The Assam Land Revenue Re-Assessment Act, 1936
THE ASS~-1 ~~AND REVENUE RE -ASSE$MENT ACT, 1936

###### (ASSAM ACT VIII OF 1936)
 (As amended upto date )
 An
 Act to r ogu~ate re-assessment of Land Revenue in Assam
 Whereas it is expedient that the Preamble 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 Ass- Short am Land Revenue Re - assessment Act, 1936 . title .
 (2) It extends to those areas in the Extent
 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 pro- visions of this Act.
 (3) It shall come into force at once

 1 Substituted for the words "Province" by the .Adap- tation of Laws and Order, 1950.

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                          - 2 -

###### 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.
 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;
 (fil) "established village" means a "Establish-
 village whe re in the opinion ed village " of the 1 State Gover nment;
 (a) the cultivated fields and homesteads are per manent , and
 (b) the area of waste land, se - ttled and assessed as waste
 or aYailable for se ttlemen-t is inconsiderable .

 1 Substituted for the word " Province " by the Adapta- tion Laws Order 1950.


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

v i l lag~ which is not an e st- village".

###### ablished village .
 (v) " asse ssment group" means a "Asse ssment
 group of villages or e states gr oup" .
 wich are included by the sett- lement Officer, subj e ct to
 rule , in one se t of prpposals for assc ssme nt;
 (vi) "prescribed" means pre scribed "Pre scribed"
 by rule s under this Act;

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

(v:tli)" settlement" with re:ference t o "Set tlement"

c:.ny local area or clas s of est-
###### at l s means a special pperation carri ed out in purruance of a notification under se ction 18
 of t he Regulation f or the re- vision of the land r evenue de- mand of that local area or class
 of e sta tes; (ix) "major se ttleme nt" means a sett- "Maj or
 l ement of any local area or se ttlement" cla ss of es t ates extending oVt; r not l oss than 20 square mile s;

(x) "last se t tlement [11 ] with r ef er en- " Last set-

###### ce to any local area or class tlement". of e sta tes means the last gen- e ral revision of the land reve -
 nue dewand of that area or class
 of es t a t es whether carried out in pursuance of a notification under sec tion 18 of the Regula- tion or not ;


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###### I


###### -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 cultivat ors in tre 1 State.
 3. (1) The State Governmen] may at any Declaration time by notific ation, signify its int - of any spe -
 e ntion to declare any specified area cified area which is not already town l and t o r ~ as t own land .
 town land f or the purpose of this Act .
 (2) A copy of the notification under
 sub-section (1 ) shall be published in such place s within the arE: a conce rned and e lsewhe re as t he State Government may by general or S'O€cial order dire ct .
 (3) Any person aff ected by the pro-

_I_

###### posed doclaration may, within six weeks from the date of publicati on of the

 * Vide As~am Act XIV of 1957. 1 Substitut~d for the worM. " Province" by Adaptation
 of Laws and Order , 1950.

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###### ... _

 -5-
 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 conside ration .
 (4) After conside ring all the objection re ceived under sub-section (3), t he Sua~ 8 Gove rnment may, by no-
 tification, 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 Bar to appli - to ·t;he settlement of land over which cation of Act no pe rson ha~ the right of a propri- t;o certain
 e tor or se ttlement -holder. land.
 5. Notwit hstanding anything, cont- Issue of ained in sec tion 18 of the Regula- fic;ition tions th~ notification mentioned o:-i.j or and ther 0in shall be issued in the case wn land se 1i -
 of eve ry major se ttleoent and of lerren-t .
 every settlem€nt of town land not
 included in a major se ttlement .
 6 . (1) Before i s suing any r.otifi - Forecast
 cation of settlement under se ction report . 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 forec as t report . The r eport shall explain the main f a ctors justifying a revision of t he as se ssment and shall
 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 character . 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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###### I


###### -6 - ....,

 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 the State Gove rnmnn t shall consi-
 der 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 re - port shall be an officer not below the rank of Extra Assistant Commissioner and he shall be r eli eved of all other duties f or such period as the State
 Government may judge t o be necessary for the pr oper preparation of the r eport .

CHAPTER II

RE - .ASSESSMENT OF LAND NOT     - EING TOWN LAND

###### 7. The provisions of this part shall Bar t o appli-
 apply to the settlement of any local ca tion of area or class of e state s not being provisions t own lru:id, and in applying them, town of Part II to l and shall be l Lft out of account. town land .

8~ In the framing of general propo- General pro-
###### sals of re - as so ssment for each assess- posals of rE. - ment group , the Sett l ement Officer assessment.
 shall have r E.gard t o the change s which have ofcurred in the locality since
 the fixing of the e xisting assessment,
 mor e particularly in re spect of -

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...__ -7-

###### (i) 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 a nJ o

9~ (1) S~bject to t he provisions of Detailed

###### section 25, in the determination of the assessme - amotn1t of the assessment proper for each nt of estate the villages and the fields shall estates . be c~a ssified 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 ,
 (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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"'I-
###### -
 - 8-

 the ca:npara tive value of the land for the purposes of agr iculture .
 Bar to enh-
 100 The land r evenue of an estate
 ancement on
 shall not be liabl e to enhancement on
 account of
 the ground of drainage works, irrigatie
 improve men ts .
 on works, :r .::;::...1.ilat' improvements eff - ec t ed since i;be la3t settlement at the expense sJunder ~im or of any agency other than Governmemt or a local Auth- ority, except Village Authoritjes und- er t be Assam Rural Self-Government Act .

11 . (1) The total r evenue assess- Limitation

###### of demand .
 ed on an assessment group shall not exceed 1 O per cent of the gross pro - duce of the group as dete rmi ned by t he
 Settlement Officer .
 (2) The incidence of the Limita t:i.
 of enhanc..
 revenue , that is to say, the total
 ment .
 r evenue assessed divided by the to t al settled area on which it is as se ssed,
 shall not e xceed the incidence of t he revenue immediately before t he se t t -
 lement 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.
 *Provided that for the purpose of
 applying this sub- se ction, any land which,

 - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -
 *Vide Assam A~ t XIV of 19)7.
 # of the Settlement -bolder or of any person
 holding


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###### - 9-

 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 at
 the time 0~ :~e last se ttlement , shall

be left o..it of account , and the limi            -
###### tations ment1o:ied in sub-se ction (2) shall not apply to such lands .
 12. (1) If the tonal r evenue ass - Graduated
 e ssed under this part on all the e sta- enhanceme-
 t es held by the same owne r or set of nt . co-owners within any *village e xceeds the forme r revenue on the same area and the revenue as thus enhanced e ni- ceds ~e*15 then subject as her e inaf- t er provided,

(a) 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 eff -
 ected gradually by quin- quennial increm~nts each not exceeding 25 per cent
 of the old revenue;

(b) in any case in which the

###### enhahcement excee ds 100
 per cent of the old reve -
 nue the case shall be r e - f e rred to the 1State Gov- ernment for orde rs .
 (2) When the old revenue is
 less than Ps .*15 and the enhanced reve- nue exceeds ~ . *15 the old revenue shall
 * Vide Assam Act XIV of 1957.
 1 Substituted for the word ' Provincial' by Adaption
 Laws Or der, 1950.


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                    - 10-

###### 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 ommi - ssion, 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 men-
 tioned in the sub - section (1 ) above shall not be available for any land which, in the opinion of the State Gov- ernment had, immediately b8fore the settlement, been held on concessional terms or settled or used for special cultivation .

Term of ass -

###### 13 . The term for which t he land
 essment .
 revenue is assessed shall not be less than 30 years, provided -
 (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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_11 -

###### -cultural purposes may cont-
 ain 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 revi- sed in the prescribed mann- er 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 incre- asing or reducing the asse- ssment accordzilng ~c as the prices aise or fall, in the
 manner set out below : -

 Changes in prices Changes in Land revenue

(a) .}:.pto 25 per cent          - Nil.

(b) Above 25 per cent 3u [& ] [pe ]r cenu.. .

~ ~~~~~~~~~- -~~~~~~~~~~~~

###### - -

 * Vide Assam Act XIV of 1957.

##### - -

###### a


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..

-1 2 -

###### and but not above 31t per cent .

(c) Above 31t per cent 64 per cent.

###### cen·i:; ,
 but not above 37t per 98 :~1 per cent .
 (d) !~~~ ~~l ~~ g~g~ . but
 (c) Above 43-:f per cent "21 2 [1 ] per cen t •
 CHAPTER III
RE - ASSESSMENT OF TOltlN LAND

###### 14. The provisions of this Part Applications
 of provisions
 shall apply only to town land under
 cf Part III
 se ttleme nt,
 to town land.
 Town land shall be divided Division of
~l1.10 . t: [15. ]the following main classes : - town land in-

###### to classes .
 (a) agricultural land (:L11 -
 cluding agri~u ltural
1·.:: sidancc s),

###### (b) residential sites, (c ) ::r adc s:::. te s.

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 Rates of r e -

f o:c la.nd se ttJ.ed with a righ r. of r ene - venue for

###### ,,ral and classed as resident:i.al sites land classed
 shall not e xceed 25 per cent cf the as residenti-
an.1 .1 al value of the site s • a: si t es .


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###### -1 3-

 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 temporary 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 Graduated

###### 12 shall apply to agriculDJ~al land. enhancement
 of revenue
 (2) If the total revenue ass - on agricul 'ti-...l

o~sed on all tne r esid8ntial ;;ites ural land
###### hcli by the sa:ns owne~' or set cf co·- and re sid.e -
 cv:ners within a tovm exc ecC::.u the 1 or- nM.al sites.
 mer revanue on the sarne area and the II
 er::1ancement shall be effected g:-ndually

by trj ~nnia.1 i ncrements e ach not excee -

###### dtng 25 per cent of thc tot c:~ l enhe.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 ..
 II revenue as thus enhanced exceeds

RsQ 15, then the


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###### tr.e :rank of Assistant Se :;t2-ement Officer .
 - - - ....... _.,.. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ -

###### -14-
 (i) When the old revenue is less thah ~ . *15 and the enhanced revenue

exceed s~ . *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 Term of
 of renewal the t e rm for which revenue a f- se s sme n t . is assessed shall be not less than 30 years :
 Pr ovided that for r easons. to be re-
 co:cC.ed the term of set tlement may be for a shor ·ter 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

###### 22. E:xcept as ot}.(;·:wi se prarid.ed. 3 Appltca t j.o::.. trus P:::.rt; ~Jhall i:!T'ply -l;o the ssttle- of provisi···

menc cf a~iy local ar'32. or class cf ons of Part

es~a.te ~;, whether compr::.::;ing town land IV to sett l e -

01'." not .. ment of cer-

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

  - 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 unde r

su1:-·section (1 ) , arpeal to the Settle-

me1t Offic~r , or to any Additional Sett      -

###### lmdmt 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 c on- 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.1at c d in the

s.::i:n'3 i.rillage, the petition~r bein~ en~i-

          - J..t::d , if           - ;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 Se-

g.cc-~:'J in a i~a-:e report as ~1ea:rlJ' a~ may ':tlems nt

"Ls in the 1'!'8 3crib\Jd f c·ra and sha:._ Oi't'icer •

. :.u·b:-:lilJ the report to the "' Director of

###### la: •i Ra corc':.3.
 (2) Si..lb;ec"G ~o r:il;:;, the (Director-
 of 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

... _ ·- ...

###### -.. - - - -- ·- - ·- - -· ... - -- - - - - - - - - - ·-
 !..'1_0sti t·Jtec for the w')r(i. "Provir.cial[11 ] oy

:'~

D. L.R, is oubstitu ·~ei: for Commi_ssicner o~
###### D:;...,isicn vide No. . . .

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###### - 16- inquiry, if any as he may deem necessary, submit the r~port with his recommenda - tions for the orders of the Statel Gov-
 ernment 9
 25. Notwithstanid..tlng anything cor:- Assessoenc c'!: tained in this Act, where land origina- r eve nue on
 lly settled as land is used as fishery, land used as the revenue thereon, instead of being fishery. assessed on the basis of a rate per

bigh~ , may be assessed according to

###### the annual value of the fishery.

 CHAPTER V

SUPPLEi-1ENTAL

-1.:26 The State Government may sub- Power of State

.j ec: to the condition of previous Goverrnnen t to

###### pu'":::>lication, make rules for :,he pur·- make rules. pose of carryi.ng out the provisions of this Act.

 ... ' f-ubsti tu ted f u:r. chB ·,;o ... ~v. 1 Prov lncia.1 [11 ] 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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