Telangana act 002 of 1864 : The Telangana Revenue Recovery Act, 1864.

The term "landholder" as used in this Act, shall be taken to comprise the following persons:-

The land, the buildings upon it, and its products, shall be regarded as the security of the public revenue.

Every landholder shall pay to the Collector, or other officer empowered by him to receive it, the revenue due upon his land on or before the day on which it falls due, according to the kistbandi or other engagement, and where no particular day is fixed, then within the time when the payment falls due according to local usage: Provided that, except where property is held under a Sanad-i-Milkiyat-i-istimrar or other similar instrument, it shall be lawful for the Board of Revenue, by notification published in the District Gazette, to alter and fix, from time to time, the amount of the several kists or instalments, and the dates at which they shall respectively become payable.

When the whole or portion of a kist shall not be so paid, the amount of the kist or of its unpaid portion shall be deemed to be an arrear of revenue.

Whenever revenue may be in arrear, it shall be lawful for the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to proceed to recover the arrear, together with interest and costs of process, by the sale of the defaulter’s movable and immovable property, or by execution against the person of the defaulter in manner hereinafter provided.

If the defaulter hold under a Sanad-i-Milkiyat-i-istimrar or other similar instrument, the mode of recovering the arrear shall he in accordance with the terms of such Sanad. In the case of other defaulters, the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, may at his discretion, proceed to realize the arrear by the sale of either the movable or immovable property of the defaulter, or of both.

Arrears of revenue shall bear interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum.

In the seizure and sale of movable property for arrears of revenue, the following rules shall be observed:-

When the amount due shall not have been paid pursuant to the terms of the demand, and no arrangement for securing the same shall have been entered into to the satisfaction of the Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, the distrainer shall transmit an inventory of the property distrained to the nearest public officer empowered to sell distrained property, under Act VII of 1839¹, in order that it may be publicly sold for the discharge of the arrear due, with interest, batta, and cost of distraint.

Where a defaulter may tender payment of the arrear demanded after his property may have been distrained, and prior to the day fixed for sale, together with payment of interest, batta, and all necessary expenses attending distress, the distrainer shall receive the amount immediately upon the same being tendered, and shall forthwith release the property.

The distrainer attaching the crops or ungathered products of the land belonging to a defaulter, may cause them to be sold when fit for reaping or gathering or, at his option, may cause them to be reaped or gathered in due season and stored in proper places until sold. In the latter case, the expense of reaping or gathering and storing such crops or products shall he defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property, or from the proceeds of the sale in the event of its being sold. When crops or products belonging to a tenant shall have been sold, it shall be lawful for such tenant to deduct the value of the crops or products so sold from any rent which may be due by him, then or afterwards, to the defaulter, in respect of the land on which such crops or products have been grown. It shall also be lawful for a tenant whose crops are attached for an arrear of revenue to pay the arrear and deduct the amount in the aforesaid manner from any rent due by him, then or afterwards.

The distrainer shall not work the bullocks or cattle, or make use of the goods or effects distrained; he shall provide the necessary food for the cattle or livestock, the expense attending which shall be defrayed by the owner upon his redeeming the property, or from the proceeds of the sale in the event of its being sold.

Where property distrained may be stolen or lost, or damaged by reason of the necessary precautions for its due preservation not having been taken, or from its having been improperly worked or made use of, the amount of such loss or damage shall be recoverable by summary process by the Collector from the officer whose neglect or act occasioned the loss or damage, and the amount when recovered shall be paid to the person damnified.

The distress levied shall not be excessive, that is to say, the property distrained shall be as nearly as possible proportionate to the amount of the arrear.

¹[14-A. Articles exempted from distraint.- The following articles shall not be distrained for arrears of revenue:-

Distress shall be made after sunrise and before sunset and not otherwise.

Where a defaulter may make a fraudulent conveyance of property to prevent the distress for arrears, any Civil Court of competent jurisdiction, upon proof thereof, shall summarily cause the property to be delivered up to the distrainer. The defaulter will further be liable to the penalties prescribed by section 424 of the Indian Penal Code.

Where any person, not being a defaulter or responsible for a defaulter, may claim a right to the property distrained, and the distrainer may, notwithstanding, cause the same to be sold, such claimant, on proof of such right in any Civil Court of competent jurisdiction, and in the event of the distrainer being unable to prove the responsibility for the arrear of revenue, on account of which the property may have been sold, shall recover from the distrainer the full value of such property, with interest, costs, and damages, according to the circumstances of the case. But claims to crops upon the ground or to gathered products of the ground attached, in the possession of the defaulter, whether founded upon a previous sale, mortgage, or otherwise, shall not bar the prior claim of revenue due from the ground upon which such crop or product may have been grown.

Where it may be proved to the satisfaction of any Civil Court of competent jurisdiction that any person has forcibly or clandestinely taken away property once distrained, the Court may summarily cause such property to be restored to the distrainer. The offender will further be liable to the penalties prescribed by the Indian Penal Code.

It shall be lawful for the distrainer to force open any stable, cowhouse, granary, godown, out-house, or other building, and he may also enter any dwelling house the outer door of which may be open, and may break open the door of any room in such dwelling house for the purpose of attaching property belonging to a defaulter and lodged therein: provided always that it shall not be lawful for such distrainer to break open or enter any apartment in such dwelling house appropriated for the zenana or residence of women, except as hereinafter provided.

Where a distrainer may have reason to suppose that the property of a defaulter is lodged within a dwelling house, the outer door of which may be shut, or within any apartments, appropriated to women, which, by the usage of the country, are considered private, such distrainer shall represent the same to the officer in charge of the nearest police station. On such representation, the officer in charge of the said station shall send a police officer to the spot, in the presence of whom the distrainer may force open the outer door of such dwelling-house, in like manner as he may break open the door of any room within the house except the zenana. The distrainer may also, in the presence of the police officer, after due notice given for the removal of women within a zenana, and after furnishing means for their removal in a suitable manner (if they be women of rank, who, according to the customs of the country cannot appear in public), enter the zenana apartments for the purpose of distraining the defaulter's property deposited therein, but such property, if found, shall be immediately removed from such apartments after which they shall be left free to the former occupants.

Persons entering the apartments of women, or forcing open the outer door of dwelling-houses, contrary to the provisions of this Act, shall, on conviction before a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding Rupees 500, or to imprisonment of either description for any period not exceeding six months.

The public officer, empowered under Act VII of 1839¹ to sell distrained property, shall cause to be affixed to the outer door of the defaulter's house, or on the premises where the property may have been distrained, a list of the property to be sold, with a notice specifying the place where, and the day and hour at which the distrained property will be sold and shall cause proclamation of the intended sale to be made by beat of drum in the village to which the lands on which the arrear has accrued may belong, and in such place or places as the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, may consider necessary to give due publicity to the sale. No sale shall take place until after the expiration of a period of fifteen days from the date on which the notice may be so affixed.

At the appointed time, the property shall be put up in one or more lots, as the said officer may consider advisable, and shall be disposed of to the highest bidder. Where the property may sell for more than the amount of the arrear, the overplus after deducting expenses of process and interest, shall be paid to the defaulter.

¹[23-A. Sale of perishable articles.-- Notwithstanding anything in sections 22 and 23, crops or products which are in their nature speedily perishable shall be sold by the distrainer as early as possible after they are distrained in such manner as may be provided in the rules made by the State Government in this behalf, and the sale proceeds shall be deposited with the public officer referred to in section 22.]

The property shall be paid for in ready money at the time of the sale, or as soon after as the officer holding the sale shall appoint, and the purchaser shall not be permitted to carry away any part of the property until he has paid for the same in full. Where the purchaser may fail in the payment of the purchase money, the property shall be resold, and the defaulting purchaser shall be liable for any loss arising, as well as the expenses incurred on the re-sale. Where the property may, on the second sale, sell for a higher price than at the first sale, the difference or increase shall be the property of him on whose account the said first sale was made.

Before a Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, proceeds to attach the land of the defaulter, or buildings thereon, he shall cause a written demand to be served upon the defaulter, specifying the amount due, the estate or land in respect of which it is claimed, the name of the party in arrear, the batta due to the person who shall serve the demand, and the time allowed for payment, which shall be fixed with reference to the distance from the land on which the arrear is due to the place at which the money is to be paid. Such demand shall be served by delivering a copy to the defaulter, or to some adult male member of his family at his usual place of abode, or to his authorized agent, or by affixing a copy thereof on some conspicuous part of his last known residence, or on some conspicuous part of the land about to be attached.

When the amount due shall not have been paid pursuant to the terms of the demand, and no arrangement for securing the same shall have been entered into to the satisfaction of the Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, he shall proceed to recover the arrear by the attachment and sale of the defaulter's land in the following manner.

The attachment shall be effected by affixing a notice thereof to some conspicuous part of the land. The notice shall set forth that unless the arrear, with interest and expenses, be paid within the date therein mentioned, the land will be brought to sale in due course of law. The attachment shall be notified by public proclamation on the land, and by publication of the notice in the District Gazette.

It shall be lawful for the Collector, when attaching the land of a defaulter, or at any time during such attachment to assume the management of the property attached. In such case he shall appoint an agent with a proper establishment of officers to manage the property, and shall give the agent certificate of appointment with written instructions under his seal and signature, and the expenses of management shall be defrayed out of the income of the property; provided always, that where the property may be too inconsiderable to admit of its being charged with the salary of an agent, it shall be committed to the care of such Revenue officer as the Collector may select, who shall be subject to all the provisions herein contained in reference to agents.

Notice of the assumption of management shall forthwith be served on the defaulter in the manner described in section 25, and shall be notified by public proclamation on the land, and by publication in the District Gazette.

It shall be the duty of the agent, during the continuance of management under section 28, to collect the rents and profits due, or accruing due upon the estate, according to the engagements subsisting between the defaulter and the parties holding under him, or according to established, usage where no specific engagements exist. The agent shall keep accounts of all his receipts and disbursements and submit the same, and pay over the balance, to the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, monthly, or whenever required, and the defaulter shall be at liberty to inspect the accounts at all reasonable times and to take copies of the same at his own expense without fee.

It shall be lawful for the defaulter to proceed by prosecution or suit against the agent, in respect of any criminal or illegal act done by him to the injury of the defaulter or his estate, and all tenants, or other persons holding by subordinate title, shall have the same remedies against him as they would have had against the defaulter if the act were done by the defaulter.

All engagements entered into between the landholder and his tenants, except such as are hereinafter mentioned, shall be binding upon the Collector, during attachment, but all such engagements made collusively with a view to defeat or delay the effect of the attachment, and all leases of land at a rate lower than the usual rates of assessment, and not made bona fide for the purpose of erecting factories or buildings, or of bringing waste land into cultivation, and all engagements made subsequently to attachment, shall be null and void against the Collector, if he shall so declare: subject, however, to the right of the parties to such agreement, to bring a suit against the Collector in the ordinary tribunals to establish the same; and all charges or incumbrances upon such land shall be postponed to the payment of the public revenue.

All payments on account of rent or profits actually due, made before public notice of assumption of management to or on behalf of any landholder by any person holding under him, shall be valid against the Collector, and all such payments made after public notice of such assumption or made before they were actually due, shall be null and void against the Collector, who shall be entitled to recover as arrears of rent, the full amount from the parties by whom it was paid, leaving them to sue the defaulter in the ordinary courts of law.

All sums received from the property attached, after paying the expenses of attachment and management, shall be carried to the credit of the defaulter in discharge of the arrears due, and interest thereon at the rate of six per cent per annum, and as soon as all arrears, interest, costs of attachment, and expense of management shall have been liquidated, the attachment shall be withdrawn, and a full account rendered of all receipts and disbursements during its continuance.

It shall be lawful for any person claiming an interest in land which has been, or is about to be, attached, to obtain its release by paying the arrears, interest, and costs incurred; and all such sums, if paid by a tenant, may be deducted from any rent then or afterwards due by him to the defaulter; and if paid by a bona fide mortgagee or other incumbrancer upon the estate, ¹[or by any person not being in possession thereof but bona fide claiming an interest therein adverse to the defaulter] shall be a charge upon the land, but shall only take priority over other charges according to the date at which the payment was made. ²[Such sums when paid by a bona fide mortgagee or other incumbrancer shall further constitute a debt from the defaulter.]

In the sale of immovable property under this Act the following rules shall be observed:—

¹[36-A. Certain provisions of section 36 not to apply to cases of purchase by Government.-- The provisions of the Third and Fourth clauses of section 36 shall not apply to cases where immovable property sold under this Act is purchased by the Government.]

It shall be competent to the defaulter or to any person acting on his behalf, or claiming an interest in the land, to tender the full amount of the arrears of revenue with the interest thereon, and all charges which have been incurred in demanding the arrears, or in attaching or managing the estate or in taking the steps necessary for sale, and thereupon the sale shall be stayed:

¹[37-A. Application to set aside sale of immovable property on deposit.-- (1) Any person owning or claiming an interest in immovable property sold under this Act may at any time within thirty days from the date of sale, deposit in the treasury of the taluk in which the immovable property is situated,-

¹[38. Application to set aside sale.-- (1) At any time within thirty days from the date of the sale of immovable property, application may be made to the Collector to set aside the sale on the ground of some material irregularity, or mistake, or fraud, in publishing or conducting it; but, except as otherwise is hereinafter provided, no sale shall be set aside on the ground of any such irregularity or mistake unless the applicant proves to the satisfaction of the Collector that he has sustained substantial injury by reason thereof.

When lands may be purchased at public sale the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, shall publish in the villages, in which the land sold may be situated, in the cutcherry of the taluk, in the head cutcherry of the district, and in the District Gazette, the name of the purchaser and the date of purchase, together with a declaration of the lawful succession of such purchaser to all the rights and property of the former landholder in the said lands.

Where, notwithstanding such publication, any lawful purchaser of land may be resisted and prevented from obtaining possession of his purchased land, any Court of competent jurisdiction, on application and production of certificate of sale provided for by section 38, shall cause the proper process to be issued for the purpose of putting such purchaser in possession in the same manner as if the purchased lands had been decreed to the purchaser by a decision of the Court.

All contracts entered into by the defaulter with his tenants, and all payments to him by them shall be binding upon the purchaser to the same extent and under the same conditions as laid down in sections 32 and 33 of this Act.

All lands brought to sale on account of arrears of revenue shall be sold free of all incumbrances, and if any balance shall remain after liquidating the arrears with interest and the expenses of attachment and sale and other costs due in respect to such arrears, it shall be paid over to the defaulter unless such payment be prohibited by the injunction of a Court of competent jurisdiction.

Arrears of rent which on the day of sale may be due to the defaulter from his under-tenants shall, in the event of the sale, be recoverable by him after the sale by any process, except distraint, which might have been used by him for that purpose before the said sale.

It shall be lawful for the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to sell the whole or any portion of the land of a defaulter in discharge of arrear of revenue; provided always that, so far as may be practicable, no larger section of the land shall be sold than may be sufficient to discharge the arrears with interest, and expenses of attachment, management, and sale.

Where only a part of a landed estate held under a Sanad-i-Milkiyat-i-istimrar, or otherwise subject to the payment of a lump assessment, may be sold, the assessment upon such part shall be apportioned by the Collector previous to sale in manner following:-

¹[46. [XXX]]

When a defaulter tenders security, it shall be lawful for the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to accept it and postpone the sale of the defaulter's property upon such conditions and until such time as he may appoint; in the event of default being made in the performance of such conditions, the Collector or such officer may sell the property and proceed against the defaulter or against his security, or both.

When arrears of revenue, with interest and other charges as aforesaid cannot be liquidated by the sale of the property of the defaulter, or of his surety, and the Collector shall have reason to believe that the defaulter or his surety is wilfully withholding payment of the arrears, or has been guilty of fraudulent conduct in order to evade payment, it shall be lawful for him to cause the arrest and imprisonment of the defaulter, or his surety, not being a female, as hereinafter mentioned; but no person shall be imprisoned on account of an arrear of revenue for a longer period than two years, or for a longer period than six months, if the arrear does not exceed Rs. 500, or for a longer period than three months, if the arrear does not exceed Rs. 50; provided that such imprisonment shall not extinguish the debt due to the State Government by the defaulter, or his surety.

The Collector shall issue his warrant for the arrest of the defaulter, or his surety, or both, not being females, which shall specify his or their name, the amount of revenue due and the date on which it became payable, and the warrant shall be signed and sealed by the authority by whom it was issued. The officer charged with the execution of the warrant shall thereupon arrest the defaulter, or his surety, or both and convey him or them to the district gaol, and deliver the warrant to the gaoler, which shall be a sufficient authority to him to receive the prisoner or prisoners. A copy of such warrant shall be retained by the gaoler, who shall forthwith despatch the original to the officer in charge of the gaol.

All the remedies prescribed by this Act in case of revenue defaulters may be employed against their sureties, and it shall be lawful for the Collector, or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to enforce the same simultaneously with, or either previously or subsequently to, their enforcement against the principal; so, nevertheless, that no more than the total sum in arrears, and interest with costs and charges, shall be realized from both.

When land-revenue is payable in kind, it shall be lawful for the Collector or other officer empowered by the Collector in that behalf, to prevent the removal of the crop from the land until a division has been made, and the portion which belongs to the State Government has been set apart, unless the landholder furnishes such security as the Collector may deem satisfactory.

All arrears of revenue other than land-revenue due to the State Government, all advances made by the State Government for cultivation or other purposes connected with the revenue, and all fees or other dues payable by any person to or on behalf of the village servants employed in revenue or police duties, and all cesses lawfully imposed upon land ¹[and all sums due to the State Government, including compensation for any loss or damage sustained by them in consequence of a breach of contract], may be recovered in the same manner as arrears of land revenue under the provisions of this Act, unless the recovery thereof shall have been or may hereafter be otherwise specially provided for.

¹[52-A. Recovery of sums due to certain banks and other public bodies as arrears of land revenue.-- (1) Without prejudice to any other mode of recovery which is being taken or may be taken, all loans granted and all advances made to any person-

¹[52-B. Recovery of dues from persons from whom money is due to the defaulter.-- (1) The Collector or any other officer empowered by the State Government in this behalf may, at any time or from time to time, by notice in writing (a copy of which shall be forwarded to the defaulter at his last address known to the Collector or other officer) require any person after being satisfied that money is due or may become due to the defaulter from such person or that such person has held or may subsequently hold money, for or on account of the defaulter, to pay to the Collector or other officer, either forthwith upon the money becoming due or being held or at or within the time specified in the notice (not being before the money becomes due or is held) so much of the money as is sufficient to pay the amount due by the defaulter in respect of arrears or the whole of the money when it is equal to or less than that amount.

Persons employed in serving notices, or in other process under this Act, shall be entitled to batta at such rates as may, from time to time, be fixed by the Board of Revenue with the sanction of the State Government, and published in the District Gazette.

The batta, mentioned in the foregoing section, as well as interest, and all costs and charges incurred under the authority of this Act, shall be recoverable from the defaulter and his sureties in the same manner as arrears of revenue.

Where property having been attached or distrained may be ordered to be put up for sale, and the sale may be counter-manded, the proprietor shall, nevertheless, be responsible for the expenses incurred in consequence of the attachment or distraint, in the same manner as if the sale had taken place; and in the event of such proprietor omitting to discharge the amount, it shall be recoverable by the process under which the original demand would have been recoverable.

¹[56. Receipts for payment of revenue.-- Every person making a payment of revenue shall be entitled to a receipt for the same, and the receipt shall be signed by such officer or person and shall be in such form and contain such particulars as may be laid down by rules made under this Act.]

Where a defaulter or his surety may reside or hold property out of the district wherein default shall have been made, the Collector of the district in which such defaulter or surety resides or holds property shall, on the written application of the Collector in whose district such default has been made, proceed in all respects against the defaulter and his surety, and his or their property in the same manner as if the default had been made in his own district. Every such application shall be signed and sealed by the Collector making it and shall be conclusive as to the amount due, and the party in arrear, in all proceedings against the Collector acting upon such application, or any person acting under his authority; and no proof of the seal, or signature or official character of the Collector making the application shall be required, unless the Court shall see reason to doubt its genuineness; provided always, that nothing herein contained shall affect the right of any party to sue in his own district the Collector who made the application.

¹[57-A. Revision.-- (1) The State Government may, either suo motu or on application made to them, call for and examine the record relating to any decision or order passed or proceeding taken by any authority or officer subordinate to them under this Act for the purpose of satisfying themselves as to the legality or propriety of such decision or order or as to the regularity of such proceeding and pass such order in reference thereto as they think fit.

No Court of Civil Judicature shall have authority to take into consideration or decide any question as to rate of land-revenue payable to the State Government, or as to the amount of assessment fixed, or to be hereafter fixed on the portions of a divided estate.

Nothing contained in this Act shall be held to prevent parties deeming themselves aggrieved by any proceedings under this Act, except as hereinbefore provided, from applying to the Civil Courts for redress; provided that Civil Courts shall not take cognizance of any suit instituted by such parties for any such cause of action, unless such suit shall be instituted within six months from the time at which the cause of action arose.

No suit brought against any Collector by any person deeming himself aggrieved by anything done or purporting to be done under this Act, shall abate by reason of the departure from his district of the Collector against whom such suit shall have been brought; but the suit shall be continued against the successor of such Collector in all respects as though it had been instituted against himself. A suit may be brought against any Collector in his official capacity on account of anything done or purporting to have been done under this Act by his predecessor, subject to the limitation prescribed in the preceding section; provided that no Collector shall be personally liable for any official act of his predecessor.

¹[60-A. Power to make rules.-- (1) The State Government may, by notification in the ²Telangana Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.

¹Regulation V of 1822 shall not be applicable to sales of property under this Act.

¹Regulation XXVIII of 1802 and ²Regulations I and II of 1803 shall be inoperative as respects arrears of revenue recoverable under this Act.

Nothing in this Act shall be held to bar the operation of the provisions of ¹[Regulation V of 1804² and of Regulation X of 1831], in respect to the sale of lands of minors and other disqualified landholders.

¹[64. [XXX]]

[Repeal of certain enactments]. Repealed by Central Act XII of 1873.

[Commencement of Act]. Repealed by Central Act XII of 1873.