THE PUNJAB TENANCY ACT, 1887. 

___________ 

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS. 

__________ 

CHAPTER I 

PRELIMINARY 

SECTIONS. 

 1. Title, extent and commencement. 
 2. Power to make rules in anticipation of commencement. 
 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 Repealed. 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 landlord 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.  

Produce – rents. 

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.  

1 

 
SECTIONS. 

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.  

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.  

38. Abandonment of tenancy by occupancy tenant.  

Abandonment 

Ejectment. 

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. 

2 

 
 
SECTIONS. 

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 DESPOSSESSION. 

50. Relief of wrongful dispossession or ejectment.  
51. Bar of relief by suit under section 9, Act I of 1877. 

Power to vary Dates prescribed by this Chapter. 

 52. Power for local Government to fix dates for certain purposes. 

CHAPTER V 

ALIENATION OF, AND SUCCESSION TO, RIGHT OF OCCUPANCY. 

Alienation. 

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. Subletting. 

59. Succession to right of occupancy.  

Succession. 

Irregular transfers. 

 60. Irregular transfer of right of occupancy. 

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.  

3 

 
 
SECTIONS. 

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. 

FIRST GROUP. 
SECOND GROUP. 
THIRD GROUP. 

77. Revenue Courts and suits cognizable by them.  

FIRST GROUP. 
SECOND GROUP. 
THIRD GROUP. 

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. 

4 

 
 
SECTIONS. 

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, order or proclamation or copy thereof. 
 92. Mode of making proclamation.  
 93. Joinder of tenants as parties to proceedings 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 decrees 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 Chief Court questions as to jurisdiction.  
 100. Power of Chief Court to validate proceedings had 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 for Financial Commissioner to make rules. 
107. Rules to be made after previous publication.  
108. Powers exercisable by Financial Commissioner 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. 

THE SCHEDULE. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE PUNJAB TENANCY ACT, 1887 

ACT NO. 16 OF 1887 

PASSED BY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA IN COUNCIL. 

(Received the assent of the Governor General on the 23rd

 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 I 

PRELIMINARY 

1.  Title,  extent  and  commencement.—(1)  This  Act  may  be  called 

the  Punjab                          

Tenancy Act, 1887. 

(2)  It  extent  to  the  whole  of  the  territories  (including  the  pargana  of  Spiti)  for  the  time  being 

administered by the Lieutenant – Governor of the Punjab, expect the Hazara district; and  

(3) It shall come into force on such day as the Local Government, with the previous sanction of the 

Governor General in Council, may by notification appointment in this behalf.  

2. Power to make rules in anticipation of commencement.— Any power conferred by this Act on 
the  Financial  Commissioner  to  make  rules,  and  on  the  Local  Government  to  sanction  them,  may  be 
exercised  at  any  time  after  the  passing  of  this  Act,  but  a  rule  so  made  shall  not  take  effect  till  the 
commencement of this Act.  

3. Repeal.—The enactments mentioned in the schedule are repealed to the extent specified in the third 

column thereof.  

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;  

(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) “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 put for a special contract 

would be, liable to pay rent for that land to that other person ; but it does not include— 

(a) an inferior landowner, or  

(b) a mortgagee of the rights of landowner, or  

6 

 
(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,  1887  (XVII  of  1887),  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  Government  a  lease  of  unoccupied  land  for  the  purpose  of                    

subletting it: 

(6) “landlord” 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 “landlord” include the predecessors and successors in interest of a tenant and landlord 

respectively: 

(8)  “tenancy”  means  a  parcel  of  land  held  by  a  tenant  of  a  landlord  under  one  lease  or  one  set  of 

conditions: 

(9) “estate”. “landowner” and “holding” have the meanings respectively assigned to those words in the 

Punjab Land-revenue Act, 1887 (XVII of 1887): 

(10)  “land-revenue”  means  land-revenue  assessed  under  any  law  for  the  time  being  in  force  or 

assessable under the Punjab Land-revenue Act, 1887, 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 quit-rent or of commutation for service, to the 

Government or to a person to whom the Government has assigned the right to receive the payment: 

(11)  “  rates  and  cesses”  means  rates  and  cesses  which  are  primarily  payable  by  landowners,  and 

includes— 

(a) the local rate, if any, payable under the Punjab Local Rates Act, 1878 (v of 1878); 

(b) the local rate, if any, payable under the Punjab District Boards Act, 1883 (XX of 1883), and any 
fee leviable under section 33 of that Act from landowners for the use of or benefits derived from such 
works as are referred to in section 20, clauses (i) and (j), of that Act; 

(c) any annual rate chargeable on owners of lands under section 59 of the Northern India Canal and 

Drainage Act, 1873 (VIII of 1873); 

(d) the zaildari and village-officers’ cesses; and  

(e) sums payable on account of village-expenses: 

(12)  “village-cess”  includes  any  cess,  contribution  or  due  which  is  customarily  leviable  within  an 
estate and is neither a payment for the use of private property or for personal service nor imposed by or 
under any enactment for the time being in force: 

(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 by the Government or by an officer of the Government: 

7 

 
(16) “legal practitioner” means any legal practitioner within the meaning of the Legal Practitioners Act 

1879 (XVIII of 1879) except a mukhtar: 

(17)  “agricultural  year”  means  the  year  commencing  on  the  sixteenth  day  of June,  or  on  such  other 

date as the Local Government may by notification appoint for any local area; 

(18) “notification” means a notification published by authority of the Local Government in the official 

Gazette : and  

(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 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  re-construction  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, levellings, 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 landlord’s property.  

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 thereof  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  landowner  thereof  otherwise  than  by 
forfeiture  to  the  Government  or  than  by  any  voluntary  act,  has,  since  he  ceased  to  be  landowner, 
continuously occupied the land, or  

8 

 
(c) who, in a village or estate in which he settled along with, 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 landlord 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 there for 
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 Local 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, formerly occupied by him for other land belonging to the same landlord, 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 exciting 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 :— 

9 

 
PUNJAB TENANCY ACT, 1868 

THIS ACT. 

(XXVIII 1868) 

FIRST COLUMN 

SECOND COLUMN 

Section. 

Clause. 

Section. 

Sub-Section. 

Clause. 

5 

5 

5 

5 

6 

8 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

... 

... 

5 

5 

5 

5 

6 

8 

(1) 

(1) 

(1) 

(1) 

... 

... 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

... 

... 

CHAPTER III 

RENT. 

Rents generally. 

12. Respective rights of landlord 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 landlord.  

(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 tenanat shall be entitled to the exclusive possession of the whole produce until it is divided: 

(b) the landlord shall be entitled to be present at, and take part in, the division of the produce; and 

(c) when the produce has been divided, the landlord shall be entitled to the possession or his share 

thereof. 

13. Commutation and alteration of rent.—(1) Where rent is taken by any of the following methods, 

namely:— 

(a) by division or appraisement of the produce,  

(b) by rates fixed with reference to the nature of the crops grown,  

(c) by a rate on a recognized measure of area, 

(d) by a rent in gross on the tenency, or 

(e) partly by one of the methods specified in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of this sub-section and partly 

by another or others of them, 

One of those methods shall not be commuted in whole or in part into another without the consent of 

both landlord and tenant.  

10 

 
(2) In the absence of a contract or a decree or order of competent authority to the contrary, a tenant 
whose rent is taken by any of the methods specified in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (1), or by the 
method  specified  in  clause  (d)  of  that  sub-section,  shall  not  be  liable  to  pay  for  a  tenancy  rent  at  any 
higher rate, or of a higher amount, as the case may be, than the rate or amount payable in respect of the 
tenancy for the preceding agricultural year.  

14. Payments for land occupied without consent of landlord.— Any person in possession of land 
occupied without the consent of the landlord shall be liable to pay for the use or occupation of that land at 
the rate of rent payable in the preceding agricultural year, or, if rent was not payable in that year, at such 
rate as the Court may determine to be fair and equitable. 

15. Collection of rents of undivided property. — When two or more persons are landlord of a tenant 
in respect of the same tenancy, the tenant shall not be bound to pay part of the rent of his tenancy to one 
of those persons and part to another 

Produce-rents. 

16. Presumption with respect to produce remove before division of appraisement.— Where rent 
is taken by division or appraisement of the produce, if the tenant removes any portion of the produce at 
such a time or in such a manner as to prevent the due division or appraisement thereof ,or deals therewith 
in a manners contrary to established usage the produce may be deemed to have been as full as the fullest 
crop of the same description on similar lands in the neighborhood for that harvest. 

17.  Appointment  of  referee  for  division  or  appraisement.—If  either  the  landlord  or  the  tenant 
neglects  to  attend,  either  personally  or  by  agent,  at  the  proper  time  for  making  the  division  or 
appraisement of the produce, or if there is a dispute about the division or appraisement, a Revenue-officer 
may, on the application of either party, appoint such person as he thinks fit to be a referee to divide or 
appraise the produce. 

18.  Appointment  of  assessors  and  procedure  of  referee.—(1)  When  a  Revenue-officer  appoints 
referee under the last forgoing section, he may, in his discretion, give him instructions with respect to the 
association  with  himself  of  any  other  persons  as  assessors,  the  number,  qualification  and  selection  of 
those assessor, and the procedure to be followed in making the division or appraisement.  

(2)  The  referee  so  appointed  shall  make  the  division  or  appraisement  in  accordance  with  any 

instructions  which  he  may  have  received  from  the  Revenue-officer  under  the  last  foregoing                       
sub-section.  

(3)  Before  making  the  division or appraisement  the referee shall  give  notice to the landlord  and  the 
tenant of the time and place at which the division or appraisement will be made, but, of either the landlord 
or the tenant fails to attend either personally or by agent, the referee may proceed exparte. 

(4) For the purpose of making the division or appraisement, the referee, with his assessors, if any, may  

enter upon any land on which or into any building in which the produce is. 

19. Procedure after division or appraisement.—(1) The result of the division or appraisement shall 

be recorded and signed by the referee, and the record shall be submitted to the Revenue-officer. 

 (2) The Revenue-officer shall consider the record, and, after such further inquiry, if any, as he may 

deem necessary, shall make an order either confirming or varying the division or appraisement.  

11 

 
(3) The Revenue-officer shall also make such order as to the costs of the reference as he thinks fit. 

(4)  The  costs  may  include  the  remuneration  of  the  referee  and  of  the  assessors,  if  any,  and  may  be 
levied from the applicant before the appointment of the referee subject to adjustment at the close of the 
proceedings. 

20.  Enhancement  of  produce-rents  of  occupancy  tenants.  —Where  the  rent  of  a  tenant  having  a 
right of occupancy in any land is a share of the produce, or of the appraised value thereof, with or without 
an addition in money, or is paid according to rates fixed with reference to the nature of the crops grown, 
or is a rent in gross payable in kind, the tenant shall be entitled to occupy the land at that rent :  

Provided that, when the land or any part thereof previously not irrigated or flooded becomes irrigated 
or flooded, the rent payable in respect of the land or part may, subject to the provisions of this Act, be 
enhanced to the share or rates, or with reference to the rent in gross, as the case may be, paid by tenants, 
having a similar right of occupancy, for irrigated or flooded land of a similar description and with similar 
advantages.  

21. Reduction of rents refereed to in the last foregoing section.— When the land, or any part of the 
land, held by a tenant having a right of occupancy to whom the last foregoing section applies ceases to be 
irrigated or flooded, the rent payable in respect of the land or part may be reduced to the share or rates, or 
with  reference  to  the  rent  in  gross,  as  the  case  may  be,  paid  by  tenants,  having  a  similar  right  of 
occupancy for unirrigated or unflooded land of a similar description and with similar advantages. 

Cash-rents paid by Tenants having right of Occupancy. 

22.  Enhancement  of  cash  rents  of  occupancy  tenants.—(1)  Where  a  tenant  having  a  right  of 
occupancy pays his rent entirely by a cash-rate on a recognized measure of area or by a cash-rent in 
gross on his tenancy, the rent may be enhanced on the ground that, after deduction therefrom of the 
land revenue of, and the rates and cesses chargeable on, the tenancy, it is— 

(a) if the tenant belongs to the class specified in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 5, less 

than two annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue; 

 (b) if he belongs to any of the classes specified in clauses (b) , (c) and (d) of that sub-section 

less than six annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue ;  

(c) if he belongs to the class specified in section 6, or if his right of occupancy is established 
under section 8 and his rent is not regulated by contract, less than twelve annas per rupee of the 
amount of the land-revenue.  

(2)  In  a  case  to  which  sub-section  (1)  applies,  the  rent  may  be  enhanced  to  an  amount  not 
exceeding two, six or twelve annas per rupee of the amount of the land-revenue as the case may be, 
in  addition  to  the  amount  of  the  land-revenue  of  the  tenancy  and  the  rates  and  cessers  chargeable 
thereon.  

23. Reduction of rents referred to in the last foregoing section.—The rent payable buy a tenant 
to whom the last foregoing section applies may be reduced on the ground that the productive powers 
of his tenancy have been decreased by a cause beyond his control. 

12 

 
 
General Provisions relating to Suits for Enhancement or Reduction of Rent. 

24.  Enhancement  and  reduction  of  rent  by  suit.—(1)  A  Revenue  Court,  on  the  suit  of  either 
landlord or tenant, may, subject to the provisions of this and other sections of this Act, enhance or reduce 
the rent of any tenant having a right of occupancy.  

(2) Where a decree for the enhancement of the rent of such a tenant has been passed under the Punjab 
Tenancy  Act,  1868,  (XXVIII  of  1868)  a  suit  for  a  further  enhancement  of  his  rent  shall  not  lie  till  the 
expiration of five years from the date of the decree, unless in the meantime the local area in which the 
land comprised in the decree is situate has been generally reassessed and the revenue payable in respect of 
that land has been increased. 

 (3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), a suit instituted for the enhancement of the rent of a 

tenant having a right of occupancy shall not be entertained in either of the following cases, namely:— 

(a)  if  within  the  ten  years  next  preceding  its  institution  his  rent  has  been  commuted  under                      

section 13 or enhanced under this section, 

 (b) if within that period a decree has been passed under this Act dismissing on the merits a suit for 
the  enhancement  of  his  rent,  unless  the  land  or some  part  of the land comprised  in  his tenancy,  not 
having been irrigated or flooded at the time of such commutation, enhancement or decree, has become 
irrigated or flooded. 

25. Discretion as to extent of enhancement or reduction.—In enhancing or reducing the rent of any 
land under the foregoing provisions of this chapter, the Court shall within the limits prescribed by those 
provisions, enhance or reduce the rent to such an amount as it considers fair and equitable, but shall not in 
any case fix the rent at a sum less than the amount of the land-revenue of the land and the rates and cesses 
chargeable thereon.  

26.  Time  for  enhancement  or  reduction  to  take  effect.—(1)  Unless  the  Court  decreeing  an 
enhancement of rent otherwise directs, the enhancement shall take effect from the commencement of the 
agricultural year next following the date of the decree. 

(2)  A  Court  decreeing  a  reduction  of  rent  shall  specify  in  the  decree  the  date  on  from  which  the 

reduction is to take effect. 

Adjustment of Rents expressed in terms of the Land-revenue. 

27. Adjustment of rents expressed in terms of the land-revenue.—(1) Where the rent of a tenancy 
is the whole or a share of the land-revenue thereof, with or without an addition in money, kind or service, 
and the land-revenue of the holding in which the tenancy is situate is altered, a Revenue-officer having 
authority  under  section  56  of  the  Punjab  Land-revenue  Act,  1887  (XVII  of  1887),  to  determine  the                  
land-revenue payable in respect of the several holdings comprised in the estate in which the tenancy is 
situate  shall  determine  also  the  amount  of  the  land-revenue  of  the  tenancy,  or  the  proportionate  share 
thereof, payable by the tenant as rent. 

 (2)  Where  an  addition  referred  to  in  sub-section  (1)  is  a  percentage  fixed  with  reference  to  the                 

land-revenue of the tenancy, or the whole or a share of the rates and cesses chargeable thereon, or both, 
the Revenue-officer shall in like manner from time to time alter the amount of the addition in proportion 
to any alteration of such land-revenue or rates and cesses. 

13 

 
(3)  The  sum  or  sums  determined  under  the  foregoing  sub-sections,  together  with  any  addition 
previously  payable  other  than  the  additions  referred  to  in  sub-section  (2),  shall  be  the  rent  payable  in 
respect  of the tenancy  until  there  is  again an  alterations  of the  land-revenue  thereof  or  of  the  rates  and 
cesses chargeable thereon or until the rent is enhanced by a suit under this Act. 

(4) An alteration of rent under this section shall not be deemed an enhancement or reduction of rent 

within the meaning of this Act. 

28. Alteration of rent on alteration of area.—(1) Every tenant shall- 

Alteration of Rent on Alteration of Area. 

 (a) be liable to pay additional rent for all land proved to be in excess of the area for which rent has 
been preciously paid by him, unless it is proved that the excess is due to the addition to his tenancy of 
land which, having previously belonged to the tenancy, was lost by alluvion or otherwise without any 
reduction of the rent being made; and  

(b) be entitled to and abatement of rent in respect of any deficiency proved to exist in the area of 
his  tenancy  as  compared  with  the  area  for  which  rent  has  been  previously  paid  by  him,  unless  it  is 
proved  that the  deficiency  is  due  to  the loss  of land which  was  added to the  area  of  the  tenancy  by 
alluvion or otherwise, and that an addition has not been made to the rent in respect of the addition to 
the area. 

(2) In determining the area for which rent has been previously paid, the Court shall have regard to the 

following, among other matters, namely:— 

(a) the origin and conditions of the tenant’s occupancy, for instance whether the rent was a rent in 

gross for the entire tenancy;  

(b) whether the tenant has been allowed to hold additional land in consideration of and addition to 

his total rent or otherwise with the knowledge and consent of the landlord; and 

(c) the length of time during which there has been no dispute as to rent or area. 

(3) In adding to or abating rent under this section, the Court shall add to or abate the rent to such an 
amount as it deems to be fair and equitable, and shall specify in its decree the date on and from which the 
addition or abatement is to take effect.  

(4)  An  addition  to  or  abatement  of  rent  under  this  section  shall  not  be  deemed  an  enhancement  or 

reduction of rent within the meaning of this Act. 

Remission 

29.  Remission  of  rent  by  Courts  decreeing  arrears.—Notwithstanding  anything  in  the  foregoing 
sections of this Chapter, if it appears to a Court making a decree for and arrear of rent that the area of a 
tenancy  has  been  so  diminished  by  diluvion  or  otherwise,  or  that  the  produce  thereof  has  been  so 
diminished by drought, hail, deposit of sand or other like calamity, that the full amount of rent payable by 
the tenant cannot be equitably decreed, the Court may, with the previous sanction of the Collector, allow 
such remission from the rent payable by the tenant as may appear to it to be just. 

 30.  Remission  and 

suspension  of  rent  consequent  on 
revenue.—(1)  Wherever  from  any  cause  the  payment  of  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  land-revenue 

treatment  of 

like 

land                              

14 

 
payable  in  respect  of  any  land  is  remitted  or  suspended,  a  Revenue-officer  may,  by  order,  remit  or 
suspend, as the case may be, the payment of the rent of that land to an amount which may bear the same 
proportion  to  the  whole  of  the  rent  payable  in  respect  of  the  land  as  the  land-revenue  of  which  the 
payment has been remitted or suspended bears to the whole of the land-revenue in respect of the land.   

(2) An order passed under sub-section (1) shall not be liable to be contested by suit in any Court.  

(3) A suit shall not lie for the recovery of any rent of which the payment has been remitted, or, during 

the period of suspension, of any rent of which the payment has been suspended.  

(4)  Where  the  payment  of  rent  has  been  suspended,  the  period  during  which  the  suspension  has 
continued  shall  be  excluded  in  the  computation  of  the  period  of  limitation  prescribed  for  a  suit  for  the 
recovery of the rent.  

(5) If the landlord collects any rent of which the payment has been remitted, or before the expiration of 
the  period  of  suspension  collects  any  rent  of  which  the  payment  has  been  suspended,  the  whole  of  the 
land-revenue remitted or suspended in his favour shall become immediately payable by him. 

(6) The provisions of this section relating to the remission and suspension of the payment of rent may 
be applied, so far as they can be made applicable, to land if which the land-revenue has been released, 
compounded for or redeemed, in any case in which, if the land-revenue in respect of the land had not been 
released, compounded for or redeemed, the whole or any part of it might, in the opinion or the Revenue-
officer, be remitted or suspended under the rules for the time being in force for regulating the remission 
and suspension of land-revenue. 

Deposits. 

31. Power to deposit rent in certain cases with Revenue-officer.—In either of the following cases, 

namely:— 

(a)  when  a  landlord  refuses  to  receive,  or  grant  a  receipt  for,  any  rent  payable  in  money  when 

tendered to him by a tenant, 

(b) when a tenant is in doubt as to the person entitled to receive rent payable in money, the tenant 
may apply to a Revenue-officer for leave to deposit the rent in his office, and the Revenue-officer shall 
receive the deposit if, after examining the applicant, he is satisfied that there is sufficient ground for 
the  application  and  if  the  applicant  pays  the  fee,  if  any,  chargeable  for  the  issue  of  the  notice  next 
hereinafter referred to.  

32. Effect of depositing rent.—(1) When a deposit has been so received, it shall be deemed to be a 

payment made by the tenant to his landlord in respect of rent due. 

 (2) The Revenue-officer receiving the deposit shall give notice of the receipt thereof to every person 
who he has reason to believe claims or is entitled to the deposit, and may pay the amount thereof to any 
person  appearing  to  him  to  be  entitled  thereto,  or  may,  if  he  thinks  fit,  retain  the  deposit  pending  the 
decision of a competent Court as to the person so entitled.  

(3) No suit or other proceeding shall be instituted against the Secretary of State of India in Council, or 
against  any  officer  of  the  Government,  in  respect  of  anything  done  by  a  Revenue-officer  under  this 
section, but noting in this sub-section shall prevent any person entitled to receive the amount of any such 
deposit from recovering it from a person to whom it has been paid by a Revenue-officer. 

15 

 
Recovery of Rent form attached Produce. 

33.  Recovery  of  Rent  from  attached  produce.—(1)  If  an  order  is  made  by  any  Court  for  the 
attachment  of  the  produce  of  a  tenancy  or  of  any  part  of  a  tenancy,  the  landlord  may  apply  to  the 
Revenue-officer by whom the attachment is to be or has been made to sell the produce and pay to him out 
of the proceeds of the sale thereof the amount or value of — 

(a)  any  rent  which  has  fallen  due  to  him  in  respect  of  the  tenancy  within  the  year  immediately 

preceding the application and  

(b)  the  rent  which  will  be  falling  due  after  the  harvesting  of  the  produce  and  is  chargeable                   

against it.  

(2)  The  Revenue-officer  shall  give  the  person  at  whose  instance  the  attachment  was  made  an 
opportunity of showing cause why the application of the landlord should not be granted, and, if he finds 
the landlord’s claim to the whole or any part of the rent to be proved, he shall cause the produce or such 
portion thereof as he may deem necessary to be sold, and shall apply the proceeds of the sale in the first 
instance to satisfy the claim. 

(3) The finding of the Revenue-officer under sub-section (2) shall have the force of a decree in a suit 

between the landlord and the tenant. 

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.— 

 (1) Where a lease has been granted, or an agreement has been entered into, by a landowner in respect of 
any land assessed to land-revenue, fixing for a period exceeding the term for which the land-revenue has been 
assessed the rent or other sum payable in respect of the land under the lease or agreement, and that term has 
expired, the lease or agreement shall be voidable— 

(a) at the option of the landowner if the land-revenue of the land has been enhanced and the person to 
whom the lease has been granted or with whom the agreement has been entered into refuses to pay such 
rent or other sum as a Revenue Court, on the suit of the landowner, determines to be fair and        equitable; 
and  

where the relation of landlord and tenant exists between the grantor and grantee of the lease or between 

the persons who entered into the agreement— 

(b) at the option of the tenant if the land-revenue of the land has been reduced and the landlord refuses 

to accept such rent as a Revenue Court, on the suit of the tenant, determines to be fair and equitable. 

(2) Any agreement relative to the occupation, rent, profits or produce of any land which has been entered 
into  for  the  term  of  the  currency  of  an  assessment  shall,  unless  a  contrary  intention  clearly  appears  in  the 
agreement  or  the  agreement  is  terminated  by  consent  of  parties  or  course  of  law,  continue  in  force  until  a 
revised assessment takes effect. 

CHAPTER IV 
RELINQUISHMENT, ABANDONMENT AND EJECTMENT. 
Relinquishment. 

35. Relinquishment by tenant for a fixed term.—A tenant holding for a fixed term under a contract 
or a decree or order of competent authority may relinquish his tenancy without notice at the end of that 
term.  

16 

 
36.  Relinquishment  by  any  other  tenant.—(1)  Any  other  tenant  may  relinquish  his  tenancy  by 
giving verbally or in writing to his landlord, or to his landlord’s agent, on or before the fifteenth day of 
January in any  year, notice of his intention to relinquish the tenancy at the end of the agricultural year 
then current.  

(2)  The  tenant  may,  instead  of,  or  in  addition  to  giving  the  notice  in  the  manner  mentioned  in                        

sub-section (1), apply to a Revenue-officer on or before the date aforesaid to cause the notice to be served 
on the landlord, and the Revenue-officer, on receiving the cost of service from the tenant, shall cause the 
notice to be served as soon as may be. 

(3) If the tenant does not give notice in the manner prescribed in this section, he shall be liable to pay 
the rent of his tenancy for any part of the ensuing agricultural year during which the tenancy is not let by 
the landlord to some other person or is not cultivated by the landlord himself. 

37. Relinquishment of part only of tenancy.—A tenant cannot, without the consent of his landlord, 

relinquish a part only of his tenancy. 

Abandonment. 

38.  Abandonment  of  tenancy  be  occupancy  tenant.—If a tenant having a right of occupancy fails 
for more than one year without sufficient cause to cultivate his tenancy, either by himself or some other 
person,  and  to  arrange  for  payment  of  the  rent  thereof  as  it  falls  due,  the  right  of  occupancy  shall  be 
extinguished from the end of that year. 

Ejectment. 

LIABILITY TO EJECTMENT. 

39.  Grounds  of  ejectment  of  occupancy  tenant.—A  tenant  having  a  right  of  occupancy  shall  be 

liable to be ejected from his tenancy on any of the following grounds, namely:—  

(a) that he has used the land comprised in the tenancy in a manner which renders it unfit for the 

purposes for which he held it;  

(b) where rent is payable in kind, that he has without sufficient cause failed to cultivate that land in 

the manner or to the extent customary in the locality in which the land is situate; 

(c) that a decree for an arrear of rent in respect of the tenancy has been passed him and remains 

unsatisfied.  

40. Grounds of ejectment of tenant for a fixed term.—A tenant not having a right of occupancy by 
holding for a fixed term under a contract or a decree or order of competent authority, shall be liable to be 
ejected from his tenancy at the expiration of that term, and, on any of the following grounds, before the 
expiration thereof, namely:— 

(a) that he has used the land comprised in the tenancy in a manner which renders it unfit for the 

purposes for which he held it ;  

(b) where rent is payable in kind, that he has without sufficient cause failed to cultivate that land in 

the manner or to the extent customary in the locality in which the land is situate;  

(c) on any ground which would justify ejectment under the contract, decree or order.  

17 

 
41. Ejectment of tenant from year to year.—A tenant who has not a right of occupancy, and does 
not hold for a fixed term under a contract or a decree or order of competent authority, may be ejected at 
the end of any agricultural year. 

PROCEDURE ON EJECTMENT. 

42. Restriction on ejectment.—A tenant shall not be ejected otherwise than in execution of a decree 

for ejectment except in the following cases, namely:—   

(a) when a decree for an arrear of rent in respect of his tenancy has been passed against him and 

remains unsatisfied;  

(b) when the tenant has not a right of occupancy and does not hold for a fixed term under a contract 

or a decree or order of competent authority. 

43. Application to Revenue-officer for ejectment.—In any such case as is mentioned in clause (a) or 
clause (b) of the last foregoing section, the landlord may apply to a Revenue-officer for the ejectrment of 
the  tenant  in  the  case  mentioned  in  the  former  clause  or  for  the  service  on  the  tenant  of  a  notice  of 
ejectment in the case mentioned in the latter clause. 

44. Ejectment for failure to satisfy decree for arrear of rent.—(1) On receiving the application in 
any such case as is mentioned in clause (a) of section 42 the Revenue-officer shall, after such inquiry with 
respect  to  the  existence  of  the  arrear  as  he  deems  necessary,  cause  a  notice  to  be  served  on  the               
tenant, stating the date of the decree and the amount due there under, and informing his that if he does not 
pay that amount to the Revenue-officer within fifteen days from receipt of the notice he will be ejected 
from the land. 

 (2) If the amount is not so paid, the Revenue-officer shall, subject to the provisions of this Act with 
respect to the payment of compensation, order the ejectment of the tenant unless good cause is shown to 
the contrary. 

45.  Ejectment  of  tenant  from  year  to  year  by  notice.—(1)  On  receiving  the  application  of  the 
landlord  in  any  such  case  as  is  mentioned  in  clause  (b)  of  section  42,  the  Revenue-officer  shall,  if  the 
application is in order and not open to objection on the face of it, cause a notice of ejectment to be served 
on the tenant.  

(2) A notice under sub-section (1) shall not be served after the fifteenth day of November in any  year. 

(3) The notice shall specify the name of the landlord on whose application it is issued, and describe the 
land to which it relates, and shall inform the tenant that he must vacate the land before the first day of 
May next following, or that, if he intends to contest his liability to ejectment, be must institute a suit for 
that purpose in a Revenue Court within two months from the date of the service of the notice.  

(4) The notice shall also inform the tenant that if he does not intend to contest his liability to be ejected 
and he has any claim for compensation on ejectment he should, within two months from the date of the, 
service of the notice, prefer his claim to the Revenue-officer having authority under the next following 
sub-section to order his ejectment in the circumstances described in that sub-section. 

(5) If within two months from the date of the service of the notice the tenant does not institute a suit to 
contest his liability to be ejected, a Revenue-officer, on the application of the landlord, shall, subject to 
the provisions of this Act with respect to the payment of compensation, order the ejectment of the tenant:  

18 

 
Provided that the Revenue-officer shall not make the order until he is satisfied that the notice was duly 

served on the tenant. 

 (6) If within those two months the tenant institutes a suit to contest his liability to be ejected and fails 

in the suit, the Court by which the suit is determined shall by its decree direct the ejectment of the tenant. 

46. Power to make rules.—The Financial Commissioner may make rules prescribing— 

(a) the form and language of applications and notices under the two last foregoing sections ; and  

(b) the manner in which those applications and notices are to be signed and attested. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS RESPECTING EJECTMENT. 

47. Time for ejectment.—A decree or order for the ejectment of a tenant shall not be executed at any 
other time than between the first day of May and the fifteenth day of June (both days inclusive), unless 
the Court making the decree or, where the order is made under section 44, the officer making the order 
otherwise directs. 

48.  Relief  against forfeiture.—(1) If in a suit for the ejectment of a tenant on either of the grounds 
mentioned  in  clauses  (a)  and  (b)  of  section  39  or  of  section  40  it  appears  to  the  Court  that  the  injury 
caused by the act or omission on which the suit is based is capable of being remedied, or that an award of 
compensation will be sufficient satisfaction to the landlord therefore, the Court may, instead of making a 
decree for the ejectment of the tenant, order him to remedy the injury within a period to be fixed in the 
order, or order him to pay into Court, within such a period, such compensation as the Court thinks fit. 

 (2)  The  Court  may  from  time  to  time,  for  special  reasons,  extend  a  period  fixed  by  it  under                    

sub-section (1).  

(3) If within the period, or extended period, as the case may be, fixed by the Court under this section, 
the injury is remedied or the compensation is paid, a decree for the ejectment of the tenant shall not be 
made. 

49. Rights of ejected tenants in respect of crops and land prepared for sowing.—(1) Where at the 
time of the proposed ejectment of a tenant from any land his uncut or ungathered crops are standing on 
any  part  thereof,  he  shall  not  be  ejected  from  that  part  until  the  crops  have  ripened  and  he  has  been 
allowed a reasonable time to harvest them. 

(2)  The  Court  or  Revenue-officer  decreeing  or  ordering  the  ejectment  of  the  tenant  may,  on  the 

application  of  the  landlord,  determine  any  dispute  arising  in  consequence  of  the  provisions  of                  
sub-section (1)  between  the  landlord  and the  tenant or  between the  landlord and  any  person  entitled to 
harvest discretion— 

(a)  direct  that  the  tenant  pay  for  the  longer  occupation  of  the  land  secured  to  him  under               

sub-section (1) such rent as may be fair and equitable, or  

(b) determine the value of the tenant’s uncut and ungathered crops, and, on payment thereof by the 

landlord to the Court or Revenue-officer, forthwith eject the tenant.  

(3)  When  a  tenant  for  whose  ejectment  proceedings  have  been  taken  has,  comfortably  with  local 
usage, prepared for sowing any land comprised in his tenancy, but has not sown or planted crops on that 
land, he shall be entitled to receive from the landlord before ejectment a fair equivalent in money for the 

19 

 
labour  and  capital  expended  by  him  in  so  preparing  the  land,  and  the  Court  or  Revenue-officer  before 
which  or  whom  proceedings,  are  pending  shall,  on  the  application  of  the  tenant,  determine  the  sum 
payable to the tenant under this sub-section and stay his ejectment until that sum has been paid to him. 

RELIEF FOR WRONGFUL DISPOSSESSION. 

50. Relief for wrongful dispossession or ejectment.—In either of the following cases, namely:— 

(a)  if  a  tenant  has  been  dispossessed  without  his  consent  of  his  tenancy  or  any  part  thereof 
otherwise than in execution of a decree or than in pursuance of an order under section 44 or section 45,  

(b) If a tenant who, not having instituted a suit under section 45, has been ejected from his tenancy 

or any part thereof in pursuance of an order under that section denies his liability to be ejected, 

The  tenant  may,  within  one  year from  the  date  of  his  dispossession  or  ejectment, institute  a  suit  for 

recovery of possession or occupancy, or for compensation, or for both. 

51. Bar of relief by under section 9, Act I, 1877.—Possession of a tenancy or of any land comprised 
in a tenancy shall not be recoverable under section 9 of the Specific Relief Act, 1877, (I of 1877) by a 
tenant dispossessed thereof 

Power to vary Dates prescribed by this Chapter. 

52.  Power  for  Local  Government  to  fix  dates  for  certain  purposes.—(1) The Local Government 
may,  for  all  or  any  of  the  territories  under  its  administration,  by  notification  fix  for  the  purposes  of 
sections 36, 45 and 47, or of any of those sections, any other dates instead of those specified therein. 

(2) A notification under this section shall not take effect till after the expiration of six months from the 

date of the publication thereof. 

CHAPTER V. 

 ALIENATION OF, AND SUCCESSION TO, RIGHT OF OCCUPANCY. 

53. Private transfer of right of occupancy under section 5 by tenant.—(1) A tenant having a right 
of occupancy under section 5 may transfer that right by sale, gift or mortgage, subject to the conditions 
mentioned in this section.  

(2)  If  he  intends  to  transfer  the  right  by  sale,  gift,  mortgage  by  conditional  sale  or  usufructuary 
mortgage, he shall cause notice of his intention to be served on his landlord through a Revenue-officer, 
and shall defer proceeding with the transfer for a period of one month from the date on which the notice is 
served. 

(3) Within that period of one month the landlord may claim to purchase the right at such value as a 

Revenue-officer may, on application made to him in this behalf, fix.  

(4)  when the application to  the  Revenue-officer is to  fix  the  value  of a  right  of  occupancy  which  is 

already mortgaged, he shall fix the value of the right as if it were not mortgaged.  

(5)  The  landlord  shall  be  deemed  to  have  purchased  the  right  if  he  pays  the  value  to  the                         

revenue-officer within such time as that officer appoints.  

(6) On the value being so paid, the right of occupancy shall be extinct, and the Revenue-officer shall, 

on the application of the landlord, put the landlord in possession of the tenancy.  

20 

 
(7)  If  the  right  of  occupancy  was  already  mortgaged,  the  tenancy  shall  pass  to  the  landlord, 

unencumbered by the mortgage, but the mortgage-debt shall be a charge on the purchase-money. 

(8) If there is no such charge as aforesaid, the Revenue-officer shall, subject to any directions which he 

may receive from any Court, pay the purchase-money to the tenant.  

(9) If there is such a charge, the Revenue-officer shall, subject as aforesaid, either apply in discharge 
of  the  purchase-money  as  the  mortgage-debt  so  much  of  the  purchase-money  as  is  required  for  that 
purpose and pay the balance, if any, to the tenant, or retain the purchase-money pending the decision of a 
Civil Court as to the person or persons entitled thereto. 

(10) Where there are several landlords of a tenancy, any one of them pay be deemed to be the landlord 

for the purposes of this section.  

(11) No suit or other preceding shall be instituted against the Secretary of State for India in Council, or 
against any officer of the Government, in respect of anything done by a Revenue-officer under the two 
last foregoing sub-sections, but nothing in this sub-section shall prevent any person entitled to receive the 
whole or any part of the purchase-money from recovering it from a person to whom it has been paid by a 
Revenue-officer.  

54.  Procedure  on  foreclosure  of  mortgage  of  right  of  occupancy  under  section  5.—Where  a 
mortgagee  of  a  right  of  occupancy  under  section  5  proposes  to  foreclose  his  mortgage,  or  otherwise 
enforce his lien on the land subject to the right, the provisions of the last foregoing section shall, so far as 
they can be made applicable, apply as if the mortgagee were the tenant. 

55. Sale of right of occupancy under section 5 in execution of decree.—(1) A right of occupancy 

under section 5 may be sold in execution of a decree or order of a Court ; 

(2) But notice of an intended sale of any such right shall be given by the Court to the landlord, and if at 
any time before the close of the day on which the sale takes place the landlord pays to the Court or to the 
officer  conducting  the sale  a  deposit of twenty-five  per  centum  on  the highest  bid  made  at  the sale,  he 
shall be declared to be the purchaser instead of the person who made that bid. 

56. Transfer of right of occupancy under any other section than section 5.—A right of occupancy 
under any other section than section 5 shall not be attached or sold in execution of a decree or order of 
any Court or, without the previous consent in writing of the landlord, be transferred by private contract. 

57. Rights and liabilities of transferee of right of occupancy.—When a right of occupancy has been 
transferred by sale, gift or usufructuary mortgage to a person other than the landlord, that person shall, in 
respect  of  the  land  in  which  the  right  subsists,  have  the  same  rights,  and  be  subject  to  the  same                  
liabilities, as the tenant to whom before the transfer the right belonged had and was subject to. 

58.  Subletting.—(1) A tenant having a right of occupancy in land may, subject to the provisions of 
this Act and to the conditions of any written contract between him and his landlord, sublet the land or any 
part thereof for any term not exceeding seven years.  

(2) A person to whom land is sublet by a tenant having a right of occupancy therein shall, in respect of 
that land, and so far as regards the landlord, be, jointly with the tenant, subject to all the liabilities of the 
tenant under this Act. 

21 

 
 
Succession. 

59.  Succession  to  right  of  occupancy.—(1) When a tenant having a right of occupancy in any land 

dies, the right shall devolve.— 

(a) on his male lineal descendants, if any, in the male line of descent, and, 

(b) failing such descendants, on his widow, if any until she dies or re-marries or abandons the land 

or is under the provisions of this Act ejected therefrom, and, 

(c)  failing  such  descendants  and  widow,  or,  if  the  deceased  tenant  left  a  widow,  then  when  her 
interest terminates under clause (b) of this sub-section, on his male collateral relatives in the male line 
of descent from the common ancestor of the deceased tenant and those relatives : 

Provided,  with  respect  to  clause  (c)  of  this  sub-section,  that  the  common  ancestor  occupied  the 

land.   

(2)  As  among  descendants  and  collateral  relatives  claiming  under  sub-section  (1),  the  right  shall, 
subject to the provisions of that sub-section, devolve as if it were land left by the deceased in the village 
in which the land subject to the right is situate.  

(3) When the widow of a deceased tenant succeeds to a right of occupancy, she shall not transfer the 

right by sale, gift or mortgage, or by sub-lease for a term exceeding one year. 

(4) If the deceased tenant has left no such persons as are mentioned in sub-section (1) on whom his 

right of occupancy may devolve under that sub-section, the right shall be extinguished. 

Irregular Transfers. 

60.  Irregular  transfer  of  right  of  occupancy.—Any  transfer  made  of  a  right  of  occupancy  in 
contravention  of  the  foregoing  provisions  of  this  Chapter  shall  be  avoidable  at  the  instance  of  the 
landlord. 

________ 

CHAPTER VI. 

IMPROVEMENTS AND COMPENSATION. 

Improvements  by Landlords. 

61.  Improvements  by  landlords  on  tenancies  of  occupancy-tenants.—(1)  Without  the  previous 
permission of the Collector a landlord shall not make an improvement on the tenancy of a tenant having a 
right of occupancy.  

(2) If a landlord desires to make such an improvement he may apply to the Collector for permission to 
make it, and the Collector shall, before making an order on the application, hear the objection, if any, of 
the tenant.  

(3) In making an order on an application under sub-section (2) the Collector shall, be guided by such 
rules,  if  any,  as  the  Local  Government  may,  with  the  previous  sanction  of  the  Governor  General  in 
Council, make in this behalf. 

62. Enhancement of rent in consideration of an improvement made by a landlord on the tenancy 
of an occupancy-tenant.—(1) When a landlord has, with the permission mentioned in the last foregoing 

22 

 
section, made an improvement on the tenancy of a tenant having a right of occupancy, he may apply to 
the Collector fir an enhancement of the rent of the tenant.  

(2) If the tenant is a tenant to whom section 20 applies, the Collector shall enhance his rent to the share 
or rates, or with reference to the rent in gross, as the case may be, paid by tenants, having a similar right 
of occupancy, for land of a similar description and with similar advantages. 

(3) If the tenant is a tenant to whom section 22 applies, the Collector shall enhance his rent to such 

amount as the tenant would be liable to pay under that section if the land-revenue were re-assessed. 

(4) When the improvement ceases to exist, the Collector may, on the application of the tenant, reduce 

the tenant’s rent,— 

(a) in the case of a tenant to whom sub-section (2) applies, to the share or rates, or with reference to 
the rent in gross, as the case may be, paid by tenants, having a similar right of occupancy, for land of a 
similar description and with similar advantages, and  

(b) in the case of a tenant to whom sub-section (3) applies, to such an amount as the tenant would 

be liable to pay if the land revenue were re-assessed.  

(5) Sections 25 and 26 shall be construed as applying to an application under this section, and a suit 
shall not lie in any Court for any purpose for which an application might be made under this section.  

Improvements by Tenants. 

63.  Title  of  occupancy-tenant  to  make  improvements.—A  tenant  having  a  right  of  occupancy  is 

entitled to make improvements on his tenancy.  

64.  Title  of  tenants  not  having  right  of  occupancy  to  make  improvements.—(1)  A  tenant  not 

having a right of occupancy may make improvements on his tenancy with the assent of his landlord.  

(2)  If  at  any  time  the  question  arises  whether  or  not  the  landlord  assented  to  the  making  of  an 
improvement by a tenant not having a right of occupancy, the assent may be inferred from circumstances.  

65.  Improvements  made  before  commencement  of  this  Act.—Improvements  made  by  a  tenant 
before the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to have been made in accordance with this Act, 
unless in the case of a tenant not having a right of occupancy it is shown that the improvement was made 
in contravention of a written agreement between him and his landlord. 

66. Improvements begun in anticipation of ejectment.—A tenant ejected in execution of a decree, 
or  in  pursuance  of  a  notice  of  a  notice  of  ejectment,  shall  not  be  entitled  to  compensation  for  any 
improvement begun by him after the institution of the suit, or service of the notice, which resulted in his 
ejectment. 

67. Tender of lease for twenty years to tenant to be a bar to right to compensation.—If a landlord 
tenders to  a  tenant  a lease of  his  tenancy  for a  term  of  not less  than  twenty  years  from  the  date  of the 
tender at the rent then paid by the tenant, or at such other rent as may be agreed on, the tender if, accepted 
by the tenant, shall bar any claim by him to compensation in respect of improvements previously made on 
the tenancy.  

68. Liability to pay compensation for improvements to tenant on ejectment or on enhancement 
of his rent.—Subject to the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, a tenant who has made an improvement 

23 

 
on his tenancy in accordance with this Act shall not be ejected, and the rent payable by him shall not be 
enhanced, until he has received compensation for the improvement. 

Compensation for Disturbance of Clearing Tenants. 

69. Compensation for disturbance of clearing tenants.—(1) A tenant who has cleared and brought 
under cultivation waste-land in which he has not a right of occupancy shall, if ejected from that land, be 
entitled to receive from the landlord as compensation for disturbance, in addition to any compensation for 
improvements,  a  sum  to  be  determined  by  a  Revenue  Court  or  Revenue-officer  in  accordance  with the 
merits of the case, but not exceeding five years’ rent of the land:  

Provided that a tenant who is a joint owner of land to which this section applies shall not be entitled to 

compensation for disturbance on ejectment from the land or any part thereof. 

(2) If rent has been paid for the land by division or appraisement of the produce, or by rates fixed with 
reference to the nature of the crops grown, or if not rent, or no rent other than the land revenue of the land 
and the rates and cesses chargeable thereon, has been paid therefor, the compensation may be computed 
as if double the amount of the land-revenue of the land were the annual rent thereof.  

Procedure in determining Compensation. 

70. Determination of compensation by Revenue Courts.—(1) In every suit by a tenant to contest his 
liability to ejectment or by a landlord to eject a tenant or to enhance his rent, the Court shall direct the 
tenant to file a statement of his claim, if any, to compensation for improvements or for disturbance and of 
the grounds thereof. 

 (2) If the Court decrees the ejectment of the tenant or the enhancement of his rent, it shall determine 
the  amount  of  compensation,  if  any,  due  to  the  tenant,  and  shall  stay  execution  of  the  decree  until  the 
landlord pays into Court that amount less any arrears of rent or costs proved to the satisfaction f the Court 
to be due to him from the tenant. 

 71.  Determination  of  compensation  by  Revenue-officers.—In  either  of  the  following  cases, 

namely— 

 (a) when a notice has been served on a tenant under section 44, 

 (b) when a notice of ejectment has been served on a tenant under section 45 and the tenant has not 
instituted  a  suit  to  contest  his  liability  to  be  ejected,  the  tenant  may  apply  to  the  Revenue-officer 
having  authority  to  order  his  ejectment  under  section  44  or  section  45,  as  the  case  may  be,  to 
determine the amount of compensation due to him for improvements or for disturbance, or for both, 
and the Revenue-officer shall determine the amount, if any, accordingly and stay the ejectment of the 
tenant until the landlord pays to the Revenue-officer the amount so determined less any arrears of rent 
or costs proved to the satisfaction of the Revenue-officer to be due to the landlord from the tenant. 

72. Matters to be regarded in assessment of compensation for improvements.—In estimating the 
compensation to be awarded under this Chapter to a tenant for an improvement, the Court or Revenue-
officer shall have regard to— 

 (a) the amount by which the value or the produce of the tenancy, or the value of that produce, is 

increased by the improvement;  

(b) the condition of the improvement and the probable duration of its effects;  

24 

 
(c) the labour and capital required for the making of such an improvement; 

(d) any reduction or remission of rent or other advantage allowed to the tenant by the landlord in 

consideration of the improvement; and 

 (e) in the case of a reclamation, or of the conversion of unirrigated into irrigated land the length of 

time during which the tenant has had the benefit of the improvement. 

73.  Form  of compensation.—(1) the compensation shall be made by payment in money, unless the 
parties agree that it be made in whole or in part by the grant of a beneficial lease of land or in some other 
way. 

(2) If the parties so agree, the Court or Revenue-officer shall, make an order accordingly. 

Relief in case of ejectment before Determination of Compensation. 

74. Relief in case of ejectment before determination of compensation.—(1) If from any cause the 

amount of compensation payable to a tenant— 

(a) under this Chapter for improvements or disturbance, or  

(b)  under  section  49  for  the  value  of  uncut  or  ungathered  crops  or  the  preparation  of  land  for 
sowing, has not been determined before the tenant is ejected, the ejectment shall not be invalidated by 
reason of the omission, but the Court or Revenue-officer which decreed or who ordered the ejectment 
may,  on  application  made  by  the  tenant  within  one  year  from  the  date  of  the  ejectment,  correct  the 
omission by making in favour of the tenant an order for the payment to him by the landlord of such 
compensation as the Court or officer may determine the tenant to be entitled to. 

(2) An order made under sub-section (1) may be executed in the same manner as a decree for money 

may be executed by a Revenue Court. 

CHAPTER VII 

 JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE. 

Jurisdiction. 

75.  Revenue-officers.—(1)  There  shall  be  the  same  classes  of  Revenue-officers  under  this  Act  as 
under the Punjab Land-revenue Act, 1887 (XVII of 1887) and, in the absence of any order of the Local 
Government  to  the  contrary,  a  Revenue-officer  of  any  class  having  jurisdiction  within  any  local  limits 
under  that  Act  shall  be  a  Revenue-officer  of  the  same  class  having  jurisdiction  within  the  same  local 
limits under this Act.  

(2) the expressions “Collector” and “Financial Commissioner” have the same meaning in this Act as in 

the Punjab Land-Revenue Act, 1887.  

76. Applications and proceedings cognizable by Revenue-officers.—(1) the following applications 
and proceedings shall be disposed of by Revenue-officers as such, and no Court shall take cognizance of 
any dispute or matter with respect to which any such application or proceeding might be made or had:— 

FIRST GROUP 

(a) proceedings under section 27 for the adjustment of rents expressed in terms of the land-revenue;  

(b) proceedings relating to the remission and suspension of rent under section 30; 

25 

 
(c) applications under section 43 for the ejectment of a tenant against whom a decree for an arrear 

of rent in respect of his tenancy has been passed and remains unsatisfied;  

(d) applications under section 45, sub-section (5) for the ejectment of a tenant on whom a notice of 
ejectment has been served and who has not instituted a suit to contest his liability to be ejected but has 
claimed compensation under section 71; 

(e) applications under section 53 or section 54 for the fixing of the value of a right of occupancy;  

(f)  applications  under  section  53  or  section  54  by  landlords  for  possession  of  land,  the  right  of 

occupancy in which has become extinct; 

 (g) proceedings under Chapter VI with respect to the award of compensation for improvements or 

disturbance;  

SECOND GROUP 

(h) application under section 17 with respect to the division or appraisement of produce;  

(i) applications under section 45, sub-section (5), for the ejectment of a tenant on whom a notice of 
ejectment has been served and notice of ejetment has been served and who has not instituted a suit to 
contest his liability to be ejected and has not claimed compensation under section 71;  

(j) applications for the determination.— 

(i) under section 49 of the rent payable for land occupied by crops uncut or ungathered at the 

time of an order being made for the ejectment of a tenant; or 

(ii) under section 49 or section 74 of then value of such crops or of the sum payable to the tenant 

for labour and capital expended by him in preparing land for sowing.  

THIRD GROUP 

(k) applications under section 31 by tenants to deposit rent;  

(l) applications under section 36 for service of notice of relinquishment; 

(m) applications under section 43 for service of notice of ejectment;  

(n)  applications  under  section  53  or  section  54  for  service  of  notice  of  intended  transfer  or  of 

intended foreclosure or other enforcement of lien;  

(2) Except as otherwise provided by any rule made by the Financial Commissioner in this behalf,— 

 (a) a Collector or an Assistant Collector of the first grade may dispose of any of the applications 

and proceedings mentioned in sub-section (1);  

(b) an Assistant Collector of the second grade, not being a Naib-Tehsildar, may dispose of any of 

the applications mentioned in the second and third groups of that sub-section; and 

(c) a Naib-Tehsildar, when invested with the powers of an Assistant Collector of the second grade, 

may dispose of any of the applications mentioned in the third group of that sub-section. 

77.  Revenue  Court  an  suit  cognizable  by  them.—(1)  When  a  Revenue-officer  is  exercising 
jurisdiction with respect to any such suit as is described in sub-section (3), or with respect to an appeal or 
other proceeding arising out of any such suit, he shall be called a Revenue Court.  

26 

 
(2) There shall be the same classes of Revenue Courts as of Revenue-officers under this Act, and, in 
the absence of any order of the Local Government to the contrary, a Revenue-officer of any class having 
jurisdiction  within  any  local  limits  under  this  Act  shall  be  a  Revenue  Court  of  the  same  class  having 
jurisdiction within the same local limits. 

(3)  The  following  suits  shall  be  Instituted  in  and  heard  and  determined  by  Revenue  Courts,  and  no 
other Court shall take cognizance of any dispute or matter with respect to which any such suit might be 
instituted:— 

FIRST GROUP. 

(a) Suits between landlord and tenant for enhancement or reduction of rent under section 24; 

(b)  Suits  between  landlord  and  tenant  for  addition  to  or  abatement  of  rent  under  section  28  or  for 

commutation of rent; 

(c) Suits under section 34 for the determination of rent or other sum on the expiration of the term of an 

assessment of land-revenue; 

(d) suits by a tenant to establish a claim to a right of occupancy, or by a landlord to prove that a tenant 

SECOND GROUP. 

has not such a right; 

(e) suits by a landlord to eject a tenant; 

(f)  suits  by  a  tenant  under  section  45 to  contest  liability  to  ejectment,  when  notice  of  ejectment  has 

been served ; 

(g) suits by a tenant under section 50 for recovery of possession or occupancy, or for compensation, or 

for both; 

(h) suits by a landlord to set aside a transfer made of a right of occupancy, or to dispossess a person to 

whom such a transfer has been made, or for both purposes;  

(i) any other suit between landlord and tenant arising out of a lease or conditions on which a tenancy is 

held;  

(j) suits for sums payable on account of village cesses or village-expenses;  

(k) suits by a co-sharer in an estate or holding for a share of the profits thereof or for a settlement of 

accounts;  

(l) suits for the recovery of over-payments of rent or land-revenue or of any other demand for which a 

suit lies in a Revenue Court under this sub-section: 

(m) Suits relating to the emoluments of kanungos, zaildars, inamdars or village-officers;  

THIRD GROUP. 

(n)  Suits  by  a  landlord  for  arrears  of  rent  or  the  money-equivalent  of  rent,  or  for  sums  recoverable 

under section 14; 

(o) Suits by a landowner to recover moneys claimed as due for the enjoyment of rights in or over land 

or in water, including rights of irrigation, rights over fisheries, rights of pasturage and forest-rights;  

27 

 
(p) Suits for sums payable on account of land-revenue or of any other demand recoverable as an arrear 
of land-revenue under any enactment for the time being in force, and by a superior landowner for other 
sums due to him as such.  

(4) Except as otherwise provided by any rule made by the Financial Commissioner in this behalf,— 

(a) a Collector may near and determine any or the suits mentioned in sub-section (3) ; 

(b) an Assistant Collector of the first grade may hear and determine any of the suits mentioned in the 
second  and  third  groups  of  that  sub-section,  and,  if  he  has  by  name  been  specially  empowered  in  this 
behalf by the Local Government, any of the suits mentioned in the first group; and  

(c) an Assistant Collector of the second grade may hear determine any of the suits mentioned in the 

third group. 

Administrative Control. 

78.  Superintendence  and  control  of  Revenue-officers  and  Revenue  Courts.—(1)  The  general 
superintendence and control over all other Revenue-officers and Revenue Courts shall be vested in, and 
all such officers and Courts shall be subordinate to, the Financial Commissioner. 

(2)  Subject  to  the  general  superintendence  and  control  of  the  Financial  Commissioner,  a 

Commissioner shall control all other Revenue-officers and Revenue Courts in his division.  

(3)  Subject  as  aforesaid  and  to  the  control  of  the  Commissioner  a  Collector  shall  control  all  other 

Revenue-officers and Revenue Courts in his district.  

79.  Power  to  distribute  business  and  withdraw  and  transfer  cases.—(1)  The  Financial 
Commissioner  or  a  Commissioner  or  Collector  may  by  written  order  distribute,  in  such  manner  as  he 
thinksfit, any business cognizable by any Revenue-officer or Revenue Court under his control. 

(2)  the  Financial  Commissioner  or  a  Commissioner  or  Collector  may  withdraw  any  case  pending 
before  any  Revenue-officer  or  Revenue  Court  under  his  control,  and  either  dispose  of  it  himself  or  by 
written order refer it for disposal to any other Revenue-officer or Revenue Court under his control. 

 (3)  An  order  under  sub-section  (1)  or  sub-section  (2)  shall  not  empower  any  Revenue-officer  or 
Revenue Court to exercise any powers or deal with any business which he or it would not be competent to 
exercise or deal with within the local limits of his or its own jurisdiction. 

Appeal, Review and Revision. 

80. Appeals.—Subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules thereunder, an appeal shall lie from 
an original or appellate order or decree made under this Act by a Revenue-officer or Revenue Court; as 
follows, namely :—  

(a) to the Collector when the order or decree is made by an Assistant Collector of either grade;  

(b) to the Commissioner when the order or decree is made by a Collector; 

 (c) to the Financial Commissioner when the order or decree is made by a Commissioner: 

28 

 
 
 
Provided that — 

(i) an appeal from an order or decree made by an Assistant Collector of the first grade specially 
empowered by name in that behalf by the Local Government in a suit mentioned in the first group 
of sub-section (3) of section 77 shall lie to the Commissioner and not to the Collector;  

(ii) when an original order or decree is confirmed on first appeal, a further appeal shall not lie; 

(iii) when any such order or decree is modified or reversed on appeal by the Collector, the order 

or decree made by the Commissioner on further appeal, if any, to him shall be final. 

81.  Limitation  for  appeals.—the period of limitation for an appeal under the last foregoing section 

shall run from the date of the order or decree appealed against, and shall be as follows, that is to say:— 

(a) when the appeal lies to the Collector—thirty days;  

(b) when the appeal lies to the Commissioner—sixty days;  

(c) when the appeal lies to the Financial Commissioner—ninety days; 

 82. Review by Revenue-officers.—(1) A Revenue-officer, as such, may either of his own motion or 
on the application of any party interested, review, and on so reviewing modify, reverse or confirm any 
order passed by himself or by any of his predecessors in office : 

Provided as follows: — 

(a)  when  a  Commissioner  or  Collector  thinks  it  necessary  to  review  any  order  which  he  has  not 
himself passed and when a Revenue-officer of a class below that of Collector proposes to review any 
order  whether  passed  by  himself  or  by  any  of  his  predecessors  in  officer  he  shall  first  obtain  the 
sanction of the Revenue-officer to whose control he is immediately subject; 

(b)  an application  for  review  of  an  order  shall  not  be  entertained  unless it is  made  within  ninety 
days  from  the  passing  of  the  order  or  unless  the  applicant  satisfies  the  Revenue-officer  that  he  had 
sufficient cause for not making the application within that period;  

(c) an order shall not be modified or reversed unless reasonable notice has been given to the parties 

affected there by to appear and be heard in support of the order; 

(d) an order against which an appeal has been preferred shall not be reviewed.  

(2) For the purposes of this section the Collector shall be deemed to be the successor in office of any 

Revenue-officer  of  a  lower  class  who  has  left  the  district  or  has  ceased  to  exercise  powers  as  a                     
Revenue-officer and to whom there is no successor in office.  

(3) An appeal shall not lie from an order refusing to review, or confirming on review, a previous order. 

83. Computation of periods limited for appeals and applications for review.—In the computation 
of the period for an appeal from, or an application for the review of, an order under this Act, the limitation 
therefore shall be governed by the Indian Limitation Act, 1877, (XV of 1877). 

84.  Power  to  call  for  examine  and  revise  proceedings  of  Revenue-officers  and  Revenue                

Courts.—(1) The Financial Commissioner may at any time call for the record of any case pending before 
or disposed of by, any Revenue-officer or Revenue Courts subordinate to him. 

29 

 
(2) A Commissioner or Collector may call for the record of any case pending before or disposed of by, 

any Revenue-officer or Revenue Court under his control.  

(3) If in any case in which a Commissioner or Collector has called for a record he is of opinion that the 
proceedings taken or the order or decree made should be modified or reversed he shall submit the record 
with his opinion on the case for the orders of the Financial Commissioner.  

(4) If, after examining a record called for by himself under sub-section (1) or submitted to him under 
sub-section  (3),  the  Financial  Commissioner  is  of  opinion  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  interfere  with  the 
proceedings or the order or decree, he shall pass an order accordingly.  

(5)  If,  after  examining  the  record  the  Financial  Commissioner  is  of  opinion  that  it  is  expedient  to 
interfere  with  the  proceedings  or  the  order  or  decree  on  any  ground  on  which  the  Chief  Court  in  the 
exercise  of  its  revisional  jurisdiction  may  under  the  law  fir  the  time  being  in  force  interfere  with  the 
proceedings or an order or decree of a Civil Court, he shall fix a day for hearing the case, and may, on 
that  or  any  subsequent  day  to  which  he  may  adjourn  the  hearing  on  which  he  may  appoint  in  this                    
behalf, pass such order as he thinks fit in the case. 

(6) Except when the Financial Commissioner fixes under sub-section (5) a day for hearing the case, no 
party has any right to be heard before the Financial Commissioner when exercising his powers under this 
section. 

Procedure. 

85. Procedure of Revenue-officers.—(1) The Local Government may make rules consistent with this 
Act for regulating the procedure of Revenue-officers under this Act in cases in which a procedure is not 
prescribed by this Act. 

 (2) The rules may provide, among other matters, for the mode of enforcing orders of ejectment from, 
and delivery of possession of, immoveable property, and rules providing for those matters may confer on 
a Revenue-officer all or any of the powers in regard to contempts, resistance and the like which a Civil 
Court may exercise in the execution of a decree whereby it has adjudged ejectment from, or delivery of 
possession of, such property. 

 (3)  The  rules  may  also  provide  for  the  mode  of  executing  orders  as  to  costs  and  may  adapt  to 
proceedings under this Act all or any of the provisions of the Punjab Land-Revenue Act, 1887, (XVII of 
1887)  with respect to arbitration.  

(4)  Subject  to  the  rules  under  this  section,  a  Revenue-officer  may  refer  any  case  which  he  is 
empowered to dispose of under this Act to another Revenue-officer for investigation and report, and may 
decide the case upon the report.  

86.  Persons  by  whom  appearance,  may  be  made  before  Revenue-officers  as  such  and  not  as 
Revenue Courts.—(1) Appearances before a Revenue-officer as such, and application to and acts to be 
done before him, under this Act may be made or done. 

 (a) by the parties themselves, or 

 (b) by their recognized agents or a legal practitioner : 

30 

 
Provided that the employment of a recognized agent or legal practitioner shall not excuse the personal 
attendance of a party to any proceeding in any case in which personal attendance is specially required by 
an order of the officer.  

(2)  For  the  purposes  of  sub-section  (1),  recognized  agents  shall  be  such  persons  as  the  Local 

Government may by notification declare in this behalf.  

(3) The fees of a legal practitioner shall not be allowed as cost in any proceeding before a Revenue-
officer under this Act, unless that officer considers, for reasons to be recorded by him in writing, that the 
fees should be allowed. 

87. Costs.—(1) A Revenue-officer may give and apportion the costs of any proceeding under this Act 

in any manner he thinks fit ;  

(2) But if he orders that the costs of any such proceeding shall not follow the event, he shall record his 

reasons for the order. 

88. Procedure of Revenue-Courts.—(1) The Local Government may, with the previous sanction of 
the  Governor  General  in  Council,  make  rules  consistent  with  this  Act  for  regulating  the  procedure  of 
Revenue Courts in matters under this Act for which a procedure is not prescribed thereby, and may by 
any  such  rule  direct  that  any  provisions  of  the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure  shall  apply  with  or  without 
modification to all or any classes of cases before those Courts. 

(2)  Until  rules  are  made  under  sub-section  (1),  and  subject  to  those  rules  when  made  and  to  the 

provisions of this Act,— 

(a) the Code of Civil Procedure shall, so far as it is applicable, apply to all proceedings in Revenue 

Courts whether before or after decree; and 

(b)  the  Financial  Commissioner  shall,  in  respect  of  those  proceedings  be  deemed  to  be  the  High 
Court  within  the  meaning  of  that  Code, and  shall,  subject  to the  provisions  of this  Act,  exercise,  as 
regards the Courts under his control, all the powers of a High Court under the Code. 

89.  Power of Revenue, officer or Revenue Court to summon persons.—(1) A Revenue-officer or 
Revenue Court may summon any person whose attendance he or it considers necessary for the purpose of 
any application, suit or other business before him or it as a Revenue-officer or Revenue Court. 

(2) A person so summoned shall be bound to appear at the time and place mentioned in the summons 

in person or, if the summons so allows, by his recognized agent or a legal practitioner.  

(3)  The  person  attending  in  obedience  to  the  summons  shall  be  bound  to  state  the  truth  upon  any 
matter respecting which he is examined or makes statements and to produce such documents and other 
things relating to any such matter as the Revenue-officer or Revenue Court may require. 

90.  Mode  of  service  of  summons.—(1) A summons issued by a Revenue-officer or Revenue Court 
shall, if practicable, be served (a) personally on the person to whom it is addressed, or failing him on (b) 
his recognized agent or (c) an adult male member of his family who is residing with him.  

(2)  If  service  cannot  be  made,  or  if  acceptance of service  so  made  is refused, the  summons  may  be 
served by posting a copy thereof at the usual or last known place of residence of the person to whom it is 
addressed, or, if that person does not reside in the district in which the Revenue-officer is employed or the 
Revenue Court is held, and the case to which the summons relates has reference to land in that district, 

31 

 
then by posting a copy of the summons on some conspicuous place in or near the estate wherein the land 
is situate.  

(3) If the summons relates to a case in which persons having the same interest are so numerous that 
personal service on all of them is not reasonably practicable, it may, if the Revenue-officer or Revenue 
Court so directs, be served by delivery of a copy thereof to such of those persons as the officer or Court 
nominates  in  this  behalf  and  by  proclamation  of  the  contents  thereof  for  the  information  of  the  other 
persons interested.  

(4)  A  summons  may  if,  the  Revenue-officer  or  Revenue  Court  so  directs,  be  served  on  the  person 
named therein, either in addition to, or in substitution for, any other mode of service, by forwarding the 
summons by post in a letter addressed to the person and registered under Part III of the Indian Post Office 
Act 1866 (XIV of 1866).  

(5) When a summons is so forwarded in a letter and it is proved that the letter was properly addressed 
and duly posted and registered, the officer or Court may presume that the summons was served at the time 
when the letter would be delivered in the ordinary course of post. 

91.  Mode  of  service  of  notice,  order  or  proclamation  or  copy  thereof.—A  notice,  order  or 
proclamation, or copy of any such document, issued by a Revenue-officer or Revenue Court for service 
on any person shall be Served in the manner provided in the last foregoing section for the service of a 
summons. 

92.  mode  of  making  proclamation.—When  a  proclamation  relating  to  any  land  is  issued  by  a 
Revenue-officer  or  Revenue  Court,  it  shall  in addition  to  any  other  mode  of publication  which  may  be 
prescribed  by  any  enactment  for  the  time  being  in  force,  be  made  by  beat  of  drum  or  other  customary 
method,  and  by  the  posting  of  a  copy  thereof  on  a  conspicuous  place  in  or  near  the  land  to  which  it 
relates. 

93.  Joinder  of  tenants  as  parties  to  proceedings  relating  to  rent.—(1)  Any  number  of  tenants 
cultivating in the same estate may, in the discretion of the Revenue-officer or Revenue Court and subject 
to  any  rules  which  the  Local  Government  may  make  in  this  behalf,  be  made  parties to  any  proceeding 
under Chapter III ; 

(2)  But  a  decree  or  order  shall  not  be  made  in  any  such  proceeding  unless  the  Revenue-officer  or 
Revenue  Courts  is  satisfied  that  all  the  parties  thereto  have  had  an  opportunity  of  appearing  and  being 
heard. 

(3) A decree or order made in any such proceeding shall specify the extent to which each of the tenants 

is affected thereby. 

94. Exception of suits under this Act from operation of certain enactments.—Nothing in section 
424 of the Code of Civil Procedure (XIV OF 1882) or in section 36 of the Punjab Municipal Act 1884, 
(XIII of 1884) shall be construed to apply to a suit of a class mentioned in section 77 of this Act. 

95.  Payment  into  Court  of  money  admitted  to  be  due  to  third  person.—(1)  When  a  defendant 
admits that money is due from him on account of rent, but pleads that it is due not to the plaintiff but to a 
third person, the Court shall, except for special reasons to be recorded by it, refuse to take cognizance of 
the plea unless the defendant pays into Court the amount so admitted to be due. 

32 

 
 (2) Where such a payment is made the Court shall forthwith cause notice of the payment to be served 

on the third person.  

(3) Unless the third person within three months from the receipt of the notice institutes a suit against 
the plaintiff and therein obtains and order restraining payment of the money it shall be paid to the plaintiff 
on his application to the Court therefor. 

(4) Nothing in this section shall affect the right of any person to recover from the plaintiff money paid 

to him under sub-section (3). 

(5) When a defendant pays money into Court under this section, the Court shall give the defendant a 
receipt,  and  the  receipt  so  given  shall  operate  as,  an  acquittance  in  the  same  manner  and  to  the  same 
extent as if it had been given by the plaintiff or the third person, as the case may be.  

96. Execution of decrees for arrears of rent.—A Court passing a decree for an arrear of rent may, on 
the  oral  application  of  the  decree-holder,  order  execution  thereof  against  the  moveable  property  of  the 
tenant, and against any uncut or ungathered crops on the tenancy in respect of which the arrear is decreed.  

97. Prohibition of imprisonment of tenants in execution of decrees for arrear of rent.—A tenant 
shall  not  during  the  continuance  of  his  occupancy  be  liable  to  imprisonment  on  the  application  of  his 
landlord in execution of a decree for an arrear of rent.  

98. Power to refer party to Civil Court.—(1) If, in any proceeding pending before a Revenue Court 
exercising original, appellate or revisional jurisdiction, it appears to the Court that any question in issue is 
more  proper  for  decision  by  a  Civil  Court,  the  Revenue  Court  may,  with  the  previous  sanction  of  the 
Court, if any, to the control of which it is immediately subject, require, by order in writing, any party to 
the proceeding to institute, within such time as it may fix in this behalf, a suit in the Civil Court for the 
purpose of obtaining a decision on the question, and, if he fails to comply with the requisition, may decide 
the question as it thinks fit.  

(2) If the party institutes the suit in compliance with the requisition, the Revenue Court shall dispose 
of  the  proceeding  pending  before  it  in  accordance  with  the  final  decision  of  the  Civil  Court  of  first 
instance or appeal, as the case may be.  

99.  Power  to  refer  to  Chief  Court  questions  as  to  jurisdiction.—(1)  If  the presiding  officer  of  a 
Civil or Revenue Court in which a suit has been instituted doubts whether he is precluded from taking 
cognizance of the suit, he may refer the matter through the Divisional Judge or Commissioner, or, if he is 
a Divisional Judge or Commissioner, directly to the Chief Court.  

(2)  On  any  such  reference  being  made  the  Chief  Court  may  order  the  presiding  officer  either  to 
proceed  with  the  suit  or  to  return  the  plaint  for  presentation  in  such  other  Court  as  it  may  in  its  order 
declare to be competent to take cognizance of the suit.  

(3) The order of the Chief Court on any such reference shall be conclusive as against persons who are 

not parties to the suit as well as against persons who are parties thereto. 

100. Power of Chief Court to validate proceedings held under mistake as to jurisdiction.—(1) In 

either of the following cases, namely : — 

33 

 
(a)  if  it  appears  to  a  Civil  Court  that  a  Court  under  its  control  has  determined  a  suit  of  a  class 
mentioned  in  section  77  which  under  the  provisions  of  that  section  should  have  been  heard  and 
determined by a Revenue Court, or  

(b)  if  it  appears  to  a  Revenue  Court  that  a  Court  under  its  control  has  determined  a  suit  which 
should have been heard by a Civil Court the Civil Court or Revenue Court, as the case may be, shall 
submit the record of the suit to the Chief Court. 

(2) If on perusal of the record it appears to the Chief Court that the suit was so determined in god faith, 
and that the parties have not been prejudiced by the mistake as to jurisdiction, the Chief Court may order 
that the decree be registered in the Court which had jurisdiction. 

 (3) If it appears to the Chief Court, otherwise than on submission of a record under subsection (1), 
that a Civil Court under its control has determined a suit of a class mentioned in section 77 which under 
the  provisions  of  that  section  should  have  been  heard  and  determined  by  a  Revenue  Court,  the  Chief 
Court may pass any order which it might have passed if the record had been submitted to it under that 
sub-section. 

(4) With respect to any proceeding subsequent to decree, the Chief Court may make such order for its 

registration in a Revenue court or Civil Court as in the circumstances appears to be just and proper.  

(5) An order of the Chief Court under this section shall be conclusive as against persons who were not 
parties  to  the suit  or  proceeding  as  well  as  against  persons  who  were  parties  thereto,  and the decree  or 
proceeding to which the order relates shall have effect as if it had been made or had by the Court in which 
the order has required it to be registered. 

(6)  The  provisions  of  this  section  shall  apply  to  any  suit  instituted  on  or  after  the  first  day  of 

November, 1884 and to proceedings arising out or any such suit. 

Miscellaneous. 

101. Place of sitting.—(1) An Assistant Collector may exercise his powers under this Act at any place 

within the limits of the district in which he is employed.  

(2) Any other Revenue-officer or Revenue court may only exercise his or its powers under this Act 

within the local limits of his or its jurisdiction. 

102. Holidays.—(1) The Financial Commissioner, with the approval of the Local Government, shall 
publish in the local Official Gazette before the commencement of each calendar year a list of days to be 
observed in that year as holidays by all or any Revenue-officers and Revenue Courts. 

(2) A Proceeding had before a Revenue-officer or Revenue court on a day specified in the list as a day 
to be observed by the officer or Court as a holiday shall not be invalid by reason only of its having been 
had on that day. 

103.  Discharge  of  duties  of  Collector  dying  or  being  disabled.—When  a  Collector  dies  or  is 
disabled  from  performing  his  duties,  the  officer  who  succeeds  temporarily  to  the  chief  executive 
administration of the district under any orders which may be generally or specially issued by the Local 
Government in this behalf shall be deemed to be a Collector under this Act. 

104.  Retention  of  powers  by  Revenue-officer  on  transfer.—When a Revenue-officer of any class 
who, either as such or as a Revenue Court, has under the foregoing provisions of this Act any powers to 

34 

 
be  exercised  in  any  local  area  is  transferred  from  that  local  area  to  another  as  a  Revenue-officer  or 
Revenue Court of the same or a higher, class, he shall continue to exercise those powers in that other local 
area, unless the Local Government otherwise directs or has otherwise directed.  

105. Conferment of power of Revenue-officer or Revenue Court.—(1) The Local Government may 

by notification confer on any person.— 

(a)  all  or any  of  the  powers  of  a Financial  Commissioner,  Commissioner  or  Collector  under this 

Act, or  

(b)  all  or  any  of  the  powers  with  which  an  Assistant  Collector  of  either  grade  is,  or  may  be, 

invested thereunder,  

and may by notification withdraw any powers as conferred.  

(2) A person on whom powers are conferred under sub-section (1) shall exercise those powers within 
such  local  limits  and  in  such  classes  of  cases  as  the  Local  Government  may  direct,  and,  except  as 
otherwise directed by the Local Government, shall for all purposes connected with the exercise thereof be 
deemed a Financial Commissioner, Commissioner, Collector or Assistant Collector, as the case may be. 

(3)  Before  conferring  powers  on  the  Judge  of  a  Civil  Court  under  sub-section  (1),  the  Local 

Government shall consult the Chief Court.  

(4)  If  any  of  the  powers  of  a  Collector  under  section  78,  section  79,  section  80  or  section  82  are 
conferred on an Assistant Collector, they shall, unless the Local Government by special order otherwise 
directs, be exercised by him subject to the control of the Collector.  

106. Power for Financial Commissioner to make rules.—(1) The Financial Commissioner may, in 
addition to the other rules which may be made by him under this Act, make rules consistent with this Act 
and any other enactment for the time being in force—  

(a) determining, notwithstanding anything in any record-or-rights, the number and amount of the 

instalments and the times by and at which rent is to be paid; 

(b) for the guidance of Revenue-officers in determining, for the purposes of this Act, the amount of 

the land-revenue of any land;  

(c) prescribing, for all or any of the territories to which this Act extends the periods during which in 
proceedings  held  under  this  Act,  a  Revenue-officer  or  Revenue  Court  is  not,  except  for  reasons  of 
urgency  to  be  recorded,  to  issue  any  process  of  arrest  against,  tenant  or  against  a  landowner  who 
cultivates his own land;  

(d)  regulating  the  procedure  in  cases  where  persons  are  entitled  to  inspect  records  of  Revenue-
officer  or  Revenue  Courts,  or  to  obtain  copies  of  the  same,  and  prescribing  the  fees  payable  for 
searches and copies ; 

(e) prescribing forms for such books, entries, statistics and accounts as the Financial Commissioner 
thinks necessary to be kept, made or compiled in Revenue-officers or Revenue Courts or submitted to 
any authority;  

35 

 
(f) declaring what shall be the language of any of those offices and Courts, and determining in what 
cases  persons  practising  in  those  officers  and  Courts  shall  be  permitted  to  address  the  presiding 
officers thereof in English; and 

(g) generally for the guidance of Revenue-officers and other persons in matters connected with the 

enforcement of this Act. 

(2) Until rules are made under clause (a) of sub-section (1), rent shall be payable by the instalments 

and at the times by and at which it is now payable.  

(3)  Rules  made  by  the  Financial  Commissioner  under  this  or  any  other  section of  this  Act shall  not 

take effect until they have been sanctioned by the Local Government. 

107. Rules to be made after previous publication.—The power to make any rules under this Act is 
subject to the control of the  Governor General in council, and to the condition of the rules being made 
after precious publication. 

108. Powers exercisable by Financial Commissioner from time to time.—all powers conferred by 

this Act on the Financial Commissioner may be exercised from time to time as occasion requires.  

CHAPTER VIII. 

EFFECT OF THIS ACT ON RECORD-OF-RIGHTS AND AGREEMENTS. 

109. Nullity of certain entries in records-of-rights.—An entry in any record-of-rights providing.— 

(a) that a landlord may prevent a tenant from making, or eject him for making, such improvements 

on his tenancy as he is entitled to make under this Act, or 

(b) that a tenant ejected form his tenancy shall not be entitled to compensation for improvements                 
or  for  disturbance  in  any  case  in  which  he  would  under  this  Act  be  entitled  to  compensation                   
therefor, or  

(c) that a landlord may eject a tenant otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act,  

shall be void to that extent.  

110.  Nullity  of  certain  agreements  contrary  to  the  Act.—(1)  Nothing  in  any  agreement  made 

between a landlord and a tenant after the passing of this Act shall.— 

(a) override any of the provisions of this Act with respect to the acquisition of a right of occupancy, 
or the reduction, remission or suspension of rent, or the enhancement of the rent of a tenant having a 
right of occupancy under section 5 or section 6, or 

(b) take away or limit the right of a tenant as determined by this Act to make improvements and 
claim compensation therefor, or, where compensation for disturbance can be claimed under this Act, to 
claim such compensation, or 

 (c)  entitle  a  landlord  to  eject  a  tenant  otherwise  than  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of                     

this Act. 

(2)  Nothing  in  clause  (a)  of  sub-section  (1)  shall  apply  to  an  agreement  by  which  a  tenant  binds 
himself to pay an enhanced rent in consideration of an improvement which has been, or is to be, made in 

36 

 
respect  of  his  tenancy  by,  or  at  expense  of,  his  landlord,  and  to  the  benefit  of  which  the  tenant  is  not 
otherwise entitled.  

111. Saving of other agreements when in writing.—Save as expressly provided in this Act, nothing 
in  this  Act  shall  affect  the  operation  of  any  agreement  between  a  landlord  and  a  tenant,  when  the 
agreement either is in writing or has been recorded in a record-of-rights before the passing of the Punjab 
Land-Revenue Act, 1887, (XVII of 1887) or been entered by order of a Revenue-officer in a record-of- 
rights or annual record under the provisions of that Act. 

112. Effect of certain entries made in records-of-rights before November 1871.—An entry made 
with respect to any of the following matters before the eighteenth day of November, 1871 and attested by 
the proper officer, in the record of a regular settlement sanctioned by the local Government, namely : 

(a)  the  enhancement  or  abatement  of  the  rent  of  a  tenant  having  a  right  of  occupancy,  or  the 
commutation of rent in kind into rent in money or of rent in money into rent in kind, or the taking of 
rent in kind by division or appraisement of the produce or other procedure of a like nature, or  

(b) the letting or under-letting of land in which there is a right of occupancy by the tenant having 

that right, or the alienation of or succession to land in which such a right subsists;  

shall be deemed to be an agreement within the meaning of the last foregoing section. 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE SCHEDULE. 

See Section 2.  

ENACTMENTS REPEALED. 

Title. 
2 

Extent of repeal. 
3 

Act of the Governor General in Council. 

Punjab Tenancy Act. 
Northern India Canal and Drainage Act.  
Punjab Judicial Administration Act. 

Number and year. 

1 

XXVIII of 1868. 
VIII of 1873. 
XIV of 1875. 

The whole. 
Section 40 to 43, both inclusive 
So  much  as  has  not  been 
repealed. 
Section  3,  clauses  (1),  (2),  (4), 
(5),  (6)  and  (7);  the  whole  of 
Chapter  V;  the  last  seventeen 
words  of  sub-section 
(1)  of 
section  67;  section  70  so  far  as 
regards  Revenue  Courts;  and 
section 75. 

XVIII of 1884. 

Punjab Courts Act.  

___________ 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
