shall, during his  management  of  the 
said  property,  receive  and  recover  all  rents  and  profits  due  in  respect  thereof;  and  shall,  upon 
receiving such rents and profits, give receipts for the same.

From the sums so received, he shall pay— 

**and pay therefrom the Government demand.**— *first*, the Government revenue, and all debts or 
liabilities for the time being due or incurred to Government in respect of the said property: 

**an annual sum for maintenance of the taluqdár and his heir.**— *secondly*, such annual sum as 
appears  to the  Chief  Commissioner  requisite for  the  maintenance  of  the  taluqdár,  his  heir  and  their 
families: 

**costs of repairs and improvements.**— *thirdly*, the costs of such repairs and improvements of the 
property as appear necessary to the Manager and are approved by the Chief Commissioner: 

**costs of management, and the debts and liabilities,**— and  the  residue  shall  be  applied  in 
discharge  of  the  costs  of  the  management,  and  in  settlement  of  such  debts  and  liabilities  of  the 
taluqdár  and  his  heir  and  their  immoveable  property,  as  may  be  established  under  the  provisions 
hereinafter contained.

###IV.—SETTLEMENT OF DEBTS. 

6. **Notice  to  claimants  against  taluqdár**—  On  the  publication  of  the  order  vesting  in  him  the 
management of the said property, the Manager shall publish in the local official Gazette a notice in 
English  and  Urdú,  calling  upon  all  persons  having  claims  against  the  taluqdár  or  his  immoveable 
property  to  notify  the  same  in  writing  to  such  Manager  within  three  months  from  the  date  of  the 
publication. 

**Copies of notice to be exhibited.**—He shall also cause copies of such notice to be exhibited at 
the Tahsildárs’ Kachahrís in the District or Districts in which the said property lies and at such other 
places as the Manager thinks fit.

7. **Claim to contain full particulars.**—Every such claimant shall, along with his claim, present 
full particulars thereof. 

**Documents to be given up.**—Every  document  on  which  the  claimant  founds  his  claim,  or  on 
which he relies in support thereof, shall be delivered to the Manager along with the claim. 

**Entries in books.**—If the document be an entry in any book, the claimant shall produce the book 
to  the  Manager,  together  with  a  copy  of  the  entry  on  which  he  relies.  The  Manager  shall  mark  the 
book for the purpose of identification, and, after examining and comparing the copy with the original, 
shall return the book to the claimant. 

**Exclusion of documents not produced.**— If any document in the possession or under the control 
of the claimant is not delivered or produced by him to the Manager along with the claim, the Manager 
may refuse to receive such document in evidence on the claimant's behalf at the investigation of the 
case.

8. **Debt or liability not duty notified, to be barred.**—Every debt or liability (other than debts 
due,  or  liabilities  incurred,  to  Government)  to  which  the  taluqdár  is  subject,  or  with  which  his 
immoveable  property  or any  part  thereof  is  charged,  and  which  is  not  duty  notified to  the Manager 
within the time and in hereinbefore mentioned, shall be barred: 

**Provision for admission of claim within further period of nine months.**—Provided that, when 
proof is made to the Manager that the claimant was unable to comply with the provisions of sections 
six and seven, the Manager may admit such claim within the further period of nine months from the 
expiration of the said period of three months.

9. **Determination of debts and liabilities.**—The Manager shall, in accordance with the rules to 
be made under this Act, determine the amount of the debts and liabilities due to the several creditors 
of  the  taluqdár  and  persons  holding  mortgages,  charges  or  liens  on  the  said  property  or  any  part 
thereof. 

10. **Appeal.**—An  appeal  against  any  refusal,  admission  or  determination  under  sections  seven, 
eight  or  nine  shall  lie,  if  preferred  within  six  weeks  from  the  date  of  such  determination,  to  the 
Commissioner  of  Division  to  whom  the  Manager  is  subordinate,  and  the  decision  of  such 
Commissioner, or of the Manager if no such appeal has been so preferred, shall be final.

11. **Scheme for settlement of debts and liabilities.**—When the total amount of such debts and 
liabilities  has  been  finally  determined,  the  Manager  shall  prepare  and  submit  to  the  Chief 
Commissioner a schedule of such debts and liabilities, and a scheme for the settlement thereof; and 
such scheme, when approved by the Chief Commissioner, shall be carried into effect.

**Power to return scheme for revision.**—Until such approval is given, the Chief Commissioner 
may, as often as he thinks fit, send back such scheme to the Manager for revision, and direct him to 
make such further enquiry as may be requisite for the proper preparation of the scheme. 

12. **Restoration of taluqdár to his property.**—When  all  such  debts  and  liabilities  have  been 
discharged, 

or  if,  within  six  months  after the  publication  of  the  order  mentioned in  section three,  the  Chief 
Commissioner thinks that the provisions of this Act should not continue to apply to the case of the 
taluqdár or his heir, 

the  taluqdár  or  his  heir  shall  be  restored  to  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  his  immoveable 
property, or of such part thereof as has not been sold by the Manager under the power contained in 
section nineteen, but subject to the leases and mortgages (if any) granted and made by the Manager 
under the powers hereinafter contained. 

**Revival of barred proceedings and debts.**—Where the taluqdár or his heir is so restored under 
the  circumstances  mentioned  in  the  second  clause  of  this  section,  the  proceedings,  processes, 
executions and attachments mentioned in section three (so far as they relate to debts and liabilities not 
settled by the Manager), and the debts and liabilities barred by section eight, shall be revived, and any 
mortgagee  dispossessed  under  section  seventeen  shall  be  reinstated  unless  his  claim  under  the 
mortgage has been satisfied; 

and in calculating the periods of limitation applicable to such revived proceedings and to suits to 
recover and enforce such revived debts and liabilities, the time intervening between such restoration 
and the publication of the order mentioned in section three shall be excluded. 

###V.—POWERS OF MANAGER. 

13. **Power to call for further particulars.**—The Manager may, from time to time, call for further 
and  more  detailed  particulars  of  any  claim  preferred  before,  him  under  this  Act,  and  may  at  his 
discretion refuse to proceed with the investigation of the claim until such particulars are supplied. 

14. **Power to summon witnesses and compel production of documents.**— For the purposes of 
this Act, the Manager may summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses and compel them to give 
evidence, and compel the production of documents by the same means, and, as far as possible, in the 
same manner, as is provided in the case of a Civil Court by the Code of Civil Procedure. 

15. **Power to administer oaths.**—  The  Manager  may  administer  an  oath  in  such  form  as  he 
thinks fit to any person examined before him touching the matters to be enquired into under this Act. 

16. **Investigation to be deemed a judicial proceeding.**— Every investigation conducted by the 
Manager with reference to any claim preferred before him under this Act, or to any matter connected 
with any such claim, shall be taken to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of the Indian Penal 
Code. 

**Statements of persons examined, to be evidence.**—And  every  statement  made  by  any  person 
examined  by  or  before  the  Manager  with  reference  to  such  investigation,  whether  upon  oath  or 
otherwise, shall be taken to be evidence within the meaning of the same Code.

17. **Manager to have powers of a taluqdar.**—The  Manager  shall  have,  for  the  purpose  of 
realizing and recovering the rents and profits of the said immoveable property, the same powers as the 
taluqdár would have had for such purpose if this Act had not been passed. 

**Power to remove mortgagee in possession.**—And if such property, or any part thereof, be in the 
possession  of  any  mortgagee,  the  Manager  may  apply  to  the  Court  of  the  Deputy  Commissioner 
within whose jurisdiction the property is situate, and such Court shall cause the same to be delivered 
to  the  Manager  as  if  a  decree  therefor  had  been  made  in  his  favour;  but  without  prejudice  to  the 
mortgagee preferring his claim under the provisions hereinbefore contained. 

18. **Power to lease.**—Subject  to  the  rules  made  under  section  twenty,  the  Manager  shall  have 
power to demise all or any part of the said property, for any term of years not exceeding twenty years 
absolute,  to  take  effect  in  possession,  in  consdieration  of  any  fine  or  fines,  or  without  fine,  and 
reserving such rents and under such conditions as may be agreed upon. 

19. **Power to raise money by mortgage or sale.**—The Manager, with the previous assent of the 
Chief Commissioner, shall have power to raise any money which may be required for the settlement 
of the debts and liabilities (other than as aforesaid) to which the taluqdár is subject, or with which his 
immoveable property or any part thereof is charged, 

by demising by way of mortgage the whole or any part of such property for a term not exceeding 
twenty years from the said publication, 

or by selling, with the previous consent of the taluqdár and of the person (being of full age) who 
would be his heir if he died intestate, by public auction or by private contract, and upon such terms as 
the Manager thinks fit, such portion of the same property as may appear expedient. 

And no mortgagee advancing money upon any mortgage made under this section, shall be bound 
to see that such money is wanted or that no more than is wanted is raised. 

**Manager's receipts.**—And  the  receipt  of  the  Manager  for  any  monies  paid  to  him  upon  any 
mortgage  or  sale  made  under  this  section,  or  for any  rents  or  profits received by  him  under section 
five,  shall  discharge  the  person  paying  the  same  therefrom  and  from  being  concerned  to  see  to  the 
application thereof. 

The power to mortgage conferred by this section shall not be exercisable until six months have 
elapsed from the publication of the order mentioned in section three. 

###VI.—MISCELLANEOUS. 

20. **Power to make rules.**—The  Chief  Commissioner  may,  from  time  to  time,  make  rules 
consistent with this Act in all matters connected with its enforcement. 

Such rules, when approved by the Governor General of India in Council, and published in the 
local official Gazette, shall have the force of law. 

21. **Power to appoint new Managers.**—Whenever the  Chief  Commissioner thinks  fit,  he  may 
appoint  any  officer  to  be  a  Manager  in  the  stead  of  any  Manager  appointed  under  this  Act;  and 
thereupon the management then vested under this Act in the former Manager shall become vested in 
the new Manager. 

Every such new Manager shall have the same powers as if he had been originally appointed. 

22. **Managers to be public servants.**— Every Manager appointed under this Act shall be deemed 
a public servant within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860). 

23. **Bar of uits.**— No suit or other, proceeding shall be maintained against any person in respect 
of anything done by him *bonâ fide* pursuant to this Act.

24. **Petitions, &c., under Act exempt from Court fees.**—No petition, application, memorandum 
of appeal or other proceeding under this Act, shall be chargeable under the Court Fees Act, 1870. 

25. **Saving of jurisdiction of Courts in Oudh in respect of certain suits.**— Nothing in this Act 
precludes the Courts of the Province of Oudh, having jurisdiction in suits relating to the succession to 
or rights of persons claiming maintenance from any immoveable property brought under the operation 
of this Act, from entertaining and disposing of such suits; but to all such suits the Manager of such 
property shall be made a party.