The Andhra Pradesh Watans (Abolition) Act, 1978.
**THE ANDHRA PRADESH WATANS (ABOLITION) ACT, 1978**

**ACT No. 10 OF 1978**

**ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS**
**SECTIONS**

1. Short title, extent and commencement

2. Definitions

3. Abolition of certain watans together with the right to hold
office and the incidents thereof.

4. Amount to be paid on abolition of watans

5. Method of determining amount for extinguishment of other
rights

6. Appeal

7. Finality of award of Collector and decision of Commissioner for
Land Revenue

8. Power to make rules

9. Power to remove difficulties

10. Repeal


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**THE ANDHRA PRADESH WATANS (ABOLITION) ACT, 1978**

**ACT No. 10 OF 1978**

[2[nd] February, 1978]

**AN ACT TO ABOLISH THE SYSTEM OF WATANS IN THE TELANGANA**
**AREA OF THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND TO PROVIDE FOR**
**MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH.**

BE it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Andhra Pradesh in the Twentyninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:
**1. Short title, extent and commencement – (1) This Act may be called the**
Andhra Pradesh Watans (Abolition) Act, 1978.
(2) It extends to the whole of the Telangana area of the State of
Andhra Pradesh.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 8[th] December,
1977.
**2. Definitions - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—**
(a) ‘appointed day’ means the day on which this Act came into
force;
(b) ‘Collector’ means any officer-in-charge of a revenue division and
includes Deputy Collector, a Sub-Collector, an Assistant Collector
and any other officer appointed by the Government to perform the
functions of the Collector under this Act;
(c) ‘Government’ means the State Government;
(d) ‘gumastha’ means a person appointed to officiate in place of a
watandar;
(e) ‘hissedar’ means a person who is not a holder of a watan but
who is recognised as a shareholder and is entitled to, a share in
the haq-e-malikana appertaining to the watan, that is to say, the
one-third of the amount of the average scale of remuneration to
which the concerned watandar is entitled;
(f) ‘notification’ means a notification published in the Andhra
Pradesh Gazette and the word ‘notified’ shall be construed
accordingly;
(g) ‘prescribed’ means prescribed by rules made by the Government
under this Act;
(h) ‘Telangana area’ means the territories specified in sub-section
(1) of section 3 of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 (Central Act
37 of 1956);


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(i) ‘watan’ means a village office together with a right to hold the
property appertaining thereto held hereditarily; but does not
include the village offices of sethsindhies and neeradies;
(j) ‘watandar’ or ‘holder of a watan’ means a person who has been
recognised by the competent authority to have a right to hold a
watan.

(2) The words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined
in the Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Land Revenue Act, 1317 F (Act VIII
of 1317 F)., shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that
Act.

**3. Abolition of certain watans together with the right to hold office and**
**the incidents thereof – (1) With effect on and from the appointed day,**
notwithstanding anything in any law, custom, usage, settlement, grant, sanad
or order(a) all watans shall stand abolished;
(b) all rights connected with watans, including all rights to hold
any office, whether hereditary, contractual or otherwise, and any
liability to render service, appertaining to the watans, shall stand
extinguished.
(c) any provision of law, usage or practice relating to the succession
to any watan shall be void; and
(d) all other incidents appertaining to watans shall stand
extinguished.

(2) Every watandar, hissedar or gumastha appertaining to a watan and
holding such watan on the appointed day shall, notwithstanding anything
in any contract, custom, usage or other settlement, cease to hold such
watan on the abolition of the watans and he shall be entitled to hold any
village office only subject to the rules made by the Governor under the
proviso to article 309 of the Constitution.

**4. Amount to be paid on abolition of watans – (1) Notwithstanding anything**
in any law, custom, usage, settlement, grant, sanad or order, a watandar
whose watan is abolished or a hissedar who ceases to be entitled to the right to
perform the duties of a hereditary village office, in consequence of the
provisions of this Act shall be paid an amount equal to seven times the onethird of the amount or the average scale of remuneration to which such
watandar or hissedar is entitled annually immediately prior to the appointed
day:


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Provided that where there are more than one person as watandar or
hissedar, each of such persons shall be entitled to receive such sum in
proportion to his share in the watan.

**Explanation:- (a) In calculating the average scale of remuneration, three**
immediately preceding years scale of remuneration shall be taken into
consideration.
(b) For the purposes of this section, a gumastha, deputy or
substitute, officiating for the watandar or hissedar shall not be
entitled to receive any such amount.
(c) The term ‘’remuneration’’ means the commission received by the
waandar on the land revenue collected, and does not include any
other allowances payable to the watandar.

(2) The amount payable under this section shall be paid within a period of

1[twenty-one months] from the appointed day(i) in a case where such amount does not exceed five
thousand rupees, in one lumpsum; and
(ii) in any other case, in two equal instalments.

(3) In the event of the death of the watandar or hissedar before payment in
full, or after payment in part, of the amount referred to in sub-section (1),
the amount which remained so unpaid on his death shall be paid to his legal
heir or heirs.

**5. Method of determining amount for extinguishment of other rights –**
(1) If any person is aggrieved consequent on the extinguishment or
modification of any rights to, or interest in his property and if no amount for
such extinguishment or modification has been provided for in this Act such
person may apply to the Collector for payment of an amount therefor.

(2) An application under sub-section (1) shall be made to the Collector in
the prescribed form and within the prescribed time.

(3) The Collector shall, on receipt of such application and after holding
an enquiry in the prescribed manner, make an award determining the
amount payable in the manner and according to the method provided for in

1. Substituted by the Act No. 11 of 1979, S.2.


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sub-section (1) of section 23 and section 24 of the Land Acquisition Act,
1894 (Central Act 1 of 1894).
**6. Appeal – (1) Any person aggrieved by the award of the Collector made**
under sub-section (3) of section 5 may appeal to the Commissioner for Land
Revenue within sixty days from the date of communication of the award.

(2) In deciding appeals under sub-section (1), the Commissioner for Land
Revenue shall exercise all the powers which a Civil Court has and follow the
same procedure which the court follows in deciding appeals from the decree
or order of an original court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central
Act V of 1908).

(3) Notwithstanding anything in the Andhra Pradesh Count-fees and
Suits Valuation Act, 1956 (Act VII of 1956), every appeal made under this
Act to the Commissioner for Land Revenue shall bear a court-fee stamp of
such value as may be prescribed.

**7. Finality of award of Collector and decision of Commissioner for Land**
**Revenue - The award made by the Collector subject to an appeal to the**
Commissioner for Land Revenue and the decision of the Commissioner for
Land Revenue shall be final and shall not be questioned in any court of law.

**8. Power to make rules - (1) The Government may, by notification, make**
rules for carrying out all or any of the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
power, such rules may provide for(a) the procedure to be followed by the Collector in
determining questions as to whether or not a person was the
watandar, hissedar, gumastha or any other person on their behalf;
(b) the procedure relating to appeals before the
Commissioner for Land Revenue;
(c ) any other matter which has to be or may be prescribed.

(3) Every rule made under this Act shall, immediately after it is made, be
laid before each House of the State Legislature if it is in session and if it is
not in session, in the session immediately following, for a total period of
fourteen days which may be comprised in one session, or in two successive
sessions, and if, before the expiration of the session in which it is so laid or
the session immediately following both Houses agree in making any


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modification in the rule or in the annulment of the rule, the rule shall, from
the date on which the modification or annulment is notified, have effect only
in such modified form or shall stand annulled, as the case may be, so
however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice
to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

**9. Power to remove difficulties -** If any difficulty arises in giving effect to
the provisions of this Act, the Government may make such orders, not
inconsistent with the purpose of this Act as appear to them to be necessary
or expedient for the purpose of removing the difficulty:

Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiration of two
years from the commencement of this Act.

**10. Repeal – (1) On the commencement of this Act, the provisions of the**
Dastoorul Amal Patel Patwaries, the Firmans, the orders and circulars
pertaining to watans and village offices thereof shall stand repealed in so far
as they are repugnant to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.

(2) The Andhra Pradesh Watans (Abolition) Ordinance, 1977 (Ordinance
20 of 1977), is hereby repealed.

(3) Upon such repeal, the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh General
Clauses Act, 1891 (Act I of 1891), shall apply.


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