Tripura Act No. 9 of 1986, The Tripura Agricultural Workers Act, 1986
Berner de
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Published in the EXTRA-ORDINARY ISSUE OF TRIP U
RA GAZETTE.
Agartala, Tuesday, July 8, 1986 A.
D.
Asadha 17, 1908 S. E. Government of Tripura Law Department
No. F.2(11)-LAW/LEG/84 Dated, Agartala, the 26th June, 1986
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Tripura Legislative Assembly received as sent of
The following Act of the
ereby published for general information. the Governor on 10-4-1986 and, is bi
a
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TRIPURA ACT NO. 9 of 1986
JHE TRIPURA AGRICULTURAL WORKERS ACT, 1984
AN
ACT
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to provide for welfare of agricultural workers in the State of Tripura and to regulate the conditions of their works.
Whereas it is expedient to provide for the welfare of Agricultural workers ® in the State of Tripura and to regulate the conditions of their works ; BHit enacted in the Thirty Seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows :— CHAPTER—I
Preliminary
J. Short title, exten¢ and commencement—(I) This Act may be called the Tripura Agricultural Workers' Act, 1986.
4) It extends to the whole of the State of Tripura.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different areas and for different provisions of this Act. .
2. Definitions—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requizes,—
(a) "adult" means a person who has completed his eighteenth year of age ;
(b) "agricultural dispute' means any dipute or difference between landowners and landowners or between landowners and agricul- turalal workers or between agricultural workers and agricultural workers whichis connected with the employment or non-employ- ment or the terms of employment or with the conditions of labour of any agricultural workers :;
Explanation :—Where any landowner discharges, dismisses, retrenches , ot otherwise terminates the services of, or denies employment io, an indi- vidual agricultural worker, any dispute or difference between that agricultural worker aud his employer connected with, or arising out of such discharge, dismissal, retrenchment, termination or denial of employment shall be deemed ~ to be an agricultural dispute notwithstanding that no other agricultural worker nor any Union of agricultural workers is a party to the dispute.
(c) "agricultural land" means any land used for cultivation, but does not include any Plantation as defined in the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (Central Act 69 of 1951);
(d) "Agricultural Tribunal" in relation to any area, means the Agricultural Tribunal constituted under this Act for that area ; (ce) "agricultural worker" means a person who, in consideration of the wages payable to him by a landowner, works on, or does any other agricultural operation including maintenance of livestock in relation to the agricultural land of such landowner ;
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(f) "Conciliation officer" means in relation to any area, the conci- liation Officer appointed under this Act for that area ;
(g) "family" means husband, wife and their unmarried children or any of them as may exist ;
(h) 'Inspector'? means an Inspector appointed under sub-section (1) of section 5 or deemed, under sub-section (3) of that section to be E appointed for the purposes of this Act.
Gi) "landowner" means :—
(i) in relation to a land under personal cultivation, the owner of e such land ;
(ii) in relation to a land held by a Bargadar or under Raiyat, such Bargadar or under Raiyat as defined in the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 (Act 43 of 1960) ;
(iii) in any other case, the person in actual possession of the land, and includes his heirs, assignees and legal representatives. Explanation—I—In the purpose of this clause—
"Personal cultivation", with its grammatical variation and cognate expressions, means cultivation by a person on his own account—
(i) by his own labour, or
(ii) by the labour of any member of his family, or Gii) by servants or by hired labour on wages, payable in cash or in kind but not as a share of produce, under his personal super- vision or the personal supervision of any member of his family ; Explanation-II :—For the avoidance of doubts it is hereby clarified that the Government shall be deemed. to be the landowner, where the land referred to in sub-clause (i) or sub-clause (iii) is land owned by, or as the case may be, in the actual possession of, the Government ;
(j) "Minor" means a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years 5
(k) "prescribed wages" means wages at such rate, not being—
(a) less than the minimum rate of wages fixed or revised under the * Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (Central Act II of 1948) ; or (b} more than fifteen percent in excess of such minimum rate of wages, as may be specified by the Government by notification in the Gazette ; or
(c) the agreed rate of wages, whichever is higher. '() "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act ;
(m) "wages" means ail remunerations, whether payable in cash or in kind, which would, if the terms of employment, express or implied were fulfilled, by payable to a person employed in respect of his employment or of work done in such employment but does not include.
(i) the value of
(a) any house accommodation, supply of light, water or medical atten- dance ; or
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(b) any other amenity or any service excluded by gen eral or special order
of the Government ; or
(ii) any sum paid to the person employed to defray special expenses
entailed on him by the nature of his employment. CHAPTER Ji
Officers and Agricultural Tribunal
3. Appointment of Conciliation Officer-—The Gov ernment may, by
notification in. the Official Gazette, appomt for any a rea specified therein any.
officer of the Labour Department, not below the ran k of Labour Officer, to
be a Conciliation Officer for the purpose of performing the functions entrust-
ed:to a Conciliation Officer by or under this Act.
4. Constitution of Agricultural Tribunals.—(1) The G overnment may,
by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute fo r any area specified therein
an Agricultaral Tribunal for the purpose of performi ng the functions of the
Agricultural Tribunal under this Act.
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(2) An Agricultural Tribunal shall consist of a sole member, who shall
be an officer not below the rank of Deputy Coll ector, appointed by the
Government.
5. Appointment of Inspector.—(1) The Government may, by notifica-
tion in the Official Gazette, appoint— 4a) such officers, or
such person .as possess, the prescribed qualificatio n, as they think
fit, to be Inspectors for the purposes of this Act and, def ine the local
limits within which they shall exercise their' powers.
(2) Subject to rules made in this behalf, an Inspector may, within
the local limits for which he is appointed,—
(a) enter, at any time after sunrise and before sun set with such assis-
tants, being persons in the service of the Gove rnment or any
local or other public authority, as he thinks fit, pr émises or places
_ where agricultural workers are employed or where h e has reasons
to believe that records are Kept, for the prupose of examining any
register or record of wages required to be kept under t his Act 'or
the rule made thereunder and require the production thereof for
inspection ;
(b) examine any person who he finds in any such pr emises or place
and whom he has resonable cause to belizve to be an agricultural
worker ;
(c). seize or take copies of such register or record or portions thereof
as he may consider relevant in respect of an offerice und er this Act
which he has reason to believe has been committed by a la nd-
owner ; and
(d) exercise such other powers as may be prescribed,.
(3) Until Inspectors are appointed under this Act the - Inspectors
appointed under the Minimum Wages. Act (Central Act II of 1948), shall
be deemed to be Inspectors appointed under this Act for the ar ea in which
they exercise jurisdiction under the said Act.
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6. Facilities to be afforded to Inspectors.—Every landow ner shall afford
an Inspector all reasonable facilities for making an entry , Inspection, exami-
nation or enquiry under thi s Act.
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CHAPTER IIT
ie yj Security of Employment anJ Welfare
"7 'Preference for employment as agricaltaral workers—
(i) The landowner shall no t employ any agricultural worker other than
an agricultural worker who has worked in the same lan d during the previous agricultural season :
Provided that preference sha ll be given to agricultural workers employed
for the previous agricultural operation m the same agricul tural land during the same agricultural season :
Provided further that where t here are permanent workers o f the landowner,
such workers shall be given pr eference over other agricultura l workers.
Explanation :—For the purpo ses of this sub-section "perm anent worker",
in relation to a land owner , means a1 agricultural w orker who is bound by
contract or otherwise to w ork in the agricultural jand of that landowner.
(2) Notwithstanding anythin g contained in sub-section
(1) where any agricultural worker has work ed in the land of a landown er during three con- secutive agricultural seasons , prior to the previous agr iculiural season, he
shall not be denied emplo yment merely on the gro und that he has not worke a
during the previous agricultur al season, provided his abse nce during that season was due to reasons beyond his conir ok.
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3) Nothing contained in sub-sestion (1) or sub-se ction (2) shall be deemed. to enable the land ow ner to refuse employment, du ring an agricultural
season, to an agricultural wor ker eligible to be employed by the Jand owner
undet either of those sub-secti ons but who has not offered himself for employ-
ment on any previous day of that agricultural season.
(4) Where the agricultural workers mentioned in sitb-s ection (J) or sub-
section (2) or sub-section (3) are not available or the nu mber of such agricul- tural workers available is less than the number required by the landowner for
the agricultural operation in his land, nothing in those s ub-section shall be
deemed to prevent him from employizg otter agricultural workers.
(5) Notwithstanding anythin g contained in the foregoing provisions of
'this section, no landowner shall be under an obligation to employ any agti-
cultural worker—
(a) who does not offer himself for employment ; of
(b) who is more than sixty-fiv e years of age in the case of m ale worker
or sixty-years of age in the c ase of a female worker ; or
(c) who is incapacitated and is unable to do the work ; or
(d) who has imtentionally caus ed damage of crops belonging to the
landowner or caused any other los s to the landowner,
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8. Framing of welfare schemes for agricuitural workers: —
(1) The State Government may, by one or more Notifications frame one or more schemes, namely Tripura Agricultural Workers Contributory Provident Fund Scheme, Tripura Agricultural Workers Group Insurance Scheme, Tripura Agricultural Workers (Old-age and Invalid) Pension Scheme or any other beneficial schemes of whatever nomenclature as may be found ex- pedient for the agricultural workers on terms and conditions as may be specified in the Notification and different schemes, may be framed for different areas or for different classes of agricultural workers and different date may be appointed for different schemes for different areas.
(2) Any scheme framed by the State Government under sub-section (1) shall provide the mode of administration of such scheme and all other matters incidental thereto.
(3) Every Notification publishing' any scheme under sub-section (1) shall be laid as soon as may be after itis made, before the Legislative Assmebly, while it is in sesvion for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in oae session or in two successive yessions, and if, before the expiry of the session it is so laid, or session immediately following, the House agres in making any modification in the scheme, or the House agrees that the scheme should not be made, the scheme shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however, that any modification or annul- ment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything done under that scheme.
CHAPTER—IV
Hours and Limitations of Employment and Wages
9, Hours of work.—Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no adult agricultural worker shall be required to work for more than eight hours in any day and no minor for more than six hours in any day :
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to pro- hibit an agreement between the land-Owner and the agricultural workers for working for less than eight hours or six hours, as the case may be, on any parti- cular day or days or on all day: of Employment or to effect any custom or practice prevailing in the locality 'under which the agricultural worker is required to work for less thax eight hours or six hours, as the case may be.
10. Daily intervals for rest—-The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed four hours and that no agricultural worker shall work for more than four hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least half an hour.
11, Wages payable to agricuttural workers.—(1) Every landowner shall pay to any agricultural worker employed by him the p escribed. wages for each day of work done ;
(2) The Government may, from time to time by notification in the Official Gazette, fix the number of hours of work which shall constitute a aermal workirg day i-clusive of one or more specified intervals for the purpose of sub- section (1) either for the whole State or any part thereof. :
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Provided that where the Government have fixed the number of hours of work which shall constitute a normal working day in respect of any of the categories of agricultural workers in the employment in agriculture under section 13 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (Central Act, II of 1948), the hours of work so fixed shall, until a notification is issued under this sub-section, be deemed to have been Fixed under this sub-section.
12. Wages for harvest—(i) The prescrived wages for harvest shall be paid at the thrashing floor on which the thrashing takes place and no portion of the produce shall be removed from the thrashing floor without payment of the prescribed wages to the agricultural worker concerned ;
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) where the quantum. of prescribed wages is in dispute and such quantum cannot be determined without settling the dispute under the provisions of this Act, an officer not below the rank of a Labour Inspector authorised in this behalf by the Government by Notification in the official Gazette shall, if he is satisfied that the harvested produce if kept in the thrashing floor till the settlement of the dispute will perish or be otherwise lost take such action as he thinks expe- dient in each case to ensure that the harvested produce does not perish or is not otherwise lost itifl the settlement of the dispute.
13. Enforcement of payment of prescribed wages.—-(1) If any landowner pays less than the prescribed wages or refuses to pay the prescribed wages to any agricultural worker, the agricultural worker or an official of the union of which he is a member may make an application to the Conciltation Officer for a direction under sub-section (2).
(2) On receipt of an application under sub-section (1) the Conciliation Officer shall, after giving the applicant and the landowner an opportunity of being heard and after such inquiry, if any, as he may consider necessary, direct,—
(a) in the case of a claim arising out of the payment of less than the prescribed wages, the payment to the agricultural worker of the amount by which the prescribed wages payable io him exceeds the amount actually paid by the landowner ;
(b) in the case of a claim arising out of non-payment of prescribed wages, the payment of the prescribed wages to the agricultural worker.
(3) [fas a result of a direction under sub-section (2), any amount of the prescribed wages becomes payable to an agricultural worker, the Conciliation Officer may,—
(a} in the case of harvest,—
G) recover in, kind or in cash such amount of the prescribed wages at the thrashing floor from out of the harvested paddy ; and
(ii) if the harvested paddy or any portion thereof has been removed from the thrashing floor in contravention of the provisions of section 12 recover in kind of in cash the amount of prescribed wages from the land ewner concerned and if such recovery is not possible, the Conciliation Officer shall make a report to the Collector specifying the full particulars regarding the amount of casa value of the prescribed wages due to the agricutural worker concerned and on receipt of such report, the Collector shall proceed to recover the same from the landowner concerned as if it were an arrear of public revenue due on land ;
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(b) in the case of any work other than harvest, recover in kind or in
cash the amount of prescri bed wages from the land o wner con-
cermed, and if such recove ry is not possible, the Con ciliation.O fiicer
shall make a report fo the Collector specifying the ful l particulars,
regarding the amount of cash value of the pres cribed wages due
to the agricultural worker concerned and on receipt o f such report
the Collector shall procee d to recover the same fr om the landowner
conce-aed as if it were an arrear of land revenue due on land.
Explanation. —in this sub -section, "Collector" mea ns the Collector of
the District or any other officer appointed by the Government to exercise the powers and perform the functions of a Collect or under the Tripura Land Revenue and 'Lane Reforms Act, 1960.
(4) The Conciliation Office r shall have such powers as are necessary
to effect the payment of t he prasciibed wages to the agricultural worker, incl u-
ding the power to eater up on ary Jand on which, or into any building in which, the harvested crop
is kept.
14. Wages for over-time work.—Where an agricultu ral worker is required by the land owner to wor k for more than the num ber of houts of work fi xed
or deemed to have been fixed under sub-section (2 ) of Section 11 he shall be
entitled im respect of each hour of such over-time wo rk to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary ra te of wages for one ho ur 5
CHAPTER—V
Disputes
15. Settlement of agric ultural disputes. —(1) W here an agricultural dispute exists oT is appre hended, the Conciliation Oificer may hold concilia- tion proceedings aad s hall, for the purpose o f bringing about a set tlement of
the dispute, without dela y iavestigate the same and all matters affecting the
merits and the right goitl emeat thereof and may do ail such things, as he th inks
fit, for the purpose of in ducing the parties to c ome to a fair.and amic able
settlement of the dis pute.
(2) Ifa settlement of th e dispute or of any of t he matters in dispute is arrived at in the cour se of conciliation proc eedings, the Conciliat ion Officer
shall send a report thereo f to the such Odicer as may be specified -by the State
Government by Notifi cation in this behalf together with a memor andum of
settlement signed by t he parties to the dispu te.
. @) Iino such settl ement if arrived at, the C onciliation Officer, shall, as soon as practicable af ter the close of the inves tigation send to the Coll ector
of the District through the Officer appointed un der sub-clause (2) a full report
setting forth the steps ta ken by him for ascertaini ng the facts and circums tance
relating to the disputes and for bringing about a settlement thereof, tog ether
with full statement of suc h facts and circumstances , and the reasons on ac count
of which, im his opinio n, 4 settlement could not be arrived at :
Provided that in a case where the agriculiuial d ispute relates to an agri -
cultural jand situated within the local limits of more than one D
istrict, the
Conciliation ONicer shall send the report to the Collector of the githe. D istrict
with intimation to an other.
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(4) If on a consideration of the report referred to in sub-section GB), the Collector of the District is satisfied that there is a case of reference to an agricultural Tzibunal ; he may, by order in writing, refer the agricultural dispute to the said Tribunal for adjudication ana where the Collector of the District does not make such a reference, he shall record and communicate to the parties concerned his reasons therefor.
(5) Where an agricultural dispute has been referred to an Agricultural Tribunal under sub-section (4), the Tribunal shall hold its procecdings expedi- tiously and shall, as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the proceedings, but not later than thirty aays from the date of receipt of the reference by the Tribunal, submit its award to the Collector of the District,
(6) The Collector of the District shall, within a period. of fifteen, days from the date of receipt of the award referred to in sub-section (5), cause the same to be published in his office and in the office of the Agricultural Tribunal in such manner as may be prescribed and shall also forward copies of the award, to the parties concerned.
(7) An award referred to in sub-section (5) shall subject to any order of the Government under section 19 become enforceable on the expiry of ter days from the date of its publication in the manner provided in sub-section (6).
(8) Every memorandum of setilement referred to in sub-section (2) and, subject to any order of the Government under section 19 every award of an Agricultural Tribunal shall be final and shall be given effect to by the parties to the agricultural dispute.
16. Appeal—(1) Against any order passed by 2 Conciliation Officer under section 13 an appeal shall lie to the Agricultural Tribunal within a period of -thirty days from the date of the order appealed against, and the decision of the Agricultural Tribunal on such appeal shall be final. @) The Agricultural Tribunal shall have power to stay the operation of the order of the Conciliation Officer pending disposal of the appeal. i7. Decision in appeal in respect of prescribed wages to be given effect to.
(1) Where the amount of prescribed wages paid to an agricultural worker under section 11 or recovered under section 13 for payment to an agricultural worker is less than the amount of prescribed wages payable as a result of the decision in appeal, the balance shall be recovered from the land owner concerned as if it were an arrear of Jand revenue due on land and paid to the agricultural worker, concerned.
(2) Where the amount of prescribed wages paid to an agricultural worker under section 11 or recovered under section 13 for payment to an agri- cultural workers is in excess of the amount of prescribed wages payable as a result of the decision in appeal, such excess shail be recovered from the agricul- tural worker concerned for payment to the land owner concerned and the procedure contained in Section 32 shall apply for such recovery.
18. Reference of decision of disputes by" Govermment.—
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 15, where any agui- cultural dispute exists or is apprehended the Government may, by order in writing and for reasons to be stated therein,—
(a) refer the dispute to the Agricultural Tribunal constituted for the area in which the dispute exists or is apprehended, for adjudi- cation ; or
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(b) decide the dispute themselves and pass an award.
(2) Where a dispute is referred to an A gricultural Tribunal under
clause (a} of sub-section (1), the provisions of gub-sections (5), (6), (7) ant(8) of section. 15 shall apply as if the referen ce to fhe Tribunal were made by the Collector of the District under sub-section
(4) of that Section.
(3) . The Government shall cause every awa rd passed by them under
clause ib) or sub-section, (1) to be published in the Official Gazette and in such other manner as may be prescribed,
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(4) An award referred to in sub-section (3) s hall be final, shall be. given
effect to by the parties to the agricultural dispute and shall be enforceable on the-expiryjof five -days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
19. Power of Govevnment in respect of awar ds.--(1) Ifthe Government is
of opinion that it is inexpedient on public grounds cffecting rationa economy social justice to give effect to the whole or any part cf an award referred 6
in sub-section (5) of section 15, it may by N otification in the official Gazette declared that the award shall not b ecome enforceable on the expiry o f the
period imentioned in sub-section (7) of the said section.
(2) Where any declaration has been made in relation to an award ander sub-section (1), the Governmen t may within thirty days from the date of
publication of the award under s ub -section (6) of section 15 make an order
rejecting or modifying the award and such o rder shail be published in 'the official Gazette.
(3) Where no order has been passed by the Government under sub- section (2), the award shall become enforc eable on the expiry of the period of thirty days mentioned in that sub-se ction.
(4) Where an order has been made by the Government under sub- section (2), the award shall not be enf orceable or, as the case may be, the a ward.
as modified shall be erforceable on the expiry of a pericd of five days from the date of publication of such order in th e official Gazette.
CHAPTER—Vi
Penalties and Procedure
30. Penalty for obstructions, etc. (1) Whoever obstructs any Inspector or Conciliation Officer in the discharge of this 'duties under this Act of réfuses or wilfully neglects to afford any Ins pector reasonable facilities for making an inspection, examination or enquir y authorised by of under this Act, shail
be punishable with imprisonment for a te rm which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousaid rupees, or with both. (2} Whoever wilfully refuses to produce on the demand of an Inspector
any register or other document kept ia pu rsuance of this Act or prevents or attempts to prevent or does anything whi ch he has reason to believe is likely to prevent any person from appearing before, of being examined by, an Inspector acting m puisuance of his duties under this Act, shail be punish- able with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months' or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.
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21. Penalty for making false statements, ete.—Whoever for the purpose
of avoiding any payment to be made by him under this Act or for enabling
any other person to avoid such payment, knowin gly makes or causes to be
any other person to avoid such payment, k nowingly makes or causes to be
made any false statement or false 've-presentation , shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term. which may extend to six m onths or with fine which
may extend to one thousand rupees, or with bo th.
22. Penalty for breach of settlement or award.— Any person who commits
4 breach of any term of any settlement or award shall'be punishable with, inypri- sonment for a term which may extend to oné ye ar, or with, fine which "may
extend to one thousand rupees, or with beth and where the. breach is a conti- tinuing one, with a further fine which-may ext end to one hundred rupees for
every day duting which the breach continu e after conviction for the first such breach, and the Cowt trying the offence may di rect that the whole or any part
Of the fine realised from him shall be paid by wa y of compensation to any person
who in its 'opinion has been injured by such breach.
23. Other Penalties,-Whoever contravenes OF makes default in complying with any of the provisions of this Act, or of any rule made under this Act shall, if no other penalty is elsewhere provided by o# under this Act for such contra- vention or non-compliance, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to six months, or with:-fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both and, in the case of continuin g contravention, with an additional fine which may extend to one hundred rupee s for every day during which
such contravention continues after convict ion for the first such contravention. 24.' Fahanced penalty after previous convicti on.—If any person who has
been convicted of any offence punishable under this Act is again found guilty
of an offence involving a contravention of th e same provision, he shall be puni- shable on a subsequent conviction with impris onment for a term which shall
not be fess than one month, but which may ext erid to six months and with fine which shall not be less than five hundred rupees, but which may extend to two
thousand rupees <
Provided that for the purpose of this section , no cognizance shall be taken
of airy conviction, made more than five years b efore the Commission. of the
offence which is being punished.
25. 'Offences by compantes,—(1) Where an o ffence under this Act has
been. committed. by a company, every perso n who at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to the Company for the con-
duct of the business of Company, as well as the Company, shall be deemed to
be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be pr oceeded against and punished
accordingly :
Provided that nothing, contained in, this stib-section , shall render any such
person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed
_without his knowledge or that he exercised afl due diligence to prevent the
'Commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sectio n (1) where an
offence under this Act has been committed by a compan y and it is proved that
: the offence has been committed with the conse nt or connivance of or is aitri-
, butable to any neglect om the part of, any director, n inager, Secretary or
other officer shall aiso be deemed to be guilty of that offence an d shall be liable
'to be proceedéd against and punished accordingly.
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Explanation,—For the purpose of this section, —
(a) "company" means any body corporate and includes a frm or other
association of individuals ; and
(b) "Director", in relation to a firm, means a pa rtner in the firm.
26. Cognizance of offences,—No court shall take cognizance of
offence punishable under this Act, except on complaint made by, or with the
previous sanction in writing of, the Gover nment or an. officer authorised by the Government in this behalf by notification in the official Gazette, and no Court inferior to that of a Judicial Magistrate of th e First Class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.
27. Limitation of prosechtions,-—No Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this 'Act unless c omplaint thereof is made within three months from the date on which alleged Commission of the offence comes to the knowledge of the Government or the o fficer authorised under section 26.
CHAPTER VII
Miscellaneous
28. Register of agricultural workers,--(1) The executive authority of
every local authority shall prepare a registe r of agricultural workers residing within the jurisdiction of that local autho rity.
(2} The register shall contain such particula rs as may prescribed.
QG) The register shall be maintained by the executive authority in such
manner as may be prescribed.
Explanation— For the purpose of this section "Local authority' in relation to 2n agricultural worker means a municipali ty or a Notified
Area Authority established under the Bengal Municipality
Act, 1932 as adopted in Tripura or a Gaon Panchayat
established under the Tripura Panchay ats Act, 1983 under
the local jurisdiction of which such agricultura l worker resides.
29. Maintenance of registers and recor ds by landowners :—
(1) Every landowner shall maintain su ch registers and records as may be prescribed.
(2) The registers and records referred to in sub-section (1) shall contain such, particulars and shall be kept in such place, as may
be prescribed.
30. Bar of jurisdiction of civil courts, -No civil court shall entertain any suit ot other proceedings to set aside or mod ify any order or decision, passed by any outhority or officer under this Act in vesp ect of any of the matters falling
within its or his scope. ©
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31. Power to take evidence on oath, etc,—Any authority or officer e xer
cising powers under this Act shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil
court under the Code of Civil procedure, 1908 (Central Ac t 5 of 1908), when
trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely :-—
(a) enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath ;
(b) requring the discovery and production of documents ;
(c) receiving evidence on affidavit ;
(d) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses ; and
(ce) such other matters as may be prescribed ; and any proceeding,
before such authority or officer shall be deemed to be a ju dicial
proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 and for
the purpose of section 196, of the Indian Penal Code (Centr al
Act 45 of 1860).
32, Recovery of money due from landowners,—Wher e any money is due
to an agricultural worker from a landowner under a set tlement referred to in
sub-section (2) of Section 15 or an award under sub-sect ion (5) of that section
or under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 18 or an a ward as modified by
the Government under sub-section (2) of Section 19 the ag ricultural worker
himself or any other person authorised by him in wri ting in that behalf or, in
the case of the death of the agricultural worker, his assigne es or heirs may
without prejudice to any other mode of recovery make an application to the
Collector of the District for the recovery of the money due to him and if the
Collector of the District is satisfied that any money is so due, he shall proceed
to recover the same as if it were an arrear of land revenu e due on land :
Provided that every such application shall be made wi thin one year from
the date on which the money become due to the agricu ltural worker from the
landowner :
Provided farther that any such application may be en tertained after the
expiry of the said period of one year if the Collector or of the District is
satisfied that the applicant had sufficient cause for n ot making the application
within the said period.
33. Effect of laws and agreements inconsistent with this Act—(1) The
provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstandi ng anything inconsistent
therewith contained in any other law or in the terms of any award, agreement
or contract of service, whether made before or after the commencement of this
section, ;
Provided that where under any such award, agreemen t contract of service,
custom or otherwise, any agricultural worker was e njoying immediately before
the commencement of this section tenefits in resp ect of any raatter, which
are more favourable to him than thos: to which. he w ould be entitled under this
Act, the agricultural worker shall be entitled to the more favourable benefits in
respect of that matter notwithstanding that he receives benefits in respect of
other matter under this Act.
12) Nothing contained in this Act shall be const rued as precluding
any agricultural worker from entering into an agree ment with a land owner
for granting him rights or privileges in respect of an y matter, which are more
favourable to him than those to which he would be entitled under this Act.
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(3) For the avoidance of doubts, it is hereby declared that nothing contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section, (2) shall be deemed to enable a land owner to enter into any agreement in contravention of the provisions of section—7.
34, Exemption—(1) Nothing contained in this Act other than section— 13, 14, 16, 17, clause (>) of sub-section (1) and sub-sections.(3),and (4) of section 18 and sub-section (1} of Section 33 shall apply in,relation toa Jand owner who does not hold more than one hectare in extent of agricultural land. Explanation. Where the landowner is a member of a family, the extent of land held individually by any member of his family or jointly by some or all of the members of such family shall, for the purposes of this sub-section be deemed to be held by the landowner.
(2) The Government may, by Notification in the Gazette, for reasons to be recorded in writing, exempt any landowner.or class of ladowners or any agricultura! land or class of agricultural lands from all or any of the provisions 'of this Act other than sections 11,13,14,16, 17clause(b) ofstib-section U}and sub-sections (3) and (4) of section 18 and sub-section (1) of section 33.
35. Eelegation of Powers.—The Government--may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any power exercisable by them-under this Act or the rules made thereunder shall, in relation to such matters and subject to such conditions, if any, as-may be specified in the direction, be exercisable also by such officer or authority subordinate to the Government as may be specific in: the Notification.
36. Power to remove difficulties.—If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act or any award or settlement under this Act, the Government may, by order, do anything not inconsistent, with such provision which appear to them necessary or expedient for the purpose of removing the difficulty.
37. Protection of action taken in good faith.—No suit, prosécution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government or any authority or officer in respect of any thing which is in good faith done orintended to be done in pursuance of this Act, or any rule or order made under this Act.
38. Power to make rules.—(1) The Government may, by Notification in the Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the 'fore- goifig power, such rules may provide for—
(a) The procedure to be followed by the Conciliation officer and the Aéricultural Tribunal ;
(b) the fees. to be paid for applications and appeals under this Act ; - (c) The powers of the Conciliation Officer necessary for the effective enforcement of the previsions of this Act ;
(i) .the manner of estimating the cash value of. the prescribed wages in, kind.
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(e) the procedure to be followed by the Government under sections 18 and 19.
(f) any other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed under the provisions of this Act.
(3) Every rule made under this section and every notification issued under section 36 shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made or issued, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of four- teen days which may be comprised in one session or in two sucsssive sesions, and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session imine- diately following, the Legislative Assembly makes any modification in the rule or notification or decides that the rule or notification should not be made or issued, the rule or notification shall thereafter have effect oniy in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be ; so however that any such modifi- cations or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or notification.
By order of the Governor,
A. B. Paul
Deputy Secrerary, Law.
Printed at the Tripura Government Press, Agartala.