Last Updated on December 20, 2022 by Satish Mishra
In this post, you will know HOW MONEY IS RECOVERED AS ARREARS OF LAND REVENUE BY DC/TEHSILDAR
There is nothing on which the stability of government more depends than the way in which revenue is assessed and collected. The income of Indian government, whether native or foreign, has always been mainly derived from the share of the produce of the soil which the state claims as its own it is one of the chief duties of the head of a district to collect the land revenue.
Also Read- The Revenue Recovery Act, 1890 – Indian Kanoon
Let us look at Section-3 of The Revenue Recovery Act, 1890,
Recovery of public demands by enforcement other district of process in than those in which they become payable –
(1) Where an arrear of land-revenue, or a sum recoverable as an arrear of land-revenue, is payable to a Collector by a defaulter being or having property in a district other than that in which the arrear accrued or the sum is payable, the Collector may send to the collector of that other district a certificate in the form as nearly as may be of the schedule stating-
(a) the name of the defaulter and such other particulars as may be necessary for his identification, and
(b) the amount payable by him and the account on which it is due.
(2) The certificate shall be signed by the Collector making it, [or by any office to whom such Collector may by order in writing delegate this duty] and save as otherwise provided by this Act, shall be conclusive proof of the matters therein stated.
(3) The Collector of the other district shall on receiving the certificate proceed to recover the amount stated therein as if it were an arrear of land revenue which had accrued in his own district.
Also section-5 explains that where any sum is recoverable as an arrear of land-revenue by any public officer other than a Collector or by any local authority, the Collector of the district in which the office of that officer or authority is situate shall, on the request of the officer or authority, proceed to recover the sum as if it were an arrear of land-revenue which had accrued in his own district, and may send a certificate of the amount to be recovered to the Collector of another district, as if the sum were payable to himself.
Also Read- Draft Government Dues and Recovery of Punjab Government
Property liable to sale under this Act
(1) When the Collector of a district receives a certificate under this Act, he may issue a proclamation prohibiting the transfer or charging of any immovable property belonging to the defaulter in the district.
(2) The Collector may at any time, by order in writing, withdraw the proclamation, and it shall be deemed to be withdrawn when either the amount stated in the certificate has been recovered or the property has been sold for the recovery of that amount.
(3) Any private alienation of the property or of any interest of the defaulter therein, whether by sale, gift, mortgage or otherwise, made after the issue of the proclamation and before the withdrawal thereof, shall be void as and any person who may purchase the property at a sale held for the recovery of the amount stated in the certificate.
(4)when proceedings are taken against any immovable property under this Act for the recovery of an amount stated in a certificate, the interests of the defaulter alone therein shall be so proceeded against, and no encumbrances created, grants made or contracts entered into by him in good faith shall be rendered invalid by reason only of proceedings before taken against those interests.
(5) A proclamation shall be made by beat of drum or other customary method and by the posting of a copy thereof on a conspicuous place in or near the property to which it relates.
The act also provides the remedy person denying liability to pay amount recovered–
Section 4 -Remedy available to person denying liability to pay amount recovered under last foregoing section .-(1) When proceedings are taken against a person under the last foregoing section for the recovery of an amount stated in a certificate, that person may if he denies his liability to pay the amount or any part thereof and pays the same under protest made in writing at the time of payment and signed by him or his agent, institute a suit for the repayment of the amount or the part thereof so paid.
(2) A suit under sub-section (1) must be instituted in a civil Court having jurisdiction in the local area in which the office of the Collector who made the certificate is situate, and the suit shall be determined in accordance with the law in force at the place where the arrear accrued or the liability for the payment of the sum arose.
(3) In the suit the plaintiff may, notwithstanding anything in the last foregoing section, but subject to the law in force at the place aforesaid, give evidence with respect to any matter stated in the certificate
Also Read- Distinction between “arrears of land revenue” and “dues recoverable as arrears of land revenue”
Procedure of collection of land revenue under the Punjab Land revenue Act 1887-
Legal processes for recovery of arrears.-
Subject to the other provisions of this Act, an arrear of land-revenue may be recovered by any one or more of the following processes, namely: –
(a) by service of writ of demand on the defaulter;
(b) by arrest and detention of his person;
(c) by distress and sale of his movable property and uncut or ungathered crops; (d) by transfer of the holding in respect of which the arrear is due;
(e) by attachment of the estate or holding in respect of which the arrear is due; (f) by annulment of the assessment of that estate or holding;
(g) by sale of that estate or holding;
(h) by proceeding against other immovable property of the defaulter;
SECTION 68 Writ of demand: – A writ of demand may be issued by a Revenue-officer on or after the day following that on which an arrear of land-revenue accrues.
SECTION 69 Arrest and detention of defaulter: – (1) At any time after an arrear of land- revenue has accrued a Revenue-officer may issue a warrant directing an officer named therein to arrest the defaulter and bring him before the Revenue-officer.
(2) When the defaulter is brought before the Revenue-officer the Revenue-officer may cause him to be taken before the Collector, or may keep him under personal restraint for a period not exceeding ten days and then, if the arrear is still unpaid, cause him to be taken before the Collector.
(3) When the defaulter is brought before the Collector, the Collector may issue an order to the officer in charge of the civil jail of the district, directing him to confine the defaulter in the jail for such period, not exceeding one month from the date of the order, as the Collector thinks fit.
(4) The process of arrest and detention shall not be executed against a defaulter who is a female, a minor, a lunatic or idiot.
SECTION 70 Distress and sale of movable property and crops: – (1) At any time after an arrear of land-revenue has accrued, the movable property and uncut or un gathered crops of the defaulter may be dis-trained and sold by order of a Revenue-officer.
(2) The distress and sale shall be conducted, as nearly as may be, in accordance with the law for the time being in force for the attachment and sale of movable property under the decree of a Revenue Court constituted under the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887:
Provided that, in addition to the particulars exempted by that law from liability to sale, so much of the produce of the land of the defaulter as the Collector thinks necessary for seed-grain and for the subsistence, until the harvest next following, of the defaulter and his family, and of any cattle exempted by that law, shall be exempted from sale under this section.
SECTION 71 Transfer of holding: -(1) At the time after an arrear of land-revenue has accrued on a holding, the Collector may transfer the holding to any person being a land-owner of the estate in which this holding is situate and not being a defaulter in respect of his own holding, on condition of his paying the arrear before being put in possession of the holding, and on such further conditions as the Collector may deem fit to prescribe.
(2) The transfer may, as the collector thinks fit, be either till the end of the agricultural year in which the defaulter pays to the transferee the amount of the arrear which the transferee paid before being put in possession of the holding, or for a term not exceeding fifteen years from the commencement of the agricultural year next following the date of the transfer.
(3) The Collector shall report to the Financial Commissioner any transfer made by him under this section, and the Financial Commissioner may set aside the transfer or alter the conditions thereof, or pass such other order as he thinks fit.
(4) A transfer under this section shall not affect the joint and several liability of the land-owners of the estate in which it is enforced.
(5) In respect of all rights and liabilities arising under this Act, the person to whom the holding is transferred shall, subject to the conditions of the transfer, stand in the same position as that in which the defaulter would have stood if the holding had not been transferred.
(6) When the transfer was for a term the holding shall, on the expiration of the term, be restored by the Collector to the defaulter free of any claim on the part of the Government or the transferee for any arrear of land-revenue or rates and cesses due in respect thereof.
SECTION 72 Attachment of estate or holding:- (1) At any time after an arrear of land revenue has accrued, the Collector may cause the estate or holding in respect of which the arrear is due to be attached and taken under his own management or that of an agent appointed by him for that purpose.
(2) The Collector or the agent shall be bound by all the engagements which existed between the defaulter and his tenants, if any, and shall be entitled to manage the land and to receive all rents and profits accruing there from to the exclusion of the defaulter until the arrear has been satisfied, or until the Collector restores the land to the defaulter.
(3) All surplus profits of the land attached beyond the cost of attachment and management and the amount necessary to meet the current demand for land-revenue and rates and cesses shall be applied in discharge of the arrear.
(4) Land shall not be attached for the same arrear for the longer term than five years from the commencement of the agricultural year next following the date of the attachment, but, if the arrear ids sooner discharged, the land shall be released and the surplus receipts if any, made over to the land-owner. Contents Next
SECTION 73 Annulment of assessment of estate of holding: – (1) When an arrear of land- revenue has been due for a longer period than one month, and the foregoing processes are not deemed sufficient for the recovery thereof, the financial Commissioner may, in addition to or instead of all or any of those processes, order the existing assessment of the estate or holding in respect of which the arrear is due to be annulled.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not be put in force for the recovery of an arrear of land revenue which has accrued on land–
(a) while under attachment under the last foregoing section, or
(b) while under the charge of the Court of Wards.
(3) When the assessment of any land has been annulled, the Collector may, with
the previous sanction of the Financial Commissioner, either manage the land himself or through an agent, or let it in farm to any person willing to accept the farm, for such term and on such conditions as may be sanctioned by the Financial Commissioner:
Provided that the term for which land may be so managed or farmed shall not be longer than fifteen years from the commencement of the agricultural year next following the date of the annulment.
(4) at some time before the expiration of that term the Collector shall determine the assessment to be paid in respect of the estate or holding for the remainder of the term of the current assessment of the district or tehsil, and, when that assessment has been sanctioned by the Financial Commissioner, shall announce it to the land-owner.
(5) The land-owner may give notice to the Collector of refusal to be liable for the assessment within thirty days from the date on which the assessment was announced to him.
(6) If notice is so given, the Collector may, with the previous sanction of the Financial Commissioner, take the estate or holding under direct management or farm it
for the remainder of the term of the current assessment of the district or tehsil, or for any period within that term which the Financial Commissioner may fix.
(7) When the assessment of a holding is annulled, the joint responsibility of the other land-owners of the estate for the land-revenue of that holding becoming due after the annulment shall be in abeyance until the new assessment takes effect.
(8) The Financial Commissioner may direct that any contract made by the defaulter, or by any person through whom the defaulter claims, with respect to any land comprised in an estate or holding of which the assessment has been annulled shall not be binding on the Collector or his agent or farmer during the period for which the estate or holding remains under the management of the Collector or his agent or is let in farm.
SECTION 74 Proclamation of attachment or annulment of assessment and consequence of the proclamation: – (1) When any land is attached under section 72, or when the assessment of any land has been annulled under the last foregoing section, the Collector shall make proclamation thereof.
(2) No payment made by any person to the defaulter before the making of the proclamation on account of rent or any other asset in anticipation of the usual time for the payment shall, without the special sanction of the Collector, be credited to that person or relieve him from liability to make the payment to the Collector or his agent or farmer.
(3) No payment made after the making of the proclamation on account of rent or any other asset of the estate or holding to any person other than the Collector or his agent or farmer shall be credited to the person making the payment or relieve him from liability to make the payment to the Collector or his agent or farmer.
SECTION 75 Sale of estate or holdings IV of: -When an arrear of land-revenue has accrued and the foregoing processes are not deemed sufficient for the recovery thereof, the Collector with the previous sanction of the 1[ Commissioner ], may, in addition to, or instead of, all or any of those processes, and subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, sell the estate or holding in respect of which the arrear is due :
Provided that land shall not be sold for the recovery of —
IVof 1872:-
(a) (a) any arrear which has accrued while the land was under the charge of the Court of Wards, or was so circumstanced that the Court of Wards might have exercised jurisdiction over it under the provisions of section 35 of the Punjab Laws Act, 1872, clause (a), (b), (c) or (d); or
(b) (b) any arrear which has accrued while the land was under attachment under section 72 of this Act; or
(c) (c) any arrear which has accrued while the land was held under direct management by the Collector or in farm by any other person under section 73, after either an annulment of assessment or a refusal to be liable therefor.
SECTION 76 Effect of sale on incumbrances: – (1) Land sold under the last foregoing section shall be sold free of all incumbrances; and all grants and contracts previously made by any person other than purchaser in respect of the land shall become void as against the purchaser at the sale.
(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall affect: –
(a) A tenant’s right of occupancy, unless the right was created by the defaulter himself, or.
(b) Any lease at fair rent, temporary or perpetual, for the erection of a dwelling- house
or manufactory or for a mine, garden, tank, canal, place of worship, or burial ground , so long, as the land continues to be used for the purpose specified in the lease, or
(c) Any incumbrance, grant, contract, or right of occupancy specially saved by order of the Financial Commissioner and proclaimed as hereinafter provided.
SECTION 77 Proceedings against other immovable property of defaulter: – (1) If the arrear cannot be recovered by any of the processes hereinafter provided or if the 1[ Commissioner ] considers the enforcement of any of those processes to be inexpedient, the Collector may, where the defaulter owns any other estate or holding, or any other immovable property, proceed, under the provisions of this Act against that property as if it were the land in respect of which the arrear is due :
Provided that no interest save those of the defaulter alone shall be so produced against, and no incumbrances created, grants made or contracts entered into by him in good faith shall be rendered invalid by reason only of his interests being proceeded against.
(2) When the Collector determines to proceed under this section against immovable property other than the land in respect of which the arrear is due, he shall issue a proclamation prohibiting the transfer or charging of the property.
(3) The Collector may at any time by order in writing withdraw the proclamation, and it shall be deemed to be withdrawn when either of the arrear has been paid or the interests of the defaulter in the property have been sold for the recovery of the arrear.
(4) Any private alienation of the property, or of any interest of the defaulter therein, whether by sale, gift, mortgage or otherwise, made after the issue of the proclamation and before the withdrawal thereof shall be void.
(5) In proceedings against property under this section the Collector shall follow, as nearly as the nature of the property will admit, the procedure prescribed for the enforcement of process against land on which an arrear of land-revenue is due
Also Read- DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE – GOVERNMENT DUES & RECOVERY
Above process may be used by deputy commissioner of his own authority.
The five process described above can be carried out by the head of the district without reference to any higher authority. He may choose the particular one he thinks most likely to succeed, and is under no obligation to try effect of the one before he employs another. The three remaining methods of coercion can only be used with the assent of the financial commissioner.
Hope this post helps you understand the recovery process of government under relevant statues/laws in present time. For more info, please contact, best top expert Recovery lawyers in Chandigarh Panchkula Mohali Zirakpur Kharar Derabassi.
More on 99888-17966.
