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Agrahayana 11, 1931, at 04:21:19 PM
Land Administration Manual
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
1. Land revenue not a tax,
but rent payable to the State. In the first edition of this work it was contended that the land revenue
was a rent and not a land tax, and this view has been retained in the opening
paragraphs of the fourth edition of the Settlement Manual. This is not the
place to embark upon a summary of the prolonged controversy on the subject; the
question was examined with care by the Indian Taxation Enquiry Committee of
1926, which was found itself unable to arrive at any agreed finding. As that
committee pointed (See paragraph 53 of
this Manual) out “according to the description given by Manual of the
fiscal administration of an ancient Hindu State, The main source of the State
revenue was a share of the gross produce of all land, varying according to the
soil and the labour necessary to cultivate it. In normal times the share varied
between one twelfth and one-sixth, but was liable to rise even to one-fourth in
times of war or other public calamity. The revenue was collected not from
individual cultivators but from the community represented by the headman…. In
the early days of Muhammadan administration, the State share of the gross
produce demanded by the Hindu kings was converted into the khiraj or tribute
payable on land in countries under Muhammadan rule though the share taken was
greater than before.” The committee found that the land revenue has ceased to
represent a portion of gross produce…. That in the Punjab …….the Government
demand is theoretically based on an economic rent, but actually takes many
other factors into consideration…Under both Hindu and Muhammadan rule, the
State never claimed the absolute or exclusive ownership of the land and
definitely recognized the existence of private property in it.”(See paragraph 80 of this Manual).
The General finding of the Committee was that in some cases the revenue was a pure rent and in others it is more difficult to maintain this view. In this province, the theory still holds that the revenue is of the nature of a rent charged by the State as overlord of the land.
The term “Rent” includes the payment
of land revenue and cesses on behalf of the landlord.”
2. Collector, and steward. The officer entrusted with the duty
of realizing the land revenue is not a mere rent collector, especially in
provinces like the Punjab, where the demand is fixed for a period only, and the
State continues to have a direct and immediate interest in the improvement of
the land. His position is rather that of the steward of a great landowner. As
such, he is bound to respect, and preserve from encroachment by others every
private right in the soil which has been created or confirmed by the state.
Where the revenue has been fixed for a term only, he has not only to collect
it, but also to look forward to a time when it will be revised, and to collect
and record in systematic manner statistical information, which will facilitate
its equitable reassessment. He must initiate and assist measures to prevent, so
far as may be the loss of crops from causes which are in any degree
controllable by man, and must prepare in ordinary times for those graver
natural calamities which produce intense and widespread scarcity of food. In
particular the collector must do everything in his power to conserve the soil
of his district and to maintain its fertility. The top –soil contains most of
the fertility of the land, but on sloping ground in many parts of the Punjab,
especially in districts bordering on the Himalayas and in the Salt range it is
being rapidly removed by erosion. Erosion is assisted by the long periods of
drought, the short growing periods of grass and the heavy rainstorms
characteristics of the
The aim of land policy is the true
symbiosis, or permanent association, of man his animals and the land. It is wrong
that any man, by slothful cultivation, by excessive grazing, or by exploitation
of the surrounding vegetation should imperil the stability of the soil of his
own or his neighbors holdings. It is his duty to hand on his fields intact to
his successor. The Collector must, therefore, encourage and assist every effort
made by right holders to maintain the fertility of their land, to conserve the
valuable top-soil, and to develop their estates. In addition he must in
co-operation with the
He must encourage and
assist every effort made by right holders for the development of their estates.
In many parts of the province, such as the colony districts, the State is not
only supreme landowner of the soil generally, but also sole landowner of a
considerable part of it, and it is the duty of its local representation to
administer this property so that it may be profitable to the State as
representing the people as a whole, and at the same time beneficial to the
colonists, whose prosperity is the first care of a progressive Government.
3. Scope of handbook. It is the object of this book to
describe how these various functions can best be carried out by the officer
incharge of a district. As a revenue officer, he is legally known as the
Collector, but the more familiar title of Deputy Commissioner will generally be
used in this work. His functions will be described in the several capacities in
which he is called upon to act: --
(i)
(i)
As a recorder of agricultural statistics.
(ii)
(ii)
As guardian and registrar of the rights in the soil enjoyed by private persons.
(iii)
(iii)
As a collector of the land revenue;
(iv)
(iv)
As a promoter of the stability and
improvement of landed property;
(v)
(v)
As a custodian of State property;
(vi)
(vi)
As a judge between landlords and tenants.
The head of a district has many
other important duties to perform, but the discussion in this work is confined
to his functions in connection with the administration of the land.
4. Rural communities. Before describing the machinery of the administration, it is well to
say something of the agricultural communities for whose benefit mainly it
exists. The reader is supposed to be familiar with the chapters in the
Settlement Manual, which deal with “Tenures and the Rights of Landowners” and
“The Rights of Tenants.”(Chapters VIII
and IX. The former may be usefully supplemented by “Tribal Law in the
Perpetuity cultivation with
condition that cultivator will maintain peachy creates relationship of landlord
and tenant.
5.
6. Dangers to peasant ownership from
division of holdings and mis-appropriation by money-lenders - There are two grave economic
dangers, which beset the ownership of land in small parcels by peasant
proprietors. The first of these is the reduction of the size of many holdings
below an area sufficient to support a family in comfort. This is due to the
operation of the law of inheritance under which sons, on the death of their father,
each take an equal share of the family land. It is easy to exaggerate the
effect of this law. Most small owners are able to get additional land on rent,
and where means of livelihood are scanty, the difficulties in finding brides
are apt to prove insuperable. Apart from the unpopular remedy of interfering
with the law of inheritance, there are indirect means of mitigating the evil of
over population. One has been found in the colonization of large tracts of
State land rendered culturable by the construction of new canals. Another has
been the increasing diversification of occupations in towns.
The second, and more serious, danger
was the transfer of land by sale and mortgage to those whose outlook on life
prevented them from cultivating it with their own hands. (See in connection with this subject paragraph 379-381 and 402-406 of
the settlement Manual 4th edition)
7. Oscillations
of opinion on subject - The political advantage of maintaining the existing framework of
society, and of keeping the land in the hands of those whose hereditary
occupations was tillage, was fully recognized by the first administrators of
the
8. Apologetic tone adopted by early
administrators as to measures adopted to preserve stability of village
communities - While
experience acquired elsewhere led shortly after annexation to the adoption of
measures to prevent the intrusion of aliens into village communities by the
purchase of land, some of the ablest officers held that these measures were
open to the reproach of economic unsoundness, and that the prospect of
agricultural improvement by the attraction to the soil of the capital of the
moneyed classes was being sacrificed to the importance of political stability.
IN his commentary on the Punjab Civil Code, Mr. Montgomery felt constrained to
apologize for the maintenance of the law of pre-emption. Later, Mr. Cust
remarked in his Revenue Manual: “The principle (of pre-emption) is not defended
on any economic grounds, but is maintained for social and political reasons,”
and contemplated without regret” a gradual process” by which the existing village
communities might “melt away and give place to a more modern, and perhaps more
politically nice, distribution of property.”
9. Causes
of increase of transfers. The disposition to look on unlimited power of transfers as an essential
feature of proprietary right and a necessity of economic progress was
strengthened by the assimilation of the law and procedure of the Punjab with
that of the older provinces, which resulted from the extension of the Code of
Civil Procedure to the province in 1866, and the establishment of a Chief Court
in Lahore in the same year. About the same time the policy of moderation and
fixation of the land revenue began to make land attractive as an investment.
Titles had been clearly determined, and the moderation of the demand made the
ownership of land a source of income. The peasant proprietor found his credit
rapidly expanding. The old system of limited borrowing on the security of
crops, cattle, and ornaments was supplanted by one of extravagant borrowing on
the security of the land.
10. Increase
looked on as beneficial or at least inevitable. Sales and mortgages of land to money-lenders
became a feature of village life. By some this was looked upon with little
alarm and even with complacency. It was maintained that the resources of the
country would be developed by the application to the improvement of the land of
capital of the moneyed classes. Even those who disliked the process, were
disposed for a time to look on it as the outcome of an irresistible economic
law.
11. Growth of opinion hostile to free
transfer. But, with
each quinquennium the alienation of land proceeded everywhere at a more rapid
rate and in some parts of the country the area which had passed out of the
hands of the original owners amounted to a considerable total. The social and
political evils likely to spring from the expropriation of the old landowning
classes again came to be keenly felt, and acquiescence became increasingly
difficult, and ceased to be regarded as inevitable. The policy of laissez faire
expounded by the English economists was no longer considered as applicable to
every country and stage of society. Experience also showed that the expectation
that the new proprietors and mortgages would be improving landlords was not
fulfilled. Very few turned out to be anything but rent receivers, and their
tenants lacked the devotion and pains-taking labour of peasant owners.
12. Reasons
for change of opinion. The interest in primitive institutions aroused by the works of Sir
Henry Mayne, and stimulated by the abundant evidence of their survival in
13. Civil courts accept doctrine of limited
ownership - This
doctrine invaded the civil courts, which were bound by section 5 of the Punjab
Laws Act to decide questions of inheritance, adoption and gifts primarily on
evidence of custom, and from 1887 onwards it formed the foundation of a series
of decisions by the Chief Court on sales and mortgages by sonless proprietors,
adoption, gifts and pre-emption.(See
chapter III of “Tribal Law in the Punjab “ By Roe and Rattigan) But these
decisions, valuable though they were , did not prove effective restraints on
the actions of landowners, and in no way reduced the seriousness of the problem
which Government had to face.
14. Necessity of restricting credit basis of
15. Classification of measures taken at
different times to protect landowners. The measures taken at various times for the
protection of the landowners of the
(a) (a) The legal
enforcement of the custom of pre-emption:
(b) (b) The restriction of
transfers by landowners belonging to agricultural tribes:
(c) (c) The exemption from
sale in execution of decree of land and other property of hereditary
agriculturists.
16. Pre-emption: its nature - The origin of pre-emption is
clearly explained in “Tribal Law of the
17. Early
provisions in Punjab Civil Code, etc. The first administrators of the
18. Entries in village administration papers. The customs governing pre-emption
were also recorded in village administration papers draw up at settlements made
before the passing of the Punjab Laws Act, IV of 1872. “In nearly all the old
wajib-ul-arz we find a provision securing this right either to the next heirs,
or to the agnates generally, and after
them to all members of the village community to the exclusion of strangers.(“Tribal Law of Punjab by Roe and Rattigan
page 88)
19. Right
restricted by Civil Courts. Two early judgements of the
20. Provision
of
(a) (a) to the village site
and houses;
(b) (b) to all lands within
the village boundary;
(c) (c) to all transferable
rights of occupancy in such lands. (Section
10)
In the absence of custom to the contrary. the
right was declared to belong to the following persons in the order stated:-
(a) (a)
first, in the case of joint undivided
immovable property, to the co-sharers;
(b) (b)
secondly, in the case of villages held on ancestral shares, to co-sharers in
the village , in order of their relationship to the vendor or mortgagor;
(c)
(c)
thirdly, if no co-sharer or relation of the vendor or mortgagor claims to
exercise such right, to the landowners of the Patti or other sub-division of
the village in which the property is
situate jointly;
(d) (d)
fourthly, if the landowner of the Patti or other sub-division make no joint
claim to exercise such right, to such landholders, severally;
(e)
(e)
fifthly, to any landholder of the village;
(f)
(f)
sixthly, to the tenants (if any) with rights of occupancy in the property;
(g) (g)
seventhly, to the tenants(if any ) with rights of occupancy in the village.
In case of transfers of rights of occupancy
under section 5 of the Punjab Tenancy Act, XVI of 1887, the prior right of the
landlord was secured by section 53 of that Act. If he failed to exercise it,
pre-emption belonged, first, t the tenants
(if any)having a share in the occupancy right proposed to be sold and
secondly, to the other occupancy tenant in the village. (Section 12. By a proviso to the section if Government owned the trees
growing on land, it had a right of pre-emption in the land superior to that of
any private individual)Where the charkadari tenure prevails(See paragraph 167-170) of the Statement
Manual), the adna maliks
possessing shares in a well had a right of pre-emption in these shares in
preference to the ala malik.(Section 20)
Where tow or more persons were
equally entitled to pre-emption, the vendor or mortgagor might determine which
of them should exercise it(Section 12).
Section 13 to 18 of the Act provided for the enforcement of the right. The
matter was left entirely to the civil courts, no provision being made for the
reference of any question in dispute to the revenue officer.
21. Interpretation applied as regards
customary rights of pre-emption. It will be observed that, as regards the persons entitled to
pre-emption, the Act expressly saved custom.(Section
12) But in practice its 12th section was usually taken, both by
Settlement Officers and civil courts as, disposing of the whole matter. The
entry on the subject usually made by the former in codes of tribal
custom(riwaj-iam)was that pre-emption was regulated by the Punjab Laws Act.(“Tribal
Law in the Punjab” by Roe and Rattigan page 83) The chief Courts has held
that the village administration papers furnish valuable evidence of custom as
regards the persons entitled to claim pre-emption.(Punjab Record No. 98 of 1894. See “Tribal Law in the
22.
Subject to the provisions of section
11(Now see section 15 of Act I of 1913),
the right of pre-emption in respect shall vest ----
(a) (a) in the case of the
sale of such land or property by a sole owner of occupancy tenant, or when such
land or property is held jointly, by the co- sharers in the persons who but for
such sale would be entitled to inherit the property in the event of his or
their decease, in order of succession;
(b) (b) in the case of a sale of a share of such land or property held
jointly, first in the lineal descendants of the vendor in the male line, in
order of succession;
Secondly, in the co-sharers, if any,
who are agnates; in order of succession;
Thirdly, in the persons described in
sub clause(a) of this sub-section and not herein before provided for;
Fourthly , in the co-sharers, (I)
jointly (ii) severally;
(c) (c) If no person having
a right of pre-emption under sub-clause (a) or sub –clause (b) seeks to
exercise the right---
First, when the sale effects the superior or
inferior proprietary right and the superior proprietary right is sold, in the
inferior, proprietors, and when the inferior proprietary right is sold in the superior proprietors.
Secondly, in the owners of the Patti
or other sub-division of the estate within the limits of which such land or
property is situate, (I) jointly, (ii) severally;
Thirdly, in the owners of the
estate, (I) jointly (ii) severally;
Fourthly, in the case of a sale of
the proprietary right in such land or property, in the tenants(if any)having
rights of occupancy in such land or property, (I) jointly, (ii) severally;
Fifthly, in any tenant having a
right of occupancy in any agricultural land in the estate within the limits of
which the property is situate.
Explanation 1.- In the case of a sale of a right of
occupancy, clauses (a) ,(b),and (c) of this sub-section with the exception of
sub –clause fourthly of clause (c), shall be
applicable.
Explanation 2. – In the case of sale by a female of property to which she has
succeeded through her husband , son , brother or father, the word “agnates” in
this section shall mean the agnates of the person through whom she has so
succeeded.
Chapter IV of the Act deals with
procedure. It maintains the jurisdictions of the civil courts. but makes
careful provision to prevent pre-emption being used to defeat the objects of
the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, XIII of 1900.(Section 20,21,26 and 27 of Act II of 1905)
22-A.
23. Commissioner’s
sanction to transfers to strangers formerly required. There used to be an old rule which
required the sanction of the Commissioner to the transfer to a stranger of a
share of land in a village community. It was more a device to ensure that
reversions had an opportunity of exercising their right of pre-emption than an
attempt to restrict freedom of contract. Mr. Cust, in 1860, explained it as
follows:” The right of pre-emption is not to be evaded; the sanction of the
Commissioner must precede all such mutations and. Within a period of three
months from the transfer taking place or being made known to the parties
concerned, the validity of the transfer may be dispute by a regular revenue
suit under paragraph II, part I, Chapter XIII; of the Punjab Civil Code.”(paragraph 13 of Financial Commissioner’s
Book Circular No. XLVII of 1860)
The rule was retained in the
instructions on mutation procedure under the first Punjab Land Revenue Act ,
XXXIII of 1871 . But it was there directed that “if the transferee has obtained
possession, and no suit for pre-emption is brought within the term of
limitation, or if such suit, when brought is dismissed, mutation of names shall
be sanctioned.” This may have had some
effect in discouraging transfers to strangers, the tendency being to
regard a transaction of the sort as incomplete till it had been recognized by
an entry in the record of rights.
24. Far-reaching
change effected by
25. Scope of the Act. The Act came into force on the 8th
of June, 1901. It extends to the whole of the
26. Usufructuary and collateral mortgages. Mortgages are broadly divided into
usufructuary and collateral mortgages. In the former the mortgagee takes
possessions of the mortgaged land, enjoying the rents and paying the land
revenue, the difference between the rent and the revenue being regarded as
equivalent to the interest on the mortgage debt(This was the almost universal form of usufructuary mortgage in the
27. “Members of Agricultural Tribes” And “Agriculturists”. The provisions of the Act which deal
with temporary alienation’s only recognize two classes of persons—
(a)
(a)
Those who are members of agricultural tribes and
(b)
(b)
Those who are not members of agricultural tribes.
Upon the latter no restrictions of
any kind are imposed. Those relating to permanent transfer originally
introduced a third class described as –
(c)
(c)
Agriculturists.
28. “Members of Agricultural Tribes” meaning of term.- The first class
consists of persons belonging to the tribes notified as “Agricultural” under
the powers conferred by section 4 of the Act, and the second obviously includes
all other persons. Subject to the exceptions noted below, the lists of
agricultural bribes which have been gazette(Punjab
Government Notification No. 63, dated 18th April 1904 and Appendix A
to Financial Commissioner Standing Order No. 1 –Alienation of Land)
comprise every tribe dependent on the land for support which owns any
considerable area of land in the district under which its name is shown.
Brahmans have been excluded for the present even from the main group of those
districts in which they own much land and cultivate with their own hands
because they are largely engaged in money-lending and other non-agricultural
pursuits. They have been notified in separate groups.
29. “Agriculturists”;
meaning of term.
The first two groups are in the main natural ones, but the third, or that of
“agriculturist” was defined as “a person holding agricultural land who,
either in his own name or in the name of his ancestor in the male line, was
recorded as the owner of land or as an occupancy tenant in any estate at the
first regular settlement; or if the first regular settlement was made in or
since the year 1870, then at the first regular settlement or at such previous
settlement as the local Government may by order in writing, determine.” The
provision was introduced to mitigate what appeared to be the hardship of
preventing acquisition by those who were old landowners . Experience proved
that it was unsuitable and it was repealed in 1907.
30. Cancelled.
31. Restrictions on sales. There are no restrictions on the
purchase of land but only on its sale. The sale by the member of an
agricultural tribe to anyone not belonging to such a tribe in the same district
requires the sanction of the Deputy Commissioner(Sections 3(1) and (2)). Sanction may be given either before or
after a deed of sale has been drawn up and possession given . If sanction is
refused the sale takes affect as an usufructuary mortgage in the first of the
three forms described below (See
paragraphs 40-42 of this manual)for such term not exceeding twenty
years and on such conditions as the
Deputy Commissioner may think reasonable.(Section
14).
32. All agricultural tribes in each district
from a single group.
For the present all the agricultural tribes in each district, with a few
exceptions noted below. Have been notified as forming a single group(Punjab Government notifications No.21-S
dated 22nd May 1901 and No. 114, dated 16th July 1902).
Members of agricultural tribes have therefore, with these exceptions, full
powers of selling and buying inter se within the limits of the district in
which they own land . Should this broad system of grouping lead anywhere to the
rapid expropriation of one tribe by another, the formation of small groups of
tribes my become necessary. Brahmans and other agriculturists in some districts
have been declared as separate groups of agricultural tribes within their
respective districts from 1909 onwards. (See
part B of the appendix to Financial Commissioner’s Standing Order No. 1)
33. Cancelled.
34. Cancelled.
35. Order
sanctioning sale does not affect rights of
reversions .
The executive order by which a Deputy Commissioner sanctions a sale in no way
affects any right which reversion’s or other have to contest the validity of
the transfer by legal proceedings or to claim pre-emption.(Section 5)
36. Exchanges gifts and
wills. All that has
been said above of sales applies equally to exchanges , gifts and wills . Death
–bed gifts to Brahmans often known as dohli, are not usually regarded as
subject to the provisions of the Act. But the amount which can be alienated in
this way is limited by custom, and if it is exceeded. The donor’s heir can sue
to have the area reduced to what is permissible by tribal law.
37. Instructions as to giving or withholding
sanction to sales.
The following instructions have been issued by the financial commissioners with
the approval of Government as to the considerations, which should influence a
Deputy Commissioner in giving or withholding sanction. Subject to the proviso
to sub-section (iii) below he need not concern himself with the possible rights
of reversions or pre-emptors. –
(i) (i)
Sanctions should not be given unless the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that
the transfer is really advantageous to the vendor and his family. If a zamindar
depends entirely or mainly on his land, no alienation should ordinarily be
allowed which will reduce the land he retains to less than is required for the
support of himself and his family.
(ii)
(ii)
Sanction should be given if the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that there is
no intention of evading the Act when the object of the purchase is to obtain.-
(a) (a)
A site for a workshop or factory, for building for the accommodation or welfare
of persons to be employed in them, for a power installation for working
industrial enterprise, the health of persons engaged as laborers or otherwise
in connection with such;
(b) (b)
A building site close to a town or village site.
(iii)
(iii)
Sanction may be given to an alienation of land-
(a) (a) by wealthy zamidars
owning much land, for commercial reasons or to improve or consolidate their
properties;
(b) (b) by indebted
zamindars owning mortgaged land, and desiring to sell a part of their land, in
order to raise money to redeem the whole or part of the rest only if the Deputy
Commissioner is satisfied that the transfer is really advantageous to the
vendor and his family, and that the vendor is not able to sell the land to a
member of an agricultural tribe included in the same group as the vendor at a
price which will enable him to attain his object;
(c) (c) proposed or effected
in favour of zamidars who, by reason of their insignificant numbers, have not
been classed in the particular district as members of agricultural tribes;
(d) (d) to bonafied artisans
who are not professional money-lenders. It is desirable to encourage thrifty
members of the artisan class to become owners of small plots of land when the
alienation is not disadvantageous to the vendor and his family;
(e) (e) by a member of an
agricultural tribe in one Punjab district to a member of the same tribe or
group of tribesi n another
provided that in cases (a),(b).(c)
(d) and (e) no member of an agricultural tribe included in the same group as
the vendor has offered, or is ready to offer, a fair price for the land.
38. Mortgages
by way of conditional sale abolished. The only restraint on mortgage which the Act
makes generally applicable is contained in its 10th section, which
abolishes the form of mortgage by way of conditional sale. This was a form
whereby the mortgagor agreed that if he failed to redeem by a certain date the mortgage would be changed
to sale. All that the money-lender had to do was to prevent repayment of the
debt by any will or artifice and the rights of the owner became extinguished
without recourse to court.
39. Scope of other restrictions. The other provisions regarding
mortgages apply only to those made by members of agricultural tribes in favour
of persons who are not members of the same tribe or of a tribe in the same
group, or in other words , as matters at present stand in the same district (Section 6(1)). When hypothecating his
land to such persons, a member of an agricultural tribe must choose between
three kinds of mortgages. Two of these are usufructuary mortgages, the
mortgagee acquiring for the time being the rights of landlord.
40. Usufructuary mortgage for limited period,
usufruct extinguishing principal and interest. The first is a mortgage for a limited period
not exceeding twenty years, all the rights of the mortgagor being suspend, and
the rents and profits enjoyed by the mortgagee being taken as extinguishing by
the end of the term his claim for both principal and interest (Section 6(1)(a). This form of mortgage
was rare in the
41. Usufructurary
mortgage for unlimited period with reservation of right of occupancy. In the second form of usufructurary
mortgage the term is subject to no statuary limitation; the mortgagor reserves
the rights of an occupancy tenant at such cash rent as may be agreed upon
consisting of –
(a) the land
revenue, plus,
(b) (b) the rates and
cesses, plus
(c) (c) an additional sum of
exceeding (a)
and this rent is taken as
equipment to interest. The mortgagor tenant can not alienate his right of
cultivation, and he can only be ejected on some ground which would, under
section 39 of the tenancy Act, Justify the ejection of an occupancy tenant(Section 6(1)(c)). Should he abandon the
land or be ejected from it, the mortgage takes effect as one in the first form
for such term no exceeding twenty years from the date on which his possessions
came to an end, and for such a sum of money as the Deputy Commissioner may
think reasonable(Section 6(2)). This
form of mortgage is very rarely adopted.
42. Collateral mortgage. The third form of mortgage is a
collateral one in which the mortgagor retains all rights of ownership and
cultivation ,a subject however, to be the condition that if he fails to pay
principal and interest in accordance with the terms of the contract, the
mortgagee may apply the Deputy Commissioner to put him in possession of the
land. The mortgage then becomes converted to a susfructary one of the first
form for such reasonable. It is also his duty to determine what the principal of
the debt in the case of the new mortgage shall be. This will consist of
whatever amount he finds to be due on account of the balance of principal and
interest outstanding on the old mortgage. In making up the account the Deputy
commissioner, need not accept the rate of interest contracted for but may award
whatever amount of simple interest the thinks reasonable (Section 6(1)(b).).
43. Conditions which may be interested in
statutory mortgages -
In these statutory mortgages conditions may be inserted limiting the right of a
mortgagor or mortgagee in possession to cut, sell or mortgage trees. Or to do
any act affecting the permanent value of the land(Section 8(b)). The time in the agricultural year at which a
mortgagor who redeems his land may resume possession of it may also be fixed(Section 8(a)) . Any conditions not
permitted by the Act which are inserted in these mortgages are null and void(Section 8(2)see also paragraph 47)).
44. Revision of terms of unauthorized
mortgages. If a
member of an agricultural tribe mortgages his land in any unpermitted form, the
deputy Commissioner is authorized to revise the terms so as to bring the
transaction into conformity with whichever of the statutory forms the mortgagee
a appears equitably entitled to claim (Section
9(1)). In the case of mortgages by way of conditional sale executed by
members of agricultural tribes before the commencement of the Act, the deputy
Commissioner may call on the mortgagee to choose whether he will retain the
existing mortgage with the sale condition struck out, or accept, in lieu of it,
a mortgage in the first of third of the forms described above(Section 9(2)).
45. Procedure in suits to enforce
unauthorized mortgages - If a suit is instituted in a civil court on a mortgage by way of conditional
sale or in a form unauthorized by the Act executed by a member of an
agricultural tribe, the court is bound to make a reference to the deputy
Commissioner so that the court is bound to make a reference to the deputy
commissioner so that he may exercise the powers referred to in the last two
paragraphs.
46. Mortgagor’s right of redemption
unrestricted - The
execution of a mortgage in one of the statutory forms in no way interferes with
the mortgagor’s right to redeem his land at any time on payment of the mortgage
debt, or in the case of a mortgage in the first or third form, of such
proportion of the mortgage debt as the Deputy Commissioner determines to be
still due.
47. Question whether statutory mortgages will
come into use - The
local Government has power to permit any therefrom of mortgages to be used by
members of agricultural tribes and to the conditions admissible in the forms
permitted by the act. Thirty years experience has shown that only the first
form of mortgage has proved acceptable. The second form is almost unknown. The
conditional sale clause has now practically disappeared.
48. Leases - As it would be easy to evade the
provisions regarding mortgages by making transfers for long periods in the form
of lease the term of leases made by members of agricultural tribes in favor of
persons who are not members of the same tribe or a tribe in the same group has
been limited to twenty years.
49. Restriction on extensions of mortgages
and leases. The
object of the Act would also benefited if, during the currency of a mortgage or
lease for a term limited by law to twenty years, the mortgagor or lessor were
free to extend the period by executing a fresh transfer. If the alienation
already effected is for twenty years, no further transfer by way either of
mortgage or of lease is permitted; if it is for less, a further mortgage or
lease is allowed for such a number of years as will Bering the whole period of
transfer up to twenty years.
50. Restriction
on hypothecation of crops. Another device for evading the Act had also to be guarded against.
Three is little difference in effect between a mortgage of land and mortgage of
its produce. Members of agricultural tribes are, therefore, forbidden to
aliendage or charge the produce or any part of the produce of their land for a
period exceeding a year without the sanction of the deputy commissioner. There
is no interference with borrowing on the security of the next two harvests. The
period of one year will as a rule, cover contracts made by landowners with the
agents of largess firms engaged in the wheat and oil –seed export trade? Such
dealings have been of great benefit to the zamidars in may parts of the
country, and if engagements of the sort for a period exceeding one year come
before a deputy commissioner, he need feel no hesitation about sanctioning
them.
51.
51-A Temporary
alienation’s in execution of decrees. Sale of land belonging to a member of an
agricultural tribe in execution of a decree is forbidden by section 16, but at
one time a learned judge of the High Court held that the land of an insolvent
agriculturist vested in the official receiver who could sell it to another
member of an agricultural tribe in satisfaction of a decree passed by an
insolvency court. Division Bench of the same court subsequently overruled this
interpretation of the law.
It is, however, a settled question
that a civil court can in execution of a decree, orders a temporary alienation
of the land of a judgment –debtor who is not a temporary alienation of such
land. (Vide Full Bench rulings in one
52. Other exemptions in favor of
agriculturists. By
section 60(1),(b) and (c) of the Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908) the following
kinds of property belonging to an agriculturist are exempted from attachments
:-
(a) (a) implements of
husbandry:
(b) (b) Such cattle and seed
grain as may, in the opinion of the court, be necessary to enable him to earn
his livelihood as such;
(c) (c) The materials of
houses and other buildings owned and occupied by him.
When the agriculturist is person liable for the
payment of land revenue the proviso to section 70 of the land Revenue Act, XVII
of 1887, becomes applicable, and if an order to attach produce is issued, the
court should ask the collector to decide what portion of it should be exempted
as being necessary for seed grain, and for the subsistence until the harvest
next following of the defaulter and his family.”
No revenue court or officer must, except for
reasons of urgency to be recorded, issue any process of arrest against tenant
or against a landowner who cultivates his own land during either of the two
harvesting seasons.
53. Provisions of Tenancy Act regulating
relations of landlords and tenants at will. The chapter on the Rights of Tenants” in the
Settlement Manual treats mainly of the history of hereditary tenant right in
the
54. Proportion of land cultivated by tenants
–at-will. About 43
percent of the land in the province is tilled by the landowners themselves, 9
percent by occupancy tenants at will, a few of whom pay no rent, if the five
south western districts of Jhang, Montgomery, Multan Muzaffargarh and Dera
Ghazi Khan are excluded, 44 percent are cultivated by tenants – at will, 47
percent by the landowners and 9 percent by occupancy tenants. The tenants –at
–will are for the most part also landowners in the same village who owns too
little land of their own to provide a decent livelihood.
55. Lien of Landlord on
produce. The rent
of a tenant’s holding is a first charge on its crops. If any other creditor
gets the produce attached in execution of a decree against the tenant, the
landlord can insist on the its sale and on being paid from the proceeds
whatever he proves to be due on account of the rent of the current harvest and
of any unpaid rent which fell due within the year immediately preceding the
date of his application to the revenue of fiber on the subject. The finding of
the revenue officer as to the amount to which the landlord is entitled has
theforce of a decree.
56. Rights and duties of landlords and tenants as regards produce.
Except in the case just mentioned t, the landlord must not intermeddle with the
tending, cutting or harvesting of his tenants crops. But of course where the
rent cossets or a portion of the produce he has a right to take part in the
division, and to remove his own share. The tenant on his part is bound, where
thereunto is taken by division battle or appraisement (kankut) not to remove
any portion of the produce at such a time or in such a manner as to prevent the
due division or appraisement thereof” and to abstain from dealing with it in a
manner contrary to established usage. If he wrongs his landlord in either of
these ways, and a rent suit is the result “ the produce may be deemed to have
been as full as the fullest crop of the same description on similar land in the
neighborhood for that harvest.”
57. Division by referee appointed by
Tahsildar. Delay in
dividing a garnered crop may result in very serious loss from the sprouting or
rotting of therein. The landlord or tenant who is injured by the failure of the
other party to attend may apply to the tehsildar for the appointment of a
referee to divide or appraise the produce. The referee may carry out the
division or appraisement in the absence of one. Of the parties, if after due
notice he fails to appear. The result of the referee’s proceedings must be
reported to the tehsildar for confirmation. The same procedure may be adopted
when there is an dispute between the landlord and the tenant about the division
or appraisement.
58. Payment
of rent though tahsil. When two or more persons are landlords in respect of a single tenancy
the tenant is not bound to pay part of his rent to one and part to another. It
is their business to appoint one of their numbers to receive the whole rent.
Where rent is payable in cash, the landlord may, for some reason refuse, to
receive it, or to grant a receipt. Their may for example, be a dispute about
the amount and he may refuse to sign an acquttance unless the tenant will give
him all the claims. Again a tenant may occasionally be in doubt that the person
is who is entitled to be paid the rent. In either case it is open to him to
apply to the tahsildar to accept the rent as a deposit, and pay it to the
person whom he considers entitled to receive it.
59. Notice of relinquishment.
Tenants at –will
usually hold by the year only, leases for a term of years being still uncommon.
Arrangements are as a rule, made for the agricultural year (Kharif –rabi) the
outgoing tenant giving up the land after the spring crops have been harvested.
The law provides that neither party to a contract of letting shall be able to
put the other in difficulty by failing to give timely notice of his intentions
as regards the next agricultural year, which means in the tenancy act, the
twelve months beginning on the 16th of June. A tenant who proposes
to quit his holding after the Rabi harvest must inform his landlord on or
before 15 January. If he fails to do so he becomes liable for the rent of the
next agricultural year unless the landlord arranges for the cultivation of the
land by someone else. Except with the consent of the landlord a notice of
relinquishment must apply to the whole of the lease land. If the tenant thinks
it desirable for his own security. He can give notice to the landlord through
the tahsil.
60. Notice
of ejectment of yearly tenants. A landlord who wishes to eject a tenant at will can apply to a naib
tahsildar or tahsidar for the issue of a notice. The application must be made
in time for service to be effected on or before the 15th of
November. Subject to that qualification, the application can be lodged at anyy
time after the beginning of the agricultural year. The above date is a very
suitable one as it falls before the chart crop has been completely cleared off
the ground and before the winter rains. The tenant therefore gets notice before
ploughing for the harvests of the next agricultural year begins.
61. Contents of notice. The notice requires the tenant to
give up the landbefore the 1st of May and informs him that if for
any reason he disputes his liability to ejectment, he must bring a revenue suit
for that purpose within two months from the date of service. It also warns him
that, in the event of his having any claim to receive compensation for improvements
or disturbance before ejectment. He must, within two months, present an
application to an Assistant Collector of the first grade. The circumstances
under which such a claim arises will be discussed later. It is enough to say
here that if it is established ejectment must be styed until it is satisfied.
62. Ejectment order. The tenant may obey the notice and
relinquish the land before the 1 May. If without instituting a suit to contest
liability to ejectment or lodging an application for payment of compensation.
He simply remains in possession, the tahsildar, on being satisfied that the
notice has been served passes an ejectment order. If compensation is claimed
the order must be issued by an Assistant Collector of the first grade. An
ejectment order is enforced in the same way as a decree of a civil court for
the possession of land. It can only be executed between the 1 May and 15 June.
Falling execution at the proper time the tenant is entitled to keep the land
for the next agricultural year. Applications for compensation on account of
improvements or disturbance should bedealt with promptly. It is unfair that a
landlord should be kept out of his rights by the dilatoriness of a revenue
officer.
63. Protection
of standing crops.
If, when the order is executed. It is found that the tenant has crops standing
on any part of the land he must not be ejected from that part till they ripen
and he has had a reasonable time for harvesting them. On the landlord’s
application, the revenue officer who ordered the ejectment may fix a fair rent
to be paid by the tenant for his extended use of the and or the may value the
crop and allow the landlord to take possession on paying the amount into his
office. Where the tenant has prepared land for sowing but has not sown it he
may ask the revenue officer to determine what amount is due to him from the
landlord on that account. His right to receive anything is contingent on his
having acted conformably with local usage in the method of tillage adopted.
64. Ejectment
of tenants for a fixed term and occupancy tenants. So far we have been dealing with the method by
which a landlord can get rid of a yearly tenant. The law as regards the
ejectment of occupancy tenants is briefly described in paragraph 213 of the
Settlement Manual but it will be convenient to state it more fully here in
connection with that which governs the case of tenants for a fixed term
exceeding one year under a lease or a decree or order of a competent authority.
A tenant of the latter calls may throw up his holding at the end of the term
without giving any notice to his landlord. Till then he is like an occupancy
tenant protected from ejectment by any summary process. A landlord seeking to
outset him must bring a regular suit against him.
65. Order for ejectment of occupancy tenant
failing to satisfy decree for rent. There is one case in which summary process can
be used against an occupancy tenant but not apparently against a tenant for a
fixed term exceeding one year. An Assistant Collector of the 1st grade
can order the ejectment of an occupancy tenant when a decree for an arrears of
rent has been passed and remains unsatisfied. But he must first give the tenant
an opportunity or satisfying the landlord’s claim by warning him that ejectment
will be ordered unless within 15 days he pays the amount due into the Assistant
Collector’s Office. These provisions , if worked mechanically may cause
hardship where there is much difference between the amount of the arrears and
the value of the tenant right. It must be borne in mind that the tenant is
often a very ignorant person. A
considerate revenue officer will in such a case summon him to receive
the written notice in his presence and explain to him the result which will follow
on failure to pay within the appointed time. There is no legal objection to
granting a short extension of time for payment for the issue of ejectment order
may be deferred if good cause is shown for so doing. The assistant Collector
should also ascertain whether the tenant has any claim to compensation for
improvements or for disturbances. If he has it must be gone into before any
further action is taken. Where an ejectment order is passed it can as rule as
in the case of a tenant at will only executed between the 1st May
and 15th June. But where this limitation would be unfair to the
landlord, as it might be for example where the tenant had delayed matters by a
basses claim for compensation execution can be allowed at any time.
66. Remedy
of tenant dispossessed before receipt of compensation due. If by any accident or mistake a
tenant entitled to compensation for improvements or disturbance or for the
value of unharvested crops or the preparation of land for sowing is ejected
before the amount due has been determined he will not be reinstated but he can
within one year from the date of his dispossession, apply to the court which
decreed or to the revenue officer who ordered his ejectment to fix the sum due
and require the landlord to pay it. An order passed on such application has the
same effect as a decree for money.
67. Grounds of action for ejectment and
reinstatement. The
grounds on which an action for ejectment may be brought and the circumstances
under which a tenant who considers that the has been wrongfully dispossessed
may sue for reinstatement or for compensation
will be dealt with in the chapter on Revenue courts.
68. Nullity
of entries in records of rights or agreements increasing landlord’s power of
ejectment. Any
clause in a record of rights whenever made or in an agreement made after the
passing of Act XVI of 1887 empowering a landlord to eject a tenant otherwise
than in accordance with that enactment is void.
69. Leases
current when new assessment is introduced.
Provision is
made in section 34 of the Act for the avoiding of leases whose term is still
running when the revenue is altered at a general reassessment, failing a
revision of terms made with the assistance of a revenue court and accepted by
the tenant, when the assessment has been raised and by the landlord when it has
been reduced. Leases for the term of settlement continue in force until a
revised assessment actually takes effect unless a contrary intention clearly
appears in the agreement.
70. Improvements
- The question
of “Improvements in tenants holdings may
occasionally cause some little difficulty for no very broad line of distinction
can be drawn between the simplest kinds of improvements and some of the
operations carried out by tenants in the ordinary course of tillage. An
exhaustive explanation of the terms as applied to a work executed on an
agricultural tenancy is given in section 4(19) of the tenancy Act. The
important point is that the work must be one by which the value of the tenancy
has been and continues to be increased. The term does not embrace every
operations which increases for a time the value of he holding. But only such
are outside the everyday course of husbandry and possess a greater or less
degree of permanency. The sinking of a masonry well to irrigate a field
hitherto dependent on the rainfall is obviously an “Improvement” So is the
making of a kacha well in stiffest soil for this involves a good deal of labour
and the well will last for several years. But
the digging of a shallow kacha
well of the ordinary type which waters a few bighas of crops in the rabi and
falls in the rainy season. Is not improvement.”
71. Improvements by
landlords. In a
country of peasant proprietors like the
The
Act permits the local Government to issue rules on the subject of landlords
improvements but none have been framed so far.
72. Improvements
by tenant at will - A
tenant at will can only make an improvement with the assent of his landlord but
consent may be assumed from circumstances. The courts have now given a number
of ruling which are of value as guides. It must be remembered that the question
of improvements by tenants is only of importance when compensation is demanded
by the tenant.
73. Compensation
for disturbance. In
any case every tenant “who has cleared and brought under cultivation waste land
in which he has not a right of occupancy
is entitled to compensation great or small . If he is ejected before he
has got a full return for his expenditure compensation for disturbance must in
no case exceed five years rent of the land and would in many
cases probably be far less. If a substantial and lasting improvements
has been made the recant will receive compensation for it in addition to
compensation for disturbance. A village proprietor tilling part of the common
land of the estate or one of several co-sharers cultivating the joint holding
cannot claim compensation for disturbance on ejectment. Where rent is paid in
grain or by a money rate on crop (Zabti) or by a cash rent consisting only of
the land revenue and cesses the rent for the purpose of calculating compensation may be taken as
four time the land revenue. The same rule applies where no rent at all has been
paid. As the land was ex-hypothesis
waste when the tenant got it it will in many cases not be assessed to
land revenue. In such a case the above provision must be interpreted as meaning that the rent may be assumed to be
equal to four times the land revenue
reduced by applying to the holding the rate at which similar cultivated lands
in the same estate are assessed .
74. Improvements
by occupancy tenants.
The little of occupancy tenants to make improvements on their own holding is
asserted in the 63rd section of the Act. But, when the
75. Provisions
of the Tenancy Act as to tenants improvements. The first Punjab Tenancy Act. XXVIII of 1868
put the law to tenants improvements substantially on its present footing except
that the provisions of that enactment on
the subject could be overridden by
written agreements or properly attested entries in the records of a regular
settlement. This has now been altered. An entry in a record of fights whenever
framed or condition in an agreements made after the passing of Act XVI 1887
which purports to limit the rights of tenants to make improvements or to
receive on ejectments compensation for improvements already made or for
disturbance. Is null and void. A tenant is however free covenant to pay an
enhanced rent on account of an improvement made or to be made by his landlord.
A written agreement made before the 1st November, 1887, restraining
a tenant at will from making improvements is a bar to any claim for
compensation. But with this exception improvements made before the Act came
into force are deemed to have been made in accordance with the Act.
76. Ejectment and enhancement of rent barred
till tenant has received compensation - A tenant who starts an improvement after his
landlord has used for his ejectment, or caused a notice of ejectment to be
served upon him, does so at his own risk and has no claim for compensation if
he is turned out of holding. But subject to that reasonable exception a tenant
who has improved his holding is protected both from ejectment and from
enhancement of rent till he has received compensation from his landlord.
77. Calculation
of compensation. In
estimating compensation the points for consideration are---
(a) (a) The amount by
which the value or the produce or the tenancy or the value of that produce is
increased by the improvement.
(b) (b) The conditions of
the improvement and the probable duration of its effects;
(c) (c) The labour and
capital required for the making of such an improvement;
(d) (d) Any reduction or
remission of rent or other advantage allowed to the tenant by the landlord in
consideration of the improvements; and
(e) (e) In the case of
a reclamation or the conversion of urinated into irrigated land the length of time during which the tenant has had the
benefit of the improvement.
78. Compensation
by grant of lease or reduction of rate of battle. Compensation must be assessed and paid in
money unless the parties agree that it should be made in whole or in part by
the grant of a beneficial lease of land or in some other way. It is always open
to a landlord and a tenant to settle any claim for compensation by the offer
and acceptance of a twenty years lease at the existing rent or at any other
rent that may mutually agreed upon. Where a well has been sunk a reduction of
the landlord’s batal share in consideration of the extra expenditure incurred
and required is a very suitable from of compensation. When crops are divided,
it is quite common to find the customary rate for well crops lower than for rain
crops.
ASSIGNMENTS OF LAND REVENUE
79. Importance of Land revenue assignments in
the
80. Assignments under Native Government - The Government which preceded our own found it
convenient to secure the swords of brave and the prayers of pious men to pacify
deposed chiefs and to reward powerful servants, by assigning to them the
ruler’s share (hakimi hissa) of the produce of the land in particular villages
or tracts. This was an easier mode of payment for the State than the regular
disbursement of salaries or cash pensions and it was much more gratifying to
the recipients. The amount which a jagirdar could take as the ruler’s share was
only limited by his own judgment of the capacity of the cultivators to
withstand oppression by force or to escape from it by detrain, and he enjoyed
in practice most of the rights which we now regard as special evidences of
ownership. Large assignees of land revenue also exercised within their own estates the power over life
and limb, which is sometimes regarded as the peculiar mark of sovereignty. The
system referred to above was too deep rooted for the new administration to
destroy . Prudence dictated its continuance, but demanded the limitation of the
drain on the resources of the State which it involved, and the removal of the
encroachments which the jagirdars had made on the prerogatives of Government on the one hand and on what we
conceived to be the rights of landholders on the other.
81. Subject
must be tested separately for different tracts - In treating of the subject it will be
convenient to deal separately with.
(a) (a) the
territories included in the
(b) (b) The Cis-Sutlej
territory the plains portion of which was taken under our protection in 1809
and the hill tract in 1815. This includes the present districts of Simla ,Ambala ,
(c) (c) The
82. Assignments under the Sikh Government. In the first
83. Insecurity of tenure of assignments under
Sikh Government -
There was of course no security of tenure. Each grant was held at the leisure
of Maharaja which usually meant for so long as the recipient was worth
conciliating. More especially every assignment was in practice open to
reconsideration on the death of the holder and when renewed a fine or nazrana
was often exacted which sometimes equaled the collections of several years.
84. Position of assignees under Sikh Government - Assignees were entitle to the
States’ share of the Produce and took it, as the State usually did in kind that
is by actual division of crop or by appraisement. Where the grants consisted of
whole villages the grantee exercised the right of extending cultivation by bringing in tenants
to break up the waste. He sunk wells and planted gardens and if he was strong
enough turned out existing cultivators who fell under his displeasure. The
larger jagirdars also held the powers comprehensively described as faujdari
that is to say they carried out so far as their power of their disposition led
them the rude system for the exaction of fines or the lopping off of limbs as a
penalty for crime or the enforcement of arbitration in civil cases which then
constituted criminal and civil justice. They in their turn made grants within
their own estates to the men who fought for them in the field or prayed for
them at home.
85. Assignments in districts annexed in 1846. The territory ceded by the Lahore Darbar in
1946 was known in official literature as the “Trans Sutlej States”. In the hill
tracts the jagirs were held by the Rajput Rajas who had been deposed by Ranjit
Singh and who were not restored to independence when we took their country. The
Rajas of Mandi and Suket were never reduced to the status of Jagirdars by the
Sikhs though the former suffered much at their hands and their territories
continued to be separate chiefdoms under the suzerainty of the British
Government. In the plains the Kapurthala Chief occupied a similar position for Ranjit Singh’s ally. Sardar Fateh Singh
Ahluwalia had managed with difficulty to maintain his rights But the other Sikh
Sardars between the Beas and the Sutlej had been reduced to subjection like
their brethren to the west of the
86. Orders
issued by Lord Hardinge - Lord Hardige’s orders regarding the treatment of revenue free tenures
in the Trans-Sutlej States may be reproduced as they were adopted with some
modifications in the instructions given by Lord Dalhousie to the Board of
Administration after the annexation of the rest of the
1st –All grants for the
provision or maintenance of former rulers deposed or former proprietors
dispossessed to be maintained on their present tenures in perpetuity.
“2nd – All endowments , bonafide
made for the maintenance of religious establishments or buildings or buildings
for public accommodation to be maintained as long as the establishments or
buildings are kept up.
“3rd – All persons
holding villages or portions of villages free of rent or money payment and for
which no service was to be reddened by grants made by Maharajas Ranjit Singh
Kharak Singh or Sher Singh to be
maintained in their holding free of rent during their lives each case to be
open to the consideration and orders of Government on the death of holder to be
decided according to its merits.
“4th – All persons
holding land or grants as above, subject to a payment of nazrana, peshkash or
the like to hold for their lives subject to the payment of quarter jama and on
the death of the holders the land to be resumed or assessed at full jama.
“5th – All persons
holding land for which service of any kind was to be rendered to the Sikh rules
including Bedis and Sodhis who were expected to perform religious services for the benefit of the donors
to hold for life subject to a payment of ¼ jama the case of each such tenure to
be reported for the consideration of Government on the death of the holder.
“6th – Grants made by
persons not having authority to alienate the Government revenues to be resumed.
“7th- Where no sanad
exists a holding for three generations to constitute a title and entitle the holders to have his
case adjudicated by the foregoing rules.”
87. Treatment
of Jagirs in tract between Beas and
“I – That no window shall succeed to
a jagir share.
“II – That no descendants in the
female line shall inherit.
“III- That on failure of a direct
male heir a collateral male heir may succeed, if the common ancestor of the
deceased and of the collateral claimant was in possession of the share at or
since the year of primary investigation of the jagir tenure which in theTrans
–Sutlej States in ordinarily 1846.
“IV – That allegation by the
Jagirdar of portion of his holding whether to his relations or strangers shall
neither be officially recognized nor officially recorded.
“V – That one or more sons of a
common ancestor in possession at the period of the first investigation being
entitled to the whole share possessed by such common ancestor shall be held and
be declared responsible for the maintenance of windows left by deceased
brothers who had they lived would have shared with such son or sons.
The
Jagirs of the hill Rajas of Kangra were upheld in perpetuity .
Assignments in territory west of the
88. Treatment of assignments in territory
west of Beas - When
the annexation of the Punjab was proclaimed on the 30th March, 1849
the members of the newly constituted Board of Administration were instructed by
Lord Dalhousie that “the very first object to which they should direct their
attention was the determination of all questions affecting the validity of
grants to hold land rent free.” It was obvious that annexation must be followed
by a great reduction in land revenue assignments . The British Government had no need of the military contingents of the Sardars
and it paid its servants by drafts upon the treasury. But it was also a fixed
part of Lord Dalhousie’s policy to lower the position of great Sardars and to
trust to the contentment of the common people and to the presence of a
sufficient military force to secure the peaceful development of the new
province. Of the two great brothers who were the leading members of the Board
of Administration sir Henry Lawrence accepted with reluctance a policy which
differed widely from his own views while Sir John Lawrence welcomed it because
he was himself convinced of its soundness. This is not the place to discuss the
merit’s of the course which was actually followed. It is enough to note that
the settlement made was not in fact an illiberal one. It is also the case that
men’s faith in this , as in some other
parts of Lord Dalhousie’s policy was a good deal shaken by the events of 1857
and that in many cases the original conditions of the Jagirs grants to leading
families in the Punjab have been revised as opportunity offered in generous
spirit.
89. Lord Dalhousie’s Views. Lord Dalhousie laid down
emphatically that by our occupation of the country after the whole Sikh nation
had been in arms against us . We have acquired the absolute right of conquerors and would be justified in
declaring ever acre of land liable to Government assessment.” He ordered the
resumption without exception of grants held by men who had taken up arms against
the British Government, whether by choice or compulsion . He repeated Lord
Hardinge’s description of the insecurity
of the tenure of jagirs under the Sikh Government and of the increased value
which the decision of the British Government would give to any assignment that
was maintained. Every assignee whose tenure was upheld was to give up all deeds
of grant which he held from former Governments and to receive instead a sanad
from the Board declaring that the assignment was the free gift of the British
Government. Except in a few special cases the Jagirdars were to be deprived of
all policy powers and every assigned estate was to be assessed “so that the
jagridars or other holder should not be allowed to rack rent his tenants or
derive more from the land than would be taken by the Government whose place he
occupies.” Where grants held on condition of service were maintained a cash
commutation for the aid which was no longer required was to be fixed.
90. Rules issued by Lord
Dalhousie - Loard
Dalhousie reproduced Lord Hardinge’s seven rules with some modifications and
added one of his own . In the first flue for the words “on their present tenures in perpetuity” the
words “ on their present terms subject to future diminution after the death of incumbents” were substituted . This
alternation was not without significance. To the second rule a rider was added
providing for the reduction of endowments which appeared to be exorbitant and
it was remarked that when grants of great value have been conferred for the
maintenance of the State religion…. They should be restricted to a smaller
amount from obvious motives of political
expediency.” An addition was made to rule 3 to the effect that long occupancy
would of course receive the consideration of Government. The alterations in the
other rules were only verbal. The additional rule was as follows :-
“8. Where chiefs or other hold lands
rent free which were not granted by Maharaja Ranjit Singh or any other ruler
but won by their own swords they will deserve consideration and their cases
should be specially reported to Government with the Board’s Recommendation in
each case. Any particular cases not provided for in the foregoing rules to be reported
separately to government for special orders.
Land Dalhousie added :-
“Should cases of individual hardship arise from a strict observance of these rules
whether from indigence infirmity age or sex the Governor –General on such being represented will be happy to
relax the severity of the rules or confer a pension upon the object.”
91. Instructions of Board of Administration - In circulating these
instructions the Board of
Administration remarked :-
(a) (a) with reference
to (Rule 2) that religious endowments should be upheld in perpetuity subject to
the good behavior of the grantees and conditional on the income being devoted
to the objects originally proposed by the grantor :
(b) (b) that the third
rule should usually be held to apply to grants made by thethree Maharajas
mentioned before their accession or by other Chiefs before their time :
(c) (c) with reference
to the 6th and 7th rules that assignments unsupported by
sanads or held under invalid sanads granted by kardars nazims and the like
should nevertheless be maintained for the lives of the present occupants where
possession was of long standing and that
unbroken occupation of 20,25 or 30 years whether by one individual or for two
or more generations should entitle the holder to a life interest :
(d) (d) that grants of
recent date should when the occupants were old or infirm or for any other
reason objects of charity be maintained for life :
(e) (e) that there a jagir had been confiscated
because the Jagirdar had borne arms against the British Government all grants
made by him to his dependents should at
once be resumed . But in cases of small assignments of long standing special
recommendations to maintain for life might be made if the holder appeared to be
entitled to this indulgence :
(f) (f)
that grants of land free of assessment enjoyed by the headmen of Villages if
supported by sanads were to be upheld. If they had been enjoyed for many years
and the amount was not excessive they were to be maintained for life or at any
rate; until the revised settlement even though no sanad could be produced;
(g) (g) that lands
held revenue free by village servants if the amount was moderate were to be
upheld until the revised settlement;
(h) (h) that the
tenures under which gardens were held were to be liberally dealt with and if
supported by valid sandals or possessed by several generations were to be
recommended for maintenance in perpetuity . If resumption was resolved on
settlement was to be made with the ex mafidar at the ordinary village
rates and not at garden rates . Where
the grant was new and the garden existed before it was made. It was to be
resumed and the land assessed to the best advantage.
92. Chaudhris inams. Shortly after the Board directed
that inams or money allowances enjoyed by leading members of village
communities before annexatin should be upheld for life subject to good
behavior. On the death of the inamdar the inam was to be continued to his son
or resumed as might seem expedient. The inam was to be considered as
remuneration for service to Government and to the village community and the
possession of it entitled the holder to be called chaudhri.
93. Grants to takiyas -Lord Dalhousie’s second rule put
religious establishments and buildings for public accommodation on the same
footing and directed the maintenance of their endowments for as along as the
establishment or buildings were kept up. In 1853 the question was raised whether these orders applied to
Hindu dharamsalas or to the small roadside takiyas occupied my Muhammadan
fakirs. Sir John Lawrence ruled that except in special cases grants in support
of such buildings should not be released in perpetuity . The reasons he gave
are characteristic and are worth quoting –
“5th- The Chief
Commissioner cannot admit that he existence of such grants does not encourage
mendicancy but further considers that the existence of these takiyas has often
a mischievous effect. Doubtless men who’re now fakirs will for the most part
remain such; their idle habits will prevent their taking to any honest or
respectable mode of livelihood. But there will no longer exist the same
inducement for the young and active to Join such people and the number of their
disciples will at once fall off. The abolition of monasteries in Protestant
countries caused that class of men to disappear in a few years and so will a
similar system operate on the commentates of fakirs. In the North – Western
Provinces where such endowments are
rare, the number of this class bear no proportion to those existing in the
“6th – The people are
very zealous, no doubt for the support of such endowments because they cost
them nothing but if their zeal is genuine and sincere they will support the
takiyas themselves Government have sacrificed much revenue in reducing the land
tax, in abolishing customs and giving up vexatious cesses of various kinds
which the people are well aware of . We can there fore afford that they should
murmur a little at the loss of their takiyas.
“7th – The Chief
Commissioner himself has never looked on these places with fervor. He has had
personal experience of their gross abuse. As a magistrate and criminal judge,
he has often known them to be the resort of thieves , robbers and murders. The
whole class of fakirs he believes to be bane to the country.
“8th- The Chief
Commissioner, moreover does not understand how a takiya of the character of
that in Chamyari could afford to feed travelers; eight rupees per annum would
not go far in this way. He believes that the hospitably of the occupant fakir
is almost always lives that the hospitably of the occupant fakir is almost
always limited to the feeding of his own
class and that he does not do more for other travelers than give them a little
water or perhaps in special cases a few whiffs of his hukah. Such being the
Chief Commissioner’s deliberate opining he cannot advocate the release of the
land in Chamyari nor agree to reconsider
similar cases of the kind in the Jalandhar Doab.”
94. The Jagir Enquiry. The enquiry regarding all service
grants all Jagirs consisting of one or
more estates was carried out by a special officer Captain Becher. The final
order in these cases were passed by the Governor General. This which
politically speaking was the important part of the in concerning the smaller
grants should be conducted by District and Settle meant Officers and the work
was mainly done by the latter . It proved a lengthy business but was nearly
complete except as regards the frontier districts in 1860.
95. Mafis in Jagir estates. It was found that in jagir estates
there were piots of land for which revenue was paid neither to the jagirdar not
to Government. The Chief Commissioner ruled in 1854 that all such tenures
should be investigated and orders passed
for release or resumption. When any such grant lapses the benefit accrues to
the jagirdar and not to Government. There are some exceptions top this rule,
which will be noticed later.
96. Classification
of Sikh grants. In
the first Punjab Administration Report which was issued in August 1852 the
revenue free assignments and cash pensions which had been enjoyed under the
Sikh Government were classified as follows:-
Section 1- Service grants
1. 1.
Military
2. 2.
Civil
3. 3.
Feudal
4. 4.
Household
Section II – Personal grants
5. 5.
State pensioners
6. 6.
Royal Ladies.
7. 7. Family
Provision
8. 8.
Allowance to influential landholders
Do III – Religious grants
9. 9.
Endowments
10. 10. Charitable
11. 11. “Holy men.”
97. Treatment of different classes of grants. The board described the manner in
which they had dealt with the different classes of cases.
“For those grants which in cash of in land are allowed in consideration of
long service the following rules have been adopted :-
From twenty –five to thirty years
service. Entitles the party to one fourth of his emolument: thirty to
thirty-five years, to one-third :thirty five years to forty and upwards, to
one-half: but the first named period, viz. Twenty –five to thirty years, has
generally been diminished to fifteen years. In favour of jagirdars
“In the classified schedule of
grants, with regard to classes 1 and 2 namely , grant for military and civil
service, it will be remembered that
previous to annexation these grants were chiefly in lieu of salaries: when the
late Darbar tropes were disbanded by the British Government some few of the
recipients were taken into British employ and the remainder were pensioned off
on one-fourth, one third or one half the grant as the case might be. If the
grant was found to be superannuating allowance it was maintained in full. The
same principle obtained with the household grants held by the attendants of the
sovereign. The feudal grants (class No. 3), were held by the great barons and
the dignitaries of the State. These grants are partly feudal and partly
personal. That portion of the grant which was conditional on the furnishing of
a contingent would be resumed and the horsemen would be generally discharged
and pensioned under the rule already given. But a portion of the grant was
generally on allowance personal to the feudal chief and this portion would be
maintained to him for life and a portion to his legitimate male issue in
perpetuity either in virtue of prescriptive possession or of the grantor’s
authority or on special considerations of family influence and antiquity or of individual character and
services. With regard to State pensions (Class 5). The grants were maintained
for life of incumbents subject to diminution after death. In case of royal
ladies, mostly windows of Maharajas Ranjit Singh Kharak Singh and Sher Singh,
the landed grants were not maintained , but a money commutation for their lives
was effected . The family (class No. 7) are allowances to the heirs or
relatives of deceased chiefs. Soldiers or servants of the State granted by our
predecessors and confirmed by ourselves. The y are subject to resumption or
reduction after demise of recipients. Among the grants which come under the
general denomination of personal may be noticed “the inams” (class No. 8) .
This term was under the Sikh rule applied to certain deductions made from the
revenue of an estate in favour of some village chief called a chaudhri who by
local knowledge aided the revenue officers in ascertaining the resources of the
village and in collecting the taxes and also in the preservation of order and
harmony. The agency thus secured and the influence thus enlisted on the side of
the local authorities were important. The grants have been generally maintained
during the life-time of the grantee upon the condition of general service. In
the conducting of the new system of settlement which chiefly works through
popular agency the chaudhris have made themselves most useful and their
services may for the future be turned to good account in the detection and
prevention of crime in the management of disorganized estates in the
arrangements for the public convenience such as the furnishing of supplies and
carriage repair of roads and the construction of useful works.
“The endowments mentioned in class
No. 9 are both secular and religious for the support of tempies mosques places
of pilgrimage and devotion schools
village inns for the reception of travelers paupers and strangers generally of
a monastic character. These institutions are ornaments to the villages: they have
some architectural pretension and being embossed in trees are often the
only shady spots in the neighborhood.
They add much to the comfort of rustic life and keep alive a spirit of
hospitality and piety among the agricultural people. The endowments though
occasionally reduced in amount have on the whole been regarded with liberality
and in confirming them the officers have mainly regarded the utility and
efficiency of the institution. Such grants when insignificant in amount have
been maintained even though the original grantor might have been the headman of
the village.
The grants to objects of
charity or to persons of sanctity have
frequently been paid in cash and in such cases have been brought under the
denomination of pension. In regard to the charitable grants indeed with regard
to all grants the tenor of paragraph 56 of the Government letter has been
observed and the rigous of the rules has been relaxed in favour of parties who
from indigence informally age or sex might be fitting objects of special
indulgence.
98. Social
effects of policy adopted. It is interesting to observe the view taken by Sir John Lawrence a year
and a halter of the social effects of the policy described above.
“The settlement of the country is by
the present date assuming its solid and permanent proportions; the transition
is well high complete and the country is becoming the
“The priestly classes have also
every reason to bless their new masters. The Sikh holy places have been rested
. The shrines Dera Nanak Amritsar , Tarn Taran, Anadpur, retain a large portion
of the endowments which a sikh
Government had lavished on them. Liberality has indeed been extended to all
religious characters even to mendicant fraise and village ascetics. The thousands
have allowed these people to retain their petty landed grants on a life tenure.
There is hardly a village mosque or a rustic temple or a shaded tomb of which
the service is not supported by a few
fields of rent free cultivation. These
classes, though they will not become extinct will yet greatly fall below
their present numbers when the existing generation shall have passed away. In
the meantime they are kept contended and
their indirect influence on the mass of the population is enlisted on the side
of the Government.
“Among the agriculturists the influence of the
chaudhris is on the decline. They are a species of local chiefs or principal
resident gentry who under the Sikh regime aided in collecting the revenue and
enjoyed many privileges and immunities. Many of their privileges are maintained
to them but as their services are no longer required their power is on the
wane. The undue power of the headmen also over the village communities has been
curtailed but their legitimate position as representatives of the brotherhood
has been strengthened and defined.
99. Grants in perpetuity provided for
continuance to “male heirs”. In 1852 the Governor –General ruled that when a grant was assigned in
perpetuity it lapsed to Government on the failure of legitimate male issue in
the line of the original grantee that is of the person to whom the British
Government had confirmed the grant . Unfortunately the original orders
releasing these jagirs provided for their continuance in favor of “male issue”
or male heirs” or “lineal heirs”. The
fact the this might involve the frittering away among numerous shareholders of
a revenue which undivided might have
sufficed to uphold the dignity of the head of great family was either unnoticed
or disregarded. The efforts which were subsequently made to correct this mistake concern all large jagirs thought
the province and before referring to them it will be convenient to describe the
origin and peculiar features of the jargirs of the Cis-Sutlej and
Assignments in Cis-Sutlej States.
100. History
of Jagir of Cis-Sutlej peculiar. The Jagirs tenures of the districts formerly known as the Cis-Sutlej States have a history
of their own. No. better account of their origin can be found than that given
by Mr. Kensigton in the “Ambala Gazetteer” , which is reproduced in the
following paragraphs:-
The Sikh Conquest - The storm burst at Las in 1763 . The
Sikhs of the Manjha Country * *
* * * combined their forces at Sirhind routed and
killed the Afghan Governor Zain Khan and * * * * * occupied the whole country
to the Jamna without further opposition. ‘Tradition still describes how the
Sikhs dispersed as soon as battle was
won and how riding day and night each horseman would throw his belt and
scabbard his articles of dress and accouterment until he was almost naked into
successive villages to mark them as his. The chiefs hastily divided up among
themselves and their followers the whole country to the Jamna and asserted
themselves as rules of the people. I a very few cases such as those of the
Saiyyid Mir of Kotaha and the Raipur and Ramgarh Rajput sardars of Naraingarh
and the Baidwan Jat sardars of Kharar the indigenous leaders of the country
were strong enough to hold their own
after a fashion and to assimilate their position to that of their conquerors.
Elsewhere the Sikh rule was supreme and the experience undergone by the people
of the district at the hands of these merciless invaders has left its mark on
the country to the present day.
State of country before the Chiefs
were taken under British protection. “The history of the next forty years is
made up of the endless petty warfare of these independent Sikh Chiefs among
themselves except when a common danger banded them to resist the encroachments
of the more powerful States of Patiala
and Manimajra on the north and Ladwa, Kaithal and Thanesar on the south.
Each separate family and each group of
feudatories strong enough to standout family and each group of feudatories
strong enough to stand alone built
itself a strong fort as a center
from which it could harry the whole neighborhood. Many of these are still in
existence and a marked feature of the district recalling the extraordinary
lawlessness of period when literally
every man’s hand was turned against his brother. No attention was paid to the
country by the British Government , which had fixed the Jamna as the furthest
limit for political enterprise and it is believed that profoundest ignorance
prevailed both as to the constitution. The rights and the political strength of
the supposed rulers.
“From 1806 to 1808 the position
rapidly changed . On the one had the Cis-Sutlej chiefs themselves were panic
struck at the sudden danger threatened to them by the rise of Ranjit Singh’s
Power from beyond the
“ It is impossible to read the history of these transactions without
seeing that the Government were reality taking a most important step almost in the dark . Instead of finding
the Ambala territory under the control of a few central States they soon
realized that they had given it over forever to hordes of adventures with no
powers of cohesion who aimed only at mutual
aggression and whose sole idea of government was to grind down the
people of the country to the utmost limit of oppression. The first point was
easily settled by a sharp reminder given in a supplementary proclamation of
1811 that every man would have to be content with what he held in 1809 and that
the British Government would tolerate no fighting among themselves . It was
however found that as a fact the so-called Cis-Sutlej Sovereign States were
represented as far as Ambala was concerned by some thirty petty rulers with
estates ranging from 20 to over 100 villages and by a host of small fraternities
comprising many hundreds of the rank and the file among the followers of
the original conquerors who had been quartered over the country with separate
villages for their maintenance and who were all alike now vested with authority
as independent rulers by the vague terms of the proclamation of 1809 . Published
works have nowhere every clearly
recognized how sorely the Government repented of its mistake but there seems no doubt as to the facts and
it is not be wondered at that Sir David Ochteriony should have privately
admitted to the Governor General in 1818 that the proclamation of 1809 had been
based on an erroneous idea.
From 1809 to 1847 persistent efforts
were made to enforce good Government through the Political Agency at Ambala
Among the endless semi-independent State. The records of the time bear witness to the hopeless
nature of the undertaking . They teem with references to the difficult
enquiries necessitated by the frequent disputes among the principalities by
their preposterous attempts to evade control and by acts of extortion and
violent crime in their dealings with villages. Year by year Government was
driven in self-defense to tighten the reins
and every opportunity was taken to strengthen its hold on the country by
enforcing its claims to lapse by escheat
on the death without lineal heirs of the possessors of 1809 or their
descendants . It was thus that the British
district of Ambala gradually grew up
each successive lapse being made the occasion for regular settlements of
the village revenues and the introduction of direct British rule. At the same
time Government scrupulously observed the engagements of 1809 and with the
exception of the prohibition of internal
war by the proclamation of 1811 . the powers and privileges of the
Chiefs remained untouched. Each Chief great and small alike had within his own
territory absolute civil criminal and fiscal jurisdiction subject only to the
general authority of the Agent to the Governor General. No tribute was taken
from them and though they were required in the case of war to aid the
Government. Yet no special contingent was fixed. The right of escheats was the
sole return for its protection which the Government demanded . Throughout a
long period of peace during which while north of the
“ In 1846-47 a fresh step had to be
taken owing to passive obstruction for open hostility on the part of the chiefs
when called on the assist the Government with supplies and men during its
campaign against the Trans-Sutlej Sikhs in 1845. No occasion had occurred for
testing their gratitude for the benefits secured to them until the declaration
of the first Sikh war and the
“Having thus already lost the
confidence of the Government, the Sikh Chiefs in the
Thereafter the chiefs have ceased to
retain any refits of their former powers. They have sunk to the position of
jagirdars but as such retain a right to the revenue assigned to them in
perpetuity”.
Commentary
The Cis-Sutlej Jagir is not
abolished by land revenue payable on small holdings . The State Government is
liable to pay compensation to Jagirdars.
101. Commutation
for military service. The Commutation for military service required by the 5th
clause of the proclamation of 3rd
May , 1809 was fixed at Rs. 16
per mensem for every horseman and Rs. 6 mensem for every footman. This however
was changed in 1852 into a drawback of 2 annas per rupee of revenue in jagir
estates. This is the general rate but in some cases 4 annas and 8 annas are
taken and in a few jagirs the commutation was reduced to one anna on account of
service rendered in the Mutiny.
102. Peculiar status of Cis-Sutlej Jagirdars. The jagirs in the Cis –Sutlej
States are not the gift of the British Government as are those in the part of
103. Classification of
Cis-Sutlej Jagirs - Their
Jagirs are of three classes :-
(a) (a) Large
estates
(b) (b) Pattidari
Jagirs
(c) (c) Zaildari
Jagirs
There is no difficulty as to the general meaning of these terms though
questions have arisen as to whether a particular Jagir should be put in the
second or third class an no authoritative list of large estates has ever been
drawn up.
104. Meaning of large estates pattidari jagir
and zaildari jagirs.
Large estates are Jagirs possessed by individual Sardars of their descendants
and include a large or smaller number of villages. The pattidari and Zaildari
Jagirs are held by fraternities consisting of the descendants of bodies of
horsemen who overran the country when it
was first conquered or who were called
in later to help of original conquerors to hold it. These fraternities
divided amongst themselves the villages which they seized in horseman’s shares.
Where they maintained or acquired a
position independent of the great Sardars their tenures are known as pattidari jagirs. Where their holdings were
subordinate to those of the Sardars who claimed the right to lapses of heiress
shares they were called zaildari jagris.
105. Customary law emulating the succession to
tenures of Cis-Sutlej Chiefs before 1851. The best source of information as to the rules
governing the succession to the estates acquired by the Sikh conquerors of the
Cis-Setlej territory before we reduced them to the status of jagirdars is sir
lepel Griffin’s Law of Inheritance of Chief ships as observed by the Sikhs
previous to annexation of the Punjab” Published
in 1869. IN the stormy years before 1809 individual ambitions sometimes made short work of
hereditary titles. But the conclusion to be drawn from the facts which sir
Lepel Griffin recorded is that the real
rule of succession was identical with that
prescribed by the customary law regulating the descent of landed property in the Punjab . It was but
natural that peasants who suddenly found themselves princes should apply to
their conquests the only law of inheritance with which they were familiar . It
is note worthy how often between the date of conquest and 1847 the title of a
sonless widow to succeed to the enjoyment of wide possessions and authority was
admitted when the right was overridden this was frequently managed in a
perfectly legal way still customary throughout large parts of the Punjab by
means of a karewa marriage between the widow and her deceased husband’s
brother. Information regarding customary law was much more meager when Sir
Lepel Griffin wrote than it is now. Had it been otherwise he would probably
have modified many of the expressions and some of the conclusions in his book
and distinguished more clearly between successions which took place before the
date of protection and those afterwards enforced by the conflicting decisions
of our political Officers. Definite rules have been made to regulate the
succession to pattidari and zaildari jagirs but “The Law of Inheritance to
Chiefships can still be profitably referred to when question arise as to the descent of large estates.
106. Pattidari Jagir rules to be first described. The pattidari rules will first be
explained and the matters in which the tenures of zaildars and of the holders
of “large estates differ from that of
pattidars will then be noticed.
107. Succession
to pattidari Jagirs. In
1851 the Government of India laid down the three following rules to regulate
successions to horsemen’s shares in pattidari jagirs :-
(1) (1) That no widow shall
succeed.
(2) (2) That no descendants
in the female line shall inherit
(3) (3) That on failure of
direct male heir a collateral male heir may succeed if the common ancestor of
the decease’s and the collateral claimant was In possession of the share at or
since the period 1808-09 when our connection with the Cis-Sutlej territory first commenced.
Lord Dalhousie added “Though the
rule now laid down may be at variance with the course which has been actually
taken in many cases , The Governor General would by no means disturb the
decisions which have been given. All parties who have received possessions from
a British Officer should retain it for their lives, except females who should
receive pensions instead.” This referred to a proposal by the Board that widows
and daughters should be given money pensions not exceeding half their husbands’
or father’s share in 1853. The government of India decided that a title in per
petty could not be acquired through females . but that males who had
interrupted through females would be
left in possession of their shares for life.
108. Rules not applicable to part of
Cis-Sutlej Territory. The rules do not apply to the
conquests on the right bank of the Sutlej made by Maharaja Ranjit Singh or his
dependent Fatteh Singh Ahluwalia of Kapurthala before March 1808 which they
retain after the first Sikh War and presumably the rules referred to in
paragraph 87 apply to them as well as to conquest jagirs in the tract between
the Beas and the Sutlej which was ceded by the Lahore Darbar at the same time.
109. Remarks on the rules. The first of the rules of 1851 was
seemingly not in accordance with custom which would have given a sonless widow a life interest in her
husband’s share. But if any injustice was done, it was redressed by the Board
of Directors who in 1854 ordered that widows who had been dispossessed should have their pensions raised so as to
equal in value the jagirs which they had lost, and that widows still in
possession should not be disturbed unless they agreed to take pensions in lieu
of their jagirs. The second rule in quite consonant with customary law . It
appears that political officers had in some cases contrary to that law recognized
the succession of daughters and daughters sons. The third rule was that
proposed by two of the three members of the board Sir John Lawrence and Mr.
Mansel . The President , Sir Henry Lawrence preferred the principle which had
been followed in deciding the succession to the large estates of Jind and
Kaithal namely that without any reference to the state of possession in 1808-09
a male descendant of the first conqueror or occupant should inherit all that
had been acquired by the head of the family before the collateral branch split
off from the main stock and became master of a separate estate.
110. Family custom upheld when not inconsistent
with the rules.
Family custom is unhealed as regards succession when it does not conflict with
these rules . The custom regulating division between sons by different mothers
known as chundavand will for example, be followed where it is shown to prevail
in the particular family concerned.
111. Subsidiary rule sanctioned in 1852. As the enquiry proceeded it Became
evident that the three rules sanctioned in 1851 did not completely cover the
ground and eight subsidiary rules
proposed by Mr. Edmonton the
Commissioner of the Cis-sutlej States were sanctioned by the Board in 1852.
These are reproduced in Appendix III to Barkley’s Directions for Settlements
Officers. It is only necessary to quote four of them here:-
(a) (a) That a
specific order of a Government even though opposed to the principles and rules
now prescribed shall avail in fervor of the party concerned and his lineal male
heirs.
(b) (b) That the official and recorded declaration of the
Political Agent as to the person in
possession 1808-09 shall be accepted without questions and succession continued
accordingly.
(c) (c) That
allegations by a Jagirdar or pattidar of portions of his holding whether to his
relations or strangers shall neither be officially recognized nor officially
recorded.
(d) (d) That one or
more sons of a common ancestor in 1808-09 being entitled to the whole share
possessed by such common ancestor shall be held and be declared responsible for
the maintenance of widows left by
deceased brothers who had they lived would have shared with such son or sons.
112. Investigation of pattidari jagirs at 1st regular settlement of Cis-Sutlej States. To ensure the carrying out of the
third of Lord Dalhousie’s rules the settlement officer of the Cis-Sutlej States was
ordered to investigate the state of possession in 1808-09 and to draw up
a genealogical tree of every family in occupation of a share
of a pattidari Jagir tracing the
descent of existing holders from the persons in possession at that period
“Family” when used in connection with a Cis-Sutlej Jagir means a group
consisting of the male descendants of the holder of the Jagir in 1808-09
113. Revision of Jagir registers of Ambala and
Karnal at revised settlements. At the revised settlements of Ambala and
tahsils . Thanesar and Kalthal and pargana indri of Karnal made by Mr. Kensington and Mr. Duie the jagir
register of these two districts were
scrutinized and new registers in a more compact and convenient form were drawn up . These include all the three
classes of Cis-Sutlej Jagirs the conditions of each jagir with a reference to
the order determining them and the rate
of the commutation paid to Government were noted. A genealogical tree of each
family showing all existing descendants of the person in possession in 1808-09
or other date which determines the right of succession and a list giving the
name of each of the shareholders of 1888 with the fraction representing his
share and the value of that fraction in
money are included in the registers and
a simple method of regarding successions and lapses has been provided . The
rule of succession followed where there are sons by two or more wives
will be found recorded in the registers.
114. Rules regarding Zaildari jagirs - As already indicated the only real
difference between a pattidari and a zaildari jagir is that lapses in the
former benefit Government, while lapses in the latter accrue to the holder of a “large estate”. It was
ruled in 1852 at Mr. Edmonstone’s suggestion:-
(a) (a) That the
inquiry then being made into pattidars jagir tenures should not extend to the
possessions of the zaildars or dependants of
an individual Sardar during the lifetime of such Sardar.
(b) (b) That on the estate
of that Sardar lapsing the possession of his zaildars should be enquired into
ascertained and recorded and that from and after the date of the lapse of the Sardar’s estate lapses of
the zaildars shares and successions to the same should follow the first and
second of the rules prescribed by the orders of Government No. 461, dated 12th
February 1851.
115. Meaning of second-rule. The wording of the second of these
rules is not very explicit but it seems clear that Mr. Edmonstone’s meaning was
that in the case of zaildari jagirs dependent on a large estate” the enquiry
should only go back to possession as it
stood at the time when the large estate lapsed and extend to successions which
had taken place since. This was the course actually adopted in the case of the
zaildars of the Dialgarh State which lapsed about the time when Mr. Edmonstone
made his proposals they were given the status of 1852. The intention of the
rule was either overlooked or misunderstood for at the first regular
settlements of Ambala and Thanesar the zaildars of several lapsed estates were
given the status of 1808-09 and it has been decided that the orders then passed
shall not be distributed.
116. Status of 1847 given to zaildars of large
estates in existence in 1854. In 1854 , the Chief Commissioner at the suggestion of Mr. Edmonstone
who had become Financial Commissioner modified the two rules relating to
zaildari tenures quoted above and decided that 1847, the year in which the
Sardars were deprived of their sovereign powers should be assumed as the basis
of adjudication in all disputes between Jagirdars and zaildars as to the shares
of the latter. It is clear from the correspondence which took place at the time
that the reason for taking the date 1847 instead of 1809 was to protect the
zaildars from harsh claims on the part of the Sardars. It was felt that endless
disputes and claims would arise if the status of 1808-09 were taken as defining
the tenure of the former. It was soon seen that the new rule cut both ways and
would in the further be prejudicial to the zaildars and in 1856 the
Commissioner of the Cis-Sutlej States tried to have the rule modified but
without success. All zaildars of “large estates” still in existence in 1854
have therefore the status of 1847.
117. Peculiar rules regulating succession in
case of Jagirs of Maharaja in Ferozepur. The numerous peasant jagirdars of Maharaj and
Bhucho in Ferozepore who claim kinship with the great Phulkian houses own the
jagir holdings and have peculiar rules of their own Government has given up it
right to lapses in consideration of a petty increase in the rate of commutation payable and succession
follows the law of inheritance applicable to the landed estate. Hence widows
enjoy their husband’s shares so long as they refrain from a second marriage.
118. No absolute rule prescribed to regulate
succession in large estates. In the orders passed in 1`851 Lord Dahousie stated that he did “not see any necessity for establishing
an absolute rule in the case of large estates. Each case may without any
difficulty and with great advantage be determined upon it own merits as it
arises. His Lordship would however remark genially that consideration of the
custom of families should have a preponderating influence in the decision of
such cases. Such estates were therefore
excluded from the enquiry which the Settlement Officer was directed to
make regarding pattidari jagirs and the Board ordered that each demise should
be reported with a statement of the custom of the family.
119. Meaning of Large estate Some difficulty was
felt in determining what was and what was not a large estate. Mr. Emonstone wrote to the Board:-
“Presume
that the term large estate was meant to comprehend such estates as Buria,
Shahzadpur, Manimajra, Sialba, and others which are held not by fraternitites
of pattidars as the pattidars of Bilaspur , Sadhara, Thirwa, Ambala an Boh, for
instance in fractional horsemen’s shares but by an individual Sardar, as the sardar
of Buria or by the descendants of one or more Sardars as the Singhs purias. I
find it difficult to propose any definition of the term large estate and am
compelled therefore to exemplify my meaning . If the Board concur with me in
thinking that the term is not exclusively applicable to the nine sovereign
states, it might be sufficient to declare generally that the orders
communicated with your letter above referred to are applicable only to estates
which are held by fraternities of pattidars and in which the distribution of
the holding according to horsemen’s shares is recognized leaving any cases
which may admit of doubt after the declaration of this principle to be
specially reported. Under this rule the estates of Buria and Raipur in regard
to both of which I have receive d separate references from Mr. Wynyard would be
considered large estates and exempt from enquiry into the status of 1808-09.
The Board accepted as correct Mr. Edmonstone’s view.
120. Status of 1808-09 how far applicable in
case of large estates.
It is stated in Mr. Barkley’s Directions to Settlement Officers:-
“In practice the status of 1808-09
though not absolutely prescribed for guidance by Government, has almost
invariably been referred to as governing claims of collateral’s to succeed to
rage estates the custom of the family being referred to only to determine
whether the estate shuld descend integrally or be divided among the nearest
heirs. Either unequal or unequal shares, what provisions should be made for
windows and other points of the like nature.”
121. Fe precedents available. As early as 1859, we find the
commissioner of the Cis-Sutlej states in a letter dealing specially with large
estates writing that we have taken the
status of 1809 A.D. and have declared all jargirs separately held at
that date as separate fields inheritable only in a direct male line. But it
seems doubtful if the question whether the status of 1808-09. Does or does not
govern succession to large estates has often been discussed. Very few “large estates
have lapsed in default to direct heirs” though it is notorious that in some
cases the present jagirdars are unrelated either to the original conqueror or
to the sardar in possession in 1808-09. No shame has been felt in foisting on
Government suppositious heirs when the succession to a jagir was endangered by
want of issue.
122. Date to be adopted in deciding question who
was in possession in 1808-09. No question in likely to arise in the case of pattidari Jagirs as to the
exact date referred to in the phrase-“ the status of 1808-09” . The record of
the persons in possession in `1808-09 made at the first regular settlement
would be treated as finally deciding from whom a claimant must trace descent in
order to inherit a share . But large estates were exempted from enquiry in 1851
an if the status of 1808-09 is taken as determining the succession to a large estate it may be
necessary to decide who was in possession at a particular date in the period
loosely described as 1808-09. In such a
case the best date to adopt in March 1808 that being the month in which some of
the principal Cis-Sutlej Chiefs formally applied for the protection of the
British Government.
123. Family custom governs succession in case of
large estates. In
dealing with the succession to a large estate. Lord Dalhousie directed that
special attention should be given to family custom. Primogeniture will be
follwed where it is the established custom as it is in the case of the Pathan
Nawabs of Kunjpura and in the Rajput jargirdar family of Raipur. IT is probable
that among Jat or Khatri Sikh Jagirdars no family will be found in which
primogeniture is really customary. But in some families it is undoubtedly the
rule to give a particular son a share larger than that allotted to his brethren
under the name of Sardari to mark the fact that he is the head of the family.
Where any such custom is shown to prevail, it should be enforced.
The issue of a ayah or sacramental
marriage with a virgin and of a karewa or informal marriage by chadar-andazi
with a window are equally legitimate and when the rule of division between sons
prevails stand on the same footing. It was ruled in the case of Kheri Jagir in
Ludhiana that legitimate sons would always exclude illegitimate in the
succession to “large estates”.
Whether
illegitimacy as we understand the term is a bar to succession when there is no
legitimate offspring is a question to be decided if possible by the custom of
the family concerned . The sons of handmaids (khwas) have succeeded to
independent Rajput Chiefships in the
absence of children by wedded wives, and if a similar custom is pleaded in
connection with any Cis-Sutlej jagir, the claim can not be set aside at once as
preposterous for the customs of Jats of the Punjab as regards marriage and
legitimacy resemble those of a primitive Eastern Society as depicted in the books of Genesis and Ruth
rather than the law of European countries in the case of the Sohana Jagir which
belongs to a Jat Sikh family indigenous to the Ambala district, it was lately
held that the Sardar’s son by a Jat window of good family living in his house
and whom he could have espoused, but
with whom no ceremony of chadarandazi had been performed, is entitled to
inherit . The reason given was that a similar case had occurred in the family
years before. The issue of an adulterous connection with a married woman would
of the course be excluded.
124. Maintenance to widows and others. The amount of the maintenance to be
given to widows of deceased holders should be decided mainly with reference to
past practice and this also applies to the allowances to male members of a
family in which primogeniture has been established by custom or agreement.
125. Jagirs shared by Jat Sikhs from the Manjha
and influential local chiefs or families. When the Sikhs overran the country between the
Sutlej and the Jumna, They found some chiefs and families who were to strong to
be disposed. Hence we find among the Cis-Sutlej jagirs some large estates held
by Rajputs like the Raos of Raipur or Pathans like the Nawab of Kunjpura. Some
influential families were conciliated by being allowed to retain a share of the
revenues of conquered villages . A case of the kind is that of the chaudhris of
Kharar who have a seventh share of the revenue of 42 estates. They were put on
the same footing as regards lapses and commutation as other Cis-Sutlej
Jagirdars except that the succession was limited to heirs male of the person in
possession in 1853, when the above orders were passed. In the same way in the
Jagadhri tehsil of Ambala a Rajput Family has a share in the Leda Jagir and the
Afghans of Khizrabad divide the revenues of eleven British and some kalsia
villages with Jat Sikhs and have always been treated as ordinary Jagirdars.
126. Chaharami tenures in tahsil Thanesar of the
Karnal district. There is a strong analogy between these mixed
jagirs and the chaharmi tenures in the Thansesar tahsil of Karnal described in
the 96th paragraph of the Karnal –Ambala Settlement Report. But they
have not been treated in quite the same way. The chaharami knows are for the
most part full owners or have superior proprietary rights in the lands of which
they enjoy a share usually half but sometimes one–fourth or one fifth of the
land revenue. The shares are often extremely small and lands subject to the
chaharami right have not infrequently been sold or mortgaged the chaharami
passing with the land to the transferee. No final decision as to these tenures
was arrived at the first regular settlement and the conditions on which these
peculiar assignments are held were only finally settled in 1889. There was it
was allowed no real analogy between chaharamis and zaildari jagirs but Sir
James Lyall considered that it had been the intention of the Settlement Officer
at the first regular settlement to treat them as on the same footing. He
accordingly gave the following ruling.
“According to this view the
chaharami holding in each village will be treated as zaildari holding created
by the original sikh Jagirdar conquerors of the village and so long as in each
village a part of the Sikh Jagir remains un resumed so long these holdings will
not be resumed . Whenever in any village the whole of the Sikh Jagir has lapsed
The whole of the Chaharami grants will be resumed at once. Till then in
accordance with the analogy of Rule 12(V) of the supplementary rule for
jagirdars alienations will not be treated as a good ground for resuming
part of a chaharami grant.
The
contingency of the whole of the shares held by Sikh Jagirdars in the chaharami
estates lapsing is probably a very remote one but it may be pointed out that it
is not a feature of the zaildari tenure that the shares of zaildars should
lapse to Government when the major jagir escheats of which they are dependents.
127. Mafis Cis-Sutlej khalsa estates. Ordinary mafls in khalsa estates in
the cis-sutlej territory are governed by the same rules as those in the Punjab
proper. The case of mafls in jagir and shared estates will be noticed later.
Assignments in Delhi territory
128. Mr.
Barkley’s remarks on assignments in the Delhi territory. It is stated in Mr. Barkley;s
Directions for Settlement Officers published in 1875 that “Investigations in
the portions of the (province) which were formerly under the Government of the
North Western Provinces made prior to their annexation to the Punjab took place
under the Regulations XXXI and XXXVI of 1803 and tenures released in perpetuity
under these regulations descend by the ordinary law of inheritance and are
transferable. Where any limitation was imposed by the terms of the grant either
upon the succession or upon the right to transfer the tenure this of course
does not apply and the Punjab rules are applicable to the fullest extent to
grants made after 1857.” This statement of the case requires some amplification
and correction.
129. Regulations XXXI and CCCVI of 1803. Regulation XXXI of 1803 declared
what grants other than “royal” or “badshahi” grants should be considered valid
in the “ceded provinces and provided for their registration and for
adjudication upon them in the courts of law. Regulation XXXVI of 1803 enacted
similar provisions for “royal grants” i.e, all grants made by the supreme power
for the time being . The full definition of royal grants includes assignments
made by several authorities who were only nominally subject to the Delhi
Emperor, but probably all royal grants in the Delhi territory emanated direct
from the Emperor or from Daulat Rao Sindhia or one of his predecessors in
authority as Mayor of the palace.
130. Assignments confirmed under the regulations
regarded as private property and therefore transferable. The theory of the nature of a land
revenue assignment embodied in these two regulations is wholly opposed to that
has always been held regarding such grants in the Punjab. They were looked upon
as private property which could be transferred from hand to hand. Revenue free
tenures were classed as “hereditary” i, e.
perpetuity grants and “life” grants. “Hereditary” grants were
transferable by gift , sale or otherwise, but in the case of life grants the
only alienation permitted was a mortgage of the revenue for the life of the
grantee. It is needless to describe what under these regulations were declared
to be sufficient grounds for accepting a claim to hold land revenue free. It is
enough to note that assignments of land
not exceeding then bighas. In extent and bona fide appropriated as an endowment
for temples or for other religious of charitable purposes were put on a specially favourable
footing in this respect . Certain unfamiliar terms which are met with in discussions regarding assignments in the
Delhi territory, altamgha , aima, madad m’ash, taiul are explained in the
glossary.
131. The regulation law not strictly applicable
to the Delhi territory - The Delhi territory formed no part of the “ceded province” which came
under British rule in 1801 and to which the above regulations alone applied. It
was part of the conquered provinces annexed after the battle of Laswari in
1803. Regulation VII of 1805 which extended these and other regulations to the
“conquered provinces” excepted the Delhi territory from their operation . But regulation V of 1832 which
abolished the office of resident at Delhi and annexed the Delhi territory to
the jurisdiction of the sadder Board and courts of Justice at Allahabad
enjoined the Commissioner of Delhi and all officers under his control ordinarily to conform to
the principles and spirit of the regulations.
In their civil , criminal and revenue administration . In 1838 and 1841 the
sadr Board issued orders regarding the investigation of revenue free tenures
which were not in exact accordance with the regulation law.
132. Orders passed in 1880. The question of the conditions on
which as signments in the Delhi territory made before its annexation to the
Punjab was carefully gone into in connection with the revenue free tenures of
tahsil Panipat and Pargana Karnal of the Karnal district, a report on which was
furnished by Mr. Ibbetson in 1880. It was then held.
(a) (a) that the
regulations were never actually in force in the Delhi territory . while
therefore any orders which the revenue authorities of the day passed in
accordance with the regulation law should be upheld Government was also free to
maintain orders, if any, passed by them in special cases which were not in
accordance with that laws ;
(b) (b) that “hereditary”
grants were alienable as similar grants under the regulation law were, but that
they lapsed to Government on entire failure of heirs of the original grantee
notwithstanding any intermediate
alienation;
(c) (c) that the
condition “continued until further orders” found to be attached to some of the
assignments was analogous to he condition during the pleasure of Government “
common in the case of grants in the Punjab , It was not equivalent to a
grant in perpetuity though the contingency of the grant being really a
perpetual one was not definitely excluded in the case of an order
sanctioning an assignment during the
pleasure of Government which implies an absolute decision that a perpetuity
title has not been made out;
(d) (d) that it was the
intention that orders passed by a
Settlement Officer confirming assignments of less than ten bighas as an
endowment for temples or other religious or charitable purposes should be final
and that the assignments should be released in perpetuity;
(e) (e) that the Board
of Revenue of the North –Western Provinces had no power to sanction release in
perpetuity. Where an order of the Board is the only sanction for such a
release, the confirmation of the Punjab Government is required . Final sanction
not having been given in the case of such assignments before 1858, they are not
transferable.
133. Succession to perpetuity grants. Being regarded as private property
assignments made before 1858 in the Delhi territory descend by the rule of
inheritance applicable to landed estates to which the grantee’s family is
subject. Any express condition of grant , however which conflicted with this
rule would prevail.
134. Istamrar
grants- The revenues
free tenure known as istamrar is not wholly confined to the Delhi territory.
(The Khattak Nawab of Teri holds a large tract in the Kohat district in
istamrar.)But as the lage Mandal grant in connection with which the incidents
of this tenure have been chiefly discussed is situated in the Karnal district, it will be well to
explain the term here. An istamrar is simply an assignment for life or
perpetuity of the right to receive the revenue
of a tract of land, subject to the obligation to pay to Government a
lump sum of money year by year. This sum is sometimes loosely described as a
quit rent. It is really a nazrana of fixed amount. The istamrardar may also be
sole proprietor or may have the right of a superior owner of talukdar in the
assigned tract. But, whatever may have been the real origin of any such rights
which he may possess, they are under our revenue system viewed as something
entirely apart from the istamrar. Except as regards cesses imposed in addition
to the land revenue, Government neither gains nor loses by the reassessment of
estates held on an istamrar tenure an any loses due to remissions fall on the
istamrardar.
135. Sukhlambari grants in Hissar. The sukhlambari grants in the
Hissar district are grants of land revenue free for three generations made to
troopers and officers of regiments of irregular cavalry disbanded after the
conclusion of the pindari campaign in 1818 or 1819. As revenue free assignments
they are now nearly extinct and are only interesting as an early experiment in
the colonization of waste lands.(For details see paragraphs 259-61 of Mr.
Willsons Sirsa Settlement Report and Hissar Gazetteer, Pages 160-161.
136. Inams of Biloch Tumandars 136 . The history of the jagirs or inams
of the Biloch tumandars of the Dera Ghazi Khan district present some peculiar
features and is also deserving of notice on account of the emphatic way in
which the principle that jagris involve an obligations of service has been asserted and enforced. An
excellent account of it is given in the 98th paragraph of Mr.
Diack’s Settlement Report, from which the following extracts are taken :-
“ The greater part of the assigned land
revenue is enjoyed by the chiefs of Biloch tribes and is well repaid by the
important administrative and magisterial functions which they discharge. It was
not until the last settlement that any considerable amount of revenue was
assigned to them. From annexation up till then they occupied the position of
mustajirs that is to say, they collected in kind from their tribes the share of the produce
varying from one-seventh to one-third which was under native rule taken by
Government and they paid into the treasury the cash land revenue assessed upon
the villages of their tribe. At the regular settlement of the district it was
decided that assignments of land revenue should take the place of the profits
which, owing to mild cash assessment increase of cultivation and rise of
prices, they derived from this arrangement. The cash value of the assignment to
each Chief was fixed with reference to his previous income from this source to
his expectations and to his responsibilities. But although the value of the
assignment was calculated in cash the power of collecting in kind was not
withdrawn but was merely limited to selected villages whose cash assessment
made up the sanctioned amount of the chiefs inam. The power of collecting
assigned revenue in kind was legalized by Frontier Regulations No. VII of 1874,
the custom of collecting in kind had fallen into abeyance in two tribes. Those
of Kasranis and the Khosas and was not revived in the former tribe but was in
the latter to the extent of one-fourth of the revenue . The share of the
produce to be taken by the Chief was to be fixed so as not to exceed that
portion of the produce which might be
deemed fairly to represent the Government demand.
All the grants were conditional upon good and loyal
service to be rendered by the tumandars on occasions of importance whenever
called upon by the district officer and in connection with this condition it
was stipulated that sowars should be supplied by each Chief to a certain value
, the sowar’s pay being fixed at 4 annas a day any sowars required in addition
to the number making up the fixed value to be paid by Government. The
assignments were made for term of settlement and subject to reconsideration on
its expiration The grants have had an
excellent effect in improving the condition of the Chiefs and through them of
their tribes which are generally in excellent control, and there was no question
at this settlement of discontinuing the allowances to the Chiefs. The working
of the system by which they are allowed power to collect in kind was
however considered very carefully with
reference to the provisions which had been made at the regular settlement that
the power would be enjoyed only during the pleasure of Government and would be
liable to be withdrawn should such as course be deemed to be expedient. The
conclusion arrived at was that the system should be continued except in the
Khosa tribe.(Punjab Government letter No. 40, dated March 1897.)
The
decision to continue the privilege in the case of the other Chiefs who had
hitherto enjoyed it necessitated a
reconsideration of the cash value in the inams for in villages which have
improved during the period of the late settlement the share of the produce
taken by the tumandar is the equivalent of the cash assessment as now enhanced
and while the amount received by the tumandars is the same as in recent years
his inanam expressed in terms of the Government cash revenue is greater than it
was.”
In sanctioning the inams for the term of the
new settlement the supreme Government remarked(Government of India , Foreign
Department No. 2847-F dated 31st October 1899) :-
The
Government of India cordially endorsee the views of the lieutenant Governor as
to the importance of maintaining the position and influence of these Chiefs. *
* * * * The inams are subject to the same conditions of loyalty and service as
hereto fore**** The Government of India entirely concur in the decision. * * *
* to permit collections in kind to continue in all cases (except that of the
Khosa inam) in which they had hitherto
been authorized . It is very important in the interests of good
administration on this part of the border to prevent as far as possible any
weakening of the tie between the
tumandar and his tribesmen.”
136 –A . Abolition of batia jagir system in
Dera Ghazi Khan district -The revision of settlement in the
Dera Ghazi Khan district was begun in 1916 and was concluded in 1920. Fresh
sanction then became necessary to the continuance of these inams which had been
sanctioned for the term of settlement.
There
was during the course of settlement operations a vigorous agitation against the
continuance of the batal jagir system
and it lost none of its force after the conclusion of the settlement.
After full consideration of the advantages and disadvantes of the system.
Government gave an undertaking in the Legislative Council in 1925 to abolish it
within the next five years. In fulfillment of that undertaking Government
reported early in 1928 (Punjab Government letter No. 527-R dated 8th
January 1928.) to the Government of India its proposals for the substitution of
cash inams to the turmandars in place of the old batal inams. The latter
Government gave their general assent (Government of India letter No. 117-F-28
dated 10th September, 1928 .) to the proposal but declined to
contribute anything towards the extra expenditure involved by conversion.
The
system was consequently abolished (Punjab Government letter No. 5844-R dated 4th
December, 1928. )with effect from kharif The old batal inams were translated
into cash inams for the term of settlement.
Strictly according to terms of 1899, there was
no obligation devolving on Government to supplement the old batal inams on
their translation into cash. Nevertheless, the outstanding liberality with
which the tumandars had been treated in the past made it undesirable that the
abolition of collections in kind should bring about any substantial loss in
their emoluments . The Governor in Council accordingly decided as an act of
grace to award supplementary cash inams to the tumandars in addition to the
cash value of their batal inams for the term of settlement or for life whichever period may be shorter.
Both
the converted and supplementary inams are grants for services rendered and to
be rendered both in the plains and in the tuman areas within the hills and are
conditional on loyalty and active assistance to Government as well as on the
maintenance of the traditional
hospitality expected from the Chiefs . Government retains the right of
reducing or confiscating the inams at any time . if it is of opinion that the
conditions are not being satisfactorily fulfilled.
137. Kasuras in Dera Ghazi Khan. The “Kasur” Assignments of the Dera
Ghazi Khan district are identical in origin with the “chahanams” referred to in
paragraph 82. The principal “kasurs” are in the territory held by the Mazari
tribe about half the revenue of which is releases in this form
They are held by the family of the
Chief of the Mazari tribe of Blotches and by the other leading families of the
Balachani section of the tribe to which section the Chief belongs . Those
Balachants hld among them assignments of
land revenue in all the villages of the most Mazari Country though they are not
landowners in all of them . Most of the assignments are of half the Government
share of the produce though some are of a smaller fraction and it is from their
being of a fractional nature that they have derived the name kasur (the Arabic
plural of kasur) by which they are locally known. The appear to have been
granted from time to time by the rulers who established their authority in this
neighborhood. The Nahrs of Sitpur the
Makhdums who succeeded them and the Amirs of Sindh and were a proof of the
strength and turbulence of the tribes and
the weakness of the rulers control. ( Punjab Government No. 62 dated 7th
August 1900.)
Consequent
on the abolition of the batoi jagir system the question of kasurs which were bound up with
collections in kind was reconsidered. It was decided (Punjab Government letter No. 3018-R dated 11th November 1930.)that the
‘A’ class kasurs (i,e. remission of half land revenue) of the Mazri , Karmani,
Mistakeni and Gulsherani families should be continued on their ancestral
proprietary lands, subjects as before to the condition of loyalty and good
service. The kasurs are inalienable and liable to resumption under orders of
Government. The other kasures in the Mazari tuman were converted into forty
–three cash inams of Rs. 40 each per annum to be paid out of the treasury . The
grantee is to be selected by the Deputy Commissioner in consultation with the
tumandar and the tenure of the inam is ordinarily to be five years.
138. Military rewards grants. A very common way of rewarding
Indian officers for distinguished war services has been to gave them grants
of Government waste land revenue –free
for a certain number of years , with a
promise of ownership when the lands had been brought under cultivation . Many
such grants were made in the Punjab. Owing to the diminution in the area
available it was decided in 1888 that they should be limited to a flexed number
yearly(Government of India , Military Department , resolution No. 2525-B dated
1st December 1888). The above
conditions are not necessarily applicable in all cases .It is left to
the local Government to arrange the grant as it chooses , provided its
capitalized value is equal to 25 times the annual value specified in the order
making it ( Government of India ,Military Department No. 1271 (B. dated 12th
April 1901.) and at the same time the terms on which they should be held were
laid down as follows:-
(Government of India resolution No.
867-B dated 17th February , 1893)
(a) (a) The land to be
held subject to payment of revenue assessed upon it or (if it is not assessed
to the payment of revenue subject to the payment of revenue at the rates at
which land in the immediate vacinity is assessed provided that if the land is
waste land requiring clearance the grantee will be allowed the ordinary
concession which would be allowed to
vendees at public auctions of Government
land of two harvests frees of land revenue.
(b) (b) Canal rates and cesses
to be paid in full by the grantee from the beginning of the lease. He shall
also pay malikana at the rate in force in the tract concerned provided that no
malikana will be charged in the case of grant which does not exceed one square
or rectangle.
(c) (c) The grant to
be leasehold for the first ten years and proprietary rights to be given after
the end of the that term if the land has been properly brought under cultivation and the grantee has
made good use of his grant.
(d) (d) All grants are
subject to the loyalty and good behaviour of the grantee.
(e) (e) When a grant
of irrigable land is under contemplation reference must be made to Irrigation
Department before any promises of irrigation are given to the grantee. If the
Irrigation Department decide that irrigation is not possible the grantee should
be informed and an acknowledgement obtained from him that he agrees to take the
land on the understanding that irrigation cannot be extended to it.
139. Jagirs may be
substituted for grants of waste land. The matter was reconsidered in 1893, and it
was settled that where it was inconvenient to make grants of waste land the
reward might take the form of a jagir . At
the same time the maximum value of a grant of land was fixed at Rs. 400 per annum clear of
all deductions.
“When the Local Government is prepared to provide a
grant of land and the grantee accepts this form of reward it will be open to
the Local Government to arrange for the bestowal of the privileges connected
with the grant in such a way that the difference between the value of the grant
on the terms given and the market value may amount approximately to 25 times
the annual value specified in the orders of the Government of India on each
case, such value being limited to the maximum of Rs. 400 as noted above. Should
the Local Government not be prepared to give land or the grantee be unwilling
to accept his reward in this form, the grantee will be given an assignment of
revenue from any village or estate that may be selected . If an assignment of
revenue be given such assignments will be for three lives only , the maximum
amount of revenue assigned to the original grantee being Rs. 600 to the first
heir Rs. 300 and to the next heir in succession Rs. 150. The method in which
the assigned revenues are to be paid i.e, whether from the state treasury or by
the land owners direct will be left to Local Governments to decide but the
amount should be flexed in cash and not in terms of the land revenue. When the
grantee is a landholder the assignment may take the form of remission of a specified amount of the
revenue due from himself. (Government of India, Military Department, resolution
No. 867-B, dated 27th February 1893. Also see paragraph 58(6) and
(7) of Financial Commissioner’s Standing
Order No.7.
The financial Commissioner at the
time pointed out the objections which existed to the creation of new jagirs
except: -
(a) (a) When the
jagridar is owner of the land of which the revenue is as signed:
(b) (b) When he stands in
the tribal relation to the revenue payers and the recognition of his status is
in accordance with their ideas:
(c) (c) In the absence
of the above conditions , when he has nothing to do with the collection of the
revenue , which is paid to him through the tahsil. (Financial Commissioner’s
No. 11-C, dated 25th May 1893.
The Local Government acquiresed in
these views.(Punjab Government Nos. 343-S., dated 1st July 1893, and
758, dated 24th August, 1902.) In practice no difficulty has arisen
for in all jagirs of this class hitherto created in the Punjab the assignee
receives the revenue through the tahsil.
The rule of decent in the case of these
military jagirs is as follows :-
On
the death of the original holder one-half of the grant should descend
integrally to a single heir. The heir will be selected by the district officer
, but will ordinarily be the eldest male heir in the eldest branch of the
deceased’s descendants. On the death of the selected heir one quarter of the
original grant will descend integrally
to one of his heirs similarly chosen by the district officer. The selection
made by the Commissioner of the division”.(Government of India, Military
Department , No 3293-B, dated 24th October , 1893.
Note :- The rule that grant should
descend integrally to a single heir may be relaxed at the discretion of the
local Government and the reduced grant i.,e the grant after the death of the
original grantee may be distributed among several heirs in such
proportional as may seem most suitable,
provided that the proper proportion of the original grant is not exceeded.
(Dispatch from His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India , No. 50-Fin., dated
20th December , 1918.”)
139. A Substitution of cash payment in place of jagir or special pension.
Towards the close of 1930, the Government of India. Army Department,
decided (Army instruction (India )No.102, dated
16th September, 1930.) that with effect from 1st
January 1931, cash payments amounting to Rs. 600 per year should be granted in
place of jagirs in the form of assignments of remissions of land revenue and of
the special pensions granted to Indian Officers
resident in Indian States . The cash payments which will like Jagirs, be
for three lives reducible by half on each succession will be known as “Jagir
allowances” and will be paid by the military authorities themselves without any
reference to the civil authorities this change in no way affects the form of ,
or the status and dignity attached to jagirs granted before the passing of
these orders.
139-B. Scheme for
giving retired Indian Officers the option of taking an assignment of land
revenue in lieu of pension - A scheme approved(Government of India Army Department letter No.
17869-1 (A.G. 10)dated 9th February 1914. and introduced by the Local Government in 1914, whereby retired
Indian Officers of the Indian Army when they belong to the agricultural classes
have the option of taking an assignment of land revenue in lieu of pension , is
also in operation. 139 –C Special Jagirs . In 1917 a scheme for the creation of
new jagirs was sanctioned (Government of India, Department of Revenue and
Agriculture letter No. 887-205-2 dated 30th October, 1916.) by the
Secretary of state in accordance with which jagirs are granted by the Punjab
Government for the life of the original holder, half of the sum assigned being
continued for the next generation. Only a single descendant in the mainline of
descent of the original jagirdar living at the time of his death can be selected as his successor and the orders
of the Governor in Council are required in each case. Attached to all such
grants is a definite condition of “Continued good conduct and steadfast loyalty
to His Majesty the King Emperor and active good service to the public or to the Government established
by law in British Indian rendered to the best of the Jagirdar’s ability and
power.”
140. Jagirs
granted after 25th November, 1859 heritable by a single heir - As already stated a marked change
of feeling is observable after the mutiny as to the value to the State of a
class of men holding a privileged position and fitted thereby to act as leaders
of the people. In 1859 the Lieutenant –Governor, Sir Robert Montgomery proposed
that as a rule the heirs of jagirs enjoyed by families of importance should be
declared subject to selection by Government.”(Punjab Government No. 678 dated 4th
Oct. 1859) Lord Canning replied that he did not see how such a declaration
could be made in regard to existing jagirs . He added , however :-
“With regard to jagirs which may
hereafter be granted His Excellency has no objection to impose the general
condition that the estate shall be inherited integrally. * * * As to the one single heir His Excellency
is disposed to think that it will be quite enough for the Government to require
that his inheritance shall need confirmation or recognition by Government before
it is considered complete and to
make it known that this recognition may
if cause should arise be withheld.”
The letter containing this order was
dated 25th November , 1859 and all jagirs subsequently granted are
unless the contrary is clearly expressed in the grant , heritable by a single
heir whose succession required to be confirmed by Government.” ( Government of
India No. 476, dated 25th November 1859
141. Proposal
to introduce primogeniture in case of the principal jagirs - Before these orders were issued the
Lieutenant-Governor had proposed to consult the principal Sardars in the
Cis-Sutlej and Trans-Sutlej divisions as to the propriety of abolishing
chundavand where it existed and also marking primogeniture the rule of decent
for their jagirs. In advocating primogeniture the Cis-Sutlej Commissioner , Mr.
Barnes had written :-
“I should desire in all feasible
cases to institute the law of primogeniture as was recently done in the case of
ramgarh and thereby to secure a powerful and influential aristocracy who with
such guarantees would doubtless be as loyal
and as useful to Government as
they proved to be during the recent rebellion.”
142. Proposal agreed to by Lord Canning. Chundavand and been denounced as
immoral and as encouraging polygamy. Lord canning wisely brushed that argument
aside. But as regards primogeniture his reply was encouraging. The proposal to
consult the leading Sardars regarding it was approved but anything like
arbitrary legislation on the subject was deprecated and it was laid down that
“no alternation in the rule of inheritance should be made in a family unless
with the consent of its head and of the chief members interested.( Government
of India. No. 1718 , dated May 1860. Paragraphs 2,4,5,6 of circular letter No.
246-252, dated 6th April 1861.)
143. His reasons - The reasons given by Lord canning for his
decision are worth quoting :-
“It is politically desirable that
primogeniture should be encouraged. The governor-general believes that a more
unfortunate prospect cannot be before a people, especially a people amongst
whom society is of a feudal form , than that of the gradual dissolution of all
their wealthy and influential families into numerous poor and proud descendants.
His excellency also believes that the task of governing such a people in
contentment becomes more and more difficult as this change progresses. “
144. Instructions issued in 1861. The enquiry which followed seemed to
show that a number of the larger Jagirdars were ready to elect for
primogeniture and in April 1861 the following instructions were given to
Cis-Indus Commissioners:-
“Those jagirdars holding in
perpetuity whose revenue exceeds Rs. 250
per annum and who wish the succession of their jagirs to be regulated in
future by the rule of primogeniture must executor a deed to that effect . You
will explain to them that this deed when confirmed by Government will hereafter he binding on
their successors in the jagirs for all generations . Where such a deed has
already been taken it need only be reviewed
with reference to the instructions now conveyed.
“4. The deed will regulate the
succession only to jagir lands not to malguzari lands or other real and
personal property.
“5. The jagirdar executing the deed
should be invited to record separately the nature and amount of the maintenance
which he would propose to assign to the younger branches of his family. The
custom regulating such maintenance in the case of the younger brothers of
chiefs in whose families the rule of primogeniture has been long established
will serve as a guide for other jagirdars.
“6. It should be explained that the
rights of collateral’s are in no respect affected by the introduction of the
rule of primogeniture.”
Informing the Government of India of
the action that had been taken the Lieutenant- Governor remark :-
“One
important point only remains to be adverted to namely the force of the deed executed by the jagirdars declaring
that primogeniture shall be the rule of succession to their jagirs.
This point however will be discussed
at length when the reports of the several Commissioners and the deeds
themselves shall have been transmitted to this office.”
145. Negotiations
prove abortive - The
number of deeds executed was forty seven. Many of these declared that
primogeniture should thereafter be the rule of succession and fixed a rate of
maintenance for younger sons. Others provided for division among sons, but
allotted a larger share to the eldest of fittest son. By some mischance these deeds were never confirmed by
Government but several have since been
accepted and where the circumstances of each case were consistent with the
provisions of sections 7(1)(b) of the Punjab Jagirs Act, V of 1941 mentioned in
paragraph 157 a rule of primogeniture has been notified.
146. Reasons
why evil results have no been worse - The failure to carry the negotiations with the
leading jagirdars to a successful conclusion is much to e regretted. The matter
was not dealt with again comprehensively for whole generation during which
sub-division went on unchecked . The resultant evils would be even more
apparent than they are but for the fact that many of the large jagirdars at
least in the Cis – Sutlej territory have found it difficult to perpetuate their
families at all and have considered themselves fortunate when they have had a single son to inherit
their family honors. As regards the important political jagirs in the tarns-
Indus districts little difficulty has arisen for most of them were granted or
confirmed after 1859 and in the case of some jagirs of earlier date the
succession of a single heir is either provided for by the original order of
release or has been established by subsequent decision or family agreement.
147. Remedy applied in case of Hazara Jagirs. In
Hazara the jagirs granted at
annexation were made subject to certain limitations of the successions proposed
by Major James Abbott. Further jagirs were granted for service in 1857 without
any similar reservation. Among the Hazara settlement rules to which legal force
was given by Regulation XIII of 1872 were two dealing with assignments of land
revenue.
“18. The settlement Officer shall
ascertain for each class of revenue assignments granted for more than one life
or for the period of settlement or for each
of such cases where necessary what rule is best calculated to secure to
Government the attainment of the object for which the grant was given. The
result of his enquires shall be submitted for the sanction of Government.
“19.
All cases in which orders of succession contrary to the orders to be laid down under Rule 18 have been
passes shall be reported to the Commissioner who is hereby empowered to revise
the previous orders in the spirit rule 18, or in such modified way as the
peculiar circumstances of such cases may call for.”
Under the first of these rules the
Lieutenant- Governor passed the following general order :-
“All jagirs and political pensions
released for more than one life or for term of settlement shall devolve
integrally ordinarily to the eldest son.
“the succession shall not
necessarily be maintained in the direct course should the immediate heir be
devoid of merit or deficient in the necessary qualifications of character,
Influence control over his tribe and family or good disposition towards the
British Government. ( Punjab Government No. 1706, dated 22nd
December 1873.
In the case of certain jagirs Government
reserved the option of dealing with the succession in the above manner, or
dividing the jagirs among the male issue of a deceased grantee(For list of
these see page 282 of Captain Wace’s Settlement Report of Hazara. . In Hazara,
therefore , the matter of succession to jagirs has been put on a thoroughly
satisfactory footing.
148. Section 8 of Punjab Laws Act, IV of 1872. It was provided by section 8 of the Punjab Laws Act IV of 1872 , that :
“In all cases in which Government has declared
any rule of descent to prevail in any family
or families of assignees of land revenue such rule of descent shall be
held to prevail and to have prevailed amongst them from the time when the
declaration was made”.
In 1890 the Government of India refused to make
use of this section in connection with a proposal to declare the rule of
succession in the Raipur Jagir family in the Ambala District to be
primogeniture on the ground that it had no retrospective effect. ( Government
of India. No. 4156 dated 8th December 1890. The local Government
nevertheless ordered that the rule of primogeniture should be applied on the
ground apparently that it had been actually adopted in several successions and
it was also probable that such a rule would exist in the case of an ancient
Rajput family. Moreover in 1861 the jagridar in possession had executed an
agreement providing that the eldest son should inherit the jagir. )
149. Attitude of Government of India on question of right to regulate
successions. The Government of India have never asserted a right to
regulate successions after the conditions of a grant have been laid down in the
order of release. But on a few occasions they have decided that the rule of
succession in a particular jagir restricts descent to a single heir.
150. Primogeniture introduced in case of Ramgarh
jagir. In a letter
No. 1490, dated 1st April 1859, Lord Canning sanctioned
primogeniture as regulating in future the succession of the jagir enjoyed by
one branch of the Ramgarh family in Ambala “as this proposal has emanated from
the younger sons themselves.” The family is a Rajput one connected with the Raja
of Bliaspur.
151. Case of the Chachi Jagir. In 1862 the Government of India declined to sanction
a deed respecting the devolution of his jagir executed by Sir Nihal Singh,
Chachi on the ground that as the Sardar has more than one son Government has no
power to fetter or unfetter the Dardar as to his old estates , his power over
which must be decided should any dispute arise by the ordinary law applicable
to such estates in the Punjab.”
In 1874, however Sir Henry Davies
then Lieutenant –Governor of the Punjab declared that as Sir Nihal Singh who
had died in 1873, had never revoked the wish expressed in 1862, the law of
primogeniture was applicable to the whole jagir which therefore descended to
his eldest son. Amrik Singh . These orders were plainly inconsistent with the
view taken by the Government of India in 1862. But in 1902 in passing orders
upon the succession which had again opened out on the death of Amrik Singh
leaving no children the Government of India took the view that “section 8 of
the Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act. 1900 relates to declarations in fact issued,
irrespective of their authority and that the deliberate employment of the term
Government “ which includes a “Local Government has placed the two letters
(i.e. Government of India letter No.
1156 dated 11th December 1862. and Punjab Government letter No. 250 dated 29th
January 1874)” for the purposes of that particular enactment on the same
footing . Having therefore two separate but inconsistent
152. Succession
of a single heir in case of (a) jagir of Shahzada Jamhur - The jagir of Shahzada Jamhur,
Saddozai, in the Kohat district was originally released in favour of the
grantee and his male issue in perpetuity.” In 1877, the Government of India
agreed to a modification of the terms providing for its devolution on “the
heir, being a descendant of the original grantee, whom Government might
select.” ( Government of India No. 383-F, dated 27th July 1877.)
153. (b)
The Makhad Jagir -
In the case of Makhad jagir in Rawalpindi where the grant provided for descent
to “legitimate male issue, “but the Financial Commissioner held that a quasi-
custom of primogeniture had been proved to exist , the Government of India in
1881 sanctioned the succession of the eldest of four sons subject to the condition
of fitness. This ruling also applied to the Shakardarra jagir in Kohat held by
the same family.
154. (c)
Jagir of Raja Sir Sahib Dial - In 1882 the Government of India allowed one of Raja Sir Sahibdial’s
Jagirs released in 1854 in favour of himself and “his legitimate male issue for
two generations” to descend to his
grandson, his sons being passed over for reasons stated in the
correspondence. (Government of India No. 256, dated 22nd November
1882.
155. Proposal
of Punjab Government to introduce primogeniture authoritatively - In 1898 the Punjab Government urged on the Government of India the
necessity of taking measures to put a stop to the sub-division of jagirs, and
the gradual deterioration in consequence of may of the leading families in the
province.(Punjab Government No. 261-S dated 16th June 1898.) The
history of the question in the Punjab was reviewed and the various orders of
the Government of India referred to in the preceding paragraphs were cited. The
conclusion drawn was that in the Punjab assignments of land revenue had always
been regarded from a standpoint different from that adopted in some other parts
of India, and that the principle had been asserted that assignees have ,in
virtue of the grant of a share of the revenue
of the State, public duties as well as private rights . it was a natural
deduction from this that Government had an inherent right to regulate the
course of secessions from time to tome as occasion requires and so to maintain
the capacity of the Jagridar to do public service . Sir Mackworth Young quoted
with approval a dictum of the officiating Financial Commissioner ., Mr. Ogilvie
that all assignment are from the
essential nature of their tenure held subject to the pleasure of Government
unless the contrary be distinctly stated in the deed of grant . It is a great
mistake to regard and treat these deeds of grant like the title deeds of an
estate the general provision that the grant shall descend to direct heirs male
does not debar Government from the exercise of its inherent right to regulate
the succession between recognized heirs.” The lieutenant governor therefore
proposed to introduce authoritatively by executive order the rule of descent to a single heir in
the case of all jagirs of a yearly value of Rs. 250and upwards.
151. Case of the Chachi Jagir. In 1862 the Government of India declined to sanction
a deed respecting the devolution of his jagir executed by Sir Nihal Singh,
Chachi on the ground that as the Sardar has more than one son Government has no
power to fetter or unfetter the Dardar as to his old estates , his power over
which must be decided should any dispute arise by the ordinary law applicable
to such estates in the Punjab.”
In 1874, however Sir Henry Davies
then Lieutenant –Governor of the Punjab declared that as Sir Nihal Singh who
had died in 1873, had never revoked the wish expressed in 1862, the law of
primogeniture was applicable to the whole jagir which therefore descended to
his eldest son. Amrik Singh . These orders were plainly inconsistent with the
view taken by the Government of India in 1862. But in 1902 in passing orders
upon the succession which had again opened out on the death of Amrik Singh
leaving no children the Government of India took the view that “section 8 of the
Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act. 1900 relates to declarations in fact issued,
irrespective of their authority and that the deliberate employment of the term
Government “ which includes a “Local Government has placed the two letters
(i.e. Government of India letter No.
1156 dated 11th December 1862. and Punjab Government letter No. 250 dated 29th
January 1874)” for the purposes of that particular enactment on the same
footing . Having therefore two separate but inconsistent
152. Succession
of a single heir in case of (a) jagir of Shahzada Jamhur - The jagir of Shahzada Jamhur,
Saddozai, in the Kohat district was originally released in favour of the
grantee and his male issue in perpetuity.” In 1877, the Government of India
agreed to a modification of the terms providing for its devolution on “the
heir, being a descendant of the original grantee, whom Government might
select.” ( Government of India No. 383-F, dated 27th July 1877.)
153. (b)
The Makhad Jagir -
In the case of Makhad jagir in Rawalpindi where the grant provided for descent
to “legitimate male issue, “but the Financial Commissioner held that a quasi-
custom of primogeniture had been proved to exist , the Government of India in
1881 sanctioned the succession of the eldest of four sons subject to the
condition of fitness. This ruling also applied to the Shakardarra jagir in
Kohat held by the same family.
154. (c)
Jagir of Raja Sir Sahib Dial - In 1882 the Government of India allowed one of Raja Sir Sahibdial’s
Jagirs released in 1854 in favour of himself and “his legitimate male issue for
two generations” to descend to his
grandson, his sons being passed over for reasons stated in the
correspondence. (Government of India No. 256, dated 22nd November
1882.
155. Proposal
of Punjab Government to introduce primogeniture authoritatively - In 1898 the Punjab Government urged on the Government of India the
necessity of taking measures to put a stop to the sub-division of jagirs, and
the gradual deterioration in consequence of may of the leading families in the
province.(Punjab Government No. 261-S dated 16th June 1898.) The
history of the question in the Punjab was reviewed and the various orders of
the Government of India referred to in the preceding paragraphs were cited. The
conclusion drawn was that in the Punjab assignments of land revenue had always
been regarded from a standpoint different from that adopted in some other parts
of India, and that the principle had been asserted that assignees have ,in
virtue of the grant of a share of the revenue of the State, public duties as well as private
rights . it was a natural deduction from this that Government had an inherent
right to regulate the course of secessions from time to tome as occasion
requires and so to maintain the capacity of the Jagridar to do public service .
Sir Mackworth Young quoted with approval a dictum of the officiating Financial
Commissioner ., Mr. Ogilvie that all assignment are from the essential nature of their tenure held
subject to the pleasure of Government unless the contrary be distinctly stated
in the deed of grant . It is a great mistake to regard and treat these deeds of
grant like the title deeds of an estate the general provision that the grant
shall descend to direct heirs male does not debar Government from the exercise
of its inherent right to regulate the succession between recognized heirs.” The
lieutenant governor therefore proposed to introduce authoritatively by
executive order the rule of descent to a
single heir in the case of all jagirs of a yearly value of Rs. 250and upwards.
156. Proposal
modified by Government of India. This proposal was rejected by the Government of India which held that
the end in view could only be reached by legislation and that the consent of
the jagirdars in possession was essential to the introduction of primogeniture.
In the letter conveying this decision it was remarked that :-
The Governor- General in Council is
in entire accord with His Honour the Lieutenant Governor as to the political
expediency of preventing the larger jagirs from being parceled our though a
recurring process of sub –division . But
having given the most careful attention to the subject he is satisfied that the
decision come to in 1860 by lord canning that though jagridars might very
properly be consent of the head to any family in which it has not hitherto
prevailed is correct and should be substantially maintained . That the
Government when granting or confirming
an assignment of land revenue possess an absolute power of regulating the
succession at the time of such grant or confirmation is undoubted. But when
once the conditions of a grant have been prescribed and the grant has actually
been made this absolute power is lost . This is the well –recognized rule of
English law governing grants from the Crown and is founded on principles of
equity and common justice. There no doubt exists a distinction in kind between
an estate in land an assignment of land revenue. But taking an assignment of
land revenue as analogous to a pension. The State by the principles of English
law has no inherent right to regulate or vary at its pleasure, after the
assignment or the pension has been granted the order of succession in either
the one case or the other . Nor is the Governor- General in Council satisfied
that if such powers were assumed they would meet with the hearty approval of
the jagridars.
“ An examination of the various
orders passed between 1850 and 1860 by the governor –General shows that great
care was taken to protect decision already given. Thus, in 1851 when a certain
rule as to collateral descent was laid down decisions already given in
particular cases to a contrary effect
were allowed to stand . Again at a later date in the case of the Ramgarh jagir,
substitution of succession according to primogeniture for division among the
heirs was only sanctioned because the younger sons of the jagirdar themselves
applied for it.
“ In paragraph 13 of your letter
other instances are cited in which the Government of India have interfered,
since Lord Canning’s declarations of policy in 1860, to regulate successions.
Examination of these cases shows that there was no real deviation from the
policy of 1860. In the first case cited the terms of the grant were revised on the occasion of the amount of
the grant being increased and apparently with the assent of the grantee. In the
second case the custom of primogeniture was proved to exist in the jagridar’s
family. In the third case the terms of
the grant were modified with the consent of the original grantee.”
157. Punjab
Jagris Act V of 1941.
In accordance with the decision of the Punjab Government an Act No. V of 1941
repealing section 8 of the Punjab Lawa Acts , IV of 1872, was passed by the
provincial Legislature and received the assent of the Governor of the Punjab.
The main provision of the Act is as follows :-
“(7(1) Where Government has
heretofore declared or at any time hereafter declares that any rule of descent
in respect of succession to any jagir shall prevail in the family of jagirdars,
such rule of descent shall be deemed to prevail in the family of jagirdars,
such rule of descent shall be deemed to
prevail , and to have prevailed from the time when the declaration was made
anything in any law or contract to the contrary notwithstanding:
Providing that no such declaration
shall here after be made unless and until-
(a) (a) Government is
satisfied that the rule of descent to be so declared actually prevails in the
family and has been continuously and without breach , or observed in all
succession (if any) to the jagir since it was made ; or
(b) (b) The jagirdar or his
successor in interest for time being has by written instrument duly executed by
him either before or after the passing of this Act, signified on behalf of
himself and his family acceptance of the rule of descent to be so declared and
either no succession has taken place since such acceptance the jagir has in
fact not devolved otherwise than it would have devolved had the said rule of
descent been in force.
(2) Any declaration made under
sub-section(1) may be amended, varied or rescinded by Government , but always
subject to the proviso thereto”.
Where the rule of descent declared
to prevail involves the devolution of the assignment of land revenue to a
single person as impartible property, it cannot be attached by order of Court
(section 11). In declaring the rule of decent Government may attach to it the
following conditions:-
(a) (a) that each
successor to the jagir shall be approved and accepted as such by government ,
and
(b) (b) that he shall ,if
required by Government , make such provision as Government deem suitable for
the maintenance of the widows and other
members of the family of the last or any previous holders of the jagir [section
8(a) and (b)].
The Government is bound approving of a
successor to accept the nearest their according to the declared rule who is not
unfit (proviso to section 8).”
157-A. Principles to be observed in fixing
maintenance allowances out of the assignment - The main object of the Punjab Descent of
Jagirs Act is to maintain the importance of the family through the principles
of primogeniture and impartiality. Grant of allowances should therefore, be
permitted to defeat this object. The following
principles should be borne in mind when making recommendations:-
(1) (1) Section 8-A
(b) of Act IV of 1872 gives to Government the power of enforcing on a
succession to a jagir which comes within the scope of the provision , suitable
maintenance for the widow or windows (if any ) and other members of the
family of any previous holder of the assignment . The direct descendant of any
previous holder is included in the term ‘member of the family.’
(2) (2) At the same,
Government have full discretion in the matter, and exercise of its powers must
depend on the circumstances of each which include inter alia the allowances
already in existence. As a general rule, and subject to principle No. (5)
below, no allowance should be made to a member of the family who is not in need
of it, having due regard to the standard of living which he may be expected to
maintain.
(3) (3) No hard and
fast rule can be laid down in regard to adults , in particular where previous
practice is in their favour.
(4) (4) As a general
rule, subject , of course, to exceptions
, there should be good reasons for stopping or reducing , on a new succession ,
allowances already in existence . A ground for reduction, which would however,
require careful consideration , might be the fact that a new succession
involved additional allowances constituting serious encroachment on the total
value of the jagir, if existing ones were maintained at their full amount.
(5) (5) Government
would be reluctant to intervene where family arrangements are proposed and are
not clearly unsuitable.
158. Interpretation
of successions to heirs male - An important ruling is contained in Punjab Government letter No. 108,
dated 13 December, 1893, determining the interpretation of the conventional
expression “Succession to heirs male” when used in the original order conveying
sanction to grant. Sir Dennis Fitzpatrick held that “the rule applicable to
grant of this sort in the Punjab is that it descends to a single heir, unless a
different rule of succession is specially prescribed.”
Several subsequent decisions have
been based on this view and the grants notified under section 7(a) of the
Punjab Jagirs Act, No. V of 1941” accordingly.
For the purpose of this ruling the
term “male issue” may be taken to be the equivalent of “heirs males”.
This ruling applies only to cases
which under the general orders of 1859 (see paragraph 140) are inheritable by a
single heir.
159. Succession
of single heirs prescribed in case of small grants for service to be performed
- To prevent the
splitting up of small grants made in consideration of service to be rendered to
village communities, it was ruled in 1865 that small grants given in lieu of
service to be performed or responsibilities to be fulfilled should be held from
generation to generation by one individual only . * * * * Ordinarily this
individual should be the eldest heir of the deceased incumbent, but where special reasons exist for superseding him, it will be within
the discretion of the local authorities so to arrange, provided this be in
accordance with the wishes of those interest in the service to be rendered.”(Punjab
Government No. 414 dated 30th May 1868.)
The occupation of existing holders
was not be disturbed but advantage was to be taken of future successions to get
rid of the joint enjoyment. (Financial Commissioner Book Circular No. 13 of
1865.)
160. Grant
of right of adoption to ruling chiefs - In some parts of the Punjab great families are
perhaps in more danger of extinction by entire failure of heirs than of
degradation by partition of their estates among a numberous progeny. When the
current of opinion changed after the mutiny the privilege of adopting an heir
in the event of their having no sons was conferred on may ruling Chiefs in the
Punjab and elsewhere. In the case of Sikh Chiefs it is hardly possible to
represent this as the restoration of a right which ought never to have been
denied. Sir Henry Lawrence (Paragraphs 345 and 45 of postscript to Major H.
Lawrence’s Report on this summary Settlement of kaithal)and Sir Lapel
Griffin(Rajas of the Punjab Pages 225 and 226.) both stated quest of the
Phulkain Rajas to be permitted to adopt ion the ground that the concession
would be an innovation on the custom which had always prevailed among the
Chiefs of the Cis-Sutlej territory.” Rajas of the Punjab Pae 228.)
161. Grants
of adoption sanads to selected jagirdars - In 1862 adoption Sanads were conferred on two
important jagirdars , Raja Tej Singh and Sardar Shamsher Singh, Sindhawalia who
before the annexation of the Punjab had been members of the Lahore Council of
Regency. No other Jagirdar enjoyed the right down to the year 1888, when it was
given to Sardar Lal Singh , Kailainwala. In connection with Lal Singh’s case
Sir Charles Aitchison proposed to the Government of Indian that the right of
adoption should be bestowed from time to time on carefully selected jagirdar
families. He remarked :-“it would be necessary to make a very careful selection
of the jagirdars deemed worthy of the right of adoption . Each case would be
weighted on its own merits, and the concession would be allowed as an honour and
a reward . In the work of selection regard would be had to the influence,
position , history, and services of the family ; to its loyalty and activity in
the cause of good government in times of
peace; and the reputation of the jagirdars for kindness towards dependents and
to the landholders and other living on the jagir. In this way , the
Government would always have in its
hands a powerful incentive to good and loyal services; and those not granted
the concession in the first instance might hope in time to win it by proved
deserts . it might further be provided that the privilege should be liable to
forfeiture for disloyalty or other misconduct which might be defined.
“It may be asked what would be the
advantages of the concession to the public and private but of such a nature
that the Government , acting in the public interests, could fairly take them
into view? It is well known that the grant of adoption sanads to Chiefs has not
operated to increase the number of adoptions, but to allay disquietude of mind. Many cases that have come before the
Lieutenant- Governor have convinced him that the practice of declining to
consider grants till the death of grantees gives the grantees much unnecessary
anxiety in their decline in years. It is natural and laudable on the part of
heads of families to desire before they die to know that heir houses will
survive them and their relations will be provided for. The lieutenant –
Governor knows that much anxiety
prevails in this matter which it is within our power to remove and one measure
which would tend to set these painful uncertainties at rest would be the grant
of adoption sanads to selected jagirdars holding in perpetuity.
“ It may be admitted, however that
the purely public advances would be much more important . The measure in
contemplation would give great political strength to the Government. In the
Punjab in particular the boon would be a proper recognition of the loyal and
faithful services , in peace and war of the most prominent men in the British
territories of this part of India – Services rendered in most cases with
unswerving zeal and praiseworthy alacrity for more than a generation. The men
who have thus served us are the men who
stood by us in the storm of the Mutiny; and we know by the heartfelt offers
made during the Afghan War and later at the time of the Panjdeh incident, that
the spirit which animated them and their fathers thirty years ago still lives.
We desire its perpetuation; we desire that the families who have aided us in
the difficult task of continuous administration and have proved themselves our
friends in time of need shall not diew out of the land. We need leaders of the
people and times may come again in which
the diminution of that class would be felt as a serious public calamity. The
measure proposed would tend directly to
the attainment of these objects and would invigorate and cheer the performance
of those duties of which it was there ward and or the continued performance of
which it would be a security” (Punjab Government No. 224 , ½ dated 3rd
March 1887).
The Government of India accepted the
views put forward by the Lieutenant- Governor, but considered that the objects
aimed at would “be best attained by selecting from time to time in individual
cases the jagridars to whom it is proposed to give the privilege of adoption.”
162. Grants
of adoption sanads - This
opinion, however has since been reconsidered . it was represented that the
grant of merely personal sanads of adoption went but a little way towards
furthering the policy of the Punjab Government in regard to the maintenance
of their jagirdars as source of real
political strength . It was urged that the need for men of good family who have
influence in the country and are ready to use it on our side certainly had not
diminished in the yards which and elapsed since Sir Charles Aitchison put
forward his views in the official pronouncement quoted above : that on this
ground alone it was to our interest to preserve the old families whose
influence was naturally greater than that of new grantees could be ; and that,
this being admitted, it was on the assumption
that suitable adoptions could be made a matter of no consequence to us
whether the successor was an adopted son or a son of the body.
“We have in fact an aristocracy of
high traditions, and sentiment apart, we ought to uphold it in our own
interests…… We wish to preserve the families of our great jagirdars in order
that they may be useful to us : that they may help us in ordinary times in the
suppression of crime and support us with their own strength in the country in
times of trouble….. What they want and may well have, if I rightly apprehend
the policy is an assurance that Government
does not desire the lapse of their Jagirs. The present concession rather
suggests that Government is not prepared to forego the fiscal gain of
occasional lapses.
”(Extract from a note by Hon’ble Mr.
C.L. Tupper, C.S.I. Financial Commissioner dated 9th December 1900,
forwarded to the Government of India with Punjab Government letter No. 17,
dated 26th February 1901.These arguments were supported by the
Government of India and accepted by His Majesty’s Secretary of State, the
rules(Financial Commissioner’s circular No . 4951, dated 22nd
September 1902.
(1) (1) The privilege
contained in the grant of an adoption sanad shall be an heritable one.
(2) (2) Such a Sanad shall
only be granted to jagirdars who are found specially worthy of the honour, and
they shall be selected with reference to their possession of the qualifications
already laid down as necessary by Sir Charles Aitchison in the passage already
quoted in paragraph 160 above.
(3) (3) Its grant shall be
subject to the following conditions: (a) The acceptance by the jagirdar of the
maintenance conditions specified in section 88 of the Punjab Jagirs Act, No V
of 1941 and (b) the sanctions of the Government of India.
(4) (4) An improper or
unsuitable adoption may be vetoed by the Local Government.
(5) (5) The succession shall
be regulated by a rule of integral descent to a signal heir usually the rule of
primogeniture.
163. Use
of adoption sanad in connection with Descent of Jagirs Act.- It will thus be seen that the
grant of an adoption sanad while conferring a valuable privilege upon the
grantee is also useful as furthering the policy enunciated in the Punjab Jairs
Act, No. V of 1941 limiting succession to a single heir and of preventing the
minute sub-division of jagirs with its consequent loss of prestige and
influence to the Jagirdar.
164. Perpetual
Jagris declared inalienable - Unless assignments of land revenue are incapable of transfer by the
grantees and of attachment by order of Court their public uses may easily be
destroyed . In 1852 the Government of India ordered the insertion in sanads
relating to perpetual grants of a clause prohibiting allegation. (Government of
India No. 2990, dated 27th August 1852. The letter refers to jagirs
in the Punjab north and west of the Sutlej.) It will be remembered that one of
the subsidiary succession rules sanctioned 1853 in the case of the Cis- Sutlej
jagirs declared that (past alienation’s whether to relations or strangers
should not be officially recognized or recorded.(See paragraph III) In 1857
Lord Canning sanctioned a proposal that each successor to a Cis-Sutlej
perpetual jagir should receive it unencubered by any liability for the debts of
his predecessor if he refrained from appropriating any of his real and personal
estate apart from the Jagir. (Government of India No. 109 , dated 9th
January 1857. The additional rule which allowed the heir, while repudiating the
debts toredeem the family mansion and the jagir land held in proprietary right
(Financial Commissioner’s circular No. 65 of 1857) Could not now be legally
enforced.)This order was declared applicable to all perpetual jagir in the Punjab by Financial Commissioner’s
circular No.8, dated 3rd February 1857. The court of Directions to
whom the order was communicated expressed surprise that it should have been
thought necessary to issue it, and remarked–
“We should have supposed that there could be
no necessity for notifying this as a rule since it follows from the very nature
of a jagir, which cannot be alienated and can only be attached for the life of the holder”.
(Dispatch, Political Department No,51 dated 30th August 1858, quoted
in Financial Commissioner’s Book Circular No. XXXVII of 1858.)
165. Mr.
Cust’s Revenue Manual declares all jagirs and mafis to be inalienable- Probably the Directions only
referred to grants for more than one life. But in his consolidated circular on “Jagirdars and
M’afidars” issued in 1860 and again in his revenue Manual published in 1866,
the Financial Commissioner, Mr. Cust wrote –
It is scarcely necessary to remark
that the jagirdar or m’afidar has no power of sale mortgage , gift or sub-lease
of his revenue assignment , except under special circumstances which must be
proved. Contracts of this kind will not be recognized by the revenue Courts, and the parties in
possession on those pleas will be considered only the private agents of the
holders with no legal rights.”(Cust’s Revenue Manual , Page 15)
166. Assignment
may be treated as inalienable except in Delhi territory - It is to be regretted that no
distinct legal provision exists declaring assignments even for a term
inalienable . Section 12 Act XXIII of 1871 (an Act to consolidate and amed the
lay relating to pensions and grants by Government of money or land revenue)
refers only to pensions , and in the preamble to the act a distinction is drawn
between pensions, and grants of land revenue. There are , however,
judicial decisions to the effect that a
pensions may take from of a land revenue assignment. Be that as it may it is
clear that under sections 4 to 6 of the Act no. Civil Court can take cognizance of any claim to a grant of land
revenue based on an alleged transfer unless the collector gives a certificate
permitting it to do so. In deciding whether to issue such a certificate and in
his action generally with respect to assignments a revenue officer is as a rule fully justified in treating
private transfers of the right to receive a share of the revenue due to the
State as a breach of the conditions of the grant. In the case of m’afis for the
support of institutions it is obvious that if the manager mortgages the income
on account of his private debts, the conditions are broken. Unless arrangements
can be made for the speedy removal of the encumbrance the remedy lies in
resumption or in suspension of payment tile the persons interested in the
institution can arrange for the appointment of a new manager, who would feel
himself under no obligation to continue the diversion of the endowment from its
proper uses. Probably this would hold good as regards grants for the
maintenance of institutions even in the Delhi territory, though assignments in
that part of the praline are ordinarily transferable(paragraph 130).
167. Early
authorities declare assignments to be capable of attachment. The law regarding the attachment
of assignments by decree of court is in a somewhat doubtful state. In the dispatch
quoted in paragraph 164 the Court of Directions wrote that Jagirs can only be
attached for the life of the holder “ Mr. Cust remarked: -
Jagir and m’afi holding are liable
to attachment under decree of the civil and Revenue Courts . The revenue will be
collected by the tahsildar and paid to the parties holding the decrees . With
the death of the life holder all claim of the creditor expires. Grants to
institutions are not liable for the personal debts of the manager. ( Cust’s
Revenue Manual , Page 15)
This practically assumes that
assignments are private property in which the existing holders have life
interests. It ignores the view that the possession of them involves public
duties.
168. Doubtful
state of the law.
Section 11 of Act XXIII of 1871 provides that “no pension granted or continued
by Government on political considerations, or on account of past services, or
as a compassionate allowance shall be liable to …..attachment….. in
satisfaction of a decree or order of any…. Court. Political pensions are exempted from attachment by
section 266(g) of the Civil Procedure Code. In one case (C.R. 137 P.R.,1890)
the Chief Court of the Punjab held that, though a grant of land revenue may be
and no doubt often is a distinct thing from a pension, there is no reason why a
pension should not take as the mode of payment , the form of an assignment of
land revenue. In a latter case (C.R. No. 47 P.R.:of 1893) the former Punjab
rulings on the subject were considered
and the law summed up as follows:-
“These cases are sufficient to show
that while some jagir income may be liable to attachment, other jagir income
may not.”
169. Duties
of Collector in connection with attachment of assignments. Assigned revenue is an “interest in
land” and an order or its attachment made by any Civil or Criminal Court must
be addressed to the Collector.(Section 141, Act XVII of 1887) and must direct
the person by whom the revenue is payable to pay it to the Collector and the
Collector to hold it subject to the further orders of the Court."”(Section
142 Act XVII of 1887) IN execution proceedings the Collectors is the agent of
the Court and must obey its order
without demur. But after the attachment has been made , he would be justified
in pointing out to the Court any reasons why in his opinion it should be
withdrawn . It is for the Court to decide whether the reasons are valid. If the
matter were properly represented, it seems probable that a Civil Court would
hold that revenue granted for the support of an institution should not be
attached in execution of a decree on account . of the private debts of the
manager.
170. Provisions
of section 8(3) of Punjab Act, IV of 1900. In 1898 the Punjab Government proposed the
amendment of section 11 of Act XXIII of 1871 so as to protect all assignments
of land revenue from attachment. ( Punjab Government No. 86, dated 24th
August 1989.) The government of India held that it would be enough to exempt
those jagirs only in respect of which primogeniture has been, or shall be,
declared to be the rule of descent. (Government of India No. 341-A 277.2, dated
9th February 1899.
171. Questions
regarding successions.
Questions of succession do not as a rule cause much trouble . The terms of
truant usually indicate clearly who the successor or successors must be.
172. Registration
of heirs to jagirs. Every shareholder in a Cis-Sutlej
Jagir is required to report the birth of a sons within a week of its occurrence
in order that the necessary entry may be made in the genealogical tree. No
Investigation , public or private, should be instituted into the truth of the
relationship of the child to his reputed father, when there are kinsmen in the
line of succession to the jagir unless they have moved in the matter in their
own interest . If there are no such kinsmen it may become necessary to make
some private enquiry , but only if rumours of fraud have reached the ears of
the collector. If private enquiry seems needful, the Collector must obtain the
sanction of the Commissioner before making it, and report the result for
orders. Alleged posthumous births will usually require verification ,
especially if the Collector has received no notice that the widow declares
herself to be pregnant. Such declarations are often not to be trusted and
enquiry to be effectual must be made before the birth takes place or is ,
according to the widow’s statement, due . In such access it may be advisable
with the Commissioner’s sanction to arrangement due. In such cases it may be
advisable with the Commissioner’s sanction to arrange if possible , for the
service of a competent lady doctor for the personal examination of the widow.
173. Succession
to small grants for service. The rule limiting the succession to a single heir in the case of small
grants for service to be performed has already been noticed (paragraph 159).
174. Succession
to small grants assigned to several persons for their lives- When the revenue of a plot has been
assigned to two or more individual’s collectively without specifying that the
share of each shall lapse on his death of the last of them the whole will
lapse. This rule only refers to petty grants.(Punjab Government notification
No. 1386 dated 27th October 1873.)
175. Successions
to grants for religious institutions. The cases of succession which cause most
difficulty are those relating to endowments for the support of religious
institutions . Unfortunately the death of the head of a monastery or of the
guardian of a tomb or shrine is often followed by a dispute among his disciples as to who shall occupy the vacant
seat. It is no part of Collector’s duty to settle such matters. It is the
policy of Government , as laid down in Act XX of 1863, to abstain from
interference in the management of religious institutions and five years before
that Act was passed the same principle was clearly stated in Chief
Commissioner’s Circular No. 23 dated 25th August , 1858. If the
succession is contested the Collector should either pay the revenue to the
claimant who is actually in possession , or suspend payment altogether till the
dispute is settled. He should adopt the latter course when litigation is
protracted and it is clear that funds intended for religious or charitable
purpose are being diverted into the pockets of lawyers.
176. Resumption
for breach of conditions. An assignment may be resumed when the conditions attached to it are
broken. These condition s may be either
expressed or implied.
177. Breach
in case of assignments for support of religious institutions. Fishing inquiries as to the
disposal of the income of grants made for the support of religious or
charitable institutions are unwise. But if the building is falling into ruins
or has been deserted, or if the endowment is clearly being misapplied,
interference is necessary. It is equally so if the guardian notoriously a man
of bad character, and complaints reach the Collector’s ears that a house of
prayer has become a den of thieves or gamblers, or that respectable women can
no longer visit it for purposes of worship. A time can set within which the persons
interest in the institution must arrange for the repair of the building or the
remedy of the abuses, which have infected its management failing which
resumption will be proposed.
178. The
condition of loyalty and good conduct - Many grants are by their terms expressly
conditional on loyalty and good conduct. The form of a sanad sanctioned for
perpetual assignments in 1870 declares that the grant is held on the above
conditions during the pleasure of Government. This as an expression of the
policy of Government announced to the grantees when they received their sanads
is important. But in deciding what the terms of old grants are it is necessary
to look to the original order of release rather than to the wording of a
general form of sand prescribed many years later.
179.
Every assignment really liable to forfeiture for flagrant misconduct - But whether the original grant
stipulates for good conduct on the part of the grantee or not, Government is
justified in holding that there is a point in the case of every assignment at which the misbehavior
of the assignee will justify an order of forfeiture. What that point is must
depend largely on the history of the grant . Considering the origin , for
example of may of the jagirs in the Cis-Sutlej and Delhi territories it would
be wrong to mete out the same measure to them as to assignments which have
sprung simply from the bounty of the British Government.
180. Assignment
forfeited if grantee is guilty of treason’s or of a capital offence. The title of any person to hold or
to inherit a jagir or a share in a jagir is forfeited when he is convicted of a
crime involving a death sentence. If he is in possession , the jagir will lapse
entirely . If his interest in the jagir is contingent, it will cease as regards
himself, but survive as regards his children or other heirs. The Government of
India ruled in 1856 that the share which the criminal would in ordinary course
have inherited should be confiscated entirely when the jagirdar whose heir he
was died.(Government of India No. 4170, dated 8th August 1856) but
the court of Directions refused to accept a ruling which involved the doctrine
of corruption of blood”
They remarked: -
“Forfeiture of the whole property of
a convicted felon is one of the punishment prescribed by law, and for this
there may be sufficient reasons, no with standing the hardship which results to
his innocent offspring. But in the present case you have pronounced a
prospective confiscation of landed rights which have never vested in the offenders,
but which would have legally descended to them on the death of their father who
still survives, thus adopting the principle of corruption of blood, own to the
ancient law or this country, but long stigmatized by the best authorities and
condemned by the opinion of the present age. We cannot sanction this principle
and we direct that the children of Nihal succeed to their father’s share on the
death of their grandfather in the same manner as if their father had died in
the course of nature.”
(Dispatch No. 44m dated 18th
August 1858.)
A grant is also forfeited by the
commissioner of any act of treason or disloyalty. (Financial Commissioner’s
Book Circular No, L III of 1860.)
181. Ruling
of Punjab Government in 1883. In 1883 the cases of two shares in trans-Sutlej conquest jagirs, who
had been convicted respectively of attempted burglary and of receiving stolen
property were brought to the notice of Government. It was then ruled that “When
the deed of grant contains nothing which reserves to government the power that
“When the deed of grant contains nothing which reserves to Government the power
of resumption (perpetual ) grants …..can only become liable to forfeiture for
treason or when the holder commits an offence for which under the ordinary law
the court could pass a sentence of forfeiture of all the property of the
offender.” (Punjab Government No.194, dated 23rd April 1883.)
182. Later
attitude of Punjab Government - It is very doubtful whether this doctrine which treats a right to a
share of revenue due to the State as standing on the same footing as private
property, would now be accepted . It is inconsistent with the view of the
nature of assignments in the Punjab which was put before the government of
India in 1898. ( See paragraph 155.)In a recent case belonging to he Peshawar
district a perpetuity jagir was, on the death of he holder converted with the
sanction of the Government of India into the perpetual cash pension of much
smaller amount because of the failure of the deceased jagirdar to show active
loyalty or to treat the local representatives of government with proper
respect. In recommending this action Sir Mack worth young remarked that he
supported it” not so much because the grant was originally one of Rs. 1000 and
was increased subject to government service as well as good conduct, though
this might …… perhaps be argued, but on the broad ground that every assignment
of land revenue is held on the understanding that the assignee maintains a
loyal attitude towards the government and failing this is liable to have his
grant confiscated.” (Punjab Government No. 506 dated 30th July
1901)” A few years ago a jagridar belonging to one of the leading families in
the Punjab was warned that “Jagirs are granted for public objects and that with
respect to the condition attached to his grant circumstances might arise in
which Government might be compelled reluctantly to resume it.” (Punjab
Government No. 949-S, dated 25th August 1898.) In that case the
sanad stated that the grant was conditional on good conduct and loyal service.
183. Lapses
in favour of Jagridars - In some cases the benefit of a lapse accrues to a jagirdar and not to
Government. The circumstances under which this takes place are described in
paragraph 23-25 of financial commissioner’s Standing Order No. 7.
184. Settlement
made in some cases with ex-mafidars or their heirs. When an assignment lapses the person entered
in there cord of rights as landowner usually becomes responsible for the
payment of the land revenue to Government. In technical phrase “ the settlement
is made with him” But it may be found that the connection of the late mafidar
with the land really amounted to a proprietary or sub-proprietary or
sub-proprietary tenure and in that case he or his heirs is entitled to claim
the settlement. This subject, which in practice is somewhat difficult one, is
dealt with a paragraphs 182-185 of the Settlement Manual.
185. Treatment
of assignments at settlement - When a general re-assessment of district takes place it is the business
of the Settlement Officer to examine and attest all existing assignments of
land revenue. Some remarks on the subject will be found in paragraphs 568-575
of the Settlement Manual.
186. Duties
of Collector in connection with assignments. The main duties of the collector of a
district in connection with revenue-free grants are: -
(1) (1) as regards term
–expired grants to see that laps are enforced without delay or a recommendation
made for a reconsideration of the original order should resumption appear
undesirable;
(2) (2) as regards other
assignments-
(a) (a) on the death
of the existing holder to pass order
promptly about the succession
(b) (b) to satisfy himself
that the conditions of the substantially fulfilled by the assignee.
The discretion of the Collector to
resume of his own authority assignments of which the term has expired is not
unfettered. In a few cases he has been forbidden to do so and as regards other
lines of policy have been laid down to which the must conform. These duties are
discharged by the Collector even when the district is under settlement ; but
all cases should be reported to him for orders by the settlement Officer, to
whom also the orders should be communicated in order that proper effect may be
given to them in the records, and that Settlement Officer may be able to carry
out the duty imposed on him by paragraphs 568 et seq. Of the Settlement Manual.
187. Grants
for service in 1843 and during the Mutiny. Grants on account of services rendered in
1848 or during the mutiny originally made for a term may not be resumed without
reference to the Financial Commissioner.(Punjab Government Nos. 104 dated 30th
August 1889 and 141 dated 6th December 1889) there are strong
reasons for showing liberality in such
cases , which are well explained in the following remarks by Sir James
Lyall”(Punjab Government No. 192-S dated 6th July 1889)
“4. In certain cases which came
before him as Financial Commissioner Sir James Lyall recorded an opinion that
it was good policy to maintain in perpetuity grans for services rendered at the
mutiny on the ground that such grants remain as evidence of the result of
loyalty and have a considerable political
effect. To these views Sir James Lyall still adhere and is strongly of
opinion that in the case of the small jagir or m’afi grants , which were made
to the best of the Sikh and Punjabi Muhammadan
native Officers in 1859 and 1860
in recognition of their having obeyed our call and joined our standard at a
critical time and distinguished themselves as soldiers, it would generally be
good policy and well worth the money to continued to show itself loyal and well
disposed and ready to do service. The money value of these grants is small ,
but the value put on them is great as in this country of peasant proprietors
they give the family which holds them a high social status in the eyes of the rural population ,and mark it out for
recognition by the Officers of Government.
It is these land holding families better off
though they be than the mass of peasantry, but still only what may be termed
yeomen proprietors, which furnish the men who are the flower of the present
cavalry and infantry of the Indian Army and who make the best Native Officers,
They have some ancestral military traditions and feelings of gentility and also
a certain small amount of capital. They serve more for the love of the thing
than for profit and eventually retire and live on their lands. It is in Sir
James Lyall’s opinion a great object to keep alive the spirit which induces men
of this class to serve in our Army, and
which might die out any day. The continuance of small grants in their villages
to the heirs of the men who joined our standard in 1857 and then much
distinguished themselves will be one way of keeping alive this sprit and of
encouraging future generations to follow the example if similar critical times
ever occur again.”
188. Bedi
and sodhi grants - One
of the rules prescribed by Lord Hardinge and Lord Dalhousie provided for the
re-consideration on the death of the holders of assignments conferred for
service of any kind to be rendered to Sikh rulers, including grants of Bedis
and Sodhis which were originally confirmed only for the service of any kind to be rendered to Sikh
rulers, including grants to Bedis and
Sodhi’s, which were originally confirmed only for the lives of the incumbents.
This instruction was reproduced in the rules under the first Punjab Land
Revenue Act, XXXIII of 1871. Definite directions have since been given for
heresumption of Bedi and Sodhi revenue – free grants on the deaths of existing
holders and grant of cash pensions to their male descendants, windows and
daughters. These directions make the following rules, which were originally
drawn up for the case of deceased Bedi and Sodhi pensioners. Applicable also to
the cases of deceased holders of revenue free grants who are members of those
two clans. In applying the rules in the first instance on the decease of such
free grant holders the words “pensioner”
and “pension” are to be treated , where necessary as including the deceased
holder or a revenue –free grant and the amount of that grant, respectively .
Except as so applied to such deceased or to his grant, the words must be
interpreted in their strictly literal sense . Thus the heirs of a deceased
revenue – free grant holder are pensioners in the strict sense of the word and
their heirs after them. The pensions go on diminishing generation by generation
till they lapse by commutation or by death or by marriage.
The directions also lay down that Collectors can dispose of these cases
in accordance with the rules without reference to higher authorities.(Punjab
Government Nos. 197 dated 5th December 1884 and 87 dated 4th
July , 1889 and Punjab Government letter No. 5 (revenue) dated 8th
January 1914.)
“(1) On the death of any male
pensioner one –half of his pension will
be continued to his direct male heirs, and divided among them according to the
ordinary custom of inheritance; provided that all pensions of not more
than Rs. 50 per annum climbable under
this rule shall be compulsorily commuted at the ordinary rates.
“(2) On the death of any male
pensioner, one half of his pension will be continued to his window (if any) or
(if there are several widows) divided among his widows in equal shares ;
provided that , if the deceased pensioner leaves motherless and unmarried daughter or daughters, the share of his pension to be allotted to his widows or
widow shall be calculated as if the mother or mother’s of such daughters or
daughters were alive.
“(3) On the death of any male
pensioner, other than the head of the house for the time being , leaving
motherless and unmarried daughters , the said daughters of each mother shall receive in equal shares one-half of the pension to
which their mother would have been
entitled under rule-2, in case she had survived her husband.
“(4) On the death of any widow in
receipt of a pension under rule 2, one-half of such pension shall be continued
to her unmarried daughters (if any) upon
equal shares.
(“5) Pensions to widows under rule 2
are life pensions . Pensions of daughters under rule 3 and 4 cease upon death
or marriage of the pensioners; but when they cease for the latter reason the
pensioners are eligible or dowries under the ordinary rules.
(“6) All pensions are held during
the pleasure of Government and subject to the usual conditions of good behavior
, loyalty and service. The local
Government may refuse to grant any pension climbable under these rules, if the
claimant appears to be an unfit recipient of Government bounty.”
189. Pensions
of Anadpur Sodhis.
These rules are applicable to the pensions of the well-known Sodhi family of
Anadpur, in Hoshiarpur , for which indeed they were originally framed.
(Government of India, Foreign Department
No. 1992-G dated 16th October 1884.) But the head of that
family for the time being is in each generation entitled to receive a cash
pension of Rs. 2400 a year. Hence in applying in rules to the Anadpur Sodhis
they must be read with certain additions, “other” being inserted before “male
pensioners” in rule I and “other than the head of the house for the time being”
after “male pensioner” in rule 2.
190. Powers
of collections with reference to Bedi and Sodhi grants. Collections will accordingly be
able to dispose on their own authority of all cases of lapsing Bedi and Sodhi
pensions and jagirs and mafis, only reporting for order of higher authority
cases in which they consider that pensions should be refused or that more
liberal pensions should be allowed, or in which for special reasons they think
that a lapsing grant in the form of a jagir or mafi should be continued in that
form. Cases in which more liberal pensions than the rules allow can properly be
recommended will be extremely rare. But it is probable that some cases will
occur in which it may be advisable to propose continuance, in its original form
of a lapsing life tenure Sodhi or Bedi jagir or mafi grant. Such a proposal
should not however be made unless the release of the grant can be recommended
for some term other than life, such as during the pleasure of Government, in
the case of a very ancient grant held by
a family of some distinction, or during maintenance of a religious or
charitable building or institution , or a roadside garden where such building
or garden is found to exist in connection with the grant and to be worthy of
support. (For further instructions see paragraph 8 of Financial Commissioner’s
Standing order No. 7).
191.191.Policy of Government with
reference to grants in favour of religious and charitable institutions. It
has always been the policy of Government to be especially liberal in
maintaining the grants made by native rulers for the support of religious and
charitable institutions. The orders of Lord Hardinge and Lord Dalhousie on the
subject are given in paragraph 86 and 93, and the rule in force in the Delhi
territory is noted in paragraph 132(d). Orders issued in 1860 required district
officers to regrain from resuming life grants in favour of a mosque or temple,
if the institution was valued by the people and resumption was likely to prove
distasteful to them. Such cases were to be reported for orders . The same
course was to be followed as regards life grants for the support of
dharamsalas, takiyas or khankahs, if resumption would cause “serious
dissatisfaction”.
These injunction were repeated in
more general form in the rules under the Land Revenue Act, XXXIII of 1871, and
in 1881 Settlement Officers were told that grants to religious institutions
released originally for the term of the first regular settlement should be
continued for that the revised settlement , if there were no new or special
reasons to the country. ( Punjab Government No. 447 dated 13 april 1881, and
Financial Commissioner’s circular No. 251 of 1st August 1881. The
same policy is embodied in the more detail in the more detailed instructions
drawn up by Mr. Lyall as Financial commissioner in 1883 quoted below. These
related in the first instance to the treatment of land- revenue assignments in
the Una tahsil of Hoshiarpur which was
under settlement, but they were reproduced in a circular of the Settlement
Commissioner.
192.192.Instructions issued by Mr.
Lyall in 1883. The principles laid down by Mr. Lyall were as follows:-
(i)
(i)
Where the grant is attached to a dharmsala or takiya which still exists, and is
served in the same fashion as at least settlement, the grant should be
maintained subjected to revision by Deputy Commissioner on the death of present
holders, notwithstanding that the building may be only kacha, and that the
grant in value or area may be very petty
and may have originally been granted by the villagers only.
(ii)
(ii)
Where the grant is attached to a thakurdwara, shiwala or khankah consisting
of a mosque or tomb containing a chapel
for prayers it should be maintained for another term of settlement, if the
building be a real religious edifice still kept up as place of worship, whether
in the same village or district or not.
(iii)
(iii)
If the thakurdwara to which the grant is attached is merely the residence of a
Brahmin with a Thakur in some room of it, it should generally be resumed if the
grantee of last settlement is dead and the present holder is not a fit object
of charity.
(iv)
(iv)
Where the grant is not supposed to be attached to any building which worshipers
can enter, but to small erections of the nature of Muhammadan graves, Hindu
cenotaphs , Sarwar Sultan makans, platforms of pirs or devis, & c., the
grant should generally be resumed.
(v)
(v)
Where the grant was given by the villagers to Brahmins for service as pandit ,
pandha , parohit, or acharaj, or to artisans and amins for village service it
should be resumed or at most be only continued for life to old men or women out
of charity.
(vi)
(vi)
If such a grant as that last described was made by a Raja or ruler to a
respectable family of Brahmin parohits as a subsistence grant, it may be
maintained for another term of settlement, if the family is still respected and
engaged in religious offices.
(vii)
(vii)
If the grant was made either by a ruler or by the villagers to men for keeping
a school or for supplying water on a public road to travelers, it should be
treated as a grant for public rather than for village service, and should be
maintained, unless it appears that the original purpose is not fulfilled.”
Where grants were resumed the
villagers we to be given an opportunity of excluding the land from assessment
in distributing the revenue of the estate over holding.
193.193.Proposal to adopt a less
liberal policy as regards petty village mafis. In 1886 the Financial
Commissioner represented that these instructions were too liberal as regards
“petty village muafis”. They wished to draw a broad distinction between
institutions, which benefited only the village in which they were situated and
those, which were places of general, resort. The proposed to resume assignments
in favour of the former so far as Government was concerned, leaving it to the
landowners to continue them, if they pleased, as grants from themselves in the
way described above. They therefore, drafted a circular on “petty village
muafis, of which the second paragraph may be quoted:-
“In general such grants when made
for the term of settlement or for some period not precisely defined (but not
for a life or lives) should be resumed from the date of the introduction of a
new assessment except in cases in which some distinctly public convenience is
secured by their existence. Thus grants to the more important takiyas and
dharamsalas which are situated on roads frequently used by travelers would in
most cases be maintained. The same remarks apply to all schools which are
fairly well managed, even though their pupils may be drawn from single
villages. But grants attached to Muhammadan graves, Hindu cenotaphs, makans of
Sarwar sultan, platforms of pirs and devis and other similar objects are
useless so far as the public good is concerned and should as a general rule be
withdrawn. Similarly grants made to village priests or religious teachers, or
to village menials and artisans should not be continued, nor should grants to
mosques and temples, which are not places of general resort. In fine, the
principle to be borne in mind is the grants in connections with purposes of
general public utility, whether material social or moral should be maintained
but grants in connection with purposes which are either useless or benefit
individual villages only should be resumed the former recipients being left to
the beneficence of those interest in the performance of their functions.
194.194.Rejection of proposal by Mr.
Lyall. 195. Mr. Lyall who was now Lieutenant Governor objected strongly to
the change of policy suggested and refused to sanction the draft circular in
which it was explained. He remarked(Punjab Government No. 70, dated 20th
July 1887)
“His Honor sees no reason for any
change of policy and considers a change
in the direction of less liberality very inexpedient. Any change now-a-days
should be in the opposite direction, as the work reducing the inordinate amount
of revenue assignments in the province has been accomplished and the amount
left is not very great. Mr. Lyall thinks that Settlement Officers and Deputy
Commissioners are apt to be influenced somewhat unduly towards the resumption
of petty grants because they give trouble and because they are, so to speak,
anomalies and awkward exceptions from general revenue rules. But we ought not
be led to adopt a severe and unpopular line of policy by such considerations.
It is well known that m’afis are valued much beyond their worth by the people ,
and sympathy with this feeling should be shown when the money value involved is
not serious.
“The general principle stated in
paragraph 2 of the draft circular that petty village m’afis should as a rule be
resumed from the date of introduction of new assessment, except in case in
which some distinct public convenience is secured by their existence, appears
to His honour to be wrong in itself, a departure from past practice, and
politically very in expedient; and Mr. Lyall thinks that the proposal to extend
this principle to grants made to village priests and religious teachers, or to
village menials and artisans, and to mosques and temples which are not
places of general resort, is far too sweeping . The rule given in paragraph 34 of
appendix III to Barkley’s Directions to
Settlement Officers, page 38 is still substantially in force as indicating the
right policy that is to say it is
expedient that all endowments bona fide made for the maintenance of religious
establishments or buildings are kept up, provided that when such grants are of
great value they should be restricted to such smaller amounts as it may be
thought politically expedient to grant. Where the terms of the original orders
were release during maintenance or during the pleasure of Government “ The
settlement Officer or Deputy Commissioner can only propose an alteration if he
finds the establishments or buildings not kept up for their original purposes.
When however, the original order was for release for the term of settlement,
the case is different. Such cases are provided for by paragraph 2 of this
office letter No. 447, dated 13th April 1881, published with
Financial Commissioner’s circular No. S.IX/25-S of 1st August, 1881.
“in the case of all grants for life
or lives, except Bedi and Sodhi grants, the Deputy Commissioner or Settlement
Officer can resume in the ordinary course in accordance with the original terms
of release. But the case of grants for the term of settlement is peculiar as
the meaning of these orders was not that the grants should be resumed at the
end of the term of settlement , but merely that they might be reconsidered at the end of that term , and the intention
was no doubt that expressed in paragraph 2 of the letter of the Punjab Government above referred to
viz, that in default of special reasons or new orders such grants would ordinarily be continued if
no material change in character had occurred.
“As regards resumption of life
m’afis on lapse, no new orders are necessary in the case of purely personal
grants, which do not purport to benefit
other persons than the holders; but it is advisable that the Settlement Officer
should take the opportunity of the settlement to review the case of all life
m’afis which appear to have been granted in return for service of any kind to
the public or to the people of the village, or to be connected with any
institution such as a school, temple , mosque dharamsala , or takiya. The
original orders sanctioning for life only were very hurriedly made ,and in many
cases were treated differently in different districts; in some the release was
ordinarily allowed for life of the
holder ; in other s for the term of settlement . Hence it has been the practice
to permit and encourage reconsideration’s in such cases on lapse. But this is
very troublesome and inconvenient and tends to very unequal treatment. Hence it
is advisable that the Settlement Officer should generally review such cases,
whether lapse had occurred or not and if he thinks the grant should be
continued for a longer term that the life of the incumbent, he should enter the
case in a register for report, and should generally propose to release for the
term of settlement as that is safest and
allows reconsideration’s.
“In respect to purely village
service or village institution m’afis, of which the sanctioned term is for the
period of settlement or for life, the
Settlement Officer should be empowered in the case of petty grants of not more
than 3 acres in extent to practically resume at settlement , so far as
Government is concerned (without , however , actual imposing any assessment or
bringing the land into calculation in fixing the jama of the village) by
recording orders in the m’afimisl and
the fard lakhiraj that the grant shall be struck off the fard lakhiraj and the
registers, and the land be included at the bachh in the maiguizari area, with
permission, however , to the azmindars if the majority so wish to exclude the land from the bachh
during their pleasure . In such cases, if the zamindars decide to exclude the
fact will be noted in the bachh rubkar and the land will be held revenue free
from the azmindars only but as far as Government is concerned , will be
considered as khalsa. The adoption of this procedure will place a number of these petty grants in
their proper position of grants held from the zamindars . They were originally
allowed by the Government at the request of the zamindars but by granting them independently of the zamindars
wishes and authority we have altered their character in an undesirable way ,
the exclusions of the grants from there gestures will save much trouble at a
very slight loss to Government , which loss will only be for the term of the settlement. But this
procedure should not be followed where
there are clearly no grounds for continued. In life tenure m’afis of this kind,
where the term has not yet lapsed, the
case cannot , of course be so treated , but the order may be passed that
at the death of the holder the m’afi will be assessed and the revenue will go to the village malba.”
195.195.Special treatment of village
grants of an annual value not exceeding Rs. 20. The special treatment
sanctioned for village m’afis of not more than three acres really met the
wishes of the Financial Commissioners to
a large extent, for may of the grants with which their circular dealt were very
petty, the limit has since been raised
from “three acres “ to “an annual value of Rs. 20 must be extremely small.
196.196.Existing orders as to small village grants . the orders of Sir James Lyall quoted in paragraph 194 had later been interpreted by Government as involving a distinction between (a) m’afis for the maintenance of “religious establishments or buildings for public accommodation” and (b) m’afis of the annual value of Rs. 20 or less for the maintenance or other institutions or for village services, and the collector’s power to enforce the lapse of term-expired grants of the former class had been withdrawn. A decisions whether an establishment is really religious or not will often be facilitated by application of the principles contained in sections (ii), (iii) and iv of paragraph All grants of class (a) should on expiry of the term of release be reported for the orders of the Financial Commissioner. If the establishment or building concerned is properly maintained , the m’afi should usually be recommended for continuation for another term of settlement under paragraph 51 of standing Order No. 7 If it is proposed to enforce the lapse of the assignment the grounds for resuming e.g., failure to maintain the establishment or building should be reported and the orders of the Financial Commissioner obtained. In case of grants of class (b) the existing order are :-
“The Settlement Officer is empowered to adopt either of three courses ;-
(1) (1) In the case of unexpired life m’afis he may either record that on expiry they should be resumed and assessed in the ordinary way or he may report them to Financial Commissioner for sanction to maintain them for the term of the new settlement , should that be longer than the life term already sanctioned;
(2) (2) In the case of m’afis for term of settlement only , he may either resume and assess in the ordinary way; or
(3) (3) He may resume as a grant from government but leave the land assessed for one period of settlement in order to see whether the zamindars will agree to continue the m’afis as a grant from themselves by kharij parta arrangement.
In the letter case orders will be recored in the m’afi misl and the fard lakhiraj that the grant shall be struck off the fard lakhiraj and there glisters and the land be included at the bachh in the maiguzari area, with permission, however , to the zamindars, if the majority so wish to exclude the land from the batch during their pleasure. The object of these instructions is to put these small m’afis on their original footing of lands released by the zamindars. In order to effect this change more smoothly and with as few resumption’s as possible on the part of the villagers , the Government agrees to give up for one settlement the revenue which might have been assessed on these resumed m’afis. By this procedure it costs the villagers nothing to continue the grant as one from themselves and they are therefore more likely to adopt this course. At the same time if they do elect to assess these plots it becomes clear that the assessment is their work and not ours. “
It is of course open to the Collector of a district to propose that a life m’afi for village service or in favour of a village institution the term of which has expired by the death of the holder should be continued for the period of the current settlement of the district.
197.197.Assessment of lands of which the revenue is assigned. The law and practice as regards the assessment of lands of which the revenue is assigned are explained in paragraphs 180-81 of the Settlement Manual . It is rarely necessary for the Collector to make a new assessment when a grant is resumed. The following orders which were previously Land Revenue rules 214 and 215 and issued under section 59 of the Land Revenue Act provide that :-
(a) (a) When in any district or tahsil an assignment of land revenue’s is resumed , if that land revenue was assessed in the same from and by the same method as that in and by which land revenue paid to government on the same estate or on adjacent estates was assessed at the last general assessment , no new assessment of the resumed assignment shall be made until a general re-assessment of the district or tahsil is undertaken.
(b) (b) If the land revenue enjoyed by the assignee was not so assessed , or if where the assignee was himself the landowner no assessment of his land has hitherto been made the Collector shall assess land revenue on the land of which the revenue has been resumed in conformity with the principles and Instructions on which the current assessment of the tahsil or district was made.”
“Care should however, be taken that the land revenue imposed on such land does not raise the total assessment of the circle in which it is situated to more than one fourth of the net assets of the circle. If the land forms parts of an estate and is not excluded from the provisions of section 51(3) by section 51(4) of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 , this object can in most cases be secured for all practical purposes by providing that the average rate of incidence on such land does not exceed the average rate of the estate in which it is included . Any case in which this is not suitable , as for example of specially valuable land should be referred for orders . If however, the land consists of a fresh estate, the rate of incidence of the assessment imposed thereon should not be such as to raise the existing average rate of incidence of the assessment circle beyond the limit prescribed in section 51(3).
198. Revisions of assessment and suspensions and remission. The owners of land of which the revenue is assigned are entitled to exactly the same treatment as regards revision of assessment and suspensions and remissions on account of calamities of season , as the proprietors khalsa lands. (Financial Commissioner’s Book circular No. LIII of 1860. Special vigilance is required in enforcing this principle where a jagridar is still allowed to collect the revenue direct from the landowners.
199. Jurisdiction of civil courts as regards assignments barred between annexation and 1867. Lord Dalhousie’s declaration that “by our occupation of the country , after the whole Sikh nation had been in arms against us we have acquired the absolute right of conquers and would be justified in declaring every acre of land liable to Government assessment” has already been quoted (paragraph 89) Commenting on this in the case of sardar Bhagwan Singh versus . The Secretary of State (Punjab Record, 1875, No. 1), the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council observed –
It appears to their Lordships that by these directions to the Board it was contemplated by the Governor –General to make what may be called a tabula Rasa of tenures of this kind and to re-grant them on terms entirely at the discretion of the British government the Government no doubt intending to act with allfairness and consideration, especially to those who appear to have been not unfaithful to them , but at the same time in a manner which appeared right and just to themselves and which they did not intend to be inquired into or questioned by any Municipal Courts.”
The Board of Administration ruled in 1853 that the civil courts should not take orgnizance of claims of relatives to participation under the general laws cognizance of claims of relatives to participation under the general laws of inheritance in rent free holdings which have been conferred on particular individual by orders of government .(Board circular No 5 of 1853.) . And by sections 1 –10 of first part of the Punjab Civil Code, punished in 1854 , the jurisdiction of these courts was barred as regards “any matter relating to jagir rent-free tenures , or tenures of other grants made by Government * * * * * or to the succession thereto , or to the shares , rights and interest theirin * * * * *but, if the jagirdars or m’afidars shall have farmed those rents or revenues to a third party , possessing no proprietary rights in the estate, then suits between the jagirdar or m’afidar and such third party may be entertained by the courts “
The first Code of Civil Procedure was extended to the Punjab from 1st October , 1866 and between 1867 and 1871, when the Pensions Act was passed, the Chief Court claimed and in a few instances exercised , jurisdiction in jagir cases.
200. Provisions of the pensions Act, XXIII of 1871. The matter has been finally settled by sections 4 to 6 Act XXIII of 1871 which provide that :-
“4. Except as hereinafter provided , no civil court shall entertain any suit relating to any pensions or grant of money or land revenue conferred or made by the British or any former Government , whatever may have been consideration for any such pension or grants and whatever may have the nature of the payment , claim or right , for which such pension or grant may have been substituted.
“5. Any person having a claim relating to any such pension or grant may prefer such claim to the Collector of the district *** or other officer authorized in this behalf by the Local Government and such Collector ** * * *or other officer shall dispose of such claim in accordance with such rules as the Chief Revenue Authority may subject to the general control of the Local government from time to time prescribed in this behalf.
“6. A civil court, otherwise competent to try the same shall take cognizance of any such claim upon receiving a certificate from such Collector * * * or other officer authorized in that behalf that the case may be so tried, but shall not make any order or decree in any suit whatever by which the liability or Government to pay any such pension or grants as aforesaid is affected directly or indirectly.”
201. 201. Cases in which a certificate may be granted. Rules 8 and 9 issued under section 14 of Act XXIII of 1871 (Financial Commissioners notification No. 22 dated 3rd February , 1910 , and Punjab Land ) provide that :-
8. When a claim relating to a hereditary pension or grant of money or land revenue is preferred to a Deputy Commissioner under section 5 of the Act, and the inheritance of any other property or of a share in the property of a Hindu joint family is in dispute between he parties, the Deputy Commissioner may with the sanction of the Financial Commissioner certify that such may be tried by a civil court . Such certificate shall be forward by a civil court having jurisdiction in regard to the other property in dispute.
“9. When a claim relating to a hereditary pension or grant of money or land revenue which is according to law or by the terms of the grant , transferable, is preferred to a Deputy Commissioner under section 5 of the Act. The Deputy Commissioner may certify that such claim may be tried by a civil court.”
The second rule refers to assignments in the Delhi territory made before its annexation to the Punjab (paragraph 128-133)
202. 202. Recovery of cost of assessment from jagirdars. The rules regarding the recovery from jagirdars of the cost of the assessment of 2nd of which the revenue is assigned will be found in appendix XIX of the Settlement Manual.
BOOK II
ORGANIZATION FOR
PURPOSES OF LAND ADMINISTRATION
203. Revenue divisions, districts and
tahsils. For the
purposes of revenue management, the Punjab divided into 29 district, each in
charge of a Deputy commissioner or Collector. These districts are grouped into
five divisions, each under a commissioner. The commissioner exercises control
over all the revenue officers and courts in his division and is himself subject
to the general superintendence and control of the Financial Commissioner, who,
under the Revenue Member of Government, is the head of the revenue
administration. At the headquarters of a district there are in addition to a
large ministerial staff, several officers appointed by the local Government who
exercise executive and judicial functions under the orders of the Deputy
Commissioner. They are known as assistant commissioners if they are members of
the Indian Civil service, and as Extra Assistant Commissioners if they belong
to the Punjab civil service. One of these assistant or Extra Assistant
Commissioners , chosen for his special aptitude for revenue work, and called
the Revenue Assistant, devotes almost the whole of his time to business
connected with land administration. A district is divided into several tehsils,
to each of which a tehsildar and naib-tehsildar are appointed. The Poisson of
the naib-tahsilder with reference to the tahsilder are appointed. The Poisson
of the naib-tahsildar with reference to the tahsidar is like that of an
Assistant Commissioner with reference to
the head of the distrait. Tahsildars and naib-tahsildars exercise
administrative and judicial functions
within the limits of their own tahsils.
In the few there are two naib-tahsildars. In such cases the one who possesses
the larger experience sometimes has a definite part of the tahsil assigned to
him as a sub-tahsil within the limits of which he resides. In the saw way in
some districts one or more thrills are formed into an outpost or sub-division,
and put in special charge of a resident Assistant or Extra Assistant
Commissioner. Within his own sub-division such an officer performs all the
duties usually entrusted to a Revenue Assistant.
204. Villages and zails - The unit of revenue administration
in the Punjab is the estate or mahal. Which is usually is enticed width the
village or mauza. Of these estates
,large and small, a tahsil as a rule, contains from two to four hundred . each
of them is separately assessed to land revenue which it is the business of the
duty commissioner to collect and has a separate record of rights and register
of fiscal and agricultural statistics , which it is his duty to maintain. All
its proprietors are by law jointly responsible for the payment of its land
revenue, and in their dealings with Government they are represented by one or
more headmen or lambardars. The bound which unites the proprietary body may be
a strong and natural, or a weak and artificial, one. At the one end of the
scale are the compact village communities of Rohtak and Karnal, whose
landowners are held together by real or assumed ties of kinship; at the other.
The estates of the south-western Punjab. Which are often mere collections of
independent well holdings. While in the new colonies there is little bond
beyond such similarities of tribe, religion and home of the original colonists
as the colonization officer may had been able to secure. No deputy commissioner
can rightly perform his duties without a full knowledge of the land tenures of
his district. A careful perusal of the gazetteer ,and the reports of past
settlements, will supply the foundation, but the superstructure must be built
up by personal observation and enquiry and by the examination of village note
books and records of rights. The village system of north western India,
properly organized and wisely worked forms a powerful engine of administration.
To make it still more effective clusters of villages which are quitted by the
bond of tribal or historical
association, or of common interests, are usually formed into circles or zails
over each of which the appointed a zaildar chosen by the Deputy commissioner
from among the leading village headmen. The jaildars receive their emoluments
from Government by the deduction from the land revenue, the headmen are paid by
the communities which they represent by the surcharge of five percent on the
revenue. Together they form the valuable unofficial agency, through which the
deputy commissioner and the tahsildar convey the wishes of the government to
the people and secure the carrying out of their own orders.
205. patwaris’ and kanungos’ circles. But there is also an official chain
connecting the village which the tehsil for the purpose of the maintains
of revenue records and agricultural
statistics, estates are grouped into small circles to each of which a patwari
or village register is appointed. About twenty of these circles form the charge
of a field kanungo, whose duty it is to
supervise the work of the patwaris.
Kanungos are servants of Government .
206
206
The director of land records. To aid
deputy commissioners and commissioners in the maintenance of records of rights
and revenue registers, and to advise the Financial commissioners and Government
on these matters and on measures for the promotion of agricultural efficiency,
an officer known as the director of land
Records, is appointed. He has no administrative functions; his business is to
inspect, advise, record or lesson the powers and responsibilities belonging to
Deputy commissioners and commissioners and to the financial commissioners in
connection with every batch of revenue administration.
207. Duties of Director of land Records. Among the principle duties of the
director of land Records are-
(a) (a) the supervision of
the patwari and kanungo agency and the inspection of the records of rights and statistical records compiled
through its means. The posting of settlement kanungos and maps. His duties with
regard to settlements and defined in appendix vi-B of the Settlement Manual;
(b) (b) the control of the income
and expenditure of mutation fees and of all expenditure on contingencies
connected with the kanungo and patwari establishment and with the revenue records;
(c) (c) crop, price and
weather reports, return of wages and of agricultural statistics, crop
experiments by district officers and cattle census;
(d) (d) rain-gauges
The director of land records brings to the notice of the deputy
commissioner or commissioner any failure to carry out properly the provisions
regarding these matters contained on the land revenue Act and rules or in
administrative instructions issued by the Financial commissioners. On points of
detail his recommendations should usually be accepted as those of an expert
charged with duties of a technical character. But all doubtful and important
questions should be referred by the
director for the orders of the Financial commissioner. when a districts under
settlement., or when special measures adopting taken for the bringing of maps and records up to
date as preliminary to re-assessment, the Director will make this reports to
the Financial commissioner. He must not himself issue instructions to the officer on charge. Any orders which the
Financial commissioner may issues will be sent through the commissioner. In
other cases reports by the Director of Land Records on his inspections of the
land records if any distract are submitted to the commissioner of the division.
The Director of Land Records is also inspector-General of Registration.
208. Duties of Director of agriculture. In order to promote the technical efficiency
of Agriculture a separate department has
been consisted under a director. The director of agriculture has charge of the
following subjects.
(a) (a) agricultural
education and research at the Punjab agriculture college and research
institute, Lyallpur, and at the agricultural farms.
(b) (b) Experimental seed and
demonstration farms.
(c) (c) Agricultural
engineering, including well- boring lift irrigation, implements etc.
(d) (d) Measures for encouraging the adoption of improved seed,
implements methods of cultivation, and for controlling plant diseased, insects
pests etc.
(e) (e) Agricultural
associations , competitions, exhibitions and produce shows.
(f) (f) Rural industries ,
silk, bees, lac and poultry.
(g) (g) Crop experiments
when carried out by officers of the department.
(h) (h) The Lawrence gardens,
Lahore.
(i) (i) Administration
of the cotton ginning and pressing factories act of 1925.
(j) (j) Crop forecasts.
208-A. Development of agriculture Department. The need for more attention being
paid to the application of science to agriculture was repeatedly brought to the
notice of the Government of India , and in 1871 a department of revenue, agriculture
and commerce was established. In the provinces the subject of agricultural
improvement was similarly allotted to the revenue department, but little was
done beyond the organization of a system of agricultural statistics and few attempts at the introduction of
implements and seeds from abroad. The famine commission of 1880 made a through
review of the whole agricultural situation and recommended, amongst other
matters, the constitution of an agricultural department each province with a
director at its head; this departments main functions were to be agricultural
enquiry and improvement and famine
relief. The next ten years saw many conferences and the position in the
provinces was carefully investments to the royal agricultural society , to
advise as to the best methods of applying to Indian agriculture the teaching of
agricultural chemistry and his recommendations were later embodied in his book
“ the improvement of Indian agriculture .” shortly after the government of
India began to recruit of its first experts, but little progress in this
direction was made in the provinces until the famine commission of 1901
recommended the strengthening of the expert stead in the provinces; Lord
curzon’s government took speedy action on these recommendations, and the
dispatch to the secretary of state of 1905 led to the inauguration of a
separate department of agriculture in 1906. Previous to this, the only attempt
at experiment on modern lines had been confined to the farm of 56 acres opened
at Lyallpur . in 1901 which was staffed with agricultural assistants trained at
cawnpore. The first deputy director of agricultural was sanctioned in 1904, and
about the same time the province shared an economic Botanist with the united
provinces.
The
dispatch to the secretary of state above mentioned(no. 16, dated 12th
jan.1905)enunciated the following policy:-
“in
a country s largely agricultural as India, a government which owns the largest
landed estate in the world, should do far more than we are now doing for the improvements
of local agriculture. The ultimate aim, which we set before ourselves, is the
establishment of an experiments farm in each large tract of country , of which
the agricultural college, teaching up to a three years course in each of the
larger provinces, and the provision of and expert staff in connection with
these colleges for purposes of research as well as of education …. These
establishment of seed and demonstration farms will certainly form part of our
program.”
In the same year the government of India
announced their policy of setting aside annually a sum of twenty lakhs of
rupees, subsequently increased to Rs. 24 lakhs, for the development of
agricultural research, experiment, demonstration and education in the
provinces. The aim was to establish agricultural colleges, with expert staffs,
for instruction and research under a whole time director and the experts were
provided for by the constitution of an imperial agricultural service 1906.
Progress along the lines prescribed in 1905 continued steadily, except for the
interruption caused by the war, until the introduction of the reforms.
With
the inauguration of the reforms scheme in 1921, agriculture became a
transferred department under the charge of a minister. The functions of the
department are divided into three main heads:-
(1) (1) education;
(2) (2) research and
investigation;
(3) (3) demonstration and
propaganda.
Education:- the Punjab agricultural college,
Lyallpur, was opened in September, 1909. Its main object is to give such
training in scientific agriculture as will enable the student to promote the
progress of agriculture in the providence on the most approved modern lines. In
1917 the institution was affiliated to the Punjab university , and since then
it has had a four years degrees course. Combined with the college is a well
equipped research institute which is the main center of agricultural research
in the province.
The botanical section of the
research institute works on improved types of wheat’s, cotton, grams, barleys,
millets oil seeds, fodder crops, etc. and also deals with fruit cultivation and
mycological problems.
The chemical section undertakes
analytic work on soils, manure’s, fodders, etc. the determination of the
nutritive value of crops and other animal foods work on the reclamation of bara
lands; bacteriological research, including seed inoculation, etc.
The entomological section conducts
researches on insect and other animal pests, and studies means to combat them.
It also deals with sericulture
apiculture and lac-culture.
The engineering section so engaged
on the preparation of schemes for lift irrigation, the augmentation of water
from ordinary wells and the installation
of tube wells . it also conducts research work on well boring machines
strainers, agricultural implements etc.
Investigations conducted outside the
Lyallpur institution –there are experimental farms at Gurdaspur, Hansi, Sirsa,
Lyallpur, multan, montgomery, rawa;pindi and sargodha, in addition to various
seed and demonstration farms. The experimental farms carry out experiment with
different types of crops in order to ascertain their suitability to particular
tacts, to show the effects of different methods of cultivation, irrigation and
manuring, and to test the relative usefulness of different types of
agricultural implements. They also afford demonstrations to the zamindars who
visit them.
Demonstration and propaganda – this
work is conducted by means of demonstration plots established on cultivators
fields throughout the provide, also by demonstrations of implements and
exhibition of crop produce at fairs and other gatherings of farmers, sale of
seed from department, district lectures, ploughing matches, campaigns for the
eradication of crop pests, agriculture; association, department publications etc.
209. Duties of the director of veterinary
services. In order to encourage all possible measures for the prevention of
cattle disease, the cure of sick or injured animals and for the improvement of
the breeds, a separate veterinary department has been constituted under a
director of veterinary services, the director, veterinary services has charge
of the following subjects;-
(a) (a) veterinary education
at the Punjab veterinary college Lahore.
(b) (b) Veterinary research.
(c) (c) Treatment of cattle
disease throughout the province , and of equine disease in the “non selected”
districts.
(d) (d) Cattle breeding throughout
the province, and horse breeding in the “non selected districts.
(e) (e) Supervision of horse
and cattle fairs and shows.
(f) (f) Control of the veterinary
arrangements in Delhi and north –west fronter provinces.
(g) (g) General control of
veterinary dispensaries and buildings.
209-A. General
development of the civil veterinary department. Cattle –breeding far at Hissar has an area of
42,000 acres, and is thus the largest of India: it was originally established
in 1809 for camel- breeding, but work was the supply of artillery and ordnance
bullocks. In 1899 the charge of the farm was transferred to the civil
veterinary department of the government of India and on the abolition of the
post of inspector general . it was transferred by the government of India to
the Punjab government. Since then it has been the largest single source of
pedigree bulls in the province, and has produced over 4,000 of these for
service in villages. It is estimated that over 3,000 of there are still
available and the number turned out at Hissar is sufficient to replace
casualties and added to the total bull- power of the province. Most of the
bulls are supplied to district boards at confessional rates.
Liberal grants are given annually
for the improvements of the Dhanni and Hariana breeds of cattle to the
following district boards on suitable conditions:-
Attock, rawalpindi,
jhelum, shahpur and mianwali district boards, for the improvements of the
dhanni breed of cattle.
Hissar, rohtak and
gurgaon district boards, for the improvements of the Hariana breed.
In accordance with the
policy of the department to concentrate attention on certain areas best suited
for cattle- breeding, the above system of grants was introduced for the dhanni
cattle tract in 1919-20 and for the hariana cattle tract in 1924-25.
Five cattle farms of a total area
about 15,300 areas have been allotted to grantees in the lower Bari Doab Canel
Colony. Out of these , 2 are intended for pure-breed Montgomery cattle and the
remaining 3 for Hissar cattle. In addition, a grantee dairy farm comprising an
area of 485 acres, has been started in the town of Montgomery. Besides, there
are in the neighborhood of shergarh, district Montgomery,” shergarh small
holders grants” comprising 218 ½
rectangles of land in 7 different chaks. The condition on which the grants are
allotted is that the grantee must maintain two cows of the Montgomery breed
approved by the veterinary department for each rectangle of 25 acres.
209-B. Erosion. Erosion is the collector’s worst enemy. It occurs in both cultivated and in
uncultivated land and an instance of the disastrous effects it can have. Will
be seen in chapter vi (728 and following paragraphs)
(1) Cultivated land- When rain falls
on sloping land, it will, unless checked. Flow away down hill carrying with it
part of the top-soil and leaching out valuable chemicals form the rest of the
top-soil. In addition so much water which might have soaked into the ground to
reinforce the sub-soil moisture and so keep the field moist till the next
shower, is utterly lost. The top-soil contains most of the fertility to the
soil and as both manure and rain are all too limited in many parts of the Punjab,
they must be most carefully preserved noticed either by the cultivator or by
the revenue staff.”
The
next stage is “gully erosion” the surface of sloping cultivation is generally
uneven and is characterized by longitudinal depressions which even if they are
barely perceptible, draw off water from the land on the both sides of them.
Water flow from the higher ground into these drainage lines increasing the
volume and speed. The result is increased erosion align the depressions : the
water cuts downwards and backwards into the fields, forming gullies which
increase in size according to the steeples of the slope and area and promote
desiccation by acceleration the drying out of the sub-soil moisture. This form
of damage, called gully erosion, is fortunately obvious to everyone.
Practically all land in the Punjab
lies on slope, almost imperceptible in
irrigated fields, but generally noticeable in barani lands, irrigated land is
usually protected by the banks called wats of dauls made for retaining the irrigation
water. Unirrigated lands require the same kind of protection and require also
to be leveled so that rain water shall be evenly on them and not of top soil.
Careful owners terrace and embank their fields, thus increasing the available
moisture in the soil and conserving fertility by preventing the valuable
top-soil from being eroded. but many landlords are careless and neglect this
duties to the land. Both gully and sheet erosion occur in sloping fields and in
fields which are not embanked or where the banks are neglected and allowed to
break. Much land can be lost in a very short time and once gone can never be
recovered. At the best, the top-soil, instead of being improved by farming, as
it should be, steadily deteriorates through erosion. Where conditions of slope
and soil however are favourable for such a
thing to happen, heavy rainstorms may wash away the shoal of the
top-soil ,leaving the farmer to start allover again, with only the criss-cross
marks of the plough tip on top of the hard sub-soil to remind him of his
precious labours.
Land well terraced and embanked does not erode, and wherever the
slope is appreciable fields must be labeled and embanked. The principle is that
where rain falls there it must stay until it has either soaked in or the
cultivator has done with it there is ordinarily no harm in bringing sloping
ground under cultivation if this observed; but the indiscriminate breaking up
of slopes means the rapid destruction of
their value and must be resisted by all means possible.
The hard
surface of follow land resist the absorption of rain water and contributes
largely to the amount of run –off from a given area. Recently ploughed land
will absorb rainfall and therefore the breaking up of stubble’s by dry
proughing if necessary, as soon s possible after harvest, should be given every
encouragement.
Unassored storm water standing for
long in terraced fields with clay soils is, however, harmful to certain crops,
and where conditions indicate the necessity for it the field system should be
such as to ensure the draining await harmlessly of the surplus water.
Water gathering volume and force as
to flows and soon becomes uncontrollable, making it offer impossible for the
landowners lower down the slopes to protect their fields till the water has
been brought under control higher up. This implies collective action on the
part of the zamindars, and soil conservation, therefore, requires organization
and is eminently suited to co-operative enterprise; but all cases the attention of the revenue staff
will make it easier to accomplish and to maintain.
Consolidation of holdings can often be of
great assistance giving each landholders control of as much as possible of the
catchment area of his fields, sitting the boundaries of the holdings along the
contours and enabling drains to be provided for surplus storm water.
Where holdings are large, the fields
at a distance from the abide are often very much neglected, and being in the
hands of temporary tenants with no interest in improving the soil, they suffer
most from erosion.
(2) Uncultivated land:- it is
unusual to terrace and embank uncultivated land and therefore it must be
protected from sheet and gully erosion by
adequate cover or mat of vegetation, either grail, bushes or trees or a
mixture of all there. If left to itself, nature will maintain a balance and
there will be no serious erosion, but if grazing, browning, and the feeling and
lopping of trees are uncontrolled, both sheet and gully erosion will start
causing all the harm described above. The technique of erosion is simple. The
removal of vegetation exposes the soil, the feet of the animals break it up and
the rain washes it away. The top soil goes, the good grasses die out, the trees
are unable to reproduce themselves , the hillside becomes dry and unstable.
Landslides start, and those who depend on the hillsides, both man and beast,
find their livelihood reduced. Storm water, no longer impeded and restrained by
vegetation, rushes down the slopes to the streams and fails to percolate into
the soil, with the result that the sub-soil water level sinks both in the hills
and in the plains below, the violence of the floods in the plains is increased
fertile land is covered with sand, fields and villages are cut away, vast
quantities of silt choke the canals and river beds, the hillsides and hill
streams quickly dry up after the monsoon, and the run –off of the rivers during
the dry seasons is seriously reduced.
There are several ways of dealing
with uncultivated land. Where there is no valuable tree crop the shamilat may
be partitioned with advantage, when every owner puts a dry stone wall or a
thorn fence round his share and protects it from outside men and beasts.
Panchayats of co-operative societies with expert supervision may organize the
preservation and utilization of common grazing grounds and forests or
government may use the chos act of the forest act to exercise control through
its own servants. A hillside yields most grass, timber and other produce when
there is no gracing or browing , when the grail is cut with a sickle the trees
felled when mature and the fodder trees are lopped in rotation, and timber cut
no faster than it can be replaced by fresh growth. The interest of both
government and villager, therefore, are best served by strict preservation of
the hillsides and the stall-feeding of cattle. In certain circumstances,
however and under strict control, grassing and browsing are harmless but they
can only be safety done under the guidance of experts and where the fertility
of the locality is such that the rate of recovery of the grass and bushes
equals or exceeds the rate of their consumption by animals.
Where erosion is serious, whether in
cultivated of uncultivated land, the result is the formation of board sandy nullahs,
which are continually widening at the expense of the cultivated lands on both
banks, and cause increasing devastation throughout their course. Although these
torrents-such a torrent is called a chain the siwaliks and a has in the salt
range-often take their rise in the hills, they usually get most of their water
from cultivated lands. Once counter erosion measures have begun to take effect
in the catchment area of a kas of cho, reclamation of the cho-bed itself can
start and the co-operative method is particularly helpful in this work.
The people themselves have a shrewd
knowledge both of the evil and of its cure. Good cattle are never driven on to
a hillside to graze. They are tied up and stall-fed. When shamlat land has been
partitioned, may owners carefully protect their own share. In general however,
the people are disorganized and what is every men’s care is no one’s. moreover,
the people treatment of hillsides and grazing grounds involves a complete
changing of the whole routine of work and life and in what country will
villagers adopt new methods willingly? The menace, however is insistent. The
top-soil of an agricultural country is its principal capital asset and those
who left it be washed away are not only losing their own livelihood but are robbing
posterity and the nation. Nothing therefore must be left undone to enable the
best use to be made of the rain to preserve the soil and to increase its
fertility. The revenue staff is expected to do everything possible to ensure
that methods of cultivation and pastoral habits and practices shall be such as
to secure the stability of the soil both in fields and pastures. It is the duty
of the collector to study the land fr which he is responsible, to in list the
goodwill and co-operation of the villagers, and with the assistance of the
forest and other departments to apply whatever methods are best suited to the
people and the locality for the checking of erosion and the conservation of the
soil both in cultivated and in uncultivated land.”
CHAPTER V
210. Revenue officers under the land revenue and
tenancy acts. The
Deputy commissioner as the head of the revenue administration of his district
is known as the collector, and his assistants, including tahsildars and
nain-tehsildars as assistant collectors of the first of second grade. Under the
land revenue and tenancy acts there are the sane classes of revenue officers,
and a revenue officer of any grade so deemed to be a revenue court of the same
grade. The powers of the collector and assistant collectors as revenue officers
are described in the next chapter, and their jurisdiction as revenue courts in
chapter XXIII On first appointment , assistant commissioners and extra
assistant commissioner, exercise ex-officio the powers of assistant collectors
of the second grade. As soon as they have been invested with second class
magisterial and civil powers, they become ipso facto assistant collectors of
the first grade. Tehsidars and naib-tehsildars,as such are assistant collectors
of the second grade but the former may be appointed assistant collector of the
first grade. The deputy commissioner is a collector by virtue of his office,
under the acts and so it is not necessary to gazette him such powers but the
local government nay confer all of any of the powers of a collector on any
other revenue officer in the district. When a general reassessment is in
progress, it is usual to give to the settlement officer all the powers of a
collector under the land revenue act, except those which relate to the
collection of revenue. Instruction as to the division of work between the
deputy commissioner and the settlement officer will be found in appendix vi of
the settlement manual.
211. Revenue officers also magistrates. The collectors and his assistant’s
are also magistrates. This concentration in a single hand of executive and
judicial functions has been a subject of controversy. The advantages resulting
from it were thus set forth by Thomason-
“the influence and the opportunity of beneficial exertion which result
from this are great . it is essential to the advancement of the public
interests, entrusted the collector that complete security of life and property
should exist throughout the district. It is essential to the development of
industry that all lawless violence should be repressed, and so repressed as
least to interfere with the comfort and welfare of the peaceful and well
disposed. The strong establishments in the revenue department may be made the
efficient agents for strengthening and regulating the police, and the
magistrate, in the discharge of his duties as collector, will have opened out
to him channels of information and sources of influence which when duly
improved, cannot fail to exercise a most beneficial effect.”
212. Relations of
deputy commissioner with officers of other departments. Thomson’s remarks on the many-sided
character of a deputy commissioner’s work are also worth quoting-
“nothing can pass the district of
which it is not the duty of the collector to keep himself informed and to watch
the operation. The vicissitudes if trade, the administration of civil justice,
the progress of public works, must all affect materially the interests of the
classes of whom he is the constituted guardian. Officers interference in
matters beyond his immediate control must be avoided, but temperate and
intelligent remonstrance against anything which he sees to be wrong so one of
his most important duties.” !
if he shows tact and discretion, and cultivates personal relates
with officers of other departments employed in his district, he will usually
find that they are ready to attend carefully to any representations which he
finds it his duty to make to them. The administration of civil justice is no
longer within his orbit, but even here it is his duty to report to his
commissioner matters affecting the welfare and contentment of the people.
213. Cancelled.
214. Qualification
required for successful district administration. To manage a district successfully require qualities rarely
found united in a single person. No man can properly represent government to
the people who is lacking in sympathy or in the power of conversing with them
easily in their own tongue. But to these qualities must be added patience and
promptitude, tact and firmness, accessibility without familiarity, a Sherwood
appreciation of knowledge of the details of all branches of his duty and great
capacity for personal exertion, with a willingness to hand over to trustworthy
subordinates a large share of the work, while maintaining complete control over
the machinery of administration. One great secret of success is the power of
making full use of assistants in all
grades. The collector who insists on doing everything himself is sure to
leave many things undone and to fritter away on small details time that should
be devoted to more important matters. At
the same time ,he is responsible for and bound to control, all the doings of
his subordinates ,and there is nothing they more readily believe then that this
or that official, whose duties bring him much in contact with his master has an
unique influence over him. The work should be carefully laid out the part of it
which is entrusted to each officer and the limits within which he may act in his
own authority being explained to him. No one can do this who has not himself a
thorough acquaintance with every branch of district work and of the powers and
capacities of his establishment it may be said that much of the success of
district administration depends on accuracy of judging of how much may suitability be left to others
and how much must be done by the deputy commissioner himself.
215. Aids to rapid
acquisition of knowledge of a district. Every deputy commissioner is bound, when
making over charge, to hand to his successor a confidential memorandum calling
his attention to the most important features of the district administration and
supplying him with notes as to the chief matters which are pending and as to
the character and capabilities if his principal subordinates. Much information
regarding the district lies ready to hand in the gazetteer and on settlement
and assessment reports. If these sources of information are supplemented by
diligent personal enquiry and systematic touring, it is possible to
obtain a real grasp of the work in a comparatively short space of time.
216 216 Cancelled
217. Extra assistant commissioners and
tahsildars. The
efficiency of a collector’s administration depends greatly on the extent to
which he can get good work out of his colleagues and subordinates and this in
turn depends to large extent on his own conduct towards them. Under the
peculiar social difficulties of the country, the accurate estimate of character
obtainable from the confidences of private intercourse is difficult to secure,
and it becomes ass the more important to give free access to them in all
official matters and to take every step to inspire them with confidence in his
judgement , rectitude and impartiality. Unwarranted suspicion may be as fatal
as unwarranted confidence. These officers are the expectants of the collector’s
orders, they must be in great measure, the exponents of his will, and should be
to some degree his confidential advisers in cases of difficulty. It will be
found good policy to consult these who are best able to give advice, and to
weight their expressed opinions impartially and dispassionately.
218. Clerks and readers. The sympathetic treatment of clerks
and readers is usually well repaid by better quality of work; forcing upon them
irregular hours, keeping them waiting at the officer’s house, or insisting upon
their standing for long stretches of time is apt to interfere with the
rendering of full reduced.
219. Training of
assistant commissioners. The responsibility of deputy commissioners towards assistant
commissioners under them is if a very special character in view of the fact
that they may themselves in a few years be placed in charge of districts.
It is of great importance that they
should receive a thorough training in the different branches of district
administration, and the following orders have recently been issued on the
subject:-
During his first year the newly joined officer
should-
(a) (a) pass the
departmental examinations in all subjects, including urdu and Punjabi;
(b) (b) familiarize himself
with the people os the Punjab,
especially the villagers, so that he may be able toured stand their dealings
with each other and relations with Government;
(c) (c) do enough magi’s
magisterial work to be able that a fairly early date after passing his examinations to perform the duties of ill
was magistrate, or even sub-divisional officer, with confidence;
(d) (d) acquire a working
knowledge of elementary revenue work, both as a revenue officer and as a
revenue court; and
(e) (e) undergo training in
treasury, office work and general administration.
It is a mistake to give newly joined
officer routine executive work during their first six months of service. The
average assistant commissioner arrives without any experience of essentials. He
hopes and expects to be given work at once, and is only too pleased to take
over a “subject” such as passports of the licensing of motor vehicles. His
request for work is sometimes difficult to resist , but if it is acceded to, he
is almost certain to be deceived by his clerks and may learn habits of
inaccuracy which he will later regret.
It should be recognized that newly
joined officers are for at least six months merely pupils in executive matters
and should have no independent responsibility.
2. The following considerations
should be borne in mind with regard to the matters mentioned in the preceding
paragraph:-
(a) (a) Departmental
Examinations- the learner must read booked in his own time. The main difficulty
is with the languages. A pass in the examination does not always mean that a
candidate is intelligible in the field. Assistant commissioners under training
should speak nothing but undue to the tahsildars and revenue assistants with
whom they tour, and these officers should have orders to correct their
mistakes. Urdu and Punjabi are best learned from selected court readers, who
are less prone to “talk down” to their pupis than the illqualified professional
teacher usually available in small stations. Urdu should be passed in may and
Punjab in October.
To fulfil the language test so far as that relates to judicial work,
officers should make a practice of reading through an easy petition or other
simple vernacular record every day from the time they commence to study the
language with a munshi, and should seek to acquire as quickly as possible a
knowledge of the translation of the translation of the commoner terms used in
the principal acts which they have to take up, and in rules under them,
particularly those under the land revenue and tenancy acts. Parts of these
should be read with the court reader and a careful record should be made of the
translation of all terms as they are met. As soon as a knowledge of these has
been acquired, officers should commence to practice themselves in re-writing
translations of as judgements, etc, which they will translate from the
vernacular as explained above.
Junior officers should take every
opportunity of mixing and talking with all classes of Indians, and especially
the agricultural classes. No one should ever be discouraged at slow progress in
speaking the language. Even in the case
of those who find special difficulty in picking up a language
colloquially, experience shows that if only one struggles on persistently,
fluency is bound to come in the long run. It is a good plan to note under
various heads for ready reference all new words that one heads, and it is an
excellent plan for acquiring the accent and run of the language to repeat over
to oneself the words spoken by others as exactly as possible whether they
intend to go in for language reward examinations or not, all junior officers
should make a point of carefully reading through a certain number of good urdu
books vocabulary. Those offices, who, while studying the language , will take
the trouble to acquire some facility in oriental penmanship will find that they
will never regret the spent on this accomplishment.
(b) (b) Contract with the
people—a knowledge of the people and their ways can be acquired only by
systematic touring. Newly joined officers should be told to keep their eyes
open on tour and to add questions about everything that they do not understand.
Administration matters such as crime, medical relief, education, the
co-operative movement, communications, agricultural improvement and public
health should be borne in mind and studied.
(c) (c) Magisterial work—as
regards training in judicial work, the best plan at first if for a junior officer to sit some
hours daily in the court of another magistrate or judge for a week or two, and
with his codes in his hand learn for by observation something of the actual
practice of procedure and get a flair for the method of reasoning which an
intelligent magistrate employs in arriving at his decisions. In learning this
he will probably also pick up a number of the terms of procedure. He should at
the same time begin to work through evidence and the proceedings as he does so,
and afterwards using these translations for re-translation into the vernacular.
After two weeks of such work an officer will probably have gained sufficient
experience to enable him to try very simple cases which the district magistrate
into ordinary matters. Every officers should continue for some methods to
translate his English judgements into the vernacular so as to acquire increased
facility in this respect.
(d) (d) Revenue work—a
properly arranged program should give the assistant commissioner a general
outline of the routine revenue work of a district. Form his third month the
learner will do 2nd grade revenue court work. From his seventh or
eighth month he should be given the work of one or two kanungo’s circles. He
should propose the mode of partition in a few partition grade work in the
circle selected including revenue court work.
(e) (e) Training in
treasury, office work, and general administration—treasury training is best
done in the summer, whether in the plains of hills. The outlines of office
organization should be taught early-say, in the second month; no independent
office work should be given to a pupil until about the eighth month. The best”
subject” to be entrusted to him then are local bodies and or exercise. Both
these subjects involve the application of acts and rules; vernacular
correspondence with subordinate authorities; and formal English correspondence
with superiors. By “general administration” is meant those administrative
matters which cannot be grouped under any one head, but which occupy much of a
depute commissioner’s time, e.g. crime, the activities of the beneficent
departments, elections, political unrest and the like. The learner can best
inform himself on these matters by discussions with his deputy commissioner. He
should also spend some days in the
office of the district board, which, when the deputy commissioner is chairman,
is not under the officer-in-charge of local bodies. These several matter
require attention on tour and the assistant commissioner should be instructed
accordingly when orders for each tour are given to him.
220. Tahsil may be made over to assistant
commissioner. After
a time it is a good plan to put an assistant commissioner in charge of a
particular tahsil, and to make him spend in it a large part of the cold
weather. If this is done, he will take an interest in the welfare of his
charge, and exert himself to become fully acquainted with all that concerns it
and to prevent the occurrence of anything that is wrong. He will have an
opportunity of gaining a knowledge of every branch of his duty which will fit
him to manage a sub-division or a district when entrusted to him. An assistant
in charge of a tahsilhas an excellent opportunity, while refraining from any
undue interference with the tahsildar, of making himself familiar with the
daily routine of the work of a tahsil office, which is sure to be of great use
to him in the future.
221. Assistant commission not to assume
authority. An
assistant commissioner is subject to the control of the deputy commissioner in
all his work and should not, without his permission, issue orders making
important changes, lying down rules of practice or censuring or punishing
officials but he may recommend such measures to the deputy commissioner. He
should not correspond with the deputy commissioner by official letter or
robber, as through his office were separate and distinct, but by demi-official
letter and personal conference, or by sending up the vernacular file which
leads to the reference, usually with an English memorandum prefixed.
222. Settlement
training of assistant commissioner. A certain number of assistant commissioner are
deputed, as opportunity offers, for a four months course of training in tracts
in which a general reassessment of land revenue is in progress. Rightly
employed, this period is long enough to give an intelligent man a competent
knowledge of survey and record work, and also of the board features of
assessment work. If a newly-joined assistant is sent for settlement training,
it is usual to give him two months training in his fist cold weather and two in
a later year. The instructions as to the nature of the training ti be given
will be found in standing order no.8. as the opportunity for settlement
training is now less frequently available, officers are being sent to a revenue
training class in the cold weather.
223. Appointment of extra
assistant commissioners. Extra assistant commissioners are appointed partly by selection by
selection of men who have done approved service in lower appointments, partly
by competitive examination and partly by the direct appointment of young men of
good family. The rules on the subject will be bond in the punjab government
notification no.9490, dated 19th 1930. Candidates who obtain the
post of extra assistant commissioner by competition or by direct appointment
are on probation for two years. For the first nine months of this period they
receive training in a district under settlement or they may be sent to the
revenue training class.
224. Revenue assistant. An assistant or extra assistant commissioner is posted to
every district, except shimla, as revenue assistant. An officer in charge of an
outpost os the revenue assistant for his own sub-division, and during a general
reassessment the extra assistant settlement officer is generally considered to
be the revenue assistant of the district.
225. Duties of revenue assistant. The revenue assistant disposes of
whatever share of magisterial work the district magistrate thinks fit to allot
to him. But the bulk of his time must be given to the revenue business of the
district, that is to say speaking broadly to the classes of work subscribed in
this book. He is not available for the duties of treasury officer or
subordinate be judge, and should never be given any share of civil judicial
work.
226. Tours of deputy
commissioners.
Obviously a deputy commissioners cannot manage with success the great committed
to his care without an intimate personal knowledge of every part of it. Much of
the work, moreover, that is carried on can only be effective supervised by him
on the spot. Above all it is impossible to keep in touch with the people unless
he seeks frequent opportunities of that informal and frank intercourse with
them which is only possible in camp. A deputy commissioner is therefore expected
to pass a considerable part of each cold season on tour and to visit as far as
possible, every part of his charge no. 67 nights. The work which must be
performed at the headquarters of the district should be so arranged as to make
this feasible.
227.227. Tours of deputy commissioners. Obviously a deputy commissioners
cannot manage with success the great committed to his care without an intimate
personal knowledge of every part of it. Much of the work, moreover, that is
carried on can only be effective supervised by him on the spot. Above all it is
impossible to keep in touch with the people unless he seeks frequent
opportunities of that informal and frank intercourse with them which is only
possible in camp. A deputy commissioner is therefore expected to pass a
considerable part of each cold season on tour and to visit as far as possible,
every part of his charge no. 67 nights. The work which must be performed at the
headquarters of the district should be so arranged as to make this feasible.
228. Tour of assistant and extra assistant
commissioners.
During each touring season every assistant commissioner should be sit into camp
in turn ,and as far as possible, extra assistant commissioners should be given
opportunities of going into camp. The revenue assistant must spend the greater
part of the cold weather in moving through the different tahsils, and it is
essential that he should be on tour in the months during which the crop
inspections of the spring and autumn harvests are in progress. Unless there are
special reasons to the contrary, he should normally spent at least 120
days(including 90 nights) away from the headquarters during the year, of which
84 days should ordinary be between 1st October to 31st
march and 36 days between 1st April to 30th September.
229.229.Tour of assistant and extra assistant commissioners. During each
touring season every assistant commissioner should be sit into camp in turn
,and as far as possible, extra assistant commissioners should be given
opportunities of going into camp. The revenue assistant must spend the greater
part of the cold weather in moving through the different tahsils, and it is
essential that he should be on tour in the months during which the crop
inspections of the spring and autumn harvests are in progress. Unless there are
special reasons to the contrary, he should normally spent at least 100
days(including 50 nights)away from the headquarters during the year, of which
63 days should ordinary be between 1st October and 31st
march and 27 days between 1st April and 30th September.
230.230.Instructions to be given to assistant going on tour. It rests with
the deputy commissioner to arrange what parts of the district an assistant or
extra assistant commissioner should visit, and to indicate the subjects, to
which he should specially direct his attention. Before he starts he should be
given a good detailed map of the tact through which he is to pass with a
skeleton map on which to mark the line of his route, and a written memorandum
of instructions. The last may be very brief, except in the case of a
newly-joined assistant. It should contain among other things, a detail of the
expenditure on public works and takavi had of wells, the assessment of which has been remitted under the rules given
in paragraph 558 of this manual, during the past year in the tract to be
visited so that the works which have been constructed, or repaired or fallen
out of use may be inspected. The first tour of a young assistant commissioner
is the best in the company of the deputy
commissioner himself and later he should be sent on short tours with the
revenue assistant and tahsildar and then alone.
231. Chief object of tour. The chief object be to kept in view
by an officer when in camp s to become acquainted with the people himself, and
to give them an opportunity of becoming acquainted with him. For this purposes
it is necessary to see the people in their own villages, to encourage their
visits and talk with them frankly so as to ascertain their thoughts ans.
feelings, the matters in which they are chiefly interested and the manner in
which they regard them.
232. Advantage of local enquiry in revenue
cases. It is
generally adjustable to decide many revenue cases on the spot. When these are
mere matters of the routine, and present no difficulty, they are perhaps better
settled in office then elsewhere. But there are many cases, for example
contested partitions, which for their right decision nay depend almost entirely
on local peculiarities, and these can obviously be investigated better on the
spot then elsewhere. As regards disputes about land and rent, while it is
difficult, owing to local feuds, to get at the truth anywhere there is most
hope of doing so in the village than in the district court house.
233. Inspection of alluvian and dilution returns
and of village records. The inspection of alluvion and diluvion returns, and of the village
records prepared by petwards and kanungos should be done locally. Attention
should be directed to the questions weather the prescribed paper and registers
ave been prepared in accordance with the rules and circular orders on the
subject, whether they are complete to the date and whether the entries
correctly represent the facts to which they relate.
234. Enquiry into management of government
forests. Where
there are government forests, their condition should be ascertained, the
methods of management should be enquired into and attention should be paid to
the relations between the forests establishment and the people. Forest
management is often regarded by the people as a grievance, and there are
undoubtedly many points of detail in which local enquiries alone may bring
proper understanding. But all matters of this kind require to be very carefully
and discreetly handled and should not be taken o without sufficient reason. All
roadside groves and avenues should receive attention.
235. Ascertainment of characters of Indian
subordinates. It is
a matter of great importance to learn what character is borne by the tahsildar
and naib-tahsildar and by the subordinate Indian officials in the tahsil. As
regards subordinate officials, there is usually no harm in making direct
enquiries from respectable persons. But great care must be taken to preserve
the dignity of an official of the rank of a tahsildar, and to question the
people of his own tahsil as to his conduct would generally be indiscreet. But,
if an officer is freely accessible to people of all classes, hints will be
dropped and matters will be brought to his notice from which he can gradually
form a very good idea of the estimation in which the tahsildar is held.
236. Enquiry into general state of tract
visited. The
general condition of the tract should come under review. The principal points
for enquiry are the following:-
(a) (a) crop-are
those on the fraud and good condition? What has been the history of previous
three or four harvests ?have any new varieties been introduced /
(b) (b) cultivation and
irrigation- are they contracting of expanding? Is takavi freely taken for
the construction of wells?
(c) (c) People- is
the population increasing of falling off? What is its conditions as regards
health ? are owners holding becoming unduly small by sub-division? is much land
changing hands ? if so, what is the reason ? and who are the principal
purchasers and mortgagees ?
(d) (d) Lives stock – is it
increasing of diminishing ? and what is its condition ? how are the well cattle
proured ? and what do they usually cost if not home-bred ? is there any sale of
surplus stock ?
(e) (e) Land revenue-what
proportion does the assessment bear to the value of the produce? is its
distribution over estates and holdings equitable ? are collections easily made
or are coercive processes necessary ? have there been any large remission and
suspensions ? and, if so, why ? what is the prospect of recovering the land
revenue under suspension ?
237. There
are many other matters which an officer has to look into when on tour which do
not fall within the scope of this manual, such for example as education,
co-operation, sanitary measures, vaccination, the state of crime and the
conduct of the people, the exercise arrangements and the extent to which
smuggling and illicit distillation prevail. All than as, dispensaries and
schools should be carefully inspected, and roads, rest-houses, sarais and
encamping-grounds should be examined, and their condition noted. If there are
co-operative societies their working should be enquired into.
CAUTION : Read separate para
for Punjab and Haryana
238. Inspection of tahsil officers. When an officer halts at the
headquarters of a tahsil, he should inspect the tahsildar’s office. Every
tahsil office should be thoroughly overhauled every six months. The deputy
commissioner should himself inspect it at least once a year. If he cannot make the
second inspection himself, he should direct the revenue assistant, or some
other experienced assistant or extra
assistant commissioners, to make it for him. The scrutiny should include
all branches of work-judicial treasury, stamps, excise, takavi, land revenue
and the kanungo’s record. Special attention should be given to the examination
of the records of rights and the agricultural registers and of the accounts
relating to the deferent branches of revenue. As to the latter, the inspecting
officer should ascertain whether they are regularly kept up and without any
unnecessary resort to coercive processes. The causes of all outstanding
balances should be traced. Particular attention should always be paid to the
running register of miscellaneous revenue. A searching scrutiny of tehsil
accounts on the spot os far more likely to detect irregularities and prevent
their recurrence than fifty calls for written explanations from the district
office. Even if an officer had no other duties to perform, it would be difficult
for him to overhaul the work of a tehsil thoroughly in a single day. A
perfunctory inspection is worse than useless and will merely encourage the
establishment of continued irregularities and malpractice’s which have escaped
detection. A tour should therefore be so arranged as to allow of a halt of
several days at the headquarters of a tehsil. If this is not possible, it is
best to take up one or more branches of work and examine them thoroughly, and
to leave the rest for a future occasion. Tehsil in section can sometimes be
done most thoroughly in the hot season. Through ordinary camping is out of the
question, there is nothing to prevent an officer from spending some time at
each tahsil headquarters.
239. Inspection of tehsil officers halts at the
headquarters of a tahsil, he should inspect the Tehsildar’s office. Every tahsil office should be
thoroughly overhauled every six months. The sub divisional officer(civil)will
cinduct inspetion of the tahsil office under his charge after close of Kharif
harvest while that of the other tahsil of the same dialect after the close of
Rabi harvest of the same year. The Deputy commissioner should himself inspect
to at least once a year. If he cannot make the second inspection himself, he should direct the Revenue
assistant, or some other experienced Assistant pr Extra Assistant Commissioner
to make it for him. The scrotum should include all branches of work-judicial
treasury, stamps, excise, takavi land revenue and the kanungo’s record of rights and the agricultural
registers and of the accounts relating to the different branches of revenue. As
to the latter the inspecting officer should ascertain whether they are
regularly kept up and whether the
amounts due to Government are punctually realized, and without any unnecessary
resort to coercive processes. The causes of all outstanding balances should be
traced. Particular attention should always
be paid to the running register of miscellaneous revenue. A searching
scrutiny of tehsil accounts on the spot os far more likely to detect
irregularities and prevent their recurrence
then fifty calls for written explanations from the district office. Even
of an officer had no other duties to perform ,it would no difficult for him to
overhaul the work of a tahsil thoroughly in a single say. A perfunctory
inspection is worse than useless and will merely encourage the establishment of
continued irregularities and malpractice
which have escaped detection. A tour should therefore be so arranged as to allow of halt of several
day sat the headquarters of a tahsil. If this is not possible, it is best to
take up in or more branches of work and examine them thoroughly and to leave
the rest for a future occasion. Tahsil inspection can sometimes be done mone
thoroughly in the hot season. Though ordinary camping from spending some time
at each tahsil headquarters.
240. Diaries of
assistant and extra assistant commissioners. Assistant commissioners, European Extra
assistants and Indian Extra Assistants under training who know English
sufficiently well, while on tour, are required to keep a diary. It must be
written up in the spot from day to day, or every short intervals during the
tour, and must not take the shape of a report or narrative prepared at the and
of the tour. The order will be chronological and not by
Subject. The diary should be written on
half-margin, and attention should be paid to the legibility of the writing. In
order that it may be really useful, and that my practical suggestions contained
in it may receive due attentions, it should be as concise as possible, and all
unnecessary discussions on the theoretical subjects and remarks on the ordinary
incidents of travelling should be avoided. Marginal references starting the
subject matter of each paragraph should be inserted. The dairy should be
forwarded weekly to the collector of inspection and remarks. At the close of
the tour the memorandum furnished by the collector should be attached to it,
and a rough sketch map of the route taken should also be appended. The
conclusions drawn from the materials collected should be embodied in a brief
general note on the state of the tracts visited, which should be form an
appendix to the diary. The papers, thus put together, and submitted to the
commissioner, who forward, for the perusal of the financial commissioners, and
diaries which he considered deserving of special notice, and the financial
commissioners lay before government those which in their opinion are worthy of
special commendation. The commissioner is empowered to exempt senior
assistants, who have held charge of a district, and assistant commissioner in
charge of sub-divisions, from keeping up a diary while tour, but this exemption
should rarely be made in the case of young officers as the necessity of writing
a dear develops powers of observation. Indian extra assistant commissioner not
under training should keep such notes of the work done while on tour as the
deputy commissioner may prescribe.
241.241.Time-scale pay of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars. The time scale pay of tahsildars is RS. 200-10-270-10-350, with an
efficiency bar at Rs. 270. There is also a selection grade of tour posts at Rs.
400 and of eight posts at Rs. 375 per mensem each. The time-scale pay of
naib-tahdsildars is rs.80-5-140—7 ½-185 with an efficiency bar at Rs. 140.
242.242.Appointment, etc., of tahsilders and
naib-tahsildes, Tahsildera are appointed by the financial commissioner and
naib-tehsildars by the commissioner of the division. Tahsildars may be
dismissed by the Financial commissioner and naib-tahsildar by the commissioner.
For full instructions as to the qualifications required, the examinations which
canidares muster pass, promotions, etc. the Financial commissioner standing
order No.12 may be consulted. The local Government may direct to the financial
commissioner to appoint a person not eligible under the rules to be either a
tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, but it is a concision of such an appointment that the haled shall, within two years, pass the prescribed examination.
243.243.Settlement
training of naib-tahsildars and naib-tahsildar can-didates. Any naib-tahsildar who has passed
the tahsildar’s examination may be sent by the commissioner of the division for
a year’s training in a district under reassessment. The commissioner may also
require any candidate for the past of naib-tahsildatr to undergo the practical
training in revenue work prescribed by paragraph 7 of financial commissioners
standing order No 12 in a district under settlement.
244.244.Duties of
tahsildar. The
duties of the tahsildar within his tahsil are almost manifold as those of the
Deputy commissioner within his district.
He is not expected to hear any civil suits, but his magisterial work is
important. In all matters of administration he must be, within his own charge
,the Deputy commissioner’s principal agent and his power for good or evil is
very great. His revenue duties are so important that there has occasionally
been a tendency to make them all in all. But it must be admitted that his
efficiency, more than that of am other affaire in the district, except the
Revenue assistant, depends on capacity for revenue work. No degree of
excellence in other respects can alone for failure properly to direct and
control the patwari and kanungo agency, to collect the revenue punctually where
the people are climate of season, which renders suspensions of remissions
necessary, and to carry out, within his own sphere the other duties connected
with land administration which are described in this book.
245.245.Division of tahsil
for inspection work.
For inspection work and the attestation of mutations in records, the estates of
each tahsil are divided yearly between the tahsil date and the naib-tahsildar.
The portions if the tahsil allotted should be changed every year on October 1st
so that the responsibility of the tehsildar for the whole of his charge may not be impaired. It is within
the direction of the deputy commissioner to postpone redistribution for special
reasons, such as the prompt disposal of pending revenue work.
246.246.Extra
naib-tahsildars for mutation work. In the cold weather extra niab-tahsildars are sometimes posted to
districts where mutation work is very heavy. These men should not be employed
as general assistants to the tahsildar, but should be required to devote the
whole of their time to the attestation of mutations. At the same time, the
tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should not be relieved of all their mutation
work. The best plan is to transfer the whole mutation work of certain zails or
kanugo’s circles to the extra naib-tahsildar.
247.247.Tours of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars. Tahsildars and naib-tahsildars should spend alternate fort nights in
camp during the seven months from the beginning of October to the end of April.
During the rest of year systematic touring is impossible, but an active
tahsildar will take opportunities management of his charge cannot be efficient
unless he has a through knowledge of his village.
248.248.Plan of tours
should be drawn up.
A plan of cold –weather inspection work should be drawn up, through the duties
of a tahsildar are so multifarious and he is liable to so many unexpected calls
upon his time that it is impossible to adhere to it strictly. If the work is
properly laid out beforehand, the tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should be
able in the seven months of camping to make between them a through security of
every kanungo’s and patwari’s work and to visit most of the estates in the
tahsil. Deputy commissioner should impress on their subordinates that
perfunctory inspections are worse than useless, and that a man who has done his
best will not be blamed because he has failed to see every village. A task
which in many cases, is impossible. The tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, when on
tour, should always carry with him a small-scale sketch map of his charge,
showing village boundaries and sites, main roads, and canals, and the limits of
zails and of kanungos and patwaris circles. He should also have with him a list
of all takavi loans grante in the tract to be visited.
249.249.Inspection of
estate. On visiting
on estate the tahsildar should attest the mutations. He should also inspect the
village site and lands, if he is not already familiar with them, and should
examine the village revenue registers and note points for enquiry. He should
then discuss the condition and circumstances of the estate with the land
owners, the village officers, the zaildar and the kangungo paying special
attention special attention to the cause of any large amount of alienation and
the reasons for any difficulty experienced in collecting the revenue. He should
take the opportunity of seeing any works for which takavi has been given. The
tahsildar’s hairiest inspection work is referred to in chapter ix
250.250.Revenue work to be
dealt with in village to which it legates. In order to avoid taking agriculturists away
from their homes, all revenue work, especially disputed partition, lambardari
and muafi cases should, as far as possible, be dealt with at the village to
which they relate. By this means the attendance of all the parties will be
secured, and the facts of each case will be easily ascertained. In the case of
estates for which a detailed jamalndi is to be drawn up during the agricultural
year mutation work must be disposed of in the village itself. In there cases,
the naib-tahsildar or tahsildar, if he cannot conveniently visit the estate,
may pass orders on its mutations at any other place within the patwari’s
circle.
“Revenue officers should attest mutations according to priority based on
the date of try of report in the patwari’s diary. In cases where a mutation
cannot be attested interim orders must in variably be recorded.”
Powers of revenue officers
251.251.Powers of revenue
officers. There are
five classes of revenue officers: the financial commissioner, the commissioner,
the collector, the assistant collector of the 1st grade, and the
assistant collector of the 2nd grade. The deputy commissioner of a
district is by virtue of his office its collector a revenue officer who is transferred
from one district to another retains the powers with which he was invested in
the former district.
252.252.Powers of
financial commissioner. There are many matters on which the financial commissioner is empowered
by the land revenue and tenancy acts to make rules, but these do not take
effect till they have been sanctioned by the local government. There are also a
number of executive proceedings regarding which his special orders required.
For example he fixes the amounts and dates of the installments by which land
revenue is paid, and if, to recover an error, the extreme step of annulling the
assessment of an estate or holding, or of selling it outright has to be taken
his sanction must first be obtained.
253.253.Power of
commissioner. While
the land revenue and tendency acts confer ample powers of general control on
commissioners, there is practically no particular matter which they can legally
deal with on their own initiative, or for the very few exception is that sales
of immovable property for the recovery of arrears are not complete will they
have received their confirmation.
254.254.Powers of
collector and assistant collection. The land revenue act declares that certain
things must be done and certain orders must be passed by the collector and that
other things may be done, and other orders may be passed, by “a revenue
officer” there are but two cases in which any difference between the powers of
the two grades of assistant collectors is mentioned in the act. Section 126
provides that proceedings relating to the partition of land must be taken an
assistant collectors of the 2nd grade do not of compelling parties
before them to submit certain matters to arbitration. But by section 10 the
local government has power ,where the
act does not expressly by what class of
revenue officers any function to be discharged, to determine the matter by
notification, and this was done soon after the enactment came into force. The
class of revenue officer which can dispose of the enactment came into force.
The class of revenue officer which can dispose of the various applications and
proceedings which arise under the tenancy act is stated in its 76th
section. It will be observed that in the distribution of business, there is
given no distinction made between the powers of a collector and those if an
assistant collector of the 1st grade. But the application of a
landlord for leave to take an improvement on the holding of a tenant with a
right of occupancy must be presented to the collector, and he alone can enhance
the rent after the improvement has been made and reduce it again after it has
ceased to exist.
255.255.Enquiries by subordinate officers.
It would be absolutely impossible for superior revenue officers, and especially
for the deputy commissioner, to dispose of the numerous matters on which their
orders are required, if the proceedings from first to last had to be held
before themselves. Provision has therefore
been made that “a revenue officer may refer any case which he is
empowered to dispose of ….to another revenue officer for investigation and
report, and may decide the case upon the report” this useful power must be
exercised with discretion. In matters of any importance the parties who will be
directly affected by an order should be present when it is passed, and should
be head as far as is necessary. However unpalatable a decision may be to a man,
it loses half its sting if he feels that his case has been fully understood and
carefully considered.
256.256.Exclusion of
jurisdiction of civil courts. Civil courts have no jurisdiction in respect of any matters of which
revenue officers are empowered by the land revenue and tenancy acts to dispose
of.
257.257.Execution by
revenue officers of certain orders of civil courts. On the other hand, any order which a civil or
criminal court issues for the attachment, sale, or delivery of land, must be
executed through the collector or a revenue officer appointed by the collector
for that purpose. The rules on the subject will be found in the financial
commissioner’s standing order no. 64 and the rules and orders of the high
court, volume 1, chapter xii-order xxi, civil procedure code. When the produce
of land is attached no obstacle must be placed in the way of the person to whom
it belongs reaping, gathering or storing it, and every care must be taken for its preservation. As executing
of the orders of civil and criminal courts the function of a revenue officer is
purely ministerial. He is not concerned with the priority of the order passed.
But if it is on the face it illegal, if, for example, it directs the collector
to sell land belonging to a member of an agricultural tribe, he will be
justified in pointing this out to the civil court and, if necessary, to the
commissioner.
258.258.Functions of
collector under section 72 of the civil procedure code. Under the provisions of section 72
of the civil procedure code (act v of 1908) a court may authorize the collector
to arrange for the satisfaction of a decree by the temporary alienation or
management of land belonging to a judgement-debtor. The rules on the subject
are quoted in the financial commissioner’s standing order no. 64. Any
alienation approved of would naturally take the form of one or other of the
kinds of the mortgage allowed by act xiii of 1990. Where the judgement –debtor
is deprived of cultivating occupancy of the transferred land enough should be
excluded from the transfer to furnish at least a bare subsistence for himself
and his family.
259.259.Procedure of
revenue officers.
The produce of revenue officers is mainly governed by sections 18-23, 127-135
and 152 of the land revenue act, and by a law rules issued under various
sections of the land revenue and tenancy acts. Any number of tenants
cultivating in the same estate may be made parties to proceedings under chapter
iii of the tenancy act, but no order or decree must be made affecting any of
them who has not had an opportunity of appearing being heard.
260.260.Arbitration. Sections 127-135 of the
land revenue act relate to arbitration which may be employed with the consent
of parties in any proceeding, and in a few proceeding without their consent. A
revenue officer is not bound by the reward, but may modify it or reject it
altogether. Whatever his decision may be, it is open to appeal, just as if
there had been no arbitration. There are no provisions about arbitration in the
tenancy act, but a rule under it has made the provisions on the subject in the
land revenue act applicable to most of the proceedings under the tenancy act.
261.261.Legal
practitioners.
Legal practitioners may appear in proceedings before revenue officers, and law
present applications on beheld of their clients. Through a person chooses to be
represented by a pleader his own attendance may also be required, and no formal
pleading will be head except in lambardari, zaildari, mafi, mutation, and
partition cases. A revenue agent cannot, without the permission of the
presiding officer, take any part in the examination of witness, or address to
him any argument on behalf of his client. The fees of a legal practitioner are
not allowed as costs in any proceeding without an express order of the revenue
officer passed for reasons which he is bound to record. Legal practitioners
cannot appear in proceedings under the Punjab alienation of land Act. (xiii of 1990)
262.241.Appointment, etc., of tahsilders and
naib-tahsildes, Tahsildera are appointed by the financial commissioner and
naib-tehsildars by the commissioner of the division. Tahsildars may be
dismissed by the Financial commissioner and naib-tahsildar by the commissioner.
For full instructions as to the qualifications required, the examinations which
canidares muster pass, promotions, etc. the Financial commissioner standing
order No.12 may be consulted. The local Government may direct to the financial
commissioner to appoint a person not eligible under the rules to be either a
tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, but it is a concision of such an appointment that the haled shall, within two years, pass the prescribed examination.
263.242.Settlement
training of naib-tahsildars and naib-tahsildar can-didates. Any naib-tahsildar who has passed
the tahsildar’s examination may be sent by the commissioner of the division for
a year’s training in a district under reassessment. The commissioner may also
require any candidate for the past of naib-tahsildatr to undergo the practical
training in revenue work prescribed by paragraph 7 of financial commissioners
standing order No 12 in a district under settlement.
264.243.Duties of
tahsildar. The
duties of the tahsildar within his tahsil are almost manifold as those of the
Deputy commissioner within his district.
He is not expected to hear any civil suits, but his magisterial work is
important. In all matters of administration he must be, within his own charge
,the Deputy commissioner’s principal agent and his power for good or evil is
very great. His revenue duties are so important that there has occasionally
been a tendency to make them all in all. But it must be admitted that his
efficiency, more than that of am other affaire in the district, except the
Revenue assistant, depends on capacity for revenue work. No degree of
excellence in other respects can alone for failure properly to direct and
control the patwari and kanungo agency, to collect the revenue punctually where
the people are climate of season, which renders suspensions of remissions
necessary, and to carry out, within his own sphere the other duties connected
with land administration which are described in this book.
265.244.Division of tahsil
for inspection work.
For inspection work and the attestation of mutations in records, the estates of
each tahsil are divided yearly between the tahsil date and the naib-tahsildar.
The portions if the tahsil allotted should be changed every year on October 1st
so that the responsibility of the tehsildar for the whole of his charge may not be impaired. It is within
the direction of the deputy commissioner to postpone redistribution for special
reasons, such as the prompt disposal of pending revenue work.
266.245.Extra
naib-tahsildars for mutation work. In the cold weather extra niab-tahsildars are sometimes posted to
districts where mutation work is very heavy. These men should not be employed
as general assistants to the tahsildar, but should be required to devote the
whole of their time to the attestation of mutations. At the same time, the
tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should not be relieved of all their mutation
work. The best plan is to transfer the whole mutation work of certain zails or
kanugo’s circles to the extra naib-tahsildar.
267.246.Tours of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars. Tahsildars and naib-tahsildars should spend alternate fort nights in
camp during the seven months from the beginning of October to the end of April.
During the rest of year systematic touring is impossible, but an active
tahsildar will take opportunities management of his charge cannot be efficient
unless he has a through knowledge of his village.
268.247.Plan of tours
should be drawn up.
A plan of cold –weather inspection work should be drawn up, through the duties
of a tahsildar are so multifarious and he is liable to so many unexpected calls
upon his time that it is impossible to adhere to it strictly. If the work is
properly laid out beforehand, the tahsildar and the naib-tahsildar should be
able in the seven months of camping to make between them a through security of
every kanungo’s and patwari’s work and to visit most of the estates in the
tahsil. Deputy commissioner should impress on their subordinates that
perfunctory inspections are worse than useless, and that a man who has done his
best will not be blamed because he has failed to see every village. A task
which in many cases, is impossible. The tahsildar or naib-tahsildar, when on
tour, should always carry with him a small-scale sketch map of his charge,
showing village boundaries and sites, main roads, and canals, and the limits of
zails and of kanungos and patwaris circles. He should also have with him a list
of all takavi loans grante in the tract to be visited.
269.248.Inspection of
estate. On visiting
on estate the tahsildar should attest the mutations. He should also inspect the
village site and lands, if he is not already familiar with them, and should
examine the village revenue registers and note points for enquiry. He should
then discuss the condition and circumstances of the estate with the land
owners, the village officers, the zaildar and the kangungo paying special
attention special attention to the cause of any large amount of alienation and
the reasons for any difficulty experienced in collecting the revenue. He should
take the opportunity of seeing any works for which takavi has been given. The
tahsildar’s hairiest inspection work is referred to in chapter ix
270.249.Revenue work to be
dealt with in village to which it legates. In order to avoid taking agriculturists away
from their homes, all revenue work, especially disputed partition, lambardari
and muafi cases should, as far as possible, be dealt with at the village to
which they relate. By this means the attendance of all the parties will be
secured, and the facts of each case will be easily ascertained. In the case of
estates for which a detailed jamalndi is to be drawn up during the agricultural
year mutation work must be disposed of in the village itself. In there cases,
the naib-tahsildar or tahsildar, if he cannot conveniently visit the estate,
may pass orders on its mutations at any other place within the patwari’s
circle.
“Revenue officers should attest mutations according to priority based on
the date of try of report in the patwari’s diary. In cases where a mutation
cannot be attested interim orders must in variably be recorded.”
CHAPTER VI
Powers of revenue officers
271.250.Powers of revenue
officers. There are
five classes of revenue officers: the financial commissioner, the commissioner,
the collector, the assistant collector of the 1st grade, and the
assistant collector of the 2nd grade. The deputy commissioner of a
district is by virtue of his office its collector a revenue officer who is
transferred from one district to another retains the powers with which he was
invested in the former district.
272.251.Powers of
financial commissioner. There are many matters on which the financial commissioner is empowered
by the land revenue and tenancy acts to make rules, but these do not take
effect till they have been sanctioned by the local government. There are also a
number of executive proceedings regarding which his special orders required.
For example he fixes the amounts and dates of the installments by which land
revenue is paid, and if, to recover an error, the extreme step of annulling the
assessment of an estate or holding, or of selling it outright has to be taken
his sanction must first be obtained.
273.252.Power of
commissioner. While
the land revenue and tendency acts confer ample powers of general control on
commissioners, there is practically no particular matter which they can legally
deal with on their own initiative, or for the very few exception is that sales
of immovable property for the recovery of arrears are not complete will they
have received their confirmation.
274.253.Powers of
collector and assistant collection. The land revenue act declares that certain
things must be done and certain orders must be passed by the collector and that
other things may be done, and other orders may be passed, by “a revenue
officer” there are but two cases in which any difference between the powers of
the two grades of assistant collectors is mentioned in the act. Section 126
provides that proceedings relating to the partition of land must be taken an
assistant collectors of the 2nd grade do not of compelling parties
before them to submit certain matters to arbitration. But by section 10 the
local government has power ,where the
act does not expressly by what class of
revenue officers any function to be discharged, to determine the matter by
notification, and this was done soon after the enactment came into force. The
class of revenue officer which can dispose of the enactment came into force.
The class of revenue officer which can dispose of the various applications and
proceedings which arise under the tenancy act is stated in its 76th
section. It will be observed that in the distribution of business, there is
given no distinction made between the powers of a collector and those if an
assistant collector of the 1st grade. But the application of a
landlord for leave to take an improvement on the holding of a tenant with a
right of occupancy must be presented to the collector, and he alone can enhance
the rent after the improvement has been made and reduce it again after it has
ceased to exist.
275.254.Enquiries by subordinate officers.
It would be absolutely impossible for superior revenue officers, and especially
for the deputy commissioner, to dispose of the numerous matters on which their
orders are required, if the proceedings from first to last had to be held
before themselves. Provision has therefore
been made that “a revenue officer may refer any case which he is
empowered to dispose of ….to another revenue officer for investigation and
report, and may decide the case upon the report” this useful power must be
exercised with discretion. In matters of any importance the parties who will be
directly affected by an order should be present when it is passed, and should
be head as far as is necessary. However unpalatable a decision may be to a man,
it loses half its sting if he feels that his case has been fully understood and
carefully considered.
276.255.Exclusion of
jurisdiction of civil courts. Civil courts have no jurisdiction in respect of any matters of which
revenue officers are empowered by the land revenue and tenancy acts to dispose
of.
277.256.Execution by
revenue officers of certain orders of civil courts. On the other hand, any order which a civil or
criminal court issues for the attachment, sale, or delivery of land, must be
executed through the collector or a revenue officer appointed by the collector
for that purpose. The rules on the subject will be found in the financial
commissioner’s standing order no. 64 and the rules and orders of the high
court, volume 1, chapter xii-order xxi, civil procedure code. When the produce
of land is attached no obstacle must be placed in the way of the person to whom
it belongs reaping, gathering or storing it, and every care must be taken for its preservation. As executing
of the orders of civil and criminal courts the function of a revenue officer is
purely ministerial. He is not concerned with the priority of the order passed.
But if it is on the face it illegal, if, for example, it directs the collector
to sell land belonging to a member of an agricultural tribe, he will be
justified in pointing this out to the civil court and, if necessary, to the
commissioner.
278.257.Functions of
collector under section 72 of the civil procedure code. Under the provisions of section 72
of the civil procedure code (act v of 1908) a court may authorize the collector
to arrange for the satisfaction of a decree by the temporary alienation or
management of land belonging to a judgement-debtor. The rules on the subject
are quoted in the financial commissioner’s standing order no. 64. Any
alienation approved of would naturally take the form of one or other of the
kinds of the mortgage allowed by act xiii of 1990. Where the judgement –debtor
is deprived of cultivating occupancy of the transferred land enough should be
excluded from the transfer to furnish at least a bare subsistence for himself
and his family.
279.258.Procedure of
revenue officers.
The produce of revenue officers is mainly governed by sections 18-23, 127-135
and 152 of the land revenue act, and by a law rules issued under various
sections of the land revenue and tenancy acts. Any number of tenants
cultivating in the same estate may be made parties to proceedings under chapter
iii of the tenancy act, but no order or decree must be made affecting any of
them who has not had an opportunity of appearing being heard.
280.259.Arbitration. Sections 127-135 of the
land revenue act relate to arbitration which may be employed with the consent
of parties in any proceeding, and in a few proceeding without their consent. A
revenue officer is not bound by the reward, but may modify it or reject it
altogether. Whatever his decision may be, it is open to appeal, just as if
there had been no arbitration. There are no provisions about arbitration in the
tenancy act, but a rule under it has made the provisions on the subject in the
land revenue act applicable to most of the proceedings under the tenancy act.
281.260.Legal
practitioners.
Legal practitioners may appear in proceedings before revenue officers, and law
present applications on beheld of their clients. Through a person chooses to be
represented by a pleader his own attendance may also be required, and no formal
pleading will be head except in lambardari, zaildari, mafi, mutation, and
partition cases. A revenue agent cannot, without the permission of the
presiding officer, take any part in the examination of witness, or address to
him any argument on behalf of his client. The fees of a legal practitioner are
not allowed as costs in any proceeding without an express order of the revenue
officer passed for reasons which he is bound to record. Legal practitioners
cannot appear in proceedings under the Punjab alienation of land Act. (xiii of 1990)
282.261.Administrative
control.
Administrative control is exercised over all the revenue officers in a district
by the collector, in a division by its commissioner, and in the whole province
by the financial commissioner. If any of the powers of a collector under the
land revenue act are conferred on an assistant collector, he exercise them
subject to the control of the deputy commissioner, unless government otherwise
directs. Every controlling officer has authority to withdraw a case from any of
his subordinates, and either hear it himself or refer it for disposal; to some
other officer under his control.
283.262.Review of orders. Revenue officers of all grades
large powers of reviewing their own orders and those of their predecessors,
provided no appeal against them has been lodged. In the case of assistant
collectors, however, the exercise of this power is in every case subject to the
previous sanction of the collector. If the latter wishes to review any order
lower class, who has left no successor in office, he must obtain the commissioner’s
permission. The commissioner may, like the collector, review his own order, but
without the leave of the financial commissioner he cannot reconsider an order,
passed by a former commissioner. The power is not subject to any such
restriction. Applications for review can only be entertained when they are
presented within ninety days of the date
of the order to which exemption is taken, but apparently there is no legal
limitation of the time within which a revenue officer may review an order of
his own motion. Of course, persons who will be affected by the modification or
reversal of an order must be given an opportunity of being heard in its
support. There is no appeal from an order refusing to review, or confirming on
review, a previous order.
284.263.Revision. The only officer who can revise an
order not passed by himself, or by one of his predecessors in office is the
financial commissioner. But any controlling officer may call for the file of a
case pending before, or disposed of by, any of his subordinates in order to
satisfy himself of the correctness of any final or intermediate order which has
been passed, if the commissioner or the collector thinks such an order ought to
be altered, he can submit the file to the financial commissioner with a statement
of his opinion. No proceeding or order should be modified or reversed in such a
way as to affect any question of right between private persons without giving
them an opportunity of being heard.
285.264.Appeals. The law of appeal is very simple,
original orders passed by assistant collectors are applicable to the collector, and original orders of the
collector to the commissioners. An order confirmed on first appeal is final,
and under no circumstances, can there be more than second appeal. The only cases
which can come before the financial commissioner on appeal are those in which
commissioners have modified or reversed original orders passed by collectors.
286.265.Limitation in
appeals. The period
of limitation is thirty days, when the appeal lies to the collector, sixty when
it lies to the commissioner, and ninety when it lies to the financial
commissioner.
Patwaris and Kanungos
287.266.Patwaris and
Kanungo staff before 1885. The term village officer, as used in the land revenue act means a headman,
a chief headman, and a patwari. In this
chapter we are only concerned with the patwari or village register and
accountant, and with his immediate superior, the kanungo. No efficient revenue
administration of a district is possible unless the patwari stases strong,
properly trained, and strictly supervised by the kanungos, tahsildars, revenue
assistant, and deputy commissioner.
288.267.Object of reforms
initiated in 1885. In the course of years effective
measures have been taken to secure the proper performance by the patwari of his
three chief duties:
(1)
(1)
the maintenance of a record of the crops grown at every harvest:
(2)
(2)
the keeping of the record of rights upto date by punctual record of mutations;
and
(3)
(3)
the accurate preparation of statistical returns embodying the information
derived from the harvest inspections, register of multatins, and record of
rights.
These duties will be described in the 9th, 10th ,
and 11th chapters of this book.
289.268.Principles of revenue policy sound,
but machinery for carrying them out wanting. The revenue policy of the Punjab
from the beginning was founded on the principles laid down in the Thomson’s
valuable treatise, the “Directions for settlement officer” and the “Directions
for collections.” But the official machinery was too wake to secure effective
compliance.
290.269.Canceled.
291.270.Canceled
292.271.Canceled.
293.272.Canceled.
294.273.(1) Indian famine commission 1880
proposed-foundation of agricultural department in each province. In spite of
efforts to secure improvement the revenue statistics of the province remained
incomplete and unreliable until late into last century. But the lessons learned
in the famine of 1877-78 made it impossible to leave things where they were. In
the report of the Indian famine commission, which was laid on the necessity of
creating in each province a special agricultural department. The concerned
remarked:-
“such an office in each province would have
charge of all the records of past famines, and take note of all that is being
usefully done or learnt in neighboring provinces, so that the gathered results
of past experience might be collected and made accessible, which has hitherto
been hardly possible. Through this office should be bought together the more
comprehensive and exact record of the agricultural, vital, and economic
condition of the people to the urgent necessity of which we have already drawn
attention. Especially, when a famine is thought ot be impending would such an
office become important, as it would supply the government with all statistics
bearing on this subject, and would be responsible for working out from them the
conclusions on which the decision as to future action would mainly rest. When a
famine is in progress, all the information relating to relief measures, that
extant, their results, would be collected in it and presented in a uniform and
intelligible manner, and through it all orders of the local government relating
to famine administration would be issued.”
274 (2) Reform of patwari and kanungo agency. “ the efficiency of such a special
department, as we have proposed will depend mainly on the completeness and
accuracy with which the agricultural vital, and economic statistics with which
it has to deal are collected in each village and compiled in each sub division
and district throughout the country” * * * * “ the revenue system in the
greater part of British India is such as o present unrivalled means of
ascertaining, in the fullest manner, all necessary facts relating to
agriculture, and to the different incidents of landed tenures in every village;
but those means gave nowhere een completely utilized and made as efficient as
they might be. We recommend that the body of village accountants should everywhere
be put on a sound and satisfactory footing as responsible public officers, with
a clearly defined set duties, but with their own villages.” “* * * *” over the
villages accountants there should be a staff of active sub-officers employed in
keeping them to their duty, inspecting their work, visiting each village in
turn, and checking the accuracy of all the items recorded concerning it.”
274 (3) appointment of revenue assistant in each
district. “ above
these there should be special officer in every district who would be, as a
rule, of the rank of deputy collector,
and whose nail or only duty should be to take charge of all matters connected
with the economic condition and well-being of the people. He would test and
compile the agricultural returns and examine the market prices and ascertain
from these and other data the relative value of each year’s crop, according as
it is below or above the average. From such a continuous record of the harvests
he would obtain data for judging weather the landed classes were in the
depressed or a prosperous condition, and how far they were prepared to meet a
climates season. It would be this object to obtain similar information as to
all sections of the population, and to learn what are the causes of depression,
and what classes would be the first to succumb under the pressure of declare
and high prices. The accurate regulation of vital statistical, and the
investigation of the causes of any abnormal mortality, would lie within his
province and he would be the gainer of the health officer of the district for
the purpose of scrutinizing the record of births and deaths. The extent of the
good stocks, the ebb and flow of local trade, the current rate of interest
charged on loans to different classes, the deficient or superabundant supply of
any kinds of labour and the customary wages paid to each kind, these and other
kinds of labour and the customary wages paid to each kind, these and other
kindred topics on which information is at present far from precise, would fall
within the scope of his enquiries. These officer, while generally subordinate
to the collector, would be specially under the orders of the agricultural
Department in respect of the system on which their returns are to be prepared
and checked.
274. (4) Appointment
of Director of Agriculture in each province. ”A Director of agriculture should be appointed
in each province as executive head of this Department, chosen for his knowledge
of the condition of the people and particularly of the agricultural classes. He
would directly control the special statistical officers, and would be the
adviser of the local government on all matters relating to agriculture and
statistics. In ordinary times he would discharge these duties and superintend
all measures designed to improve the agriculture of the country : and in times
of famine he would be the officer responsible for warning the government as to
the agricultural outlook and for preparing such a forecast as should guide it
in issuing instructions and setting on foot measures of relief.”
295.274.Introduction of
reforms in Punjab.
The measures proposed by the commission therefore embraced
(a) (a) the reform of the
patwari staff;
(b) (b) the provision of a
sufficient staff of supervisor or kanungos;
(c) (c) the appointment of a
revenue assistant in each district;
(d) (d) the appointment of a
director of agriculture in each province.
It fell to colonel wace, first as settlement commissioner and later as financial commissioner ,to carry out these reforms a task which he welcomed with enthusiasm . to enable him to deal with the matter effectively he was appointed in 1882 director of agriculture while retaining the post of settlement commissioner . in 1883 a revenue assistant was appointed in each district except simla. In the same year colonel wace prepared a scheme for the reorganization of the kanungo staff. Which was sanctioned with some modifications next year, and carried out in 1885. Hitherto, the estab lishment in each district had consisted of a sadar kanungo at headquarters on Rs 60 per mensem, and a kanungo on Rs. 25 with an assistant of rs. 15 of each tahsil.the staff was now doubled. The kanungo at the tahsil head quarters became the office kanungo and a staff of field kanungos was provided to supervise the patwaris work in their villages. The pay and prospects of kanungos were much improved. A director of land records was appointed in 1885.
276. Object of reforms in land record agency and procedure. These changes and the procedures connected with the reformed of record embodied in a now code of patwari and kanungo rules, the object of which was explained to be the securing of –
(a) (a) real efficiency among the patwaris and kangos;
(b) (b) improved field-to- field
inspection, and record of the results of each harvest;
(c) (c) the continuous record
in convenient tanks of the total results of each harvest and each years
husbandry, these tables being kept first by villages, secondly by assessment
circles, and thirdly by tahsils
(d) (d) the punctual record in
attentions of all mutations of rights and there prompt incorporation in the
jamabandy.
(e) (e) The cessation of the
practice, under which in numerous cases mutation orders where passed in the
absence of the parties, or after calling them away from there village to the
tahsil office;
(f) (f) The release of
tahsildars and naib-tahsildars from a large amount of revenue case work. witch
under the procedure hitherto prescribed for such work. Tied them to their
tahsil offices and overboard. Ended their small office establishment with
clerical duties; and
(g) (g) As a consequence, the
systematic visiting of each village, either by the tahsildar or naib tasildar.
277. Effects of reforms. The new system was embodied in the Punjab Land Revenue act of 1887 and the rules issued under it. Since it was introduced it has been modified in some of its details. But on change affecting its main features has been made, and the soundness of the scheme has been proved by a steady improvement in the work of the patwaris and in the revenue administration of the districts.
278. organization of patwaris and kanungo staff reconsidered at set. Telnet. The organization of the patwari and kanungo staff is carefully reconsidered when a district is being assessed, and it rarely necessary to make many changes in the interval between two settlements. The limits of patwaris’ circles are matters for the commissioner to decide. The number, grading and pay of patwaris also the revision of the limits of field kanungos’ circles, require the sanction of the financial commissioner.
279. Points for consideration in forming patwaris’ circles. In fixing the limits of a circle, the chief points to consider are the number of fields to be worked over at the harvest inspections, and the number of owners’ holdings and cultivation’s’ holdings for which entries have to be made in the record of rights. The number given to each field in the village map is known as the khasra number, that assigned to each owner’s holding in the record of rights a called the jamabandi number, and that allotted to each cultivator’s holding the khatauni number. A patwari should usually be able to keep up the record of a circle contacting from 4,000 to 5,000 khasra and 1,200 to 1,600 khautani numbers, but regard must be paid to the distances the patwari will have to travel, the nature of the country, the simplicity or complexity of the land tenures, and the inclusion in the circle of estates subject to river action or under flucuating assessment, and the degree of fragmentation or consolidation of holdings. A circle generally consists of several adjoining estates, but some large estates require the whole services of a patwari and few have more them one.
280. Grading patwari. Before 1885 there was a separate patwari cess, and each patwari received the amount levied in the village of his circle. A man with a small circle of rich highly cultivated estates drew much more pay than his fellow incharge of a much larger and more difficult circle containing village where the precariousness of the crops had enforced a light assessment. Now the patwaris of a district are distributed into grades with varying rates of pay. Patwari are graded as under:-
1st grade, on Rs. 26 per mensem…… 20 per cent
2nd grade on Rs. 23 per mensum…..40”
3rd grade, on Rs. 20 per mensum…40”
281. Village officers cess . Section 29 of the Punjab land revenue Act. XVII of 1887, provided for the lavy of a cess at a trait nor exceeding 12 ½ per cent on the land revenue and canal owner’s rate for the remuneration of village officers, that is to say, headmen, chief headmen, and patwaris. The balance used to be available for the remuneration of the patwari staff, but in 1906,the liability of the landowners for the pay of the patwari staff was abolished. The change made was incorporated in the land Revenue Act by the Repealing and Amending (Rates and cesses)Act, 1907, which limited the cess to a maximum rate of 6 ¼ per cent on the land revenue and cana; owner’s rate, restricted the expenditure to purposes directly connected with the maintenance of the agency of headmen and chief headmen. The headmen retains a surcharge of 5 per cent on the land revenue and owner’s rate which he collects, and 1 per cent is payable to the chief headman, if there is one.
282. Assistant patwaris. It is usual to have a few assistant patwaris receiving Rs. 15 monthly. Assistants should be used to help patwaris whose work is very heavy of to fill temporary leave vacancies. Except on the latter case ,they should not ordinarily be independent charge.
283. Payment of patwaris. Salaries are drawn monthly and care should be taken be that they are punctually disbursed. Besides their pay patwaris receive a two- fifth’s share of the fees levied for the entry of mutations in the record of rights, and allowed and giving certified extracts. It is a rule to which no exceptions are allowed that pay and all the fees must be given to the person who actually performs the duties of patwari.
284. Appointment, punishment, and dismissal of patwaris. No revenue officer below the grade of collector can appoint, punish, of dismiss a patwari. With this exception that the Revenue Assistant may impose on a patwari a fine not exceeding Rs.2 and a Tahsidar a fine not exceeding Rs.1 on any one occasion. But the deputy commissioner should keep the power to sanction appointments and dismissals in his own hands. Recommendations should be received from the Revenue Assistant, and where he is and impartial and sensible man, they should usually be accepted. Upon him mainly depends the efficiency of the patwari and kanungo staff. He cannot have the proper amount of authority over it or be expected to work worth zeal if his subordinates are given any reason to suspect that he has not the support and confidence of his chief.
285. Patwari candidates. A register of patwari candidates is kept up for each tahsil. In most districts it is now possible to exclude men who have not passed the Middle school examination. Neat and clear handwriting in the undue character and the power to work out simple sums in arithmetic quickly and correctly are essential, and no candidate, however well qualified otherwise should be accepted who has not good physique and health and good eyesight, candidates must be between the age of 15 and 25 years, it is undesirable that a large proportion of the candidates should belong to the money lending or trading classes, and the sons of agriculturists should be encouraged to come forwarded as candidates. A clever and well educated lad who enters government services as a patwari has a very fair chances of promotion to higher posts. The appointments of tahsil revenue accountant (wasilbaki navies) and siyaha navis are, whenever possible, received for them, and two thirds of the kanungo must be promoted patwari. Once he becomes a field kanungo a patwari may hope to climp still higher on the official leader. Patwaris are also eligible for the post of tahsil judicial muharrir.
286. Patwari school. Every candidate must attend the patwari school and appear at the patwari examination. His name should ordinarily be struck off the register if he fails to pass with in three years. The patwari school in each district should be opened on the 15th of April and closed at the end of august. Before joining the school the candidate should be required to attend for instruction at the sravi girdawari. The principal subjects taught with the aid of books are arithmetic and menstruation, on which special menials have been written for the use of patwaris, and the directions contained in the financial commissioners’ standing orders nos. 15,16,22,23,24 and appendices vii. Viii. Ix. And xxi of the Punjab settlement manual. But the teaching should be of a thoroughly practical character and a great deal of it should be given in the field. In survey work a pound of practice is worth a ton of instructions. A candidates who passes the examination held at end of the school term, attends the kharif gridawari for further practical instructions, and unless he does so, he is not entitled to a pass certificate.
287. Filling up of vacancies. The most “suitable” candidate must be selected, and relationship to the former patwari confers no claim. But the deputy commissioner is bound to consider any representation made be the land owners of the vacant circle, and , if it is evident that they really wish for the appointment of a relation of the late incumbent, who is fit of the post some regard should be had to this in weighting claims. The fact that the candidate is already resident of the circle and has the confidence of the properties, has a strong bring on his “suitability.” However well qualified he seems to be a candidate should not be chosen if any of his near relation land money in the circle.
288.288.Residence of patwari in his circle. Every patwari is bound to reside in his circle and must not leave it without permission. Where a suitable patwarkhana exists, the patwari must keeps his records in it live in it with his family, and repair it when necessary. Landowners must not be asked to spend any part of common village fund (malva) in building or maintaining patwarkhanas, and only in special circumstances will be expenditure on these subjects be met by governments. Where no patwarkhana exists the patwari must make his own arrangements, but reasonable help in enabling him to do this will be given to him by the revenue authorities.
It is the intention of government to provide additional patwarkhanas steadily year by year.
289.289.Disabilities of patwaris. A patwari is forbidden to engage in trade, or to have any interest whatever in the landing of money to agriculture and he must be not tout for any legal practitioner or borrow from any agriculturists in his circle. He cannot acquire in his circles, except by inheritance, and if he possessed any interest in land anywhere he must report the fact to the tahsildar, nor can he purchase, or bid for either agricultural land or land for building sites in colonies without the section of the local government previously obtained. A patwari sometimes tries to evade these rules by buying or taking mortgage in the name of one of his sons, but transparent subterfuges of this sort are easily brushed aside. He is not permitted to write, attest, or witness deeds or private individuals. He may be dismissed if he is deeply in debt, as will as for misconduct, neglect of duty or incompetence. As soon as he becomes unfit through age or chronic will health to do this work properly he must be relieved of his office. Small rewards are payable on retirement to well-conducted patwari who have served for a long time.
290.290.Employment of patwari on other, but his proper duties forbidden. Care must be taken that no patwari is employed on any duties except those laid down in the financial commissioner’s standing order N0. 15, which are amply sufficient to occupy his whole time. The chief branches of his work, the registration of the crops, the maintenance of the record of rights, and the writing up of the statistical register of each estate, will be described in latter chapters. But the other duties which he has to discharge may be briefly noticed here.
291.291.Miscellaneous duties of patwari. It is his business to report at once all serious calamities affecting the land or the crops, and all severe outbreaks of disease among man and beast. He must bring to the notice of inspecting officers encroachments of government lands, the deaths of pensioners and assignees, the emigration or immigration of cultivators, and the unauthorized cultivation of groves held revenue free on condition of the preservation of the trees. He must allow any one interested to inspect his records, and , if required, give certified extracts from them.
292.292.Patwaris’ diary. He keeps up a diary and a work-book. The first part of the diary, which is renewed annually, should contain a record of all facts of importance regarding the cultivation of the land, the state of the crops, the condition and relations of landowners and tenants, and the interests of government. The entries should be made on the day on which the events come to the notice of the patwari. At the end of each sambat month of careful general note on the crops and the cattle of the circle should be added. Orders received by the patwari from kanungo or from any revenue officer should also be entered in part 1 of the diary. Where , however an order consists of directors of a general nature it should be interested in part ii which is not renewed every year. The diary, like all other revenue record, is kept by the agricultural year beginning on 16th bhadon, corresponding to the 1st September.
293.293.Kanungo staff. The Kanungo establishment consists of field Kanungos, office Kanungos, and a district Kanungo. Its strength in each district can only be altered with the sanction of the local government. Ordinarily there is one field Kanungo for twenty patwaris, an office Kanungo at each tahsil, and a district Kanungo with at least one assistant at headquarters.
294.294.Duties of field Kanungo. The Kanungo should be constantly moving about his circle supervising the work of the patwari on the spot, except in the month of September, when he stays at the tahsil to check the jamabandis received from the patwari.
295.295.Duties of office Kanungo. The office Kanungo is the tahsidar’s revenue clerk, his chief work, the maintenance of the statistical revenue records, will be described in a later chapter. He has also charge of the forms and stationary required by patwari, keep the account of mutation fees, records in rainfall, and maintains the register of assignees of land revenue and other miscellaneous revenue registers. He is custodian of all the records received from patwari, and a well- ordered Kanungo’s office is an important factor in the revenue management of a tahsil.
296.296.Duties of district Kanungo - The district Kaungo is responsible for the efficiency of the both the office and the field Kanungos and should be in camp inspecting their work for at least fifteen days in each month from 1st October to 30th April. He is the keeper of all records received from Kanungos and patwari, maintains with the help of his assistant copies of the prescribed statistical registers for each assessment circle, tahsil and the whole district. It is necessary, as already noted to give him one or more assistants for office work. The pay of a sadder Kanungo is Rs. 75-5/2-100 per mensum, and his assistant received Rs. 60 per mensum, except in simla where he receives Rs. 50-5-75 per mensum, while special Kanungo entertained in connection with the scheme for making the contents of revenue records more ready accessible to litigants in civil and revenue courts are paid at Rs. 65 per mensum.
297.297.Kanungo to be employed only on their proper work. All Kanungos must be strictly confined to their own allotted work. It would be example, the improper to allow the district kanungo to be used by the revenue assistant as a reader. Nor should a tahsil office kanungo be used for case work.
298.298.Grades and pay of Kanungo. Field and office kanungos are graded on a single list, office kanungo being chosen from among the older field kanungos. On first appointment a field kanungo receives Rs. 40 per mensum. His appointment is on probation pending the obtaining of a certificate of efficiency from the director of land records. No kanungo is confirmed unless and until he has obtained this certificate, and if he does not obtain it within 2 years of his first appointment, his name is struck off the list of kanungos and he received to his original post, if any. No longer remaining a kanungo candidate. Field kanungo in the highest grade, or one month of the whole number draw Rs. 50 monthly. Al field kanungos receive Rs. 20 per mensum as horse allowance. Settlement kanungo are paid at the same rats as field kanungos on the district staff” field kanungo not employed in settlement work get a stationary allowance of Rs. 1 per mensum. Tahsil office kanungos receive rs. 60 per mensum.
Note-: for the purpose of this paragraph is the whole number be one less than a multiple of 4/e.g. 19,23 etc.) it should be considered to be a full multiple. This where there are 19 field kanungo 5 would be entitled to draw pay of rs. 50 per mensum. Punjab govt. letter no. 8 rev. dated Jan., 1914
299.299.Kanungo candidate. A register of accepted candidates for the post of Kanungo is maintained. Patwari on the district establishment and settlement patwari drawing Rs. 53 or more per mensum are eligible for this register, provided they have passed the middle school examination, but a lower educational qualification may be accepted in special cases, with the sanction of the financial commission obtained through the director of land records. Most of the candidates should be drawn from this class, as two third of the vacancies of the among kanungo must be given to patwaris. A few men below the age of twenty five who have passed the matriculation examination of the Punjab university may be accepted. But such candidate must not be given appointment till they have served two years as patwaris or as apprentices learning patwari work. No one should be accepted as a candidate who is not of active habits and able to ride. There is no such thing as a hereditary claim to a kanungos post, and the caution given as to the case of patwaris applies equally to that of kanungo. candidate must appear at the local examination held by the director of land records. On passing it and giving evidence that they have received a proper practical training they are entitled to certificates of efficiency.
300.300.Claims of kanungos to higher posts. Great care should be taken in choosing kanungo candidate, and there is not much difficulty in getting suitable men. The post itself is a respectable one as regards pay and position, and it carries the appointment of district revenue accountant or a naib-tahsildar. Any kanungo who have served govt. of five years including at least two years approved service as field kanungo may be selected as a naib tahsildar candidate. The commissioner’s register should always contain some names drawn from the kanungo’s list. It is true that few promoted kanungo’s are likely to rise above the rank of naib-tahsildar by becoming tahsildar. They are usually, at least when they have started as patwaris, made naib-tahsildar too late in life to do so. But their previous training fits them to do very good work as naib-tahsildar, and the post of 1st grade naib-tahsildar is sufficiently honourable and well paid to satisfy the ambitions of most men of the class from which the kanungo staff is mainly drawn. A permanent or officiating district kanungo is entitled to appear at the naib-tahsildar examination, and, if he passes, his name is put on the register of candidate. A district kanungo of not less than two years standing may be selected by the financial commissioner as a candidate for the post of tahsildar.
301.301.Kanungo in districts under settlement. When a district is being reassessed, the kanungo work under the orders of the settlement officer who finds it necessary to employ in addition a number of extra or settlement kanungos. He also becomes responsible for the training of candidates. At the end of the settlement he ought to leave in the district a thoroughly efficient kanungo staff with a number of qualified candidates.
302.302.Training of kanungo candidates in settlement work. Where posible the director of land records arranges to give kanungo candidates from districts not under settlement a practical training in settlement work.
303.303.Filling up post of district kanungo. A vacancy in the office of district kanungo must be filled by the promotion of an office or field kanungo. The post is one which can only properly be filled by a well educated man of active habits, of good natural ability and sufficient acquired experience. A fair knowledge of english is an indispensable qualification for appointment. No particular examination test has been prescribed but ability to read and write english reports interlligibly and fairly quickly is demanded.
The deputy commissioner should consult the director of land records demi-offcially when a vacancy in the post for six months or more is to be filled. If they do not agree as to the person to be appointed, each should state his case for the consideration of the commissioner of the division, who will make the final selection. An appeal from his decesion will lie to the financial commissioner.
304.304.Disabilities of Kanungos. The rule regarding rsidence is the same mutatis mutandis for field kanungo as for patwar , and kanungos are under the same regulations as patwari as regards trading, borrowing and lending, holding land, writing and attesting documents.
VILLAGE HEADMEN,
INAMDARS AND ZAILDARS
305.305.Value of unofficial agency. In the last two chapters the strong body of government servants, of which the deputy commissioner is the head, has been described. It is a powerful piece of administrative machinery, but, as links between the higher officers and the communities for whose welfare they are responsible, its inferior members have the defects which belong to purely official agency. They have therefore been supplemented by representatives of the landowners in the shape of village headmen inamdars and zaildars.
Commentary
Where lambardar fails to perform his
duties, the recovery can be effected from his or his estate.
306.306.Convenience of dealing with
village communities. It is obviously convenient for the state to deal with
bodies like village communities through headmen. The internal affairs of such
communities used to be and in some places still in a measure are, managed by
informal councils or panchyats. But these have fallen into decay, and in any
case their constitution was too loose for them to serve as intermediates
between the rules and the land owners. The sikh govt. like own, found it useful
to have such intermediaries. The chaudhris and mukaddims through whom it
dealtwith the people corresponded roughly with our zaildars and lambardars.
307.307.Duties of headmen. The
headmen of a village act on behalf of the landowners, tenants and other
residents in their relations with the state. They are bound to attend when
summoned by officers of govt., and to aid them in the execution of their public
duties. Their important functions as regards the prevention and detection and
detection of crime do not fall within the scope of this work. Their chief
duties are set forth in some detail in a vernacular memorandum which is given
to each headmen on his appointment. Those connected with land administration
may be summarized as follows:-
A duties government-
1. 1. to
collect and pay into the treasury the land revenue and all sums recoverable as
land revenue.
2. 2. To report
to the tahsildar-
(a) (a) the deaths of
assignees and pensioners ,and their absence for over a year
(b) (b) encroachments on, or
injury to, government property.
3. 3. to aid-
(a) (a) in carrying out
harvest inspections, surveys, the record of mutations and other revenue
business;
(b) (b) in providing, on payment,
supplies or means of transport for troops and officers of government.
4. 4. to render
all possible assistance to the village postman, while passing the night in the
village, in safeguarding the cash and other valuables that he carries.
B. Duties to landowners and
tenants of estate-
1. 1. to
acknowledge every payment received from them in their parcha books.
2. 2. To
collect and manage the common village fund, and account to the shareholders for
all receipts and expenditure
The duties of headmen as regards the
collections of revenue (a 1 and b 1 on page 128 and above) are dealt with in
chapter xv. Those which fall under heads a 2(a) and (b) and A 3(a) call no
remark. The financial commissioner’s standing order no. 58 deals with transport
and supplies for troops. As regards the village malba (B), the 93rd
and 94th paragraph of the settlement manual may be consulted.
Commentary
Lambardar under rule 20 of the
Punjab land revenue is duty bound to recover land revenue and other sums which
are due to the state, if money due to paid to the lambardar the liability of
the person concerned stands discharged. On failure of the lambardar to deposit
the amount or account for it, the lambardar is the person liable to the state
and not the person for whom it was originally due. Government if recovers money
from person originally liable to pay despite having his paid the amount to the
lambardar, such person is entitled to
decree against lambardar as also the state.
308.308.Remuneration of headmen.
The manner in which headmen are remunerated for their service has already been
noticed. The pachotra or surcharge of 5 percent on the land revenue to which
they are entitled is calculated not on the demand, but on the amount collected.
A suspension or remission of the land revenue therefore involves the suspension
or remission pachotra, it may be doubted whether this rule is always carried
out, but in case of dispute, it must be enforced. Headmen usually receive an
allowance of 3 percent on account of collections of canal occupier’s rate.
309.309.Appointment and dismissal in
districts under settlement. When a
district is under settlement, headmen are appointed by the settlement officer.
When the question of dismissing a headman arises, the settlement officer deals
with the matter if the malfeasance was connected with work under his control, otherwise the deputy
commissioner is the final authority. The officer with whom the actual decision
rests should consult his colleague before passing orders.
310.310.Headman must be landowner of
village. The headman or headmen must be chosen from among the landowners of
the village. In the case of govt. estates , or estates in which govt. owns considerable share, he may be one of the
govt. tenants.
311.311.Too many headmen often
appointed at 1st regular
settlement. The existing lambardar arrangements in most villages were made
when they were first brought under a regular settlement. It was often found
that a considerable number of the owners had in fact received a share of the
pachotra, and that there were many claimants for the office of headman. The
original arrangements can be recast and the number of headmen reduced with the
sanction of the financial commissioner. When a readjustment of the pachotra is
advisable for any reason, the collector can take action under land revenue rule
21(iv)
312.312.Matters to be considered in
making new appointment. In making new appointments, as distinguished from
the filling up a vacancies in existing posts, the chief matters to consider
are---
(a)
(a)
the constitution of the community to be represented.
(b)
(b)
The family claims of the candidates.
(c)
(c)
The extent of their landed property and their freedom from debt.’
(d)
(d)
Their character ability and personal influence.
(e)
(e)
Any services render to the state by themselves or the families to which they
belong
The first point is important in deciding how
many headmen are required. The number should be as small as possible, having
regard to the claim of each principal branch of the community to have its own
representative.
313.313.New appointment of headmen.
New appointment are now a days exceptional, save in the case of estates carved
out of the govt. waste. Where such an estate is leased to a single lessee, he
become ipso facto headman for the period of his lease. In the village which
have recently been planted in hundred on state lands brought under cultivation
by means of the upper and lower chenab, the upper and lower jhelum, the lower
Bari Doab and the sutluj valley chanals, the lambardari arrangements are
governed by the constitution of the groups of colonies who have occupied the
new settlements. In an ordinarny district new appointment are only necessary
when the family, in which the post is hereditary, becomes extinct; when after
the resignation or dismissal of a headman the collector finds that he must be
pass over all the heirs under the vrious provisions of sub-rule(ii) of land
revenue rule 17; or in the rare cases in which an increase in the number of
headmen is sanctioned by the commissioner. The importance and implications of
the doctrine of primogeniture are elaborated in the Lahore Law times xviii,
page 43.
314.314.Ordinarily headman must
perform duties himself. A headman once appointed holds officer for life
unless the Deputy commissioner dismisses him or accepts his resignation. No man
should ordinarily be retained in office who either does not, or cannot, carry
out the duties efficiently. But in some cases whether inability to do so is of
a temporary nature, and in others where it aprings from unavoidable
circumstances, the lambardar is allowed to retain the title and even in some
cases a share of the emoluments, while a substitute is appointed to do the
work.
315.315.Appointment of substitutes in
certain cases. The commonest instance of a temporary inability is that of a
headman being too young to act. In that case, the appointment of a substitute
is imperative. Another instance is absence
from the village with the Deputy commissioner’s consent for a period not
exceeding one year. Old age or physical infirmity is a disability which it
might savoir of harshness to treat as a ground of dismissal. A wide dissection
is left to the deputy commissioner for he can allow a substitute or sarbarah
not only in the circumstances maintained above, but in any case in which “ good
cause” can be shown fir the lambardar’s unfitness to do the work himself. (land
revenue rule 27) an absentee landlord owing a whole estate may nominate for the
approval of the deputy commission any of the residents to be his substitute. As
a rule, he will have an again on the spot whom he will naturally put forward.
Should he fall to nominate to a fit person the deputy commissioner choses one
of the resident tenants.(land revenue rule 26(1) ) where in an estate owned by
more than on person an absent headmen the responsible either individually or as
a representative of other absence for more than half of the land revenue the
deputy commissioner may appoint any resident owner or tenant to be dabbed. In
this, and indeed in all cases in which substitutes are appointed for a
lambardar whips is not a minor, the wishes of the substantive hold of the
office should be put on record and fully considered, other things belong equal,
the best plan, when the headman has become unfit to do his work, is to choose
as his substitute the man who would naturally succeed him in the office in the
event of his death. If this is his son, he will usually not be a “landowne” but
this is no obstacle, for “egad shall be had to the properly which of the
candidate will inherit form the person he is intended to represent in like
manner as if he has already inherited it.” (land revenue rule 29 iii) in the
case of minor lambaradare, their mothers often he is ineligible because he owns
no land in the village, and in any case it is generally much more in the
accordance with local sentiment to select a near relative of the boy’s father.
315-A. appointment in canal colonies. In the
colonies it has been the practice from trthe foundation of each estate to
restrict the number of lambadars to on
two. Where service conditions exist, as, for instance, in the horse-breeding
chaks of the lower jhelum canal colony it is usually considered preferable to
have only one lambardar. These posts are si much converted that the ordinary
objection against having too few lambardars does not hold good. Hereditary
claims need not be regarded since the landholdes suitable landholder. In the
news colonies, where service conditions do not exist, two lambadars ae
ordinarily appointed.
In making such appointment care
should be taken to ensure that the lambardar appointed resides, or will reside
personally in the chak. It must be remembered that the post of lambadar has
been created in order to the ensure the performance of services necessary for
the efficiency of the administration of the province and the district. These
posts are no treated to add to the prestige and influence of influential
and wealthy landowners, who have no
intention of fulfilling the obligations of the post. An additional objection
that o the appointment of such person as lambardar, to all intents and
purposes, would be performed by a servant and that landholders of considerable
social standing, such as retired commissioned military officers, would occupy a
position of subordination to the sarbarah lambardar a state of affairs to which
they naturally have a strong objection. The land revenue rules with regard to
the appointment of substitutes should therefore be most carefully observed. The
only concession which can properly be made to influential and wealthy non
resident landholders is that they should be appointed lambardar’s of the land
which they hold themselves. In such cases they should not be permitted to have
any hand in the management of the land allotted to the menials of the village.
316.316.Division of pachotra - It
is permissible to divide the pachotra
between the headman and his substitute. If it is intended to do so the
arrangement must be noted in the order of appointment, otherwise the substitute
will receive the whole on the principal that the man who does the work should
get the pay. In any case the substitute’s
share must not be fixed at less than oneself (land revenue rule 30)
317.317.Removal of substitute -
The deputy commissioner may remove a substitute for any reason which would
justify the removal of the headman himself or for any other sufficient reason.
(land revenue rule 29 iv)
318.318.Resignation of headman -
When a headman resigns, he generally ask for the appointment of his son to
succeed him and in other to give him the
land owners qualifications, officers to transfer a share of his holding to him
by gift. Arrangements of this sort being apt to lead to quarrel’s over the
division of the family holding after the father’s death should be discouraged.
Where the lambardar has done nothing to merit dismissal, it is better to retain
him as nominal headman and to appoint his son to be his substitute.
319.319.Dismissal of headman -
The chief grounds on which a headman may properly be dismissed are four-
(a)
(a)
loss of the states of landowner in the estate,
(b)
(b)
poverty
(c)
(c)
persistent neglect of duty,
(d)
(d)
crime ( land revenue rule 16)
the
first calls for no remarks. Dismissal in such a case is imperative.
320.288.Poverty as ground of
dismissal. As regards the sequin, the collection of the dues of the State
cannot safely be entrusted to a man who is himself insolvent. If a headman has
mortgaged his own holding, and has ceased to be the person from whom its
revenue is due to govt. he ought to be dismissed unless he can make arrangement
to pay off with a short time the whole mortgage debt or so much it as will
suffice to release so much of the holding as will be sufficient security of the
govt. revenue which passes through his hands. In such a case the headman may be
allowed a reasonable period within which to recover himself if meanwhile he
can furnish security of the payment of
the revenue and the discharge of his other duties. But make shift arrangements
of this kind should not be continued for any length of time. A headman, who is
defaulter in respect of his own holding, ought not to be kept in office. The
mere fact, however, that one or other of the minor processes referred to in
paragraphs 520 and 521 of this manual has been employed against his need not
necessarily in tail dismissal. If the estate or sub division of the estate
which the headman represents has had to be attached on account of areas, the
deputy commissioner may dismiss the lambardar and the same course may be
followed of the attachment is made by an other of any court of law proof that a
headman is heavily in debt or that the amount of unencumbered land remaining in
his possession is very small at once
raised the question of his fitness to retained office. In these cases much
depends on the cause of the mans difficulties and the likely hood of his being
able to surmount them. If the revenue is paid in punctually, no readiness should be shown the harass a
headman and gratify his rivals by fishing enquiries into his private affairs.
The practice which have prevailed in some places of encouraging patwari’s to report cases of
indebtedness is very objectionable. No tahsidar who exercises proper control
over the land revenue collection, and who moves freely among the people, has
any need of such written a reports , and the acceptance of then puts the
patwari in a position with reference to headmen which he has no right to
occupy.
321.289.Punishment for neglect of
duty. Neglect of the duty which is either gross or persistent, should be
followed removal from office, minor breaches or rules or acts of negligence nay
be punished-
(a) (a) by the
forfeiture of the whole or part of the pachotra; or
(b) (b) by suspension
from office for a term not exceeding a year.
Orders attaching the pachotra usually only relate to that due at the
next harvests, and in no case should the Peachtree of more than two harvests be
declared forefeet. A substitute may be appointed to do the work of a headman
under suspension.
322.290.Commission of criminal
offences as ground of dismissal - Considering that one of the chief if a
headman is to aid in the prevention and detection of crime, he ought to be
removed from office if convicted of any serious offence. If he is sent to jail
for a year or more, the deputy commissioner has no choice be must dismiss him;
otherwise he has a discretion. Every petty breach of the criminal law need not
be magnified into a ground for dismissal. The conditions of life in a Punjab
village are such that a man is very liable to be hauled before a magistrate for
acts, or alleged acts, which are offences under the Indian penal code, but
which it is an abuse of language to quality as crimes. The only rule that can
be laid down is that , if the facts proved against a headman indicate that he
is unfit jot be entrusted worth the duties of his post, he should cease to hold
it. If he is shown to be dishonest, or to consort with bad characters,
obviously he should be dismissed. A conviction of theft or cheating proves him
unfit to face charge of public money; and order to give security to be of good
behavior or trustworthy evidence of convidenance with relied on for help in
suppressing crime or in enforcing the excise laws.
323.291.Filling up of vacant posts -
Where the office of headman become vacant. It is the duty of the tahsildar to
report without delay regarding the appointment of a successor. It is convenient
to use a tabular form for such reports as information on certain points is
required in every case, and any special features of a particular case can be noted
in the brief remarks explaining the recommendation of the tahsildar.
323-A. Appointment to vacant posts should
not be delayed - In view of the importance of the duties performed by
village headman, it is imperative that when a post falls vacant, it should be
filled as quickly as possible. In cases where the decease’s is to be succeeded
by his heir, under land revenue rule 17(ii), and no other candidate is
forthcoming, no reference need be made to the collector as the appointment is
sanctioned by the assistant collector, 1st grade. It is advisable,
however, that the sanad of appointment should be signed by the collector
himself as this emphasizes the importance of the post and enhances the value of
the sanad.
In cases of disputed succession, the
appointment is made by the collector and subordinate officail have no direct
responsibilty with regard to the appointment other than the provision of such
accurate information as will enable are chiefly or wholly owned by government
and hereditary claims carry but little weight, the emoluments of lambardar are
very considerable because of the large sums of land revenue and water-rates to
be collected. The value of these posts os still further enhanced in peasant
chakd by the allotment of a lambardari square or half-square, it is therefore
all the more desirabble that such cases should not be delayed than of two
months be permitted to occur between the occurrence of the vacancy and the
placing of all the papers before the collector for his decision. The practice of
subordinate officials sending repeatedly for all candidates, to examine them
with regard to their claims and qualification, opens the door to opportunities
of patwari to the tahsidar. An early date should then be fixed by the tahsidar
or naib-tahsildaron which he will consider and investigate all the applications
for the vacant post. He should, if possible, arrange to hold the investigation
in or
near the estate concerned. The claimants should be given an other
claimants. A report should be called for from the local police station as in no
circumstances should the candidates be called upon to attend the police station
for the investigation for other claims or other objections to other claimants,
the papers should record his opinion in the file from his own personal
knowledge and from the material already collected. He should not delay the case
by sending for the claimants. The papers
should be then be laid before the collector should fix a date for the decision
of the case, notify all the claimants and have the date proclaimed in the
estate concerned. Meanwhile, he should forward the papers to the superintendent
of police for and expression of that officer’s opinion. That opinion should be
given by the superintendent of police from the material already collected on
the file, and from his personal knowledge of the claimants.
In the case of succession to
lambardari in an estate or sub-division of an estate owned chiefly or
altogether by government to which land revenue rules 17(1) as amended by
correction slip no. 44 dated 4th December, 1937 applies, a period of
3 months should be allowed within which papers should be placed before the
collector for his decision.
324.292.Hereditary claims. Expert
in estates chiefly or wholly owned by government, much weight is attached to
hereditary claims. The eldest fit son of the late labmardar should ordinarily
be appointed, and, when there is no son, the nearest collateral relation,
according to the rule of primogeniture. Where there are no near collates, the
necessity of regarding hereditary claims disappears.(land revenue rule17 ii a).
the nearest heir may of course be set aside for any reason which would justify
his removal from office if the were a headman(land revenue rule 17 ii c)
whether the claims of sons should be considered where a headman had been
dismissed depends on circumstances. If he ground of dismissal has been
insolvency, the son will be subject to the same disqualification; if is
innocent of any share in his father’s misdeeds, he will generally be under his
influence. If the other reasons for excluding him seem insufficient, the mere
fact that he owns no land during his father’s lifetime does not bar his
appointment. The property which he will inherit on his father’s death may be
taken into account as if it was already his own (land revenue rule 17 ii b)
325.293.Votes must not be taken.
Even where hereditary claims have to be set aside, the votes of the landowners
must not be taken as a mans of deciding between rival candidates. (land revenue
rule 17 iv)
326.294.Appointment of females.
Females are ordinarily ineligible. But a woman who is sole owner of an estate
may be appointed and special reasons nay occasionally exist in other cases for
departing from the general rule. ( land revenue rule 17 ii d)
327.295.Appointment when hereditary
claims are set aside. Where hereditary claims do not exist, or have to be
set aside, the considerations governing appointments are those mentioned in
paragraph 312 (land revenue rule 17 iii)
328.296.Claims of transferees.
Where a headman is removed because his own holding of the whole estate or
sub-division of the estate for whose revenue he is responsible has no account
of arrears been transferred to a solvent co-sharer, put under direct management
, or leased that a farmer, the transferee, manager or farmer may, if the deputy
commissioner thinks fit be appointed lambardar (land revenue rule 19 1) where a headman loses office because he has
mortgaged his holding, the mortgage has usually no claim whatever to succeed
him. But he may at the deputy commissioner’s discretion, be allowed to do so
where the revenue of the transferred holding so more than half of the whole
revenue for the payment of which the
late headman was, as such, responsible (land revenue rule 19 ii) the appointment refereed to in this paragraph
are not in their nature permanent. When the temporary alienation’s from which
they spring come to an end, the transferee, manager, farmer or mortgage must
lay down his office. A fresh selection is then made by the deputy commissioner,
having regard to the regards stated in paragraph 312.
329.297.Reduction in headmen when
number is excessive difficult. Reference has already been made to the
inconvenience by the needless multification of headmen’s posts at the first
regular settlements. Substantial men as heads of villages are among the most
necessary instructions of a vigorous revenue and criminal administration. The
framing of a general scheme of reduction requires a large amount of local
knowledge, and a patient enquiry into the history of past appointments in every
estate affected. The files relating to the arrangements made at the first
regular settlement and those dealing with subsequent appointment must be
scrutinized, and the enquirer must obtain a clear idea if the constitution of
each estate and must trace the origin of its sub-division by examining the
village administration paper( wajib-ul-arz)(see paragraph 295-96 of the
settlement menual) and genealogical tree (shajra-nasab)( see appendix viii to
the settlement manual). The time for making such an enquiry is hard to find in
the throng or daily duties which he requires can be collected and put into
shape for him by his officers, but, even so, the task is a heavy one.
330.298.General schemes of reduction
-(1) when a district is brought under re-settlement and the settlement
officer finds that a reduction in the existing number of headman is required in
the interests of good administration in a considerable number of village
throughout the district or in any particular tahsils, he should in consultation
with the deputy commissioner; prepare a scheme for effecting the necessary
reductions gradually as vacancies occur.
(1) (1) the main positive
ground for reduction of a lambardari in an estate is that the existing number
of lamberdar is excessive for the purposes of administrative efficiency, while
the existence and degree of this excess will generally appear from the fact
that the panchora of the post which it is proposed to reduce is insignificant
as a remuneration for the duties to be discharged. It is difficult to lay down
a standard figure for the whole province as much must depend on local
conditions, but any individual pachotra less than Rs. 20 per annum may as a
rule, and in the absence of special circumstances, such as the insignificant.
The commissioner should prescribe a suitable general standard for each district
in his division and in some cases it may be advisable to fix such standards for
particular tahsils. It is not, however, by any means intended that every
lambardari of which the pachotra os below the prescribed amount should
necessarily be proposed for reduction apart from the other modifying
considerations, of which some are noticed below .on the other hand, where the
pachotra the amount received in respect of canal occupier’s rates(paragraph
308) should be neglected.
(2) (2) In determining what
appointment should be retained and what abolished special attention should be
paid to the composition of the village proprietary body, to the circumstances
under which existing appointment became vested in certain families and to the
present position and influence of these families. No proposal for reduction can
be fully satisfactory unless it takes sufficient account of the origin and
history of the lambardari which is proposed for reduction. For instance, it is
generally desirable to reduce the lambardari held by the junior branch of a
family, rather than that held by the senior, and, in order that secure this, it may be advisable to forego an
otherwise suitable occasion for reduction and defer the latter step until the
occurrence of a more appropriate vacancy.
(3) (3) In estates
homogeneous as regards casts and tribes, reductions may properly be made more
freely than in those where there is considerable diversity in these respects.
(4) (4) Reduction is not generally advisable where its effect
will be to place any considerable number of proprietors of one religion, tribe
or caste under a lambardar of another patti or sub-division of a different
religion etc.
(5) (5) As a rule, it is
better if the conditions permit to reduce the post of second lambardar of one
tariff, patti, or other sub-division of an estate, rather than that of the sole
lambardar of another taraf, etc.
(6) (6) The proposals of the
settlement officer and the deputy commissioner should be embodied in a register
in the form prescribed in paragraph 5 of standing order no. 20 village headmen.
They should not be announced to the villages, nor will they be submitted to
higher authority for sanction. But, if there is any difference of opinion
between the settlement officer and the deputy commissioner, the register,
together with any connected papers relating to any lambardari about which there
is such disagreement shall be forwarded to the commissioner, who will decide whether
such lambardari shall or shall not be retained in the register. The register
will then be made over to the deputy commissioner, with whom it will remain.
(7) (7) Whenever a vacancy
occurs in a lambardari which has been recommended for reduction in the register
prepared at settlement, the deputy commissioner will, subject to what is subject to what is said in the
next sentence, send up the case to the commissioner, with an extract from the
register and other papers required by standing order no. 20 in the case of
causal proposals, whether he agrees with the recommendation made in the
register or not, but he should not, save in very exceptional cases, send up
cases in which the settlement officer’s proposal would result in either the
total number of lambardars in the village being reduced to one or in the
passing over of an heir in the direct line, especially a minor. In the above
contingencies the financial commissioner will not generally sanction a
reduction. In other cases if the deputy commissioner thinks that effect should
not be given to a reduction proposal in the scheme, in the special
circumstances of the vacancy which considers that the occasion is not
appropriate for reduction, the case may be disposed of by his order, but in the cases in which he considers that
reduction should be made a reference should be made to the financial
commissioner and the procedure prescribed in paragraph 332(3),(4) and (6) below
will be applicable to them.
(8) (8) A similar scheme
may, at any time, for sufficient reason, be prepared by the deputy commissioner
of a district not under settlement with the financial commissioner’s previous
approval.
(9) (9) To ensure that the
recommendations made in a scheme prepared by a settlement officer or deputy
commissioner are not over-looked, deputy commissioners of districts in which a
register has been prepared should require ahlmad in charge of lambardari cases
to note on all files of appointment to a vacant lambardari whether the vacant
post has been recommended for reduction or not.
331.299. Canalled.
332.300.Causal proposal for reduction.
(1) Causal
proposals for the reduction in the number of headman in an estate should be
made by transmission of the files in original through the vernacular office,
together with an English abstract in the tabular form given in paragraph 6 of
financial commissioner’s standing order no.20 and a skeleton abstract of the
shajra-nasib, showing the origin of each of the pattis or tarafs of the
village, the revenue paid and the number of revenue payers in eaxh, and the
relationship of the sun division of the village, the lambardaro of which it is
proposed to reduce, to the sub-division in which it is propoesed to be absorbed
as regards lambardari arrangements.
(2) the mere absence of a properly qualified
hereditary successor to a vacant lambardari, through it may help to render the
vacancy a suitable occasion for a reduction desirable on other grounds, is not
alone and of itself an adequate ground for reduction. Much should reduction be
proposed solely as a penalty for delinquencies measures are available. The
principles laid down in paragraph 330 should also be followed in making causal
proposals for reduction.
(3)when
a collector decides to propose a causal reduction, he shall intimate that fact
to all the parties interested, viz; these whose names are entered in columns 5
and 6 of the form, and shall give them sufficient opportunity to bring to his
notice any objection of them may think fit to urge against the proposed
reduction. He shall cause his proceedings in this connection to be recorded in
the vernacular files in detail, and shall also cause a detailed record to be
made of such objections as are made to him. Where the collector is not himself the deputy commissioner f the
district, he shall forward the file to the deputy commissioner, who shall
return it with his opinion.
(4) (1) The collector, after
completing his proceedings, shall, in a case of which he considers reduction
desirable, forward the papers prescribed above to the commissioners for orders.
(5) (2) If the commissioners
is of opinion that a reduction is not appropriate, he shall record his order on
the papers and return them to the collector.
(6) (3) In other cases the
commissioner shall ordinarily retain the papers on his file till the expiry of
two months from the date of the collector’s proposals; and, if any person has
objected to the proposals, he shall give the objector or objectors an
opportunity of being heard, and shall record the objections urged by them. He
shall then complete the papers by
recording an opinion in which he shall deal with the objections made to the
proposal, and shall forward the papers to the financial commissioner for
orders.
333.301.Chief headmen. A device
which was formerly adopted in order to lessen the inconvenience caused by the
excessive number of lambardars appointed at the first regular settlement was
the institution of the office of chief
headmen(ala lambardar) in estates with several headmen. It is generally admitted
that the office of chief headmen has served no useful end, and, later a large
number of ala lamberdari posts were reduced. In 1909 the gradual abolition of
the ala lambardari system in the districts in which it still obtains was
orders. In future, vacancies will not be filled, and the ala lambardiari of any
man who is dismissed or is granted a zaildari or other inam will be resumed.
All existing ala lambardiari will enjoy their present emoluments for life
unless they become resembles as above. In addition to this ordinary pachotra on the revenue of the sub-division which he
represents as headmen. The ala lambardar receives one percent, on the revenue
of the whole estate (land revenue rule 24) orders to be carried out by a
headmen may, if thought desirable, be addressed to the chief headman, and the
latter is responsible that any orders issued are properly executed, and should
carry them out himself if the headman responsible fails to do so.
334.302.Zaildars. As already
remarked. Zaildars represent the chaudhris of former times. The existence and
value of chaudhris was recognized at the time of the annexation of the Punjab.
But the measures taken to maintain the influence of men of this class were not
sufficiently definite and practical, and the position of chaudhri fell into
decay. The credit of revising it and of belongs mainly to Mr. Prinsep. Almost
everywhere in the Punjab, and even shoulders above the ordinary headmen, and
whose influence extends not to one, but to a number of villages. If the proper
men are found, and the higher officials of the district know them well and use
them wisely, the work of administration is greatly assisted. In his zaildars
the deputy commissioner has a ready means of getting into touch with his
people, of understanding revenue and administrative work in which he can
utilixw the services of the zaildars, and, above all, he has in them a powerful
engine for the prevention and detection of crime.
335.303.Formation of Zails. In
the closing paragraphs of the settlement manual the measures connected with the
first introduction of the zaildari agency into a district and the principles to
be followed in grouping estates into jails are described.
336.304.Duties of zaildars. The
duties of zaildars are set forth under seven heads on the sanads (see financial
commissioner’s standing order no. 21, paragraph 15, and rand revenue rule 9)
which they receive on appointment. Their functions with regard to crime are
within their larger spheres similar to those of headmen within their villages.
They are of very great importance, but this is not the place to describe them.
Like lambardars, they are bound to aid
in all sorts of revenue work, and to report when geovernment buildings, roads
or boundary marks are out of repair. when called to do so they notify
throughput their zails all govt. orders, and use their personal influence to
secure prompt compliance with them. While abstaining from personal interference
with the work of lambardars and patwaris, it is their duty to see that they
perform ir properly, and to inform the authorities of any failure to do so.
Forbidden to intermeddle of their own motion with cases pending in the law
courts, they can sometimes be employed with advantage as conciliators, or in
making preliminary enquiries into criminal complaints, which appeared to be
probably the exaggerated reflections of petty village or family quarrels. It is
incumbent on zaildars “ to see that the headmen ….. of the zail perform their
duties properly (see land revenue rule 9 ii) including of course the duty of
paying in land revenue promptly. But a discreet use should be made of the rule,
and zaildars ought not to be employed as if they were peons. More especially
they should neither be ordered themselves to collect any sums due to govt. nor
permitted to take land revenue collected by lambardars to the tahsil.
337.305.Duty of attendance on
officers visiting their zails. They must attend on govt. officers who pass
through their zails, this is a duty which is usually cheerfully performed, and
which should always be enforced. A deputy commissioner ‘s should try to see all
his zaildars at least once a year in or near their zails, and should encourage
them to visit him from time to time at headquarters. If they find that the
district officer talks freely to them on matters of local interest, and encourages
a frank expression of their views, they are sure to value these opportunities
of meeting him.
338.306.Percentage of land revenue
allotted for remuneration of zaildars an inamaders. For the remuneration of
zaildars a sum os set aside out of the land revenue amounting usually to 1
percent. If inamdars, as well as zailsars, are appointed an additional ¼ per
cent is allowed. This deduction is made from assigned, as well as from khalsa,
revenue. In the case of assigned revenue, the higher contribution that can
legally be taken is 1 ½ per cent. But the usual rate s 1 ¼ per cent as noted
above, and more than ¼ per cent should not be devoted to the remuneration of
inamdars. ( section 28 (2) of act xvii of 1887. Land revenue rules 3 and 11
financial commissioner’s standing order no. 21)
339.307.Methods of remuneration.
There are two ways of treating the sum devoted to thepayment of zaildars. Each
zaildars may receive 1 per cent of the land revenue of his own circle in the
form of an inam paid out of the jama of some particular estate, generally that
in which he himself is headman. Thus, if the zaildar is assessed at Rs. 24900
the inam will be Rs. 249, and the zaildar will keep back that sum when the
revenue of his village os paid to govt. a better paln is to have inams arranged
in different grades, the total being equal to 1 per cent, of the land revenue
of the tahsil or district. (land revenue rule 12)
340.308.Advantages of grade system.
The grade system gives the officer who fixes the limits of zails a much free
hand. It secures a fairer distribution when zaildars are first appointed for it
by no means follows that the zails which yields the biggest revenue is either
the largest in area or the most troublesome to manage. Above all it enables the
deputy commissioner to recognize good work by promoting deserving men on the
occurrence of vacancies and now and then to punish slackness by reducing a
zaildar appointed to fill a vacancy should always be put in the lowest grade.
Even where the plan of graded inams is in force, the zaildar gets his pay in
the shape of an inam out of the revenue of some village. The reason is that to
indian minds this seems a more honorable form of payment then the receipt of
many from the tahsil treasury.
341.309.Inam first charge on revenue
of village from which payable. The zaildar’s inam is a first charge in the
revenue of the estate from which it is paid. Partial sustentions or remissions
therefore do not affect the zaildar so long as the balance is large enough to
cover his inam. If it is not, the deficiency should be made up to the zaildar
from the revenue of some other village. ( Punjab govt. no. 222 dated 11th
November 1903-revenue proceeding no. 6 of November 1903)
342.310.Zaildar must as a rule be
headman. In choosing a zaildar, the field of selection is usually confined
to the headmen. Occasionally, the most able and influential man in a zail may
be a landowner or government tenant, perhaps a jagirdar or pensioned Indian
officer, who is not lambardar. On a vacancy occurring, such a man may be
appointed if the commissioner of the division has previously accepted him as a
suitable candidate(land revenue rule 4) care must be taken in putting forward
names that a pushing newcomer is not taken at his own valuation, and allowed to
thrust aside deserving men of the old
chaudhri class.
343.311.Qualification of candidates.
It is true that it is a settloed rule that “ in
the appointment of zaildar regard shall not be had to any alleged
hereditary claim” but, as two of the chief matters to considered are “ the
candidate’s personal influence and the degree in which he is by race or
otherwise fitted to represent the majority of the agriculturists who resale in
the zail” and the “ services rendered to the state by himself or by his
family,” it is obvious that questions of descent cannot be wholly excluded,
influence is very commonly hereditary in certain families, and a man who has
done nothing to forfeit the respect in which his ancestors have been held in
the countryside may assuredily be allowed to urge in his own behalf the
services they have rendered in the past as chaudhris and zaildars. The other
points for consideration are-
(a) (a) personal
character and ability.
(b) (b) Extent of property
in the zail, and freedom from debt.( land revenue rule 5)
344.312.Appointment of minor. It
sometimes happens that the only suitable candidate is a minor. It may be found,
especially in the hills, that to take the zaildar from any family but one
involves a breaking up of old ties and a weakening of the means government has
of influencing the people. In such a case, if the representative of the family
is a minor, one of two course may be followed. The minor may be made zaildar,
and a substitute nay be appointed to discharge during his nonage the duties of
the office, or, if it is through expedient, the post may be left unfilled for a
time.(land revenue rule 7)
345.313.Votes of headmen may be taken.
To assist him in deciding between rival candidates, the deputy commissioner
nay, if he thinks fit, have the votes of
the headmen taken in his own presence at some place within the zail
(financial commissioner’s standing order no. 21,paragraph 3.) this course,
through not suited for general application, may be usually and appropriately
adopted where there are two or more candidates of nearly equal marit. It may
also be followed in other cases of a special nature the circumstances of which
appear to demand it. Such cases will probably increase in number with the lapse
of time. Care, however should be taken that the special procedure for taking
votes is not so used as to encourage the
idea that the post of zaildar is one
dependent merely on popular fervor, and did not rather a distinction received
from the representative of government, and in this connection it should be
noted that the deputy commissioner is not bound to appoint the candidate who
secures most votes.
346.314.Inamadars. In many
districts ir has been throught expendient to supplement the zaildari agency by
setting up a class of inamdars or safedposhes. The servies required of an
inamdar are within his own sphere of the same type as typse remdered by a zaildar, but he receives a much smaller inam.
And has no defined group of estates put under his charge. He should clearly
understand that he is bound to assist in every possible
way the zaildar in whose zail he
resides. Occasionally services of a special kind are required by the condition
on which the inam was originally granted. the
or ders regarding appointment
loss of office and succession are the same for inamdars and zaildars
subject in the case of the former to any special conditions imposed by government
when the inam was first granted. in jhelum district and in the talagang tahsil of attack district which tahsll was
formerly a part of old jhelum district, special rules exist which will be found
in the land revenue rules. Some of the inams are of a seemi-hereditary nature.
Such inamdars, who sometimes are called ilaqadars of halkdarsw parform all the
duties of zaildars”.
347.315.Punishment and dismissal of zaildars
and inamdars and appointment of subsstitutes. The order regulating the
punishment and dismissal of zaildars and inamdars,and the appointment of substitutes to perform their duties, are
practically identical with the corresponding orders in the case of headmen. A
zaildar must be deprived of office when-
(a) he ceases to be a landowner in the zail, or has mortgaged his holding and
deliver possession to the mortgagee;
(b) His holding has been transferred, or its asseessment annulled, on
account of failure to pay land revenue;
(c) (c) He is
sentenced to imprisonment for one year or upwards.3
348.316.Zail books. Wherever the
zaildari agency exists, zail books `wherever the zaildari agency exists,zail
books should be maintained. One volume
should ordinarily be kept for each tahsil, and should contain in a pocket a map
of the tahsil showing the zails concerned. The book should be of foolscap size,
and a map of each zail should be bound
into the objet in the proper place , together with statistical tables showing
the information prescribed in the
Financial Commissioner’ s Standing Order No. 21. Whenever a new zaildar is
appointed, an abstract of the order passed by the candidates, and the reasons
why the collector has selected or reheated
them. The results of appeals should similarly be shown.
Zail
books should be treated as strictly confidential and kept in the
personal custody of the collector. copies of entries in the book should on account
but given other to the persons concerned or to anyone else. It will thus
be possible for the collector to record remarks in these books, expressing
frankiy his own opinion about the zaildar and various matters connected with
the zail. These remarks will be of the greatest use to his successors.
Ordinarily, the collector should arrange to record a note once a year about
each zaildar and inamdar so that the record may be kept up to date.
Are confidential official records
although they are allowed to remain in the custody of zaildars in order that all
authorized officers may be able to record notes in them. They are bit tge
orioerty of the persons to whom they are
given, and shoulsd be surrendered when thosee persons cease to hold the
appointment for which the books has been granted to them. The book should
contain a map of the zail and the statistical information required by financial
commissioner’s Standing Order No.21. where an inamdar has beeb made spcially
responsible for a portion of the zail, this should be noted in his book. An
abstractt of the order of appointment of the zaildar of inamdar should be
copied in to the book. The collector should insist on seeing all such books at
least once a year, and should make a point of recording an entry at elast once
a year in each book and should make a point of recording an entry at elasst once a year in each book and of
seeing that the Superintendent of police has had a similar oportunity of
recording his remarks. No entry should be made in the book by an officer below
the rank of an Excise officers, Deputy superintendents of police, assistant
registrars of Co-operative societies and Deputy Directors of Agriculture, and,
in hhorse-breeding circles, district remount officers should be
encouragedbciyraged to make entries in these books. Divisional and District
inspectors of schools may also wrte their remarks when a zaildar presents his
book for the purpose. They are not, however, empowered to call for these books
or to insisst on the attendance of zaildars. A zaildar should do all that he
can to co-operative witgh Educational inspectors in the development of schools.
Divisional inspectors of panchayata may also record remards in these books’.
Since the book is not the property of the zaildar of inamdar it
should be clearly explained to him that
he should not paste nito it any sanads or certificates. He should by warned not
to have copies made of remarks
recorded in the book without the express permission of the Deputy
commisseoner. He should also be strcty forbidden from showing the book ti any person
other hen an officer authorized to record his opinion in it.
BOOK III
Agricultural stateilstics and record of rights
in land\
HARVEST INSPECTIONS
349.317.Harvest inspections. It is one
of the chief duties of a patwari spect the crops of each harvest field by field
before they are cut. This inspection is known as the girdawari. It usually
begins on 1st October for the kharif, and on 1st march,
for the rabi, harvest, but the commissioner of the division can change these
dates after consultating with the director of land records when the special
circumstances of any district make others more suitable. When for any reason
the ripening of the crop is later than usual the deputy commissioner may
postpone the inspection for a period not exceeding fifteen days. A few crops,
chiefly melons and tobacco, are sown very alte in the rabi season and are
gathered some time.
After the other crops of that harvest are got in. in village where these
extra Rabi crops are grown a separate inspection of them is made about the
middle of April. In some districts a crop inspection intermediate between the
kharif and the Arabi Girdawati has been found necessary.
350.318.Object of harvest inspections
- The object of harvest inspections is to collect accurate information
regarding-
(a) (a) crops,
(b) (b) changes in rights,
rents and possession of land,
(c) (c) amendments
required iln the village map.
The first is indispensable for the
assessment and collection of land revenue in a province where half the land is
cultivated by the owners and the greater part of the remaining half by tenants
paying rent kind; the second and third are aids to the maintenance of a true
records of rights in the soil. Only such changes need be noted in the harvest
inspection register as must under the rules be embodied in the record of
rights. Others should be entered in the patwari’s diary.
351.319. Cancelled
352.320.Record of ailed crops essential.
It is essential to distinguish betwwen crops which ripen and those which fail.
The latter are classed as “ kharaba” the instruction regarding which as
follows:-
“when crop is sown and dries up, or
is destroyed by calamity, it should be returned as kharaba. Very careful
attention must be given to partially failed crops, that is, crops if which the
yield appears to be much below average. When the actual yield as a whole of the
crop grown in one khasra number no. is estimated by careful inspection to be
not more than 75 percent of the usual or average yield, then a deduction from
the whole area of the crop should be made ; for example, an inferior filed of
wheat, area 4 kanals, may be returned
as, but this should only be done when the actual yield of the whole crop ils
estimated to be not more than 75 per cent of the average, and the kharaba
allowed should be only as much as is necessary to raise the shole crop of the
area returned as under crop to the average of an ordinary harvest. The average
yield is that adopted by the settlement officer at the prvious settlement for
the assessment circle in which the village is included, unless some other yield
has been specially perscribed in the dastur-ul-amal or else-where. The crops
for which average yields are not fixed at settlement are generally unimportant.
The revenue officials concerned should judge for themselves what yield should
be regarded as separately in different portains of one shasra number the above
procedure should be applied separately to each of such distinct crops.
Deduction for kharaba made under this instruction should, unless some other
special local scale has been prescribed by proper authority, be enteed as far
as is reasonable practicable in accordance with the following scale taking 16
annas as the average yield of a crop:-
yield more than 12 annas no deduction
yield more than 8 annas but duduct ¼ of the
sown area.
not more than 12 annas.
Yield more than 4 annas but
Not more than 8 annas deduct ½
of the sown area.
Yield not more than 4 annas deduct whole sown
area.
Jowar which fails in the year should be entered
not as “ jowar kharaba” but as ‘chari pukhata’ the same details should be given
for failed crops as for matured crops.
353.321.Khababa in canal colonies.
In the lands irrigated by the upper and lower chenab. Upper and lower jhelum
and lower bari doab canals, and in lands under fluctuating assessment in some
tracts which have recently been resetted, new rule for the record of kharaba
have been introduced. Tables showing the ‘’standard’’yield of the croqs are
prepared. A croq which reaches that standard is called a sixteeen-anna crop.
Whether the standard is to represent an ‘’average ‘’ crop or a ‘’ good’’ crop
can hardly be said to have been yet decided. When seed fails altogether to
germinate or the crop is worse than a four-anna one, the whole area is returned
as kharaba. When it is equal to, or better than a four-anna, but wores than an
eight-anna crop half is entered as kharaba; no education is allowed when it is
equal to or beter than, an eight anna crop.
354.322.Checking of kharaba. The
entry of kharba is a matter which ra-quires both honesty and sound judgment on
the part of the recorder, and this branch of the patwari’s work should be carefully
tested by all supervs-ing officers. But where the record has been made with
care and is generally sound, it is well to refrain from making petty
alternations here an dthere which affect but slightly the main result. More
than ordinarly care is of course required in tracts under fluctuating
assessment, where the amoun to fthe demand at
each harvest depends directly on the area of matured crop. There are
specail rules as to the check to be exercised over the record of kharaba in
such cases.
355.323.The khasra-girdawari.
Entries respecting uncultivated soils. The harvest inspection book is known as
the khasra girdwari; in this register and in the record of rights uncultivated
land is classified as banjar jadid banjar kadim and ghair-mumkin. The exact
meaning pf each of these terms is explained in the 267th paragraph
of the settlement manual. Lan dwhich is not under crop. But which has not lain
fallow long enough( e.g. for four harvests) to be described as banjar jadild,
is called khali (empty)
356.324.Taradaddi. By a
fefinement, which serves no very useful purposes, another class is recognised
under the name of taradaddi, i.e. under tillage. This term is applied to a
field which bears no crop ceonging to be harvest under inspection, but “has
been ploghed for the next harvest, or is occupied by trees or plains, which
will fruit in the coming harvest.” Examples are fields of cotton or cane in the
rabi. Cane which is planted about march, and occupies the ground for ten or
eleven months, is treated for statistical purposes as a kharif crop. Land is
ploughed for cotton, another kharifstaple, in the cold weather, and, where
irrigation is available, the sowings also often take palce before the rabi
crops are cut. Orchars which fruit in spring are shown as taradaddi on the
kharif.
357.325.Classification of crops and
cultivated soils. The terms barani, sailab, abi, chani, nahro, by which
cultivated fields, and the crops grown on them are distinguished are explianed
in the 259th paragraph of the settlement manual. Where the moisture
on which the crop depends is derived from a double source, two of these terms
may have to be combined, e.g. chani-nahro, chahi-sailab.(see paragraph 442 and
451 of the settlement manual.) fields are classified according to their
permanent characters and crops according to the actual facts of their
cultivation in theharvest under insepction. For example, chahi fields are often
put uner barani crops, and the converse sometimes happens(see paragraph 260 of
the settlement manual)
358.326.Entries relating of wells.
As it is important to have a record of wells at work and out of use a remark
showing how the matter stands os entered against each field in which a well is
suited. When a new well has been sunk the fact is noted.
359.327.Entries of owners and tenants.
There are columns in the harvest insepction register in which to show the
ownership and cultivating occupancy of every field. Changes should be noted
with care. It is only through the khasra girdwari that alterations in
tenancies-at-well find their way into the record of rights.
359(a). The patwari should intimate to the gram panchyat concerned, within 15 days of finishing the girdawari, the following changes of cultivating tenancy made by him in khasra girdawari so that the latter should inform the persons concerned about these changes :-
(1) (1) when there is a
change in cultivation from a tenant that the landlord;
(2) (2) when there is an
addition of a tenant to the existing tenant;
(3) (3) where there are two
or more than two tenants and the name of one or more tenants is removed from
entry in the khasra gidwari.”
360.328.Changes In Fields. Where
one filed has been divided into two, or the boundry of a field has from any
cause undergone change, the patwari should make a rough measurement sufficient
for the crop entries, and put a red cross opposite the filed number in the
remarks column to remind him that a correction of the village map is required.
361.329.The crop abstract. When
all the entries for a village finished. The toals for each frop must be made out
and entered in the crop abstract of the estate before work is started in
another village. The uses of this very important statement will be descrived in
a later chapter(see chapter xvi of this manual paragraph 307 of the settlement
manual and paragraph 7 of the financial commissioner’s standing order no. 22) a
statement in the same form os the chief of the sateistical returns included in
the village revenue register or note-book. As soon as the crop abstract has
been checked and signed by the filed kanungo, the patwari copies the entries
into the corresponding form in this
reglister, and sends the original to the tahsil. Promotitude in filling these
returns is a matter of prime necessity, if any question regarding the
suspension of any part of the land revenue demand is likely to arise. The
kharif statements should, if possible, all reach the tahsil by the 1st
november, the rabi statements by the 1st of april, and the extra
rabi stements by the 1st of june.
362.288.Duty of kanungos as regards
crop inspections. Revenue officials of all grades should be made to
understand the importance of harvest inspections in land administaration. While
the dirdwari is going on filed kanungos of courosoe spend the whole of their
time in checking it. In the gilrdwari months the tours mande by the district
kanungo should be dovoted to the same work. In ordinary insepctions the field
kanungo accompanies the district kanungo, but during the girdwari the former
has to accomplish so much in a short period that the latter is forbidden to
call for his attendence.(see paragraph 60 of financial commissions’s standing
order no. 19)
363.289.Duty of tahsildar and
naib-tahsildars. The responsibility of tahsildars and naib-tahsildars
should be steadily enforced. The standard jto aim at is the inseption of every
estate by one or other of these officers at each harvest before the crops are
cut. But at present this is a counsel of perfection. Both officers cannot be in
camp at once, and the harvests last for too short a time to admit of theresults
being observed and the records of them checked in every village. It is far
better that the girdwari in one or two estates in each circle should be
thoroughly checked than that a nominal insepction of it should be made in every
village. The tahsildar and his deputy should so lay out theirwork that no part
of their repective changes remains unvisited. They should have a clear idea of
the state of the crops in every
assessment circle and in all important villages, and special attention sholud
be given to estes in which suspention of the demand is likely to be required.
In bad seasons other work must give way to a thorough examination of the
results of each harvest while it is still standiong on the ground.
364.290.Duty of superior revenue
officials. The revenue assistant must be on tour throughout the girdwari
months, and must then given most of his time to the checking of harvest
inspection work. The deputy commissioner should, if posible, help him by
sending at the same time into camp some
other mamber or members of the headquaters staff. In times of drought
especially, care must be taken to utilize assistant and extra assistant
commissioners to the fullest extent compatible with the carrying out of such
judicial and executive work as must be done at headquaters.
365.291.Duty of deputy commissioner.
The deputy commissioner’s own part does not consist so much in checking a few
entries in harvest inspection regilsters in the field, which is all he could
possibly accomlish, as in lying out the work of his subordinates, and obtaining
a good general idea of the results of the harvest in the different parts of his
charge by viewing the standing crops and examinig the crop returns of the
villages.
THE RECORD OF RIGHTS
366
366
CANCELLED.
367
367
Nature and contents of record of described in settlement manual. It is
needless to describe here the nature and contents of a standing record of
rights, which is usually drawn up at settlement, and of the subsequent revised
editions of it, whose legal description is “annual records” though in the great
majority of estates they are prepared only at intervals of four years. The reader os supposed to be
familiar with the fourteen chapters of the settlment manual, where these
matters are fully discussed.
Commentary
Mutation registers are records the title ( 49 plr 274: air 1947 lahore
147 : ilr 1947 Lahore 747)
368
368
Duty of deputy commissioner to keep record of rights upto date. The
settlement officer hands over to the deputy commissioner a record of rights for
each estate, the chief documents included in which are the village map or
shajara kashtwar and the jamabandi, that is to say, a list of owners and
tantents holdings, with a detail of the fields contain in each of the rent paid
by each tenant and of the trevenue due from owner. It is the business of the
deputy commissioner to keep both of these upto date. The provision contained is
saction 44 of the revenue act ( xvii of 1887) attaching an equal presumption of
truth to entries is standing record of rights and in annual records can only be
justify by the great care taken in preparing them. The instructions regarding
the keeping of the village map up to date in the interval between two
settlement will be found in part f of financial commissioner’s standing order
no. 16.
Commentary
Revenue
papers are merely ment for fiscial purposes ( 1970 PLJ 198: 1970 RLR 589: 1970
cu 341)
369. Law
as to change of entries in record of rights explained in settlement menual - The
law as to the circumstances under which the alteration of an existing standing
record of rights or annual record is
permissible is discussed in paragraphs 279-282 of the settlement manual, which
should be read as part of this chapter.
Commentary
Entries in revenue records show
changed sequence twice in long spell of about 92 years (1979 PLJ 102)
370. Revision of record when complete
re-mesurement is ordered. We are not here concerned with the elaborate
procedure for the revision of the jamabandi, which is carried out when a
complete re-measurement of an estate is ordered, for such remeasurement, as a
rule, only takes place in connection with a general re-assessment of the land revenue. Should, however, the
remeasurement of an estate become necessary at another time, the procedure will
be that laid down in the seventh appendix to the settlement manual.
371. Forms of jamabandi and of list of
revenue assignments. The forms of jamabandi
and of the list of revenue assignments and pensions, which is included
in the annual record, with instructions for their preparation, will be found in
financial commissioner’s standing order no. 23
372. Classification
of rights to be recorded. The rights of which the acquisition or loss gives
rise to an alteration in the record of rights, may be classified as follows:-
A. A. Rights of
persons responsible to
1. landowners
government for land revenue. 2. Mortage with
possession
B. B. rights of
persons responsible to land
3. Occupancy teants.
owners for rent.
4. Leaseholders.
5. tenants-at-will.
“leaseholders” in this connection
means persons holding land as tenants for periods exceeding one year on written
or oral leases.
373. Reports
of acquistition of rights to patwari’s. the first three classes are legally
bound to report to the patwari the right which they have acquired. If they fail
to do so within three months from the date of acquisition they render
themselves liable to a small fine. (section 39) assignees of land revenue and
mortageges without possession are also bound to report, but their rights are
not of a kind in which must be recorded
in the body of the jamabandi, through certain notes regarding them are made in
the “remarks column” of that document(for the procedure as regards revenue
assignments see paragraph 41 of financial commissioner’s standing order no. 23
and the instructions append thereto. For that relating to collateral mortgages, in which the
landowner remains responsible for the payment of the land revenue, see paragraph
17 of that standing order)redemptions of mortgage must be reported by the
landowners whose lands have been redeemed. For his knowledge of acquisition of
title by leaseholders and tenants-at-will the patwari must rely mainly on his
own observations and on the result of
inquiries as to the cultivating occupancy of land made at the harvest
inspections (see paragraph 359 of this menual) among the thiongs which he has
to enter in his diary are the deaths of tenents, owner, village officers,
pensioners, and revenue assignees, the ejectment, absconding, or setting of
cultivators and rightholders, the relinquishment, change, or renewal of any
tenure and the execution of any lease or agreement for cultivation.
Leaseholders and tenants-at-will are
undeer no obligation to report to the patwari, but like all other
persons whose rights are recorded in the jamabandi they are bound on demand to
furnish him and any revenue officer engaged in revilsing it with accurate
informatiom ( section 40) to aid in recording mutations is one of the duites
set forth in the memorandum given to village headmen on appointment,a nd the
lambardar of the patti in which a mutation takes palce is excepted to attest by
hisseal or signature the report made on it by the patwari for the orders of the
revenue officer.
CAUTION Read separate para for Punjab
and Haryana
374. Reports
of registed deeds. Registers and sub-registers send monthly to tahsildars
particular of all registed deeds which purport to transfer agricultural land.
The entries relating to each deed are made on a separate slip. The office
kanungo forwards these slips to the field kanungo of the circle, who
distributes them to the patwaris concerned(see paragraph 6 of fiancial
commissioners standing order no. 23)
374. Reports
of registed deeds. Registers and sub-registers send on the 15th
and last date of each month (substituted by financial commissioner punjab
correction slip no. 1(1982) dated 24.12.1981) to tahsildars particulars of all
registed deeds which purport to transfer agricultural land. The entries
relating to each deed are made in a seprateslip. The office kanungo forwards
these slips to the field kanungo of the circle, who distributes them to the
patwari concerned(see paragraph 6 of financial commissioners standing order no.
23)
375. Register
of mutations. The patwari keeps up a register if mutation in which he
records all acquisitions of rights of the kinds descrilbed in the preceding
paragraph, reported to him or which he “has reason to believe to have been
taken palce” except those relating to land revenue assignmets and undisputed
mutations of tenants-at-will,” as soon as they are acted on”the last words do
not occur in the act, but in a rule framed under it( see act xvii of 1887,
section 34(3), and financial commissioner’s standing orders no. 23 paragraph
2-13 of this manual). They were seemingly introduced to carry out the principle
that the revenue officer whis is revising a record of rights is concerned only
with rights actually enjoyed by the persons claiming them.(see paragraph 369 of
this manual) but a mere entry in the register cannot cause any elteration in
the jamabandi without an order by a revenue officer, and for the sake of
convenience the patwari enters are tranfers by registed deed, of which he has received intimation under the
procedure described in the last paragraph.it is the duty of the revenue officer
to refuse to refuse to sanction the mutation in such a case unless he is satisfied that the transfer has actually been
completed (see also paragraph 7 of financial commissionor’s standiong order no.
23)
376. Copy
of mutation register field with jamabandi. The forms of the mutaion
register with instructions regarding the making of entries in it will be found
in financial commissioner’s standing order no. 23, paragraph i. It is kept up
in duplicate, one copy being retained by the patwari and the other sent to the
tahsil to be attached to the jamabandi as an authority for the new entries with
it contains. The patwari’s report, the attestation of it by the field kanungo
and the order of the revenue officer are
wriiten only in the copy of the register to be field with the jamabandi. It is
enough in the patwari’s copy is show how the case was deposed of by entring the
briefest possible abstract of the order and this abstract should be written by
the revenue officer with his own hand.
377. cancelled.
378. Undisputed
entries relating to tenants-at-will. Most of the alternations in the
jamabandi which are the patwari can make of his own authority are undisputed
mutations of tenants-at-will. These are not entered at all in the register.
Whsen the new jamabandi is being compiled they are taken straight from the
khasra girdawari. (see paragraph 359 of this manual) disputed changes of
tenants-at-will are treated exactly like other mutations.
379. Orders
in mutation cases - Orders in mutation cases can be passed by an assistant
collector of either grade. In practice nearly the whole of the work is disposed
of by tahsiodar and naib-tahsildar. In the country of small peasant proprietors
the number of mutations be attested annually is very large, and it is found
necessary every year to appoint in some
districts one or more extra naib-tahsildar selected from the lists of excepted
candidates and to invest them with the
powers required for the disposal of business under chapter iv of the land
revenue act. An appeal of course lies to the collector against order
sanctioning or refusing mutation of names, and the minute proprotion witch the
number of such appeals bears to the number of mutations decilded is evidence of the general satisfaction with the
procedure.
380. Mutation
work largely done by officer of no grade standing of experience. It is
clear from what has been just said that much of the mutation work is done by
officers of small standing and little practical experince. It is also true that
the work has often to be carried out very rapidly, if the important object of
keeing the jamabandi upto date is to be attained. These are matters for
reflection considering that each jamabandi now possesses the same authority as
the record of rights drawn up at settlement(see paragrpah 368) fortunitely the
bulk of the work is exceedingly simple; there is no dispute as to facts, and no
opening for doubt at to the order that should be passed. But this is by no
means true univercally, and cases find their into the mutation regilster which require both care knowledge to decilde
correctly.
381. Supervision
of work by deputy commissioner and revenue assisant -When a deputy
commissioner or a revenue assistant is inspecting a tahsil,the mutation work of
the tahsildar,naib-tahsildar,and extra naibtasildar, who may have been employed
, should all be brought under review. With the jamabandi of an estate lying
open before him it is perfectly easy to pick out all the holdinds in which
changes have been made, for in sport of them refrence to the mutation regilster are always given.
If the inspecting officer looks up each case in the regilster, he can soon
satitfy himself as to the quality of the work of the reporting patwari and of
the assistant collector. Having done so, he can turn back to the jamabandi, and
see weahter the changes ordered have been corrctly made. If this process is
repeated for several estates in the circles of the tahsildar and naib-tahsildar
respectively the deputy commissioner cannot fail to gain a considerable insight
into the value of work done by both these officers, and by some of the
patwari’s and kanungos under their control. In examining mutation seats special attention should be paid to orders passed in
the absence of any of the patwari’s. no other should be passed effecting the
share of any right-holder who has not had an opportunty of appearing.
382. Mutation
to be attested on the spot. Tahsildar and naib-tahsildars are accepted to
deal with revenue work, and especially with cases relating to lambardars, land
revenue assignments, partitions, and mutations with in the estate in which the
cases have arisen. The extent to which this obligation may be relaxed with the
expressed permission of the deputy commissioner has been noted in paragraph
247.
383. Contents
of mutation s orders. Every mutation order should shoe on the face of it
the palac where and the date on which it was passed, and that all the parties
intrusted were present or, if any one was absent, the way in which his evedence
was obtained, or , if it was not obtained, but opputunity was given to him to
be present.no detailed recored of the statements of parties and witnesses is
required, but the order should note
brilefly is persons examined and
the facts to which they deposed.(land revenue rules 39,40 and 44ii and tenancy
rules 7 and 12 ii)
except in the case of killabandi
mutations (paragraph 15 of appendix xiv of settlement manual) no patwari or
kanungo or revenue officer should take the signatures or thumb-marks of parties
or witnesses on mutation proceedings.
The facts on which the order is
based should be stated succinctly but clearly, and the order must show without
any possibility of doubt weather the revenue officer accepts the new entry
proposed by the patwari as it stands, or, if it requires amendement, exactly
what the entry is which is to be made in the jamabandi.the order must always
show weather a share of the village shamlat has been included in the transfer.
Commentry
Interested parties have to be given opportunity of being present ans.
The mutation should be attested on the spot by tahsildar. Where neither notice
given nor party present before order in mutation was passed. The mutation order
set aside (mili saint david v. dulo 1986 PLJ 53) plea that the mutation was
sanctioned in the presence of general punlic is not abequate to fix the present
of the parties. (sudama ram v. ram dahn 1992 1 rrr 461).
384. Attendence
of parties. A person who, after receipt of notice by summons or
procalmation to appear before a revenue officer at some place within the estate
in which he ordinarily resides of qualities land, fails to present himself
becomes liable to a fine not exceeding Rs. 50 (saction 149) this provision can
suitably be put in force when the
default is wilful and contumacious. But, where a mans attendance would involve an amount of inconvience which under
all the circumstance could reasonably be regared as excessive, the proper plan
is to take his evildence by commission.
Commentry
At
the time of attestation of mutation the party was not present nor recorded in
the order the presumption is that the party has no knowledge. (sudaman ram v.
ram dham 1992 1 rrr 461)
385. Arbitration.
Disputed cases may be referred to arbitrtaion without the consent of the
parties. But little use is made of this provision of the act. Where it is
resorted to care must to taken to make the artitrators understands that they
must give a clear opinion as to the question whether the right claimed is
actually enjoyed. If the revenue officer cannot satisfy himself as regards the
fact of possession and thinks it inexpedient to refer the point to arbitration,
he is required to make a summary inquiry as to title and to direct that the
person who appers to have the best right to the property shall be put in
possion of it, and that his name shall be entered in the jamabandi. The
disappointed claimant must be referred to the civil courts for the establishment
of any right he conceilve himself to have.
386. Importance
of prompt disposal of mutation work. Mutation which have not been attested
before the end of the agrilcultural year (15th june ), or the date
approved by the director of land records are not incorpated in th jamabandi
them under prepartion. This in most cases means that they will not be brought
to record till more than four years after they have taken palace. This untoward
result can easily be avoided if tahsildars and naib-tahsildars lay out their
work properly, and pay special attention to the estate for which jamabandis are
about to be drawn up.
386-A. A
mutation pending over two years. Provision has been made in paragraph 7.4
of the punjab land records manual to ensure that specail precautions will be
taken be tahsildars and naib-tahsildars to decilde mutations as soon as
possible after the period of two yers has elapsed unless mutations are duly
attested within a reasonable time, litigation is held up and the culticators do
not settle down with clear minds with the cultivation of their lands.
Collections , and if necessary. Commissioner, should bear in mind any
remissness on the part of subordinate revenue officcers in his direction when
reporting on the these officers. Assistant collectors of the 1st
grade, in forwarding reports to th ecollector should bear in mind their own
esponsibility for the proper supervision of mutation work.
387. Jamabandi.
The chief work of th patwari between the completion of the rabi girdwari and the
beginning o fth kharif harvest inspectin is the complining of the jamabandi. It
is drawn up in duplicate and ought to showly whom the land is held as owner or
mortagage at the end of the agricultural year.all payment of rent and revenue
made up to the 15th of bhado, fwhich corresponds roughly to the end
of august, sholud be embodied in it. The copy should be filed in the tahsil by
the 7th september or any subsequent date approved by the director of
land records due to special circumstances, provide such date does not exceed 6
months from 7th september; the other being retained by the patwari.
388 Jamabandi
of most estates prepared quadrennally. The act conmplatewsd the farming of
an annual record of rights for each estate, but at the time it allows the financial
commissioner to dlirect its prepareation at or the shorter intervals. For many
years after the act was passed an attries being curtailed to some extent for
three consecutive years and given full length in the fourth. This plan of having
ebbreviated and detailed nabandis
caused useless trouble, and the present rule is to draw up a complete jamabandi
for each estate or part of an estate once is four years. Its are made showing
what record work the patwari’s are to do in each year.patwari has four or more
small villaes in his circle , it is easy to distribute work over the different
year. If the estates are fewer in
number, one or more of them may have to be split up into two or more parts for
this purpose. Each part should far as possible, consist of one or more complete
sub-division(parties or tarafs). In referring to the latest jamabndi of any
particulars vilage, the year to which the entries relate must be noted. If this
is not the last agricultural year, any changes which have occurred since the
jamabandi was compled can be ascertioned by turning to the mutation register.
389. Jamabandis
to be completed by patwari in his own circle. Patwari must not be collected
at the tahsil or anywhere else to write up jamabandis every man must od the
work in his circle. If it is not
finishsed in time, and the only way to get it done to have the patwari
under constant obserevation, he can be
brought into the tahsil for a short time in the month of september. On patwaris
coming to the tahsil to file their jamabnadis the office kanungo should detain
them there for as short a period as possible. Girowin work. Except invery
special circumstances, no patwari sholu be detained at the tahsil for more than
eight days.
390. Attestaion
of jamabandio field kanungo in village. The field kanungos check of the
jamabandis while they are under preparation should be constant and systematic.
He is responsible that all the mutation orviously, are correctly in corporated.
He must attest all the entries holding by holding in the presence of the
zamindars concerned. This work can be carried of pari passu with the progress of the patwaris
work. At each of his visits the kanungo can collect the landowners and tenants
whose holdings have been attested since his last visit and read out the entries
in their hearing.
391. Check
at tahsil by field kanungo. In addition to the attention work carried out
in the villages, field kanungos spend september at headquartes of the tahsil
and revote their attention during that time to the checking of the jamabadis
filed by the patwaris. The check carried out the tahsil is chiefly directed to
seeing that mutation have been proprerly incorpated, and that the statisticl
statements filed with the jamabandi or correct.
392. Check
by the tahsildar and naib-tahsildar. The tahsildar or naib tahsildar
incharge of the circle in which the village lies small make his final attention
in the sport and shall observe the follwing in insrtruction :-
(1) (1) at least 25 per cent
of the khatauni holdings should be read out on the spot and in the presence of
the assembled rilght –holders.
(2) (2) At least 25 per cent
of the mutation attached to the jamabandis should be compered with the khewats
concerned.
(3) (3) At least 25 per cent
of the khewat holding should be compered with the old jamabnadis.
(4) (4) At least 25 percent
of heewat entries in the original copy should be compred with the corresponding
entries in the patwaris of the jamabandi.
The number of the fileds, the tatima
shajaras of which have been attested, must be specified as also that of the
unattested mutations entered before the 16th june or the date
approved by the dirctor of land records; of these their should be as few as
possible.
393. Notes
at end of jamabandi should show amount
of check exercised. In the notes which they record at the end of thd
jamabandi the kanungo and the revenue officer must state exactly what they have
done in the way of scrutiny and check and they should each include in their
note a list of any amendments which they have made. The revenue officer must
include in his prescribe final attestation slip an dattach one two each of two
copies of the jamabandi. The degree in which the jamabandis last prepared are
really up to the date is matter to be tested at tehsil inspections.
394. Statistical
returns based on jamabandi. The statistical returns which are based on the
mutations register and jamabandi, and which form appendices to the latter
document, will be dealt with in the next chapter.
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS
395. Cancelled.
396. Cancelled.
397. Cancelled.
398. Village
notebook. For each of the estates in his circle the patwari keepw up a
vernacular register or note-book which conrains the following ten table:-
1) 1)
area stasement of milan rakba.
2) 2)
Kharif crop statement or hinxwer.
3) 3)
Rabi crop statement or hinswar.
4) 4)
Revenue account or hama wasil baki.
5) 5)
Statement of transfers of rights kof owners and occupancy tenants 5-A)
statement of sales and murtgages of ownership by classes lkof land.
6) 6)
Ststement of ownership, mortgages and revenue assignments.
7) 7)
Statement of clurivating occupancy.
8) 8)
Statement of rent paid by tenants-at-will.
9) 9)
Statement of agricultural stoch.
The forms of these statement with
detailed instructions for their perparation will lkbe found in Financial
commissiioner,s Standing order No. 24.
399. Remarks
in registers. In the first six entries are made hear by year in the next
three every foufrth year when a new jamabandi fothe estate is drawn up. The
return of agricultural stock is perpared quinqrennially, and embodies the
result of special enumeration made by the patwari in all the villages in his
circle every fifth year in the month of February. The originals of all these
statements are sent to the tahsil as soon as the figures have been copied by
the patwari in the corresponding forms in his village note-book. The field
kanungo is bound to help the patwari in compiling them, and is held personally
responsible for their accuracy.
400. Office
kanungis’ copy of village notebook. The tahsil pffice kanungo keeps up a
note-book for each village cintaining the ten tegisters mentioned above and an
eleventh telating to the assessment of the estate,the figures in which are
compiled ince for all at settlement. The other returns only differ form those
in the patwari’s village note-book in so far as the heading of the tegisters
are ptinted both in English and in vernacular and the entries are made in
English figures. In the 11th of assessment officer,or of both on the
estate are recorded, and it is the duty of the tahsildar to supplement these
by brief notes in the subsequent history
of the village in each year in which its jamabandi is drawn up. And ar other
times, whenever any event occurs which
seriously affects the well-being of dthe
estate. Such a note should always be made when it becomes necessary to suspend
the recovery of any part of the land revenue demand, and subsequent recoveries
or remissions and the teasons justifying them should also be recorded.
401. Assessment
circle and tahsil notebooks. The office kanungo also keeps up note-book for
each assessment circle and for the whole tahsil containing these ten tegisters.
There are blank pages at the end for entry by the tahsildar and Revenue
Assestant of general remarks applicable to the assessnent circle note-book. The
centers and the dates of report have been separately determibned for each
district. If any changes in these centres are subsequently found necessary for
any cause, reports suggesting alterations will be submitted through the
Director of land Records to the commissioner of the division by the collector.
In the case of districts under settlement the Settlement officer will similarly
send proposals for changes through the commissioner to the Financial
commissioner.
The financial commissioner in
districts under settement and the commissioner in districts not under
settlement, will decide whether the changes proposed ar e necessary.
The prices should be those at
which the produce of each harvest was
acrually diposed of. The field kanungos should fix the rates after careful
enquiry nfrom zaminders, sahukars,etc., and his entries shuould be carefully checked by the tahsildar and
Revenue Assistant and approved by the
collector. the rates goven by the field
kanungos for each circle should be compared with each other and large discrepancies enquired into.
In the case of rice and cotton jthe
price of “unhasked roce” “and” unginned corrton” Desi and American,” separately
should be quoted.
402. Importance
of regular record of notes on villages by tahsildars. Tahsildars should be
encouraged to record such remarks regularity. The deputy commissioner and
commissioner should discuss with him the contents of such notice at their
tahsil inspections. This is very practical way of testing his knowledge of his
tahsil and, provided the notes are good ones, of adding to ones own.
403. Assessment
circle, tahsil and district note books kept up by district kanungo. The
district kanungo keeps up for each assessment circle and tahsil, and for the
district as a whole registers in the
same form as those maintained by office kanungo at tahsils.
404. English
village notebooks drawn up at settlement. A copy of the english village
note book as drawn up at the last settlement containing the remarks of the
settlement officer on the estate and its assessment is kept at headquartes. It
is unnecessary to maintain the registers in this copy upto date. When he wishes
to study the agricultural statistics of the estate for the year during which
the current settlement has been inforce, the deputy commissioner can always
send for the tahsil copy of the village tahsil notebook. The origianal idea was
that the deputy commissioner should record his own remarks from time to time in
the english notebook kept at headquartes. But a more convenient place for
recording them is the abstract village note book introduced in 1896, and it is
now the rule for settlement officers also to enter there remarks in the
abstract and not in the detailed note book.
405. Abstract
village note book. The abstract village note-books co9ntain for each estate
the village inspection notes tecorded by the settlement officer his assessment
statements and its small scale map, and also a short statement in which the
chief agricultural statisties are
annually posted with quinquennial averages. Spare leaves for the entry of
remarks are appended to each sheet. The abstract for all the astates of a
fairly large assessment circle can be brought together in volume of moderate
size. All the figures un the abstract ard are taken straight from ine kof other
of the first seven registers in the vernacular village note-book. It is an
excellent plan to enter on a separate sheet at the district office in the
office of the district kanungo,and it is the business of the district kanungo
to make the necessary the ordinary form
to suit local conditions kis cindiedrred as each district comes
settlement.
406. Use
of abstract village notebook. When the deputy commissioner or any trained
assistant commissioner goes on tour he should take with him the volumes of
abstract village note-books belonging to the tract to be visited, and should
consultanty refer to them. But it must not be supposed to that these abstracts
superede the detailed village note-book. When any close inquiry into the
circumstances of an estate is required, the officer who makes it should have
both the abstract and the note-book before him. If he is in camp he can easily
consult the patwari’s copy of the latter, and, if he wishes to see the
assessment statistics embodied in statement ii, and the remarks of the
tahsildar and the revenue assistant, he can call for the office kanungo’s copy.
407. Entry
of remarks by deputy commissioner. It is the duty of the deputy
commissioner to enter remarks about any village in which circumstances arise
that are worht recording (the twenty-fifth chapter of the settlement manual may
usefully be referred to in this connection)
the ideal to the aim at is the maintenance if a continuous revenue
history of each estate to which the deputy commissioner of the day and the
settlement officer of the future can refer with confidence. Clear and concise
contemprary notice by an experienced revenue officer who has inspected an
estate and enquired into its circumstances either as part of the ordinary
routine of a tour or for any special reason, can not file to be valuable. Such
notice may be written by the district officer himself, or by the revenue
assistant , if he knows english, or by any assistant whom the deputy
commissioner consider to possess sufficient experience.
408. Duties
of commissioner with reference to agricultural statistics. Revenue
administration , as already remarked, depends very largely on the success with
which the records to which this chapter relates are kept up and made use of ,
and there is no subject ot which commissioners out to give more attention during there
inspection tours.
RIVERAIN LAW AND REASSESSMENT OF LANDS
AFFECTED BY RIVER ACTION.
409. Meaning
of riverain law. Riverain law is voncerned with the effect on rights in
land of river action. Which is usually qualified according to irs narure
by the rerms erosion, accretion and
avulsion.
Commentry
The definition of reverain action
given in the land administration manual is applicable only in the villages
subject to diluvion and alluvion.
410. Diluvion and alluvion. The two former afe applied kto the
process by which land is sucked into the channel kby the inset of a river at
one place and fresh land exposed at anokther by its retirement. The loss and
gain thereby carsed are respectively as dilucion and alluvion.
411. Avulsion.
The word avulsion is an unhappy one to describe what takes place in the punjab
when part of an estate is transferred in a recignizable cindition from the
right to kthe left bank of the main channel of a river of vice versa. There a
large river, after it has penetrated some way from the extreme limits of the
wanderings of the stream. The valley in seamed with channels, sime how druy all
klthe year round , except in heavy flods, some dry in the cold weather and
running in the hor, and some in kljthe case of sdkjthe largest rivers,containing
water throughout the year. the main channel(dhar kalan in the vernacular of
revenue officials) gradually gets silted up,and the force of the stream is
diverted in to some other bed,which in
its turn become the principal ine. This shifting of the stream from ome
bed to another may leave much of the land between them unaffected. Avulwion
means not the movement of land, but that of water.
412. Regulation
XI of 1825. These various kinds of river action afe all provided for in
Regulation xi of 1825, which was the law on kthe subject with which the first
administrators of kthe punjab had been familiar in the Bengal Regulations, but
twenty three years after annexation regulation XI of 1825 was expressly
extended to it by the third section of the punjab lawa act, IV of 1872, and iti
sstill in force.(as amended by section 4 of punajb act I of 1899, see paragraph
426.)
413. Custom
primary rule of decision. The regulation makes custom the rule of decision
in all "dispute relative to alluvial land” between private owners, “
whenever any clear and definite usage……. May have been immorially established.”
(section 2 of regulation XI of 1825) as an example of such a usage it cites the
deepstrean to be for the time being forms the boundry between the estates on oposite
banks of a river, and property in land changes with every alternation in its
course.
414. Rules
of decision in absence of custom. In the absence of well-established local
usages to rules of decision are raid down.
(1) (1) land
added gradually owing to the recess of a river is to be considered an increment
of the property of the person to whose holding or estate in has become annexed
(2) (2) when
a river
(a) (a) by a sudden
change in its course breaks thought or interescts an estate, or
(b) (b) by the violence of
stream seprates a consderable piece of land from one estate and joins it to
another, “without distroying the identity and preventing the recognition of the
land so removed,” theland is to remain the property of the original owner.
This may be called the
deep-stream rule modify to meet the case of
avulsion.
415. Islands.
Island thrown up in large and navigable rivers, the beds of which do not belong
ot private owners, are to be at the disposal of govt. if the channel between
the island and the river bank is unfordable throughout the year. If the channel
is fordable, the island is to become and accession to the estate on the nearer
of the two banks. In the case of small rivers, the property in whose beds and
the right of fishery have been rocognized as belonging to the a private owners,
the island is also to belong to him.
416.
416.
Cases not governed by rules. In other cases not governed by the rules
the courts are to be guided by the best avidence obtainable as to local custom.
Or , in default of such evidence by general principle of equity and justs.
417.
417.
Probable absence of definite custmer in punjab, the extent to which “ clear an
ddefinite “ and “immemorially established” local usages as two the effect of
rilver action on property in land existed in the punajb at the time of
annexation seems open to deubt in some cases the usage recorded in the first
settlements may have had a traditional basis: in others they no doubt
represented what the headmen, assisted by the officials consirded out the be
enforced for the future.
418.
418.
Deep strem rule pure and simple. The deep strem rule is expressed by
various verncular terms, has sikandari.kach mach, daryabanna , kishti banna,
machhi-sim. It probably existed in its most rigid form in some parts of the
province before 1845. Even where no such usage was of great antiquity it would
naturally spring up whenever the opposite banks of a river came to be held kby
river chiefs each eager to support the claims of his own subjects. It was
recirded as the prevailing custom,on the Beas where it forms the dividing line
between the Gurdaspur and hoshiarpur districts.
419.
419.
Deep-stream rule modified to meet case of avulsion. As a rule regulating
the ownership of land , it is so harsh in its working that it was universally
condemmed by british officers. It may be partly on this accoun that in the vast
majotrity of a estate else where in the punjab which are recorded as following
the deep-stream rule, it is declared ot be subject to the qualification that
transfer of land in an identifiable state by avulsion from one bank of a river
that another involves no change of ownership.
420.
420.
Rule of fixed boundaries. In some cases, for example, on the upper Ravi
in the gurdaspur and Lahore diltricts and on part of the Jhelum district, the
rule of filxed boundaries, known as warper, percails(see pages 1235, 1236,1240
and 1241 of selections from the records of the financial commissioner, new
series, no. 15 (LXIX). This volume contains much information on riverain law in
the punajb) it is the only ruleworthy of
civilized administration, but for its successful working it is necessary that
the channel should have been mapped, and that the patwari should be
sufficilently skillful ready to relay boundaries to obliuterated by rilver
action. In most of the older settlements of dilstricts separted by large
streams surveys were not carried across their beds, and it is only in recent
years that a really competent staff of patwaris has been formed.
421.
421.
Punjab riverain boundaries act, I of 1899. As long ago as 1867 sir James
Lyall prosposed the adoption of idxed boundaries everywhere( selections from
the records of the financial commissioner, new series no. 15 (LXIX), page
1203.) but the finacial commissioner of the day regarded the proposal as
impractilable because of the lack of skill in survey work among the subordiante
revenue staff(selection from the recorde of the financial commissioner, new
serioes No. 15 paragraph 16 of memorandum by Sir Robert Egertion on page 1227.
) this objection has been ceased to be valid, and the first act passed by the
punajb legislative counsil(punjab act I of 1899) was one enabling govet. To
order the substution of flixed for variong boundaries in estate subject to
river section. It added six sections. 101-a to 101-f, to the Punajb Land
revenue act, XVII of 1887, and made additions to section 158 of the same act,
and to the second and third sections of regulation XI of 1825.
422.
422.
Boundaries how fixed. The act requires that the “boundaries ine shall be
filxed with due regard to the history of the estate and the intereset of the
persons respectively owing them or possessing rights therein such manner as may
be just and quitable in the circumstances of each case( punjab government
revenue proceedings-general-no.29 of january, 1900.) the instructions issued by
the financial commissioner regarding the carring out of this provision of the
act provide(punjab govt. revenue proceedings-general-no. 29 of januray,
1900) that “the collecter should in the
first place try to get the villages concerned to come to an amenable agreement.”
Failing that, he “ must himself fix a line…… and, in doing so, should have
been, taking a long series of years together, if matters had been allowed to
continue under the existing law or custom. Among other things he would have to
bear in mind that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If, for example,
the river were making a dead set upon its right bank, which it was in a high
degree likely would continue for some years, some allowance would have to be
made for the fact that the riparian owners on the left bank would, by our taking
action under the act, be derived of land which would be pretty certain to have
accured to them for some years if we had left matters alone. On the other hand,
it should fbe born in mind that in all probability after some years the river
would begin to work back again, and whatever was reasonable should be allowed
per contra on this account in fixing the line. The object should be to draw the
line as far as possible so that neither party should feel that the other had
obtained a very clear advantage by our intervention.
423.
423.
Effect of relaying of boundry on private property. If the line adopted
transfer land from one estate to another, the proprietary rights in the land
are also transferred. But in the case of land which is ‘ under cultication, or
reasinably fit for the culticvation, or (which) yield any produce of
substantial value, “it is the duty of the collecteor to pass an order
suspending the transfer of private rihgts “unless and until the land……….. cease
to be reasonably fit for cultivcation or
to yield any produce of substantial value;” when any part of the land answers
the latter description, the transfer be, comes complete.(section 101-b(1) of
the punajb land revenue act, 1887). The effect of action taken nder the act is
to create a fixed boundry which will at once define the limits of estates and
ultimately in the majority of cases those private also.
424. 416. Immedilate
transfer of ownership on payment of compensation. The landowner or any of
the landowners of an estate in which has been included land whose transfer qua
propritary right has been suspended by order of the collector, may apply to him
cancel his order and award compensation for the loss of their rights to the
existing landowners it is within the collector’s discretion to accept or reject
such an application.(section 101-c of the punjab land revenue act, 1887)
425. 417. Exclusion
of jurisdiction of civil courts. By an addition to section 158 of the land
revenue act questions connected with proceedings for the determination of
boundaries under punjab act 1 of 1899 are excluded from the jurisdiction of
civil courts(section 158(xviii)(a) of the punjab land revenue act, 1887)
426. 418. Procedure.
The boundry in each case is laid down by the collector. in practice, the work
has been done by settlement officers or special officers invested with the
powers of a collector and working under the orders of the financial
commissioner. No boundry line is deemed to have been permantly fixed till it has been approved by
the financial commissioner.
427. 419. Amendment
of regulation XI of 1825. Additions made to sections 2 and 3 of regulation
xi of 1825 make thaat enactment of no effevt afrer a fixed boundary has been
laid down.
428. 420. Cancelled.
429. 421. Jursidiction
boundaries. In theory, there is no necessary connection between the
boundaries of privare property and those of jurisdiction. In the case of
the latter, three kinds of riverain
boundaries may be distinguished-
(a) between districts in the
same administration.
(b) between two administration.
(c) between british administrations
and indian States.
430. 422. Official
opinion formely favoured deep-streakm fule pure and simple. The recognition
of the iniquyity of the deep stream fule
pure and simple as applied to the ownership
of land was quite compatible with the emphatic assertion kthat it ought to be
enforced as between district and
district,and between and kthe punjab and indian States. The reason urged was
that the boundaty of jurisdiction must be one kljthat could be quickly
determine and easily recognized,conditions that were only satisfied by adopting
as the line of demarcation the main channel for the time being.