The Assam Gramdan (Amendment) Act, 1962

\ Short title, extent and tommence" uient, ASSA M AC T No .X XVII OF 1962 TH E ASSAM GRAM DAN (AM END MENT) ACT, 1962 (As passed by the Assembly) ec eive d th e ass en t o f th e P re si den t on t he 25 th Sep te m be r 1962 [Publ ished in the Assam Gazette, Ex traord ina ry, da ted th e 28th Sep tember 1962 An Act to amend the Assam Gramdan a cl, 1961 Prearob’e. Whereas it is expedien t to amend the Assam Assam Ac t I Gr am dan Act, 1961, here inaf ter called the prin cipal o f Act in the ma nner hereinafte r app ear ing ; It is hereby enacted in t he Th irteenth Year of the Republic of Ind ia as follows: — 1.(1) This Act may be called the Assam G ram dan (Am endm ent) Act, 1962. (2) It shall have the like extent as the principa l Act. 94 (3) It shall come into force at once. Amendment 2. In section 2 of t he prin cipal Act, in clause («), ot section 2 fo r t he w o r ds “ Panch aya t Adala t” whereve r they °Ae t ISSa™ occur, the words “ Panchayati Ad ala t” shall be substi- 1962. tuted. Amendment 3, j n s e ction 4 of th e principal A ct,— of SCC Assam (1) Clause (a) of sub-section (2) shall be deleted Ac t I of and cla u s e s (^) a l J d (c) shall be re-n umber- 1962. ed as clauses (a) and (i) respectively ; (2) For sub-section (7), the following shall be sub stit ute d, na m el y:— “ (7) No person who has filed a dec laration under sub-sec tion (1), shall ther eaf ter be com petent to tran sfer or create any en­ cum brance on any land, in respect of which the dec lara tion has been filed, unless and until an orde r under sub­ section (4) refusing to confirm th e decla­ ration, or an order under sub-section (3) of section 5, decla ring the village in which the land is situate d as not quali ­ fied to be a Gram dan Village is made. Any transfer mad e or encumbrance created in contravention of this provision shall be void and inoperativ e” . Amendment 4. In section 5 of the prin cipal Act, for sub-section of '^Assart (3) tbe following shall be substi tuted , na me ly:— Act I of 1962. “ (3) Where the condi tions men tioned in sub­ section (1) are not satisfied within a reasonable time, the prescribed authority may dec lare in the manne r prescribed th at th e village is n ot qual ified to be a Gram dan Village and ther eup on every dec lara tion under section 4 shal l, no t­ withstand ing that it h ad been confirmed under sub-section (4) of section 4, cease to have effect.” Subst itution 5. For sect ion 7 of the prin cipal Act, the following of section 7 sha ll be substitu ted, namely :—■ of Assam Act X of 1962. “ Effect of 7. (1) Notwi thst and ing a nything to the con tra ry declara tion con tained in any other law for the t ime b eing in force Visage a n but subject to section 36 of this Act, with effect from 95 the date from which a village is declared to be a Gram dan Village by notification under sub-section (1) of section 5— (a) all rights, title an d interests o f persons whose dec lara tions have been confirmed under section 4 in or over the lands covered by such dec lara tions shall cease and shall stan d transferred to and vest in the Gram Sab ha establ ished for th at Gram dan Village ; (b~) the Gram S abha shall be responsible for the paymen t of land revenue or ren t an d othe r cesses and rate s in respect of the lands vesting in the Gram Sab ha falling due on or after the d ate o f such vesting as well as such la nd revenue or rent and oth er cesses and rate s due on the da te of such vesting and shall also be responsible for a ll encum ­ brances whatsoever in respect of the lands vesting in the Gram Sab ha as on the date of such ve sti ng : Provide d, however, that for the pay ment of any iand revenue or ren t an d other cesses, rates or encumbrance s due on the da te of such vesting of the la nd for which the Gra m Sabha is responsible, it shall be com petent for the Gra m Sabha to recover the am ount from the owner concerned who donated the land by way of Gram dan as if the said am ount is due to the Gram Sabha. Al lotm en t of (2) The Sta te Governm ent may, from time to ?°n<I to th e t i m e ’ notification in the Official Gazet te, transfer G r a m t o Gram Sabha for manageme nt, such comm on Sa bh a. lands in the reve nue village as may be specified in the notif icatio n on such terms and cond ition s a3 may be notified ; and the Sta te Governm ent may, in the like ma nner, cancel any such notifica­ tion whe reup on all the righ ts of the Gram Sabha over such lands shall cease.” Am endm ent 6. In section 8 of the p rinc ipa l Act, in sub-section of section 8 ( i) ; the comma afte r the word “ force” shall be j o fSŜ 962 ° deleted and the words “bu t subject to section 36 of this Act” followed by a com ma shall be inse rted between the words “ force” and “ the” . Am end ment ?. In sections 18, 19, 20 and 22 of the principa l of margi nal Aet, in the m arg ina l note aft er the words “ Gram n :i tV ° Sabha” wherever thev occur , the word “ Ad alat” sections 18, . • ’ 19, 20 an d sh al l be inse rte d. 22 o f Assam Ac t I of 1962. 96 Amendm ent 8. In section 35 of the principal A ct,—■ ofS£ Assam s u 6-sect ion (2), afte r clause (h) the following Act I of shall be inserted as clause (i), name ly: — 1962. “ (i) the princip les to be followed in recovering any paym ents due to t he Gra m Sabha on accoun t of any land revenue, ren t, cesses, rates or encumbrance s due on the date of vesting on any land, from the owner concerned who donated the lan d by way of Gram dan;” ; (2) the existing clauses (i) and (j) shall be re­ num ber ed as clauses ( j ) and (k) respectively. Ins ert ion of g. After section 35 of the prin cipal Act, the fol- "T f lowing new section shall be added as section 36,u u n a i L e r , ■' sec tion 35 of namely Assam Ac t I o fl 962 . “ Supersession 36. (j ) jf, jn t p,e opinion of the Sta te Govern- sk ha. a m m e n t ’ a G r a m Sabha— (a) is not com petent to perform, or persis tently makes defa ult in performing the duties assigned to it by this Act ; or (b) exceeds or abuses the powers assigned to it under this Act ; or (c) is not function ing in a manner consis tent with the provisions of th is Act or the rules framed the reu nder ; The Sta te Governm ent may , by 'not ificatio n in the Official Gazette , sta ting the reasons for its order, de c­ lare th at G ram Sabha to be inco mpetent, or in default or to have exceeded or abused its powers or to have ro t been func tioning in a ma nner consistent with the provisions of th is Act or the rules framed thereunde r, as the case may be, and supersede it for such period not exceeding one yea r at a ti m e: Provided th at before any such notif icatio n is issued, the Gra m Sabha concerned shall be given a reasonable opp ortunity of showing cause why the proposed dec lara tion should no t be made. (2) On the supersession of a Gram Sabha under sub-section (1)— (a) the Pres iden t and Members of all com mit­ tees constituted by the Gra m Sabha shall from the d ate specified in the notifica tion vacate the ir office ; 97 (6) all the powers and duties of the Gra m Sabha, shall during the per iod of superses­ sion b e exercised and performed by such person or persons as the State Governmen t may from time to time app oin t in this behalf ; (c) all propertie s vested in the Gram Sabha and any balanc e of the Gra m Nidhi, shall be vested in and such of its liabi lities as may have been incurre d in the discharge of its legi timate funct ions or which . have been incurre d in the course of duties performed in the genuine inte rest of the Gram Sabha concerned, shall be transfer­ red to the Deputy Commiss ioner of the dist rict or to the Subdivisiona l Officer of the subdivis ion, as the case may be who shall make such arrangemen ts, as may be deemed necessary unt il the exp irat ion of the per iod of supersession ; and {d} the Gram Sab ha Ada lat establ ished for the Gra mdan Village conce rned, shall cease to funct ion and all the pend ing cases and suits shall stand transferred to the Courts of com petent juri sdic tion , which shall proceed with the cases and suits f iom such stage at which the proceedings were pending before the Gram Sabha Adala t on the da te cf transfer , as if the cases a nd suits were duly inst ituted in such Cour ts of comp ete rt jurisdiction. (3) On the expiration of the period of supersession specified in rfhe notification, the Sta te Governm ent ma y, if in its opinion it is so necessary, extend the period of supersession for such further term, as it may consider necessary, bu t not exceeding one yea r at a time , and on the expi rati on of the per iod of super- session eith er a« originally specified or extended, the Gra m Sabha shall resum e its funct ions and elect its President and constitute the Committees, and the Sta te Governm ent shall establish the Gram Sabha- Adala t, in the ma nner prov ided in this A ct : Provided that the Sta te Governmen t may at any time before the expiration of the perio d of super- session, withdraw any notifica tion issued unde r sub-section (1;. (4) Th e incom e derived from the Gramdan Village during the period of supersession, shall first, be utilised towards the cost of manag ement dur ing the period of supersession and liqu idat ion of liabilitie s of the Gra m Sabha and the balanc e shall be credited to the Gram Nidhi” .