This Act may be called the North-Western Provinces Land-Revenue Act, 1879;

Commencement. and shall come into force at once.

Local extent. This section and sections 28 and 29 extend to the whole of the territories for the time being under the administration of the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces.

The whole of this Act extends to those portions of the territories to which the whole of the said North-Western Provinces Land-Revenue Act, 1873, extends; and every provision provinces Land-Revenue Act, 1873, extends to all other portions of the said territories to which such part may have been, whether before or after the passing of this Act, extended.

To section 3, clause (1), of the said North-Western Provinces Land-Revenue Act, 1873, the following shall be added:

and (c), for such purposes as the Local Government may from time to time determine, any grant, of land made heretofore or hereafter under the waste land rules for the time being in force.

In section 23 of the same Act, for the word villages, the word mah ls shall be substituted.

For section 29 of the same Act, the following shall be substituted:

29. A rate may be imposed by order of the Board on the annual value or on the cultivated area of all mah ls, or partly on one and partly on the; other, for the purpose of defraying the salaries of patw r s and any charges incurred for the proper supervision, maintenance and correction of patw r s' records.

The proceeds of such rate shall be credited to a provincial fund, and shall be applied to the said purpose in such manner as the Board, subject to the orders of the Local Government, may from time to time direct.

The Local Government may from time to time, by rules published in the local official Gazette, declare the circumstances under which a landlord shall be entitled to recover from tenants holding rent-free, or at fixed or beneficial rates, the whole or any specified part of the rate imposed under this section.

Explanation. Charges incurred in the preparation of village-maps shall be deemed to be charges within the meaning of this section.

For the proviso to section 30 of the same Act, the following shall be substituted:

Such rate shall not exceed three per cent on the annual value of the rated mah l; and the amount to be imposed on each mah l shall be fixed, in temporarily settled districts for the term of settlement, and in permanently settled districts for thirty years, or such shorter period as the Local Government may from time to time direct:

Provided that the rate or sum hitherto paid (whatever its amount may be) by the proprietors of any mah l on account of the patw r s' salaries or expenses shall, if the Local Government so directs, be deemed to be the rate imposed under this Act.

In section 44 of the same Act, for the word elected, the word selected shall be substituted; and to the same section the words such representatives shall be called lambard rs shall be added.

In section 65 of the same Act, for clauses (d) and (e), the following shall be substituted:

(d) as to any other matters which he may be directed to record under rules framed under section 257.

The Settlement-officer may, subject to rules to be made from time to time by the Board, with the previous sanction of the Local Government, fix and shall record

(e) the amounts of instalments of rent and the respective dates for their payment;

(f) the dates for the payment of any amounts payable by inferior to superior proprietors under section 54, clause (1); and

(g) the dates on which profits shall be divisible by lambard rs.

In section 66 of the same Act, for the second clause, the following shall be substituted:

List of ceases to be made. A list of all other cesses levied in accordance with village-custom, and generally or specially sanctioned by the Local Government, shall be made by the Settlement-officer. And, save as provided by any other enactment for the time being in force, no cesses not comprised in such list shall be enforced in any Civil or Revenue Court, and no such list shall be altered or added to during the currency of a settlement.

And to the same section, the following shall be added:

Power of Government General in Council to declare what shall be deemed to be a cess. While any local area is under settlement, the Governor General in Council may, from time to time, in case of doubt, declare what shall be deemed to be a cess within the meaning of this section.

To section 74 of the same Act, the following shall be added:

Provided that the Local Government may empower any Settlement-officer, when any such application made before him is opposed, to refuse, for reasons to be recorded by him in writing, to grant the same.

In section 95 of the same Act, for the words no such changes, the words no such change or other thing affecting proprietary rights or interests shall be substituted.

To section 141 of the same Act, the following shall be added:

Explanation. Owners in this and the following sections of this chapter include also a lessee, mortgagee or other person in possession of the land referred to.

To section 146 of the same Act, the following shall be added:

Explanation. Proprietor in this chapter includes also a farmer and a mortgagee in possession.

In section 156 of the same Act, for the word proprietor, the words defaulter or his legal representative shall be substituted.

For section 157 of the same Act, the following shall be substituted:

Transfer of defaulter's share to co-sharers. 157. When the arrear is due in respect of a share or patt of a mah l, the Collector of the district may, with the previous sanction of the Commissioner of the Division, in cases where the annual revenue payable in respect of such share or patt does not exceed fifty rupees, and in other cases with the previous sanction of the Board, transfer such share or patt , for a term not exceeding fifteen years from the first day of July next after the date of the sanction, to any or all of the other co-sharers, on condition of their paying such arrear and on such terms as the Commissioner or Board (as the case may be) in each case may think fit.

The Commissioner shall, without unnecessary delay, report to the Board every transfer sanctioned by him under this section, and the Board may thereupon set aside such transfer or alter the terms of the same, or pass such other order as it thinks fit.

A transfer under this section shall not affect the joint and several liability of the co-sharers of the mah l in which it is enforced.

To section 165 of the same Act, the following shall be added:

for the remainder of the term of the settlement of the district, or for any period within such term as the Board may fix.

To section 172 of the same Act, the following shall be added:

No officer having any duty to perform in connection with any such sale, and no person employed by or subordinate to such officer, shall, either directly or indirectly, bid for, acquire or attempt to acquire, except on behalf of the Government or the Court of Wards, the property sold or any interest therein.

To section 189 of the same Act, the following shall be added:

No protest under this section shall be of any effect unless it is made at the time of payment in writing and signed by the person making the same, or by an agent duly authorized in his behalf.

In section 193 of the same Act, for the word lands, the word property shall be substituted.

In section 194 of the same Act, for the word lands, the word property, and for clause (e) the following, shall be substituted:

(e) persons declared by the Local Government incapable, owing to physical defects and infirmities, to manage their own estates.

In section 195 of the same Act, for the proviso, the following shall be substituted:

Provided that, if the person or property of any disqualified proprietor mentioned in section 194, clause (b), clause (c) or clause (d), has been placed under the charge of the Collector, or under the superintendence of the Court of Wards, by any Civil Court, it shall not lie released without the concurrence of such Court:

Provided also that the property of a proprietor who has been held disqualified under the same section clause (a), clause (e), clause (f) or clause (g), shall not be released from the superintendence-of the Court of Wards without the previous sanction of the Local Government.

In section 200 of the same Act, after the word may, the following shall be inserted:

from time to time determine what sums shall be allowed in respect of the expenses of any person whose property is under its superintendence, and.

In section 203 of the same Act, before the words any part, the words the whole or shall be inserted.

For section 205 of the same Act, the following shall be substituted:

Suits by and against disqualified proprietors in Civil Courts. 205. All disqualified proprietors whose property is in charge of the Court of Wards, and for whom guardians have been appointed, shall sue and be sued in Civil Courts by and in the name of their guardians:

Provided that no such suit shall be instituted, defended, compromised or otherwise dealt with by any such guardian without the previous sanction of the Court of Wards.

Disqualified proprietors, whose property is in charge of the Court of Wards, and for whom guardians have not been appointed, shall sue and be sued in Civil Courts by and in the name of the Collector of the district in which the suit is brought.

After section 205 of the same Act, the following sections shall be inserted:

Suits and proceedings in Revenue Courts. 205A. A Manager appointed by the Court of Wards may, subject to the control of the Collector, institute, defend, compromise or otherwise deal with suits, applications or other proceedings in Revenue Courts relating to the property entrusted to him.

Disability of disqualified proprietors. 2-05B. Persons whose property is under the superintendence of the Court of Wards shall not be competent to create, without the sanction of the Court, any charge upon, or interest in, such property or any part thereof.

And no such property shall be liable to be taken in execution of a decree made in respect of any contract entered into by any such person while his property is under such superintendence.

In section 212 of the same Act, after the word suit, the words or other proceeding shall be inserted.

In section 235, clause (20), of the same Act, for the word rent where it first occurs, the word limits shall be substituted.

In section 257 of the same Act, after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted:

(ee) regulating the appointment, dismissal and duties of lambardars.

And whereas it is also expedient to amend the North-Western Provinces Local Hates Act, 1878; It is hereby further enacted as follows;

In section 3 of the said North-Western Provinces Local Plates Act, for the definition of tenant, the following shall be substituted:

Tenant used in reference to any land, means a tenant holding directly from the landlord of such land and also includes an under-proprietor of such land, and a person bound to pay or deliver anything to such landlord in respect of the use and occupation of such land.

In section 16 of the same Act, shall be substituted

(a) for the words and figures twenty-three of Act No. X of 1859, and in section one of Act No. XIV of 1863, the words and figures ninety-three of the North-Western Provinces Rent Act, 1873; and

(b) for the words and figures Act No. X of 1859 and Act No. XIV of 1863, the words and figures the North-Western Provinces Pent Act, 1873.