Kerala act 033 of 1961 : The Kerala Heriditary Village Offices (Abolition) Act, 1961 (No.33 of 1961)

729

THE

KERALA HEREDITARY VILLAGE OFFICES

(ABOLITION) ^{ACT, 1961}

(Act ^33of

1961)

CONTENTS

Pleamble Subaru. l

Short

title and extent.

2. Definmom.

3

Abolmon of

hereditary

vxllage

offices

togetllel

wull

inn- A'ents thereof.

4. Power of Dlstnct

Collecmr to decide whether a

person was the holder of a

hercdnlaly village

olficc and appeal

therefrom. 5'

Relief to holders

ofvillage

office: abohshed under the Act.

Po" er to take ev1dence on

oath,

etc Enqumes ^and

proceedings ^to

bejudieml

proceedmg' Power to make rules wooym Power {0 remove difficulties.

10.

Repeal

and savmgs. '

ACT 33 OF 1961

THE KERALA HEREDITARY

VILLAGE

OFFICES

(ABOLITION) ^{ACT, 1961}

*

411 Ad^In

abaluh

[IEYJIIIIHUI village

"flu: ^m[/19 State

(If

Herald. I'r:amble,—WH1:REA5 ^n)s

expedient ^mthe

publlc

mtcxcst to abolnh

herednaxy Vlllage

offices

and [he emoluments

appcrtdxnmg lllercul ^mtheState^of

Kerala, *

Published

In

the Gazette

Extraordmary

dated 24th

Nuvcmhcr, 196l.

.J','

730

Bcitenactedm ^theTwelfth ^Yearofthe

Republic ^ofIndia ^as follows:—

I.

Shrunk

andextenl—(l) This

Act may be called

the

Kerala Hereditary Village

Offices

(Abolition) ^Act,

l961i

(2) ^Itextends^tothewhole

ol'the

Malabai district referred^toin sub-section

(2)

ofsection 5 of the States

Reorganisation

Act, ¹⁹⁵⁶ (Central ^Act37

of1956).

2.

DefirixltanL—In

this

Act,

unless the context otheiuisc

requires, ^— (a)

"appointed

date"

means ^thefirst ^{day of}

September,

196l; (b)

"cmolumeritl"

means

money salaries^andallother kinds ^of remuneratmn

gianted ^or

continued ⁱⁿ

respect of, ^or

annexed to, any hereditary village

office:

(c) "Misting ^law

ielaling ^{to a}

heicditai'y Village

office"

includes any enactment, rule,

bye-law, regulation,

order, notification,

standing order ^or

any other instrument ^or

custom,

usage ^at

practice relating ^to a

hereditary Village

ollice,

which is

in

force

immediately

before the appointed date; (d)

"hereditaty village

office" mean: ^a

village

office^towhich emoluments have been

attached ^andwhich^I:held undei any existing law

relating ^toa

hereditary Village

office. ^for

the

performance ^ofduties connected with the administration^orcollection ^of

the

ievenue ^or

with the maintenance

of order^or

With

the

settlement

of

boundaries^orother mutter of Civil

administration nf ^a

Village,

whether

the rervrce:

originally

appertaining ^totheoffice continue, ^orhave

ceased, ^{to be}per- formed ^or

demanded,

and

by

whatsoever

designation ^the

office may be locally known; (el

"holder ^ofa

hereditary Village

office" means ^a

pcrlon holding a

hereditary Village

office

permanently

or

officiating

in ^a

permanent vacancy after ^a

selection ⁱⁿaccordance With

the

proceduie ⁱⁿforce immediately

before^the

appomtcd

date,

(f) "prescribed"

means

prescribed

by

rules ^made

under^{this Act.}

3. Abolition

of hereditary

village

aim!

lagellm

with madam

Ikemf.~ Notwithstanding anything ^inany

existing^law

relating ⁱⁿ

hereditary village

offices ^{orin any}deciee ^or

order ^ofcourt,^wrtheffect ^{on and from} the

appomted

datc,~

(1) ^all

hereditary Village

offices shall

be,and ^aie

hereby.

abolished;

(2) ^allincidents

(including ^the

right ^toholdoffice^andtoreceive emoluments

attached

theieto,

the

right

if any, ^to

customary

fee: or perquisite: ⁱⁿmoney ^{orin kind and the}

liability ^tolender

serVicc) appertaining ^{to thesaid}

village

offices shall ^{be, andare}

hereby, extinguished.

4. Power

of

Dism'zt Callzcliir [a decide whether iz

person

war III: holder

qfa luminary inllagc afict ^and

appml lliertfram.—(l)

Ifany question

arises^a) to

whether ^a

peison

was,

immediately

before the

appointed date,

the holder of:

herediwiy

Village

office,

the Dntiict

Collector

shall,

after giving ^the

parties

affected ^an

opportunity ^tobeheard^and

after

holding an

enquiry,

decide the

question. '

73 1

(2) Any

person aggrieved by ^thedecision ^{of the}

District Collector under subduction

(I) may, wrthrn sixty days ^{of such}

dccrlion,

prefer ^an appeal ^totheBoard^of

Revenue, ^andthe

decision^oftheBoard^of Revenue ^on

such

appeal

shall be

final.

5.

Rellgfla

lmldm

0f illage ofllm

abolished

under

the

ALL—The

holders of

hereditary

Village 055;" shall, ^on

the abolition

of^theoffices under section

3,

be either~ (r', appornted ⁱⁿ

suitable

posts

undei^theGovernment ¹¹¹ accordance

With ^suchrules ^as

may^be

prescribed; ^or (it) paid ^bywayofSolatrum ^2t

gratuity ^{in new:}dance^{with the} iulel ^madem

that

behalf.

6. Power to ink:

evidence on

oaih,

elm—The District Collector and the Board ^ofRevenut

shall,

for the purposes of tin:

Act, ^have

the same powers ^atarevested ^inacourt under^theCodeof

Civil

Procedure, 1908, ^whentrying ^a

suit, ⁱⁿ

respect

cfihe

followmg

matte",

namely ^:— (a)

lummoning^and

eriforcriig ^theattendance

oliany person^and cit-mining ^himon

oath; (b)

requiring^the

discovery ^and

production ^of

documents;

(0) r'eceivrng

evrdence^onaflidavrt.

7.

Enquiries

and

proreedmgs

10 be

Judicial piacizduigr.—-All enqurr ie: and proceedings

before ^the

District ColleCtnr ^{or the}Board^ofReveui'ie under

this

Act shall be

deemed to be

JudlClal proceedings

Within

the meaning ol'lections

193,

219 and

228 of

the Indian Penal Code.

8.

Pour [0 make

"llfli',—(l)

The Goverment may,

by

notification

in the

Gazette,

makerulel to

cany

out the puiposel

of this Act.

(2) ^In

particular, ^and

without

prejudice ^{to the}

generality ^{of the} forcgomg power, ^suchrules may provrde ^for ——

(a) ^the

procedure ^tobefollowed

by ^the

District Collectorⁱⁿ determining questions ^astowhether aperson ^wasthe holder ^ofa

hereditary

Village

office or

not;

(b) ^the

procedure relating ^to

appeal:

bciorc^the

Board^of Revenue,

(e) ^the

qualifications ^andother

conditions^for

appointment ^of holders of

hereditary village

officesⁱⁿ

suitable

posts

under the

Cover ninent ,

(d) ^the

princrples ^of

determining ^the

gratuity payable

under section

5,

the form of

Application

{or the

grant of such gratuity, ^thetimeWithin which^{and the}

authority ^to which such

applications

shall

be made and

appeals

from orders on^such

applications

,

(c) ^anyother matter which^{has to be, or maybe,}prescribed under ^thisAct.

(3) ^Allrules^made

under^thissection shall^beLirdbefore^the Legislative

Assembly ^{for a}

period ^{of rmtlessthan}fourteen

days, ^assoon

.15

possible

after

they

art:

made,

and shall be

subject

in such modifir/zh iions ^asthe

Legislative

Assembly may make

during

the SCSHOI]ⁱⁿwhich they ^areso

3

732

'J. Pinup ^laimam

rltfizullm.—Ifmiy difficulty

arises in

gtvmg effect to the

piowsions

of tlus

Act,

the Govcuimcm may by

order make such ptousmn ^m

give

such

dilution, ^not

mcnnsmcn! With the

piowsmns

of (ht)

Act, ^as

may Appeal ^to

than ^tobe necessary

01

cxpedtcnl

for the mmoval ol' the

difficulty,

and the

order of the

Government,

In

such gasps, shall be final.

I

10.

Repml

and

mmngLiO) Atty exnung

1th

tclatmg

to

a

hetcdilaty vtllagc

ofiicc^m

foxce ^inthe

Malabar district IDRIICd^{to m}

sulrscction

(2)

ofscclton ^{5 ofthe}States

Rcotgamsatton Act, ¹⁹⁵⁶

(Central ^Act

37

of1956),

IS

hciebv

tcpcalcd

:

Prowl-led ^thatthe

ICpcdl

shall not alfect—

(a) ^anyobligation ^or

liability

aheadv Incuu-ed

by ^theholdcx^of a

hcrcdntaty

Village

ollicc or otltut person below

the appomtcd

date.

(b) any proceeding ^on

icmcdy ^tn

rcspcct^ofsuch

obligation ^or lidblllly, ^andany^such

ptocccding

may^becontinued ^and any such

remedy may be enforced ^asif this Act

had^not been

passed.

(2) ^TheKcrah

Hereditary

Village

Ollices

(Abolition)

Oidinaucc,

1961

(Ordmance

No. ⁵

of

196]),

Is

hencby tcpcalcd

.

Piovidcd ^that

.mything

done or

any

action taken

(mcludmg

any directions given and o.dcrs and

lulc)

made)

undo:

the said

Oidniancc shall be deemed to^havebeen

dam. ^m

mLm undet this Act as if this Act

ttcrcⁱⁿforce^onthc

day ^onWhlLll

such

thing

was done 0t action was taken