The Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment) Act, 1975
### Registered No.—A-12

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 EXTRAORDINARY

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### PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

 121, 17 1975, 26 s®tw, 1897 *t<p

**No . 121, Dispur, Wednesday, Septem ber 17, 1975, 26th Ehadra,**
**________** **___________** **1897 (S. E.) ________**

**GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM**

OR DE RS BY TH E GOVERNOR

LAW DEPARTME NT

NO TIFIC ATION

The 17th September 1975

**No. LJL.** 290/73/20.—The following Act of the Assam Legislative


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882 THE ASSAM GAZETTE EXTRAORDINA RY, SEPT. 17, 1975

Assembly which received the assent of the President is hereby published
for genera] information.

ASSAM ACT IX OF 1975

_( Received the assent o f the_ _President on the 16th September, 1975 )_

THE ASSAM FIXA TION OF CE ILING ON LAND HOLDINGS

(AMENDMENT) ACT, 1975

**An**

**Act**

**further to amend the A ssam** **Fixation of Ceiling on Land Hold ings**

**Act,** **1956.**

Preamble. Whereas it is expedient further to amend the

Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, **(d?**

195 > hereinafter called the principal Act in the

mam er hereinafter appearing :

It is hereby enacted in the Twenty-sixth Year

of the Republic of India as follows :—

_ex tent_ [t] a'id 1 (1 ) This Act may be called the Assam

com mence- Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holdings (Amendment)

**ment.** Act, 1975.

(2) It shall have the 'ike extent as the princi­

pal Act.

(3) This Act shall be deemed to have come

into force on the Thirteenth day of October, Nine­
teen hundred Seventy-two.

Amendment 2. In section 1 of the principal Act —

**of** Section I
**of Assam Att**
**I** of 1957. (1) Sub-section (2) shall be substituted by the

following, namely :—

“ (2) It extends to .the districts of Lakhimpur,

Dibrugarb , Sibsagar, Nowgong, Darrang, Kamrup,
Goalpara and Cachar in the State of Assam.”

(2) After sub-section (3), **the following shall be**

inserted as sub-section (4), namely: —

“ (4) The State Government may, by notification

                 - cb'ishecl in the OGcia, Gazette from time to time,

ex.t id the Act to such o ther areas as may be specified
in the notification.”


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**Substitution** 3, Section 2 of the princis al Act, shall be stfb-

**rfAwam Act** **[s t i t u t e d ]** b Y [t h e] following, namely:—

1 of 1957.

“2. Exception—The provisions of this Act shall A ssam A ct

not apply to-(l) lands held by the State Governmentvill of 1973.

or by the Union Government or by any local autho­
rity or by any Agricultural Farming Corporation

constituted under the Assam Agricultural Farming

Corporation Act, 1973.

(2) **(a)** Lands held and utilised for special cultiva­

tion of tea and purposes ancillary thereto ;

(b) Lands held by a mill, a factory or a

workshop, as the case may be, for the purposes
of expansion of the mill, factory or workshop or
for ancillary purposes of the mill, factory or work­
shop such as setting up of schools, dispensaries
and roads but not for any other purpose :

(c) Lands held by a Co-operative Farming

Society for cultivation of sugar-cane only for
the purpose of feeding a Co-operative Sugar

Facto ry :

Provided that if at any time, such lands

cease to be utilised for the purposes

mentioned in the aforesaid sub-clauses, the

provisions of this Act shall apply ;

(3) Land vesting in a Gram Sabha under the 5 [SS]p™,.^[c!:]

Assam Granadan Act, 196i’’

Am endment 4. In Section 3 of the principal Act,
of Section 3
of Assam Act
I of 1957. (1) Clause (a) shall be substituted by the follow-:

mg, namely :—

**“ (a)** ‘Agriculture’ includes horticulture, arb ori­
culture, pisciculture, piggery, animal husbandry,
poultry and other allied pursuits

(2) Clause (d) shall be substituted by the follow­

ing, namely :—

“ (d) ‘Family’ means a family consisting of any

one or more or all of the following, namely :—

(1) husband, (2) wife, (3) minor children, nd

also includes a joint family.


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**Exp lana tion —“Joint family” means a family**

**of** which the members are descendants from a

common ancestor and have a common mess and
shall include wife or husband, as the case may

be, but shall exclude married daughters, married

sons and their children :

Provided that a family consisting of father

and/o r mother, sons and/or unmarried daughters
holding lands jointly shall be presumed to be "join t
inspite of any one or more having a separate mess

(3) Clause (e) shall be deleted.

(4) Clause (f) shall be substituted by the follo­

wing, namely :—

**“ (f )** ‘Lan d’ means land which is or may be

utilised for agricultural purposes or purpo-,
ses subservient thereto and includes the

sites of buildings appurtenant to such land
and also includes land which is or may
be utilised for quarrying stones

(5) Clause ( j) shall be substituted by the

following, namely :—

“ (j) ‘Person’ includes an individual, a family,

**a** jo in t family, a trustee, a Company, a body

Corporate, a partnership firm, a Society or an

association of individuals whether incorporated

or not.”

(6) In clause (k), sub-clause (iii) shall he sub­

stituted by the following, namely :■—

"(iii) by servants or hired labourers on fixed

rem uneration payable in cash or kind b ut

not in crop-share, un de r personal supervi­
sion of the person himself or any member

of his family provided it is accompanied

by the bearing of risks of cultivation by
the owner and by residence in the village

in which the lan d is situate of in a

nearby village or town within a distance
of 8 K. M. during the greater pa rt of

the agricultural season :

Provided furthe r that in the case of a person

who is a widow or a minor, or is subject to any
physical or mental disability or is a member of

Military, Naval or Air Forces of the Union, or who
is a student, beiow the age of 21 years of any
educational institution recognised by the State

Government, the land shall be deemed to be under
persona! cultivation even in the absence of such
personal supervision;”


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**Amendment** 5. In Section 4 of the principal Act—

**of Section 4**

**of** **Assam**

**Act** **I of** (1) Sub-section (1) shall be substituted by the

**1957.** following, namely : —

“ (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary

in any law, custom or agreement, no

person shall be entitled to hold, as owner
or tenant, lan d which exceeds the limit

of 50 bighas in the aggregate and this

limit of 50 bighas shall be applicable to
the aggregate of the lands held individually
by the members of a family or jointly

by some or all the members of such a

family :

Provided that where such person holds

‘orch ard’ land the aforementioned limit shall be
increased by the actual area of orchard subject to
a maximum of 4 bighas over the limit of 50

bighas mentioned above”

(2) In sub-section (2),

(I) the first parag raph shall be substituted fey the

following, namely :—

“ (2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in

any law, custom or agreement, no person shall
be entitled to hold, as c.wner or tenant, lands
for special cultivation of tea in excess of such
land as has been used for special cultivation of
tea and purposes ancillary thereto on the day on
which the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land
Holdings (Amendment) Act, 1970 came into Assam Act

fo rce;” V Iilo fl9 7 i.

(II) in the explanation, item (V) shall be substituted

by the following, namely :—•

“ (v) land used for hospitals, dispensaries, creches,

recreation centres and play-grounds

**(3)** In sub-section (5), the first paragraph shall be

substituted by the following, namely :—

“(5) No person who holds land in excess of the limit

fixed under Section 4 shall, on or after the
commencement of the Assam Fixation of Ceiling
on Land Holdings (Amendm ent) Act, 1970, trans­
fer or partition any land until the land in

excess of such limit is determined and possession vil l of 1971
taken over by the Collector under this Act


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(4) In sub-section (6), for the words, “this Act”

wherever they occur, the words, “the Assam

Fix ation of Ceiling on Land Holdings (Am end­

ment) Act, 1970” shall be substituted.

of Section 6' After Section 11, the following new Section

’ll A. ’ shall be inserted as Section 11 A, na mely:—

Takin g “ 11 A. Notwithstanding anything contained in

possession in this Act or in any other law for the time being

advance.

in force

(1) When it appears from a return submitted

by a person under Section 5 or 22 of this

Act that there is any land in excess of the

ceiling limit the Collector may by an order

in writing take possession of such excess

lands. In doing so the Collector shall take

possession of that land which has not been

selected to be retained and in case when

no such selection has been indicated in the

return the Collector shall himself select the

lands to be taken possession of.

(2) When it appears from a return submitted

by a person under Section 5 or 22, that the parti­
culars shown therein are not correct and the

Collector finds from information received by him

that there are lands in excess of the ceiling limit the

Collector may by an ord er in writing take over

possession of such excess lands. While doing so the
Collector shall himself select the lands to be taken
possession of.

(3) When no return has been submitted under

this Act by any person in respect of his lands but
the Collector finds from information received by

him that the person holds lands in excess of the

ceiling lim it, the Collector may at any time by an
order in writing take over possession of such excess
lands. While doing so the Collector shall himself
select the lands to be taken possession of.

(4) When the Collector has passed an order

under sub-section (2) of Section 7 showing therein
any land to be in excess of the ceiling limit appli­
cable to the person concerned he shall by an order
in writing take possession of such excess iaud.

(5) No order for taking possession shall be

passed under any of the previous sub-sections unless
it appears to the Collector to be necessary to do
so in public interest or for securing proper manage­
ment of the lands in question.


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TH E AS SA M GA ZETTE. EX TR AO RD INAR Y, SEPT. 17, 1975 887

(6) When possession is taken of any land under

any of the preceding sub-sections, the person whose
lands are taken possession of shall be paid for each
year of such possession an amount equal to the

annual land revenue and local rate payable for such
land.

(7) Where the excess land of any person deter­

mined finally under Section 7 is found to be less
than the land of that perso n which the Collector has
taken possession of under this Section, the land which
is in excess of the area so determined shall be re turned
by the Collector.

(8) Notwithstanding anything in any law for the

tipie being in force, any order passed bv a Collector
under any of the preceding sub-sections shall be final
and no court or any other authority shall entertain
any suit, proceeding or apeea l in respect of any such
order passed or in respect of taking over and return
of possession of land under any of the preceding
sub-sections.

(9) For taking over possession of any land

under any of the preceding sub-sections, the Collector
may use such force as may be necessary.

(10) Any order passed by the Collector for taking

over possession of any land under any of the p re­
ceding sub-sections shall not affect or prejudice in
any manner, the determ ination of the excess land
under the provisions of the Act.

(11) Any land of which possession is taken by

the Collector may be temporarily for a period not
exceeding one year at a time disposed of or utilised
in the spirit of the provisions of Chapter III of this
Act. Such tem porary disposal shall not create any
right, title and interest whatsoever in favour o f any
person.

Insertion of After sub-section (2) of Section 17 _insert the_

new >ub- following as sub-section (3), namely

section under

Section 17 of “(3) In making settlement under sub-section (1)
Assam Act

of this Section preference shall be given as far as

I of 1957.

practicable to the following categories of person in
the order of narration stated below:—

(a) Landless cultivator who has been rendered

homeless due to flood, erosion or earth­
quake.

(b) Landless cultivator.
(c) Agricultural Farming Corporation as de- Assam Act

fined in the Assum Agricultural Farming VIII of

Corporation Act, 1973. " 1973-


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888 THE ASSAM GA ZETTE, EX TR AO RD INAR Y, SEPT; 17, 1975

_Explanation—_ For the purpose of this Section the

expression “Landless cultivator” shall mean a person
who does not hold any land whether as owner or as
ten ant or as both exceeding 3 bighas and whose onlt
means of livelihood is cultivation.

Amendment 8. Jn Section 23 of *he principal Act, in clause

of Section 23 (b), for the figure “ 100” occurring in between the
of Assam Act
I of 1957, words “ o f” and “bighas” , the figure “ 50” shall

be substituted.

Amendment 9. The existing sub-section (2) of Section 34 of the
of Section
34 of Assam principal Act shall be substituted as follows—
Act I of

1957. “ (2) Any person who fails to submit any return

required to be submitted under Sections 5 and 22
shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment
which may extend to one year bu t which shall not be
less than three months and shall also be liable to fine
which may extend to one thousand rupees.”

Insertion of 10. After Section 40 of the principal Act, the
Section 41.

following shall be added as a new Section, namely—

“41 (1) The Assam Fixation of Ceiling on Land

Holdings (Amendment) Act, 1972 is hereby repealed. I

Repeal and (2) Notwithstanding such repeal, any decision
savings. given, order made, anything done, any action taken

or any proceedings commenced under any of the

provisions of the Act so repea+d and in force imme­
diately before such repeal shall continue in force and
shall be deemed to have been given, made, done,
taken or commenced under the corresponding provi­

sions of this Ac t.”

Insertion of 11. After Section 41 of the principal Act the
Section 42.

following shall be added as a new Section, namely :—

“42. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to

Power to re­ any provision of the Assam Fixation of Ceiling
move diffi­

on Land Holdings Act, 1956, the State

culties.

Government may, as occasion requires, take

any action not inconsistent with the provisions

of the Act which may appear to them necessary

for the purpose of removing the difficulty.”

MD . SAADULLAH,

Joint Secy, to the Government of Asaam,

Law Departm ent.

Cauhati:—Printed and published by the Supdt., i/c., Printing Press

Directorate of Ptg. & Sty. Govt, of Assam (Ex-Gazette)

No. 241—1 ,56 0+254-17-9 -19 75.


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