The Sylhet Non-Agricultural Urban Areas Tenancy Act, 1947
# ASSAM ACT X OF 1947

    - THE SYLHET NON-AGRIGULTURAL URBAN AREAS TENANCY

ACT, 1947

[Passed by the Assam Legislature.]

**[ R eceived th e a ssen t o f the G overnor-G eneral on the 25th April., 1947.]**

[Published in the Assam Gazette of the 21st May, 1947.]

_An Act to make better provisions relating to the law o f landlord and tenant in_

_respect o f non-agricultural tenancies in the urban areas o f the District o f_
_Sylhet._

Preamble. Whereas it is expedient to make better provisions relating to the

law of landlord and tenant in respect of non-agricultural tenancies in
the urban areas of the District of Sylhet ;

And whereas the previous sanction of the Governor under section

299(3) of the Government of India Act, 1935, has been obtained to
the introduction of this Bill ;

It is hereby enacted as follows :—

1. (1) This Act may be called the Sylhet Non-Agricultural Urban

Short title.

Areas Tenancy Act, 1947.

El tent. (2) It extends to all urban areas in the District of Sylhet.

Commence­ (3) It shall come into force at once-
ment.
App ication. 2. Notwithstanding anything contained in any contract or in any

law for the time being in force, the provisions of this Act shall apply
to all non-agricultural tenancies whether created before or after the
date on which this Act comes into force :

(?) Provided that the provisions of this Act shall not apply to—
(a) Temporarily-settled Government land, or
(/>) Land owned by the Central or Provincial Government or by

any Local Authority, or

(c) A holding which contains one or more buildings owned by

the landlord with or without any land appurtenant thereto, and which
has been let out to any person, or

(</) Lands used for residence of the landlord or reserved for being

used for such purpose in its vicinity and let out to persons or let out
in lieu of service or merely in consideration of relationship or affection.

_(ft) Provided further that nothing in this Act shall affect the per­_

manent, heritable and transferable rights acquired under any existing

law or contract or otherwise.

Definitions. 3. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject­

matter or context:—

Building. («) ‘Building’ includes a house, outhouse, stable, latrine, shed,

hut and any other structure whether made of masonry, bricks, wood,

**> mud, metal, bamboo, sungrass or any other material whatsoever, but

does not include the land on which it stands.

Holding. (Z>) ‘Holding’ means a parcel or parcels of land or an undivided

share thereof held by a tenant, and forming the subject-matter of one
and the same tenancy.


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Land. (c) ‘Land’ means land which is let or occupied for residential or

business purposes or for purposes incidental thereto, and includes sites
for buildings, water, waterways, drains, ditches, canals and tanks
appertaining to such land. \*

Landlord. _(d) ‘Landlord’ means a person immediately under whom a tenant_

holds.

Occupancy («) ‘Occupancy tenant’ is a tenant who has acquired a perma-

tenant. nent, heritable and transferable right of use and occupation in his            -

holding under the provisions of section 4 of this Act.

Prescribed. _( f ) ‘Prescribed’ means prescribed by_ a rule made under this

Act.

Rent. _(g) ‘Rent’ means whatever is lawfully payable in money or in_

kind by a tenant to his landlord on account of the use and occupation
of his holding under such landlord.

Tenant. _W ‘Tenant’ means a person who holds land under another_

person, and who is, but for a special contract, liable to pay rent for
that land to the latter, and includes a person who derives his title from
a tenant, and a person who continues in possession of any land after
termination of his tenancy in respect of that land.

Urban area. _(i) ‘Urban area’ means any area declared to be included in_ [a] A ssanl

Municipality under the provisions of clauses («) and (&) of sub- A ct j

section (2) of section 5, or declared to be a notified area under the ot
provisions of sub-section (4) of section 328, or deemed to be such 1923.

under the proviso to that sub-section, of the Assam Municipal Act,
1923.

of[C]occu[tl0]n (1) Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, every

right[CUPaney] P[e r s o n] who has possessed any land as a tenant continuously

for a period of twelve years, either wholly before, or wholly

after, or partly before and partly after, the commencement

of this Act, shall be deemed to have acquired at the

expiration of that period, a permanent, heritable and transferable right
of use and occupation in that land subject to the payment of rent, if
any, to his landlord.

(2) In computing the period of twelve years, a tenant shall be

entitled to tack to the length of his possession any periods during
which his predecessors-in*interest were in possession of the land,

provided that there is no break between the periods to be tacked.

(3j For the purpose of this section, a person will be deemed

to have been in possession of any land during any particular

period if he was legally entitled to possess such land physically,

although he may not have actually possessed the same physically during
such period.

Ejectment
of occupan­ 5. A person who has acquired the status of an occupancy tenant
cy tenant. under the provision of section 4 shall not be ejected from his holding

except in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Ejectment 6. When an arrear of rent remains due from an occupancy tenant
for non­

for more than one year after such arrear fell due, such tenant shall beo

payment of
rent. liable to be ejected from the holding in respect of which the arrear is

due ; provided that no such tenant shall be ejected otherwise than in
execution of a decree for ejectment passed by a competent Civil Court
on the ground of non-payment of such arrears ; provided further that
no such decree shall be executed if the tenant, or any other person
having an interest in the tenancy, pays into the Court the full amount
of the decree including the costs of execution, if any, within such time


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as the Court ma) specify in the decree, or when no such time has been
specified by the Court, within thirty days lrom the date of the signing
of the decree.

Ejectmemt 7. An occupancy tenant shall also be liable to be ejected from his

for impairing
value or for holding in execution of a decree for ejectment passed by a competent
breach of 1Civil Court on the ground that he has used the land or any portion

covenant. of it in a manner which has materially impaired its value or rendered

it unfit for the purposes of the tenancy, or on the ground that the
tenant has incurred forfeiture of the holding by the terms of his con­
tract as a penalty for the breach of an express covenant in such

contract, such covenant not being inconsistent with the provisions of

this Act.

Damages to 8. In any suit brought by a landlord for the recovery of arrears
plaintifT in
rent suits. of rent from his tenant, the Court may award to the plaintiff, in

addition to the amount decreed for rent and costs, such damages as it
thinks fit, if it appears to the Court that the defendant has, without
reasonable or probable cause, neglected or refused to pay such rent.

Transfer. 9. (1) The holding of an occupancy tenant together with his

right, title and interest therein shall, subject to the provisions of this
Act, be capable of being transferred in the same manner and to the
same extent as any other immoveable property.

Transfer fee (2) When a holding or part thereof is transferred by sale or

otherwise, the transferee, unless he be the sole landlord of such

holding, shall within one month of such transfer give notice thereof
to the landlord in the prescribed form and in the prescribed manner,

and shall pay or tender to the landlord within one month of such
transfer a transfer fee equivalent to ten per cent, of the value of the
land. If the transfer takes place through a Court sale or in execution

of the decree of a Court, such sale shall not be confirmed nor the
transfer be made final and effective in the execution case, as the case
may be, until and unless the auction purchaser or other transferee
has within the aforementioned period of one month issued through
the Court upon the landlord the aforesaid notice of such transfer and
also deposited in Court the entire amount of transfer fee payable to
the landlord under the provisions of this section :

Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to a case of

transfer by gift in favour of a presumptive heir of a tenant or to a
case of devolution by inheritance or bequest by will in favour of any
heir of a deceased tenant or by deed of endowment for religious or
charitable purposes.

Payment of (3) In case of a transfer by gift or by testamentary bequest in
transfer fee favour of a person other than an heir, or of any other transfer in
to landlord. respect of which no consideration has passed or the amount of

consideration cannot be satisfactorily assessed, the transfer fee shall
amount to ten per cent, of the value of the land transferred calculated
as on the date when such transfer takes effect.

(4) No transfer in respect of which transfer fee is payable under

sub-section (2) or (3) but has not been paid or tendered to the land­
lord by the transferee in accordance with sub-section (2) or deposited
in Court in accordance with sub-section (5) shall be binding on the
landlord, who will be entitled to treat such transferee as a trespasser,
and the land transferred to have been surrendered by the tenant who
made the transfer, and the landlord shall be further entitled to sue
such transferee for ejectment from such land and for obtaining khas
possession of such land through the Court:


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Provided that a decree for khas possession so obtained shall not

be subject to execution if the transferee deposits in Court the proper
transfer fee with such compensation as the Court directs, and the costs
of the suit, within 30 days of the date of the decree.

Deposit of (5) When the landlord refuses to accept the transfer fee tendered

in^Cour/[66 t o ] f^ie t r a n s ^e r e e > ^ [le] latter shall, within a period of three

months from the date of such refusal, make a deposit of the amount
in the Court and serve a notice of such deposit upon the landlord
through the Court.

th'e[htS]trans[f] (6) O [n] payment of the transfer fee in accordance with

feree. sub-section (2) or on deposit thereof in Court in accordance with

sub-section (5) the transferee shall acquire all the rights of the

transferor in the land transferred to him.

Landlord’s (7) In all cases of transfers by sale, except to presump­

right of pre­
emption. tive heirs or co-sharers of the tenant, the landlord shall have the

right of pre-emption on payment to the transferee an amount equal to
the total consideration for the transfer or the market value of the
property transferred, whichever be the less, and may apply to the
Court for the determination of such market value:

Proyided that if the Court shall find the market value as afore­

said to be less than the consideration for the transfer, the transferee
shall be entitled to recover the difference from the transferor.

Provided further that the landlord shall be precluded from

exercising the right of pre-emption if he accepts the transfer fee or fails
to exercise the right of pre-emption within two months of the service
on him of the notice referred to in sub-section (2) or, if no such
notice has been served upon him, within two months of the date
of his knowledge of the sale.

Provided further that an application for pre-emption under this

sub-section shall be dismissed unless the applicant, at the time of
making it, deposits in Court an amount equal to the total consideration
for the transfer.

(8) Every transfer made under this section shall be effected

by a registered instrument, which shall show the value of the land
and the value of the buildings thereon, if any, separately, unless

such transfer takes place in course of proceedings in Court ; and
all notices required to be served by this Act shall be served by

registered post.

_Explanation. —For the purpose_ of this section, the word

‘transfer’ shall not include any lease or mortgage for a definite term of
twelve years or less, but shall include all other leases and mortgages.
The consideration for a lease shall be computed to be the sum of
the amount of the premium or salami paid as consideration by

the lessee for the grant of the lease in his favour and fifteen
times the amount of the annual rent reserved. The consideration

for a mortgage shall be taken to be the amount advanced to the

tenant by the mortgagee in consideration of the mortgage in his
favour.

Enhance- 10. The r e n t o p a ho ]din or shall not be enhanced except in accord-

ance with the provisions of this section.

(?) The rent may be enhanced by a contract provided such con’

tract is reduced into writing and is registered ;


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A landlord may make an application to the Court having

jurisdiction to entertain a suit for ejectment in respect of the holding,

for fixing a fair and equitable rate of rent for the holding, and
thereupon the Court shall issue notice of such application upon
the tenant and after considering such evidence as the parties may
produce before it, pass an order fixing the amount of rent payable
for the holding, and such order shall, subject to appeal, be binding

on both the landlord and the tenant with effect from the date • ' — "               -               - of the
application filed by the landlord :

Provided always—

(a) that the rent previously payable for the holding shall not be

enhanced by more than three annas in the rupee,

(Z>) that no enhancement shall be made within a period of ten

years from the date of the next previous enhancement by contract or
by order of the Court, and

(c) that the Court may in any case refuse to grant an enhancement

for sufficient reasons to be recorded by it.

(z'l) The order passed by the Court on an application made under

this section shall have the effect of a decree and shall be appeal­
able.

Compensa­ 11. (1) Every occupancy tenant shall, on being ejected from a

tion on holding, be entitled to be paid by the landlord compensation amount­<

ejectment. ing to the value of any building which may have been erected on the

holding by him or by his predecessors-in-interest.

## * (2) He shall also be entitled to be paid compensation for any

improvement to the land effected as also for any trees planted on the
holding by him or by his predecessors-in-interest.

Ascertain­ 12 (1) In a suit for ejectment against an occupancy tenant in
ment and wb>ch the landlord succeeds, the Court shall ascertain the amount
compensa- payment of o f compensation, if any, . . . payable under . . . . section 11, and the

decree pronounced in the suit shall state such amount and it shall be

tion.

directed therein that on payment thereof into Court by the landlord
within three months from the date of the decree the tenant shall put
the landlord in possession of the land with the buildings and the trees

thereon, and that in default thereof by the tenant the landlord will be

entitled to obtain delivery of such possession through Court.

(2) If in any such suit, the Court finds that any sum of money

Landlord’s
dues to be is due by the tenant to the landlord for rent or otherwise in respect
set off. of the holding, the Court shall set off in the decree such sum against

the sum found due under sub-section (1).

Conse­ (3) If the amount due is not paid into Court by the landlord
quence of within the time provided in sub-section (I), his suit for ejectment
non-pay­ shall stand dismissed.

ment.

13. If, as a result of any act or negligence on the part of the

Basis of
calculation tenant, the building improvement or trees in respect of which com-tenant, the building improvement or trees in respect ot which com-

ofcompensa-pensation has been assessed under section 12 have ceased to exist
tion. o r [ have deteriorated in value between the date of the decree and the]
date of the delivery of possession of the land to the landlord, the Court
shall, on application by the landlord, issue a notice of such application
upon the tenant and consider such evidence as the parties may produce
before it, and may thereafter amend the decree already passed by it
by reducing the amount of compensation awarded in such decree to

the tenant by such amount as it thinks fit or by disallowing any
compensation whatever to the tenant.


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6

Pending 14. The provisions of this Act shall have effect in respect of all
suits. suits or proceedings, including proceedings in execution, for ejectment

of a person, who would under the provisions of this Act be an
occupancy tenant* which are pending at the date of commencement
of this Act.

Notice on 15. No suit for ejectment except for arrears of rent shall be insti­

ejectment

tuted until after the expiration of one month from the date of the

suit.

receipt by the tenant of a notice in writing by the landlord requiring
the tenant to surrender possession of the land in favour of the landlord.

Rights not 16. Nothing in any contract made by a tenant shall take away or

to be taken
away or in any way limit or affect his rights under this Act.

limited by

contract.

17. An occupancy tenant shall be entitled—

Rights of

occupancy _(a) to erect any pucca structure,_
tenants. (Z>) to dig any tank, and

(c) to plant, enjoy the flowers fruits and other products of,

fell and utilise or dispose of the timber of, any tree on
the land comprised in his tenancy.

Power to 18. The Provincial Government may, from time to time, by

make rules. notification in the official Gazette, make rules consistent with the

provisions of this Act for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

o

sS

A. G. P. (Leg.) No.10—-750+25—3^7-1947.


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