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THE ASS~-1 ~~AND REVENUE RE- ASSE$MENT ACT, 1936 (ASSAM ACT VIII OF 1936)

(As amended upto date ) An

Act to rogu~ate re-assessment of Land Revenue in

Assam

Whereas it is expedient that the process of revising the assessment of the land revenue in Assam should be brought under close r r egulation by statute :

It is hereby enacted as follows : -

CHAPTER I Preliminary

1 . (1) This Act may be callGd the Ass­am Land Revenue Re - assessment Act, 1936 .

(2) It extends to those areas in the 1 State of Assam in which section 29 of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 (hereinafter r eferred to as the Regulation) is, or may be , in force and in such areas the provisions of the Regulation shall be subject to the pro­visions of this Act .

(3) It shall come into force at once

Preamble

Short title .

Extent

1 Substituted for the words "Province" by the .Adap­tation of Laws and Order, 1950.

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Provided that anythin which had already bLen done under the Regulation (or the rules made under the Regulation ), but; for the doing of which this Act pre: scrib(.d new conditions or a new pro ­cedure , sha1J be deemLd to have been done in ac::::ordance with the provisions of this Act~ 2. In thls Act, unless a different Definitions intention appears from the subject or context, -

(i) the t~rms defined in t he Regulation and not defined in t his Act, shall have the same meanings as in t he Regulation .

(ii)" village" means, subject to "Villagt.

(fil)

any general or special orders of the 1 Sta t e Government, the Area surveyEd and r ecor-ded in any survey .made by or under the authority of the Go~rnment as a dist:nct and separate village; "established village" means a village whe re in the opinion of the 1 State Gover nment; (a) the cultivated fields and

homesteads are pe r manent , and

(b) the area of waste land, se ­ttled and assessed as waste or aYailable for se ttlemen-t is inconsiderable .

"Establish­ed village "

1 Substituted for the word "Province " by the Adapta­tion Laws Order 1950.

•

-3 -(1v) "ir.lmature village" means a

villag~ which is not an e st­ablished village .

"Immature village".

(v) "asse ssment group" means a group of villages or e states wich are included by the sett­lement Officer, subje ct to

"Asse ssment gr oup" .

rule , in one se t of prpposals for assc ssment;

(vi) "prescribed" means pre scribed by rule s under this Act;

"Pre scribed"

(v.11) "rule" means a rule made under this Act;

"Rule"

(v:tli)" settlement" with re:fe r ence t o c:.ny local area or class of est­a t l s means a special pperation carri ed out in purruance of a notification under section 18

"Set tlement"

of t he Regulation f or the re­vision of t he land r evenue de­mand of that local area or class of e sta tes;

(ix) "major se ttleme nt" means a sett­l ement of any local area or class of es t ates extending oVt; r not l oss than 20 square miles;

(x) "last se t tlement 11 with r ef e r en­ce to any local area or class of esta tes means the last gen­eral r evision of the land reve ­nue dewand of that area or class of es t a tes whethe r carried out in pursuance of a notification unde r sec tion 18 of the Regula­tion or not ;

"Maj or se ttlement"

" Last set­tlement".

* 1

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-4-* (xi) 11 town land" means any land "Town land"

within an area declared or deemed to be a ounicipality or notified area under the A~sam Munici pal Ac t, 1923 (Assam Act I of 1923) and any othe r :?and w!'lich the 1 State Gover ­rllllent may declar e under t he Assrun land f.U1d Revenue Regula ­tion 1886 (Regulation I of 1886) or under provisions of t his Act, to be town land;

(xll) "special cultiva tion" means "Special cul-cultivation which invol ve s tivation". either owing to the nature of' the crop or owing to the pro-cc ss of cultivation a much l arger expGndi ture of capit al pv r acre than is incurred by most of the cultivators in tre 1 State.

3. (1) The State Gove rnmen] may at any time by notification, signify its int­ention to declare any specified area which is not already town l and t o r ~ town land f or the purpose of this Act .

Declaration of any spe ­cified area as t own land .

(2) A copy of the notification unde r sub-section ( 1 ) shall be published in such place s within the arE: a concerned and e lsewhere as t he State Government may by general or S'O€cial order dire ct .

(3) Any person aff ected by the pro­posed doclaration may, within six weeks from the date of publicati on of the

Vide As~am Act XIV of 1957.

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Substitut~d for the worM. "Province" by Adaptation of Laws and Order , 1950.

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notification, submit any objGction in writing to the 1 State Government through t he Deputy Canmissione r and the 1 State Government shall t ake t his- objection into consideration.

(4) After considering all the objection re ceived under sub-section (3), t he Sua~8 Government may, by no­tification, de~lare the area or any par·t ther eof to be town land for the purpose of this Act . 4. Nothing in this Act shall apply to ·t;he settlement of land ove r which no pe rson ha~ the right of a propri­e tor or se ttlement -holder. 5. Notwit hstanding anything, cont­ained in sec tion 18 of the Regula­tions th~ notification mentioned the r 0in shall be issued in the case of eve ry major se ttleoent and of every settlem€nt of town land not included in a major se ttlement . 6 . (1) Befor e i s suing any r.otifi ­cation of settlement under section 18 of the Regulation for any l ocal ar ea or class of estates, the State Government shall require fr om an officer appointed for the purpose a forecas t report . The r eport shall explain the main f actors justifying a revision of t he as se ssment and shall

Bar to appli ­cation of Act t;o certain land. Issue of fic;ition o:-i.j or and wn land se 1i -

lerren-t .

Forecast report .

i:11fiicate the probable financial #' #'results of e stateJ , as a wbole, and also , as far the settlement as can be f ore seen, of each part of local area tht r eof which is distinct in characte r . or class of The report shall be published in the Gazette at least three months befor e the issue of the notification of

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settleaent and along with the report thert shall be nublishcd a notice sp€ cifying a da:'.;c on or after which :t is propo3cd t o issue the notification and t he State Governmnn t shall consi­der nny obiectibn or suggE.stion with respect Go the proposE.d notif'ication the.t may be r eceiYE:d before the date so specified from any person likely to be affected thereby.

(2) If the local are a to be se t tled is not less than a subdivision of a district or if the cla ss of e sta tes to be so ttled e xtends over more than one subdivision, the officer appointed f or the preparation of the fore cast r e ­port shall be an office r not below the rank of Extra Assistant Commissione r and he shall be reli eved of all othe r duties f or such period as the State Government may judge t o be necessary for the pr ope r preparation of the r eport .

CHAPTER II

RE - .ASSESSMENT OF LAND NOT ·BEING TOWN LAND

7 . The provisions of this part shall apply to the settlement of any local area or class of e state s not being t own lru:id, and in applying them, town l and shall be l Lft out of account.

8~ In t he framing of general propo­sals of r e - as so ssment for each assess­ment group , the Sett l ement Office r shall have r E.gard t o the change s which have ofcurred in the locality since the fixing of the existing assessment, mor e particularly in r e spect of -

Bar t o appli­ca tion of provisions of Part II to town land .

General pro­posals of rE. -assessment.

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(i) -7 -

the economic condition of those who live mainly by agriculture,

(ii ) t he value of agricultural pro-duce ,

Ciii) the cost of production, and (iv) th~ letting and selling value

cf l anJo 9~ (1) S~bject to t he provisions of

section 25, in the determination of the amotn1t of the assessment proper for each estate the villages and the fields shall be c~assified and a fair rate per bigha shall be fixed for each class of land in each class of village :

Provided that land settled or used for special cultivation may be assessed at a fair all-round rate per bigha.

(2) In classifying the villages within each assessment group for the purpose of determining how the revised assessment of the group should be dist ­ributed amongst them, the Settlement Officer shall have regard to their exi ­sting assessment and to their relative advantages and disadvantages more par ­ticularly in respect of -

(i) the fertility of the soil, (ii) the economic condition of

those who live mainly by agriculture ,

Detailed assessme ­nt of estates .

... (iii) facilities of communication, acce ssi'bll:t ty to markets , and liability to damage by natural causes or frcrn wild animals .

(3) In classifying the fields the Settlement Officer shall have regard to

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the ca:npara tive value of the land for the purposes of agr iculture .

100 The land r evenue of an estate shall not be liabl e to enhancement on the ground of drainage works, irrigatie on works, :r .::;::...1.ilat' improvements eff ­ec t ed since i;be la3t settlement at the expensesJunder ~im or of any agency other than Governmemt or a local Auth ­ority, except Village Authoritjes und­er tbe Assam Rural Self-Government Act .

11 . (1) The total r evenue assess­ed on an assessment group shall not exceed 1 O per cent of the gross pro­duce of the group as dete rmi ned by t he Settlement Office r .

(2) The incidence of the revenue , that is to say , the total r evenue assessed divided by the tot al settled area on which it is asse ssed, shall not e xceed the incidence of t he revenue immediately before the se t t ­l ement by more than * 30 per cent in the case of the enire area or class of es' ate s notified for settlement or by more than *50 per cent in the case of any village , which was an established village at t he last settlement.

Bar to enh­ancement on account of improve men ts .

Limitation of demand .

Limita t:i. of enhanc.. ment .

*Provided that for the purpose of applying this sub- section, any land which,

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -*Vide Assam A~ t XIV of 19)7.

# of the Settlement -bolder or of any person holding

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in t he opinion of the State Government had, i mmediately before the settlement been held on· concessional t Erms or settled or used for special cultivation or any villages which were immature a t the time 0~ :~e last se ttlement , shall b e left o..it of account , and the limi­tations ment1o:ied in sub-section (2) shall not apply to such lands .

12 . (1) If the tonal r evenue ass ­e ssed under this part on all the e sta­t e s held by the same owne r or set of co-owners within any *village e xceeds the forme r revenue on the same area and the revenue as thus enhanced e ni­ceds ~e*15 then subject as her e inaf­t e r provided,

(a)

(b)

in any case in which the enhancement exceeds 25 per cent but does not exceed 100 per cent of the old revenue , it shall be eff­ected gradually by quin­quennial increm~nts each not exceeding 25 per cent of the old revenue; in any case in which the enhahcement exceeds 100 per cent of the old reve -nue the case shall be r e ­f e rred to the 1State Gov­ernment for orders .

(2) When the old r evenue is less than Ps .*15 and the enhanced r eve ­nue exceeds ~ . *15 the old revenue shall

* Vide Assam Act XIV of 1957.

Graduated enhanceme ­nt .

1 Substituted for the word ' Provincial' by Adaption Laws Or der, 1950.

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be taken to be ~~*15 for the purpose of applyil).g sub- section (1) .

(J) It shall be the duty of the Settlement Officer, at the time of offerj_ng settlement, to endeavour to give effc;ct to ·i;ne concession mentioned in sub -seclio~ (1) , and in case of ommi­ssion, it shall be opened to the settle ­ment-holder to aprly for it to the Sett ­lement Officer within one year of the offer of settlement.

*Provided that the concession men­tioned in the sub- section (1 ) above shall not be available for any land which, in the opinion of the State Gov­ernment had, immediately b8fore the settlement, been held on concessional terms or settled or used for special cultivation.

13 . The term for which the land revenue is assessed shall not be less than 30 years, provided -

Term of ass ­essment .

(1) that the State Government may fix a shorte:" term for villages whi­

ch arc immature , or which, having been immature at the last settlement , were ass ­igned a shorter term than the re st of the assessment group in which they were i:.1cluded, and

(ii)tnat the offer of settle ­ment of any land which i s assessed as used f or agri -

* Vide Assam Act XIV of 1957 •

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-cultural purposes may cont­ain a condition that if the land is used for commercial or industrial purposes *or if the soil of any estate has permanently improved or deterioratrd through causes beyond the control of the settlement holder the assessment may be revi­sed in the prescribed mann­er before the expiration of the term of the lease .

* (tij) that, if, after the expiry of every fifteen years, tl'la average level of ·prices of Agricultu:ral produce for the last fifteen years has, in the opinion of the State Government changed by more than 25 per cent fr om the avGrage price level of the period of fifteen years preceding the last fifteen years, t hen the assessment may be reYised at any time after the expiration of the last fifteen years by incre­asing or reducing the asse­ssment accordzilng ~c as the prices aise or fall, in the manner set out below : -

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Changes in prices (a) .}:.pto 25 per cent (b) Above 25 per cent

Changes in Land revenue •1 Nil.

3& pe .. u r cenu. - - ~ ~~~~~~~~~- -~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Vide Assam Act XIV of 1957.

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(c)

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and but not above 31t per cent . Above 31t per cent but not above 37t per

64 per cent. cen·i:; ,

:~1 98 per cent . (d) !~~~ ~~l ~~ g~g~ . but

(c) Above 43-:f per cent "2 1 t 1 2 per cen •

CHAPTER III RE - ASSESSMENT OF TOltlN LAND

14. The provisions of this Part shall apply only to town land under se ttlement,

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15. Town land shall be divided the following main classes : -

(a) agricultural land (:L11 -cluding agri~ultural 1·.:: sidancc s),

(b) residential sites,

(c ) ::r adc s:::. te s.

Applications of provisions cf Part III to town land.

Division of town land in­to classes .

The Settlement Officer may make as many sub - classes under each main class as he considers necessary,

16. The r ate s of r evenue for ag - Rate s of re ­ri~ultural 1lkand ~ihnll not 8:x.ceed by mor -venue for re i;han 7t per cen-i;, the r ates fixed agricultural for similar land in the highest rated land. adjoining vi llage.

! 7. The r a t es of reYenue fixad f o:c la.nd se ttJ.ed with a righ r. of r ene -,,ral and classed as resident:i.al sites shall not e xceed 25 per cent cf the an.1 .1 al value of the site s •

Rates of r e ­venue for land classed as residenti­a: si t es .

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18 . The rates of reve nue for land Rates of re ­settled with a right of renewal and "1e:-iue :fis::: 0~1 classed as trade sites shall not exceed land classed 50 per cent of the annual value of the as trade sit -sites . e s.

19c The rates of revenue for Rates of r e -land settled without a right of renewal venue for for a period not exceeding three years temporar y shall not exceed the full annual value settled land. of the sites.

Explanation : - For the purposes of se ctions 17 , 18 and 19 the annual value , shall mean the gross annual rent at '.vhich land may be reasonably e:x.-pected to let and shall be determined. where ­ever possible , frcm recent records of sales and leases relating to lands 0£ a sirniJ.ar de script ion and wi th sj_rnilar ad-vantages in tbe vi~ini VJ •

20 . (1) The provisions of section 12 shall apply to agriculDJ~al land.

(2) If the total revenue ass ­o~sed on all tne r esid8ntial ;;ites hcli by the sa:ns owne~' or set cf co·­cv:ners within a tovm excecC::.u the 1 or­mer revanue on the sarne area and the II er::1ancement shall be effected g:-ndually by trj ~nnia.1 i ncrements each not excee -dtng 25 per cent of thc tot c:~l e nhe.nceme: t

>'<:Provided that; in 0-'1Y case in which the en~ancer1en-c exceeds 400 pe r cent of the: old r evenue, the case shall be refe -3"red. to t he State Govern::nent for orders ..

Graduated enhancement of revenue on agricul 'ti-...l ural land and re sid.e -nM.al sites.

II revenue as thus enhanced exceeds RsQ 15, then the

- 14-(i) When the old revenue is less

thah ~ . *15 and the enhanced revenue exceeds~ . *15 the old revenue s~all be taken to be ~ . *1 5 for the purpose of applying sub-section (2) .

21. F Jr l<....rid settled with a right of renewal the t e rm for which revenue is assessed shall be not less than 30 years :

Pr ovided that for r easons. to be re­co:cC.ed the term of set tlement may be for a shor ·te r pe riod :

Provided also tnat the lease which is issued for such land may provide that the revenue may be re-assessed before t11e expiry of the term of tbe lec-.se if ii:; appears to the Denuty Commissioner that (a) a5ricultural la!1d has been con­"l"te:rted into a re sidentiaJ. site or a trade sitP or ~,· ice-versa or (b) a resjdential site has been ~c...,v-er·ced in:o a t::-ade .1t te or vice -ver~a~

CEA?~R rl GENE:=lAL

Term of a f- se s sme n t .

22. E:xcept as ot}.(;·:wi se prarid.ed.3

trus P:::.rt; ~Jhall i:!T'ply -l;o the ssttle­menc cf a~iy local ar'32. or class cf es~a.te ~;, whether compr::.::;ing town land 01'." not ..

23 o (1) The class if :Liiation of every ?teld or site shall, if so required by

Appltca t j.o::.. of provisi··· ons of Part IV to sett l e ­ment of cer­tain class of land,

·~be se t:tlemen-b holder~ be de ciC.ed after Clas sifica-: )C;c>.l inquir y by an o:'ficer n0t below t ion of J.and . tr.e :rank of Assistant Se :;t2-ement Officer .

- - - ....... _.,.. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ --~ Vica Assam Act XIV of 1957 .

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-15-(2) The settlement -holder may ,

within thirty days of any decision under su1:-·section (1 ) , arpeal to the Settle­me1t Offic~r , or to any Additional Sett­lmdmt Officer that may be appointed by tile State 1 Government for the pur ­p~e of this section, who shall decide Ue correc~ class if ica·~ion ti'~er local i~qr .. iry . The order of 7ihe s~ ttlement 0.'ficer or .Addi tionn.l Sat tle:ne nt Off i ­C3r sha.11 subject to the provisions of @ction 151 of the Regulation, oe final .

(3) Notwithstanding anything con- VII of tained in the Court - fees Act, 1870, there 1870. shall be payable on ar..y petition of app·-e~: p~esented under sub-se~tion (2) a court - fee calculated at the rate of one rupee for each fie ld or site =-~eluded the~·eL, su::>iect to a maximum o~~ IL~20 :.:i

res-.:.,ect of field or sites ~iti.1atc d in the s.::i:n'3 i.rillage, the petition~r bein~ en~i-·~J..t::d , if ·i;he apre al is su;!ce ssful, to the refur..d of the fee in propo=tion to his success .

~4 . (1) '!':.1e Set:le~ent Cff:..~er shall Rate renor!; eni"ood.y hi~ proposals for 9ad1 assessment of ~he Se­g.cc-~:'J in a i~a-:e report as ~1ea:rlJ' a~ may "Ls in the 1'!'8 3crib\Jd f c·ra and sha:._ . :.u·b:-:lilJ the report to the "' Director of la: •i Ra corc':.3.

':tlems nt Oi't'icer •

(2) Si..lb;ec"G ~o r:il;:;, the (Director­of J.,and RecordsJ* sh~ll ut.«bj .:..sh the T"enort ai-:.C.! c::.f ter consider:...ng ai:y o'l1j ection; · ·Lllai: mF~J be rece;:.•reO., .:..d::. .:ef'~er such .1:urthe r

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-.. - - - -- ·- - ·- - -· ... - -- - - - - - - - - - ·-!..'1_0sti t·Jtec for the w')r(i. "Provir.cial11 oy D. L.R, is oubstitu ·~ei: for Commi_ssicner o~ D:;...,isicn vide No. . . .

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inquiry, if any as he may deem necessary, submit the r~port with his recommenda ­tions for the orders of the Statel Gov­ernment 9

25. Notwithstanid..tlng anything cor:­tained in this Act, where land origina­lly settled as land is used as fishery, the revenue thereon, instead of being assessed on the basis of a rate per bigh~, may be assessed according to the annual value of the fishery.

CHAPTER V SUPPLEi-1ENTAL

Assessoenc c'!: r eve nue on land used as fishery.

-1.:26 The State Government may sub­.j ec: to the condition of previous pu'":::>lication, make rules for :,he pur·­pose of carryi.ng out the provisions of this Act.

Power of State Goverrnnen t to make rules.

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f-ubsti tu ted f u:r. chB ·,;o ... ~v. 1 Prov lncia.111 by Adap.:-a.tion Laws G...-C.er, 15)7. 'l ide .Assam .Act XIV of I 95 l .

JL/! XII 7€.

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