The Odisha Private Lands of Rulers (Assessment of Rent) Act, 1958

ORISSA ACT 13 OF 1958 l ~ E O ~ A P R ] i V A ' l X LANDS OF RULER!! (ASSESSMENT 0 s . ACT, l958] [Received the w e n t of the Governor on ihe 21sl Mag 1958, JTrst published in an extraordimry issue of the Orissa Gazette. &red the 6th June 19581 AN ACT TO PROVIDE' FOR A S S E S S ~ N T OF RENT ON ' ' PRNATE EANPS OF RULERS IN TRE STATE' OF ' QNSSA . . l : , - . ' . . . WHEREAS it is4'&xpedient toto povide for assessment, of rent with respect to the private , lands of Rulers:, in the State . of Orissa in the manner hereinafter a p p e h g I ' , :. ' is heireby inacted by 'the Legislatrnre-. of the State of Orissa ,in the Ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows :- - , j.:; .I... ( I ) This Act may-be called the OrissaE;=,tzd Private Lands of Rulers (Assessment of Red) -Act ~ m m ~ c a . 1958; ' '". : - , mat. . (2) It shaU extend to the whole of the State of 3xissa. (3) it shall come into fqice at ',on&. : . .2. In. this Act. unlev , there is an-g repugnant mfl- in the subject or context- . . , - (a) "agricultural year" means t h e year com- mencing on the f5rst day of July ; I , " , , . .- (b) "dry land" means lands other than lands' which are irrigated-wet or raided-wet ; I 1. For Statemont of Ob'ects and Reason$ scc Oris~u Gorctle, Extraordinary, dated tho 17th April, 195i '(No. 184). . - 1 . .. 20 Tm OEUSSA PRIVATE LANDS OF RULERS- [Or. Act (c) " irrigated-wet Iand " means land in which paddy can be grown and which receives supply of water from any source of irrigation ; (4 " prescribed " means prescribed by rules made under this Act ; (e) " private land " means any land held on the date of merger by a Ruler free from payment of rent ; (f) " rainfed-wet Iand " means land in which paddy can be grown and ,which does not receive supply of water from any source of irrigafion ; (g) ," rent '.' means whatever is Iawfully payable in money by a Ruler to the .,,State Govermient in respect of private lands held by a Ruler ; (h) " Ruler " means the Ruler of a merged territory - in - the State of Orissa and , includzs,,his , relatives and dependants ; (i) a11 other expressions used and not defined herein shall have the same meaning as are respectively assigned to them under the : I tenancy laws,: in- force in . the- con%rned . . . are,as. ' m a t t lanun 3. Notwithstanding anything contained" in any,, z - b p other law, custom, contract or agreement to the con- mM1. trary, tKe private lands held by a Ruler, shall, with effect .from the date of commencement of this Act,. ! be liable to'assessment and levy of rent as hereinafter provided. 4. The -State Government shaII after the cornmencement of this Act, by notification, appoint one or more ofEcers, as Revenue Officers who shall exercise jurisdiction in such area or areas as may be specified in - the said notification, for the purposes of assessment of rent. They shall thereupon. proceed to make assessments according to the provisions bf this Act. CI&catiun 5. For the purposes of: assessment, the ~ A v a t e orlands lands shall be classified by the Revenue Officer into and the the following classes, namely :- , ' maximum fatad rent . (all irrigated-wet land ; . (b) rainfed-wet land : and --'. \.. , - , , (c) dry l h d . . .% Subject to the provisions of section 6 the rates at which the fair and equitable rent shall'be assessed with respect to the above three classes of Iand shall not exceed the amount as may be prescribed from time to time by the State Government : Pr0vide.d that in cases where the tenants of the Ruler have already acquired rights of occupancy under the provisions of clause (h) of section 7 of mia Act the Orissa Merged States' (Laws) Act, 1950, the rent IV of 1950. payable by the Ruler to the State Government shaIl be such proportion of the rent received by him from the tenants as may be prescribed. 6. The Revenue Officer in determining the ratesEtFm~;; of fair and equitable rent shall take into account all w, of,,k or any of the following considerations, namely :-- (a) the nature of the soil and general productiv- ity of such, land ;- (b) the class under which the land is assessable ; (c) market value of the land ; (4 the prevailing rates of rent obtaining for similar lands in the neighbourhood. : a.nd: (e) such other matters relating thereto as may be prescribed. 7. (1) When thi Revenue Officer has determined Preliminary Patta and the rates of fair and equitable rent he shaII prepare~~d-ti, a preliminary Patta- in the prescribed form containing in avpml. such particulars as are prescribed and shaU send. a copy of the same by registered post with acknowledge- ment due, to the assessee concerned. Thereupon the -assessee may file objections, if any, to any of the entries in the Patta hefore the Revenue Officer within fifteen days from the date of receipt thereof and the Revenue Officer shall .after considering any such objections pass such orders thereon as he deems fit after giving a hearing to the objector. (2) If the assessee is aggrieved by any decision under sub-section ( I ) , he may prefer an appeaI before the Board of Revenue within thirty days from the date of the- said decision and the decision of the Board thereon shdl be hd. 22 THE ORISSA'PWATE LANDS OF RULERS [Or. Act &r of juris- 8. The decision of the Revenue Officer subject to the decision, if any, of the Board of Revenue under section 7 shall be final and no proceedings under this Act shall be liable to be questioned in any court of law. Issueof final 9. When stLl such objections and appeals have Patta. been disposed, of, the Revenue Officer shall make such alterations in the preliminary Patta as may be necessary to give effect to any decisions made under section 7-whereupon the Patta shall be final and shall be issued -to the assessee by the Revenue OEcer. D ~ C rrom 10. The rent assessed under the provisions of this which hnt Act and mentioned in the Patta shall be levied from i5 to be levied. the agricultural year next following the date of commencement of this Act. Revision of asmment. 11, The assessments made under this Act shaU remain in force until the same are altered under the provisions of any enactment providing for the survey and settlement of.land for the whole of the State of Orissa. Arrears or rent t o be 12. The arrears of rent under this Act, shall be Eb~"f8";8~ recovcmble recoverable as arrears of land revenue under the Bihar of 1914. as a m r s of land revenue. and Orissa Public Demands Recovery Act, 1914. Revenue Oacer to 13. ( I ) The Revenue OEcer, for the purposes have powers of faking any action under section 4 or '6 or holding & .inquiries under section 7 shall have power to summon iusuirycon- and enforce the atteridance of witnesses or of any person having an interest in the subject-matter and dcemcd LO to compel the production of documents by the same bc judicial prorccding. means and so far, as may be, in the same manner as is provided in the case of a Civil Court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. v of 1908 (2) Every such inquiry shall be ,deemed to be a " Judicial Proceeding " within the meanings of sections 193 and 228 and for the purposes of section 196 of the Indian Penal Code and every statement =v,r 1060 made by any person examined by or before him with reference lo such inquiry, whether upon oath or otherwise, ,shall be taken to be evidence within the meaning of the said Code. 13 OF 19581 (ASSESSMENT OF RENT) Act, 195 8 14. The State Government may make rules,* not POWCC LO inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, f : ~ r make ruleg- cmying out the purposes of this Ace. 15. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to Rcmoml of any of the provisions of this Act the State Government dificulti*t. may, as occasion may requirc, do anything which appears to them necessary for the purpose of re- moving the di£Eculty. *For rules. see Notification No. 43576Ten.-128/68-R., dated thc lath Deccmber 1958 published in OrissaCazcrte, Fxrmordinary, datcd thc 30th Dtcmber 1958 (No. 61 8). 1958OR13.pdf 1958OR13.pdf