-V Th e 12th N ovem ber 1957
N o.LJL .30 /57 /46 .—The following Act of the Assam Legislativ e Assembly which received the assent of the Pres iden t is he reby published for genera l info rma tion .
(R ec eive d the as se nt of the Pr es iden t on the 8th No vembe r 1957)
ASSAM ACT XVII OF 1957
TH E ASSAM FI XA TI ON OF CE ILIN G ON LAN D HO LDINGS
(AM ENDM ENT) AC T, 1957
(Passed by the Assembly) [Pub lished in the Assam Gazette, Extraord ina ry, dated the 13th Novem ber
1957 ]
An
Act to amend the Assam Fixa tion o f Ceiling on La nd Holdings Act, 1956,
P rea m b le .— Whereas it is expedient to amend the Assam Fixa tion of Ceil ing on Land Holding s A ct, 1956 (Assam Act I of 1957), here inaf ter rai led the p rinc ipa l Act in the manne r here inafter a ppear ing ;
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It is hereby enac ted in the Eig hth Yea r of the Repub lic of India as follows:—
1. Short ti tle , ex ten t, co mm en ce men t.— (1) Th is Act may be called the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Hold ings (Am endment) Act, 195y,
(2) It sha ll have the like extent as the prin cipal Act .
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force from the date of com- men cem ent of the prin cipal Act.
2. Am en dm en t o f Section 2 o f Ass am Act I o f 1957.—
(i) Clause (
(ii) The existing clause («) of section 2 of the prin cipal Act shal l be re-num bered as clause (d) and substituted by the following, namely
" (d) Lan ds utilised by efficiently managed farms on which heavy investme nts or p erm anent structura l improvements hav e been made and whose break up is likely to lead to a fall in pro duction" .
(iii) After clause (d) of section 2, the following shal l be added as new clause («), namely,—
" (e) lands held by a sugar facto ry or a co-o perativ e farming society, for cult ivat ion of sugarcane for the purpose of such fac tory."
3. Am en dm en t o f Secti on 3 o f Assam Act I o f 1957.—(i) In clause (k) (iii) of section 3 of the princ ipa l Act , the " comm a"
afte r the word " vil lage" occ urr ing in the seventh line shall be deleted and the words " with in a distance of five miles" shall be inserted before the words " during the gre ate r pa rt o f the agr icu ltural season."
(ii) In clause (o)of sect ion 3, the full-3top at the end of the clause shall be deleted and the following shall be added, nam ely,—
"a nd includes a person who cult ivates the land of anoth er person on condition of delivering a sha re of the. pro duce" .
4. Am en dm en t o f Section 4 o f Ass am Ac t I o f 1957.— (i) At the end of sub-section (1) of section 4, the following shall be added as
a proviso, namely,—
" Provided t hat where the person holds orchar d lands, the afo re-me n- tioned limit shall be increased by the actu al are a of the o rch ard , subje ct to a max imum of 30 bigh as" ,
(it) Th e following shall be add ed as sub-section (2) of section 4 of the princ ipa l Act , na m el y:—
" (2) Th e Ceil ing of a Co-o pera tive farming society shall be the agg re- gate of the ceilings of its ind ividua l mem bers or their families unde r sub - ope rative Society or any m ember of his family shall also be taken into acc ount for determ ining his cei ling " .
(Hi) The existing sub-section (2) of section 4 of the princi pal Act shall be re-n umbered as sub-section (3) and sub stituted by the following, na mely:—
"(3) No benami transfer made afte r the twel fth day o f November, 1955, shal l be take n into accoun t in dete rmi ning the lim it up to which the trans feror shal l be ent itle d to hold lands under sub-section (I) above, and in such case the limit an d the excess land of the tran sferor shall be determ ined as ii the transfer has not take n place .
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5. Amendment of Section 12 of Assam Act I of 1957.— (?) After
the clause («) (2), (a t) of section J2, and before the Exp lanation the reu nder, a new clause (3) shal l be inserted, nam ely ,—
" (3) Where the re is a sub- tenant in the excess la nd acquired, an amount equal to 50 per cent of the com pensation payable under (1) or (2) abov e to the ten ant under whom he holds shall be paid out of it to the s ub-tenant."
(it) In clause (c) of sect ion 12, after the words " owner or tena nt ."
the words " or the sub-t enan t" shall be inse rted .
6. Amendment of Section 23 of Assam Act I of 1957.—(i) The existing clauses (a) and (A) of section 23 sha ll b e subs titu ted by t he following, nam ely ,—
" (a) if the agg rega te area of land s in actual occupat ion of a ten an t does not exceed 10 bighas, then he shall not b e ejected therefrom, unti l he has been provide d with lan d of eq uivalen t value in the locality ;
(A) if the aggregafe are a of lands in act ual occupa tion of a tena nt exceeds 10 bighas, then the ten an t shall no t be ejected from a min imum are a of 10 b ighas as selected by him (tenant) , until he has been provided with land of equ iva len t valu e in the local ity, bu t the landlo rd shall be ent itle d to resum e for personal cul tiva tion any are a in excess of these
10 bigh as. In no case, however, the agg rega te are a of lands so resum ed from all his t ena nts t aken to gether, along with any oth er lan d alread y held under personal cul tivatio n by the land lord or any m ember of his family on the date of res umption, shall exceed an overall limit o f 100 b igh as."
( tt ) At the end of the existing proviso to section 23, the following shall be add ed as a second proviso, namely,—
" Provided fur the r th at if the lan dlo rd is a m inor, O ra widow, or a person subject to any physical or menta l disa bili ty, or a member of the Mi lita ry, Naval or Air Forces of the Unio n, the n it shall not be obl igatory on him to leave a min imum area with the ten an t under the provisions of clause (a) or (A) above."
P. C. DAS,
for Secy, to the Govt, of Assam, Leg. & Judl. Deptt s.