BENGAL TENANCY ACT, 1885, CHAPTER 12 & 13

CHAPTER XII

Distraint

121 to 142. Repealed by section 87 of the Bengal Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1928 (Bengal Act No. 4 of 1928).

CHAPTER XIII

Judicial procedure

Power to modify Civil Procedure Code in its application to landlord and tenant suits.— (1) The High Court may, from time to time, with the approval of the State Government, make rules, consistent with this Act declaring that any portions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall not apply to suits between landlord and tenant as such or to any specified classes of such suits, or shall apply to them subject to modifications specified in the rules.

(2) Subject to any rules so made and subject also to the other provisions of this Act, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall apply to all such suits.

Jurisdiction in proceedings under Act.— (1) The cause of action in all suits between landlord and tenant as such shall, for the purposes of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, be deemed to have arisen within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Civil Court which would have jurisdiction to entertain a suit for the possession of the tenure or holding in connection with which the suit is brought and no suit between landlord and tenant as such shall be instituted in any Court other than a Court within the local jurisdiction of which the lands of the tenure or holding, as the case may be, are wholly or partly situated.

(2) A landlord may institute one suit in respect of the rent of more than one tenancy, if the tenancies, in respect of the rent of which the suit is brought, are held in similar right and equal status by the same tenant under him :

Provided that-

(i) the claim in respect of each tenancy shall be stated separately in the plaint;

(ii) separate decrees shall be made in respect of each tenancy;

(iii) the costs of the suit shall be apportioned by the Court in respect of each tenancy; and

(iv) separate Court-fees shall be levied on the plaint in respect of the claim on account of each tenancy.

(3) When under this Act a Civil Court is authorised to make an order on the application of a landlord or a tenant; the application shall be made to the Court which would have jurisdiction to entertain a suit for the possession of the tenure or holding in connection with which the application is brought.

Naibsor gumashtas to be recognised agents.— Every naib or gumashta of a landlord empowered in this behalf by a written authority under the hand of the landlord shall, for the purposes of every such suit or application, be deemed to be the recognised agent of the landlord within the meaning of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, notwithstanding that the landlord may reside within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Court in the suit is to be instituted or is pending, or in which the application is made :

Provided that notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, every suchnaib or guniashta may verify the pleadings on behalf of the landlord and shall not be required to obtain the permission of the Court for the purpose of such verification.

Special register of suits.— The particulars mentioned in Rule I of Order VII in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 shall, in the case of such suits, instead of being entered in the register of civil suits prescribed by Rule 2 of Order IV in Schedule I to the said Code, be entered in a special register to be kept by each Civil Court, in such form as the State Government may, from time to time, prescribe in this behalf.

146A. Joint and several liability for rent of co-sharer tenants in a tenure or holding.— (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Contract Act, 1872, all co-sharer tenants in a tenure or holding and their successors-in-interest shall be liable to the landlord jointly and severally for the rent payable to such landlord on account of the tenure or holding, whether such rent has accrued during the time of their own occupation or during the time of the occupation of their predecessors-in-interest.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in this Act or in any other law, a decree for arrears of rent of a tenure or holding and a sale in execution of such decree shall be valid against all the co-tenants, whether they have been made parties defendant to the suit or not and against the holding in the manner provided in Chapter XIV, if the defendants to the suit represented the entire body of co-sharer tenants in the tenure or holding for the rent of which the suit was brought. (3) The entire body of co-sharer tenants in a tenure or holding shall for the purposes of sub-section (2) be deemed to be represented by the defendants to the suit if such defendants include

(i) all the co-sharer tenants in the tenure or holding whose homesteads are situated in the village in which the tenure or holding is situated;

(ii) such of the co-sharer tenants in the tenure or holding, as have, at any time during the three years previous to that for the rent of which the suit is brought, made any payment of rent for the tenure or holding;

(iii) such co-sharer tenants who having purchased an interest in the tenure or holding, have given notice of the purchase under subsection (3) of section 12 or section 26C, as the case may be, or, who having succeeded to an interest by inheritance have given notice of their succession under section 15; and

(iv) all other co-sharer tenants in the tenure or holding whose names are entered in the landlord’s rent-roll.

146B. Procedure in rent suit against co-sharer tenants in a tenure or holding.— (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Limitation Act, 1908, any person who claims that he should have been joined as a co-sharer tenant defendant in a suit for the recovery of arrears of rent due in respect of a tenure or holding may at any time before the hearing of the suit has been commenced apply to be made a party defendant to the suit, and the Court shall consider his claim, and if it finds that he should have been so joined shall join him as a party defendant :

Provided that if any such person at any time in the course of such suit pays into Court the full amount of the claim together with such costs as the Court may direct, the suit shall be dismissed and in any such case the provisions of section 17 shall apply.

(2) The provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3) of section 146A shall, so far as may be, apply in the case of a co-sharer tenant joined as a defendant under sub-section (1) of this section.

Successive rent suits.— (1) Subject to the provisions of Rule 1 of Order XXIII in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 where a landlord has instituted a suit against a raiyatfor the recovery of any rent, of holding, the landlord shall not institute another suit against him for the recovery of any rent of that holding until after nine months from the date of the institution of the previous suit.

(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) nor in Rule 2 of Order II in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall be deemed to prevent a landlord instituting a suit for a portion of the arrears of rent in respect of a holding, provided that—

(a) the claim in such suit shall be for the rent or the balance of the rent due for a complete agricultural year or years; and

(b) the plaint shall contain in addition to the particulars specified in clause (b) of section 148, the total claim which might have been made on the date of the institution of the suit, and the period to which the said total claim relates.

(3) Where a subsequent suit for rent is instituted by a co-sharer landlord and has been consolidated with a previous suit for rent under the provisions of sub-section (4) of section 148A, the date of the institution of the subsequent suit shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be the date of the suit which was first instituted and with which it was consolidated.

147A. Compromise of suits between landlord and tenant. — (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 3 of Order XXIII in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, if any suit between landlord and tenant as such is wholly or partly adjusted agreement or compromise, the Court shall not order an agreement or compromise to be recorded and shall not pass a decree in accordance with such agreement or compromise unless it is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing, that the terms of such agreement or compromise are such that, if embodied in a contract, they could be enforced under this Act :

Provided that, in the case of a suit instituted by the landlord to enhance the rent, the enhancement, if any, agreed upon may be decreed if the Court be satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing, that such enhancement is fair and equitable and in accordance with the rules laid down in this Act for the guidance of Courts in increasing rents.

(2) Where the terms of any agreement or compromise are such as might, unfairly or inequitably affect the rights of third parties, the Court shall not pass a decree in accordance with such agreement or compromise, unless and until it is satisfied by evidence that the statements made by the parties thereto are correct.

Illustration.— A, a proprietor, agrees that B, his tenant, shall be recorded as an occupancy-raiyat : this affects the rights of the tenants of B. The Court must, under this sub-section, inquire whether B is a tenure-holder or a raiyat as defined in section 5. If the Court finds on the evidence that B is araiyat, it may pass a decree in accordance with the agreement, but shall n not do so if it finds that B is a tenure-holder.

147B. Regard to be had by Civil Courts to entries in record-of-rights. — In all areas for which a record-of-rights has been prepared and finally published under sub-section (2) of section 103A, a Civil Court shall, in all suits between landlord and tenant as such, have regard to the entries in such record-of-rights relating to the subject-matter in dispute which may be produced before it, unless such entries have been proved by evidence to be incorrect; and when a Civil Court passes a decree at variance with such entries, it shall record its reasons for so doing.

Procedure in rent suits.— The following rules shall apply to suits for the recovery of rent :

(a) sections 68 to 72 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and Rules 1 to 13 of Order XI, Rule 83 of Order XXI and Rule 2 of Order XLVIII in Schedule I to the said Code, and Schedule III to the said Code, shall not apply to any such suit;

(b) the plaint shall contain, in addition to the particulars, specified in Rules 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 and sub-rule (2) of Rule 9 of Order VII in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, a statement of the situation, designation, extent and boundaries of the land held by the tenant; or, where the plaintiff is unable to give the extent, or boundaries, in lieu thereof a description sufficient for identification. The plaint shall further contain a statement whether a record-of-rights has been prepared and finally published in respect of such land;

(c) where the suit is for the rent of land situated within an area for which a record-of-rights has been finally published, the plaint shall contain a statement of the serial number or numbers borne by the tenancy in the record-of-rights, and of the area and rental of the tenancy according to such record, unless the Court is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing, that the plaintiff was prevented by any sufficient cause from furnishing such statement :

Provided that, in all cases in which the Court admits a plaint which does not contain such statement, the Court shall, and in any other case in which it sees fit the Court may, require the Collector to supply, without payment of fee, a verified or certified copy of, or extract from, the record-of-rights relating to the tenancy :

Provided also that, when the plaint contains such a statement, no statement of the situation, designation, extent and boundaries of the land held by the tenant as referred to in clause (b) shall be required, except in so far as may be necessary for the purposes of clause (d);

(d) where any changes have occurred in the area, survey plots, or rent of the tenancy since the record-of-rights was finally published, the plaint shall further contain a statement showing the particulars of such of changes;

(e) the summons shall be for the final disposal of the suit, unless the Court is of opinion that the summons should be for the settlement of issues only;

(f) the service of the summons may, if the High Court by rule, either generally, or specially for any local area, so directs, be effected either in addition to, or in substitution for, any other mode of service, by forwarding the summons by post in a letter addressed to the defendant and registered under Chapter VI of the Indian Post Office Act, 1898;

When a summons is so forwarded in a letter, and it is proved that the letter was duly posted and registered, the Court may presume that the summons has been duly served;

(g) notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, or any rules made thereunder the plaintiff in a suit for recovery of arrear of rent shall not be required to supply any identifier for the purpose of serving the summons on the defendant or on any witness, and the serving officer shall serve the summons after due inquiry as to the identify of the person on whom, or the house or property where, the summons is served. The serving officer shall serve the summons in the presence of at least two persons and he shall, whenever possible, require the signature of those persons to be endorsed on the original summons and, where he is unable to serve the summons, he shall, whenever possible, require the signatures of two persons of the locality to be so endorsed;

(h) notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 4(3) of Order 32 in Schedule I to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Court may serve on the natural guardian of a minor defendant in a suit for arrears of rent a notice informing him that he will be treated as the guardian of such defendant in respect of such suit, unless he appears and objects within such time, not being less than fourteen clear days after the service of the notice, as may be specified in the said notice, and, in default of compliance with such notice, such natural guardian shall, unless the Court otherwise directs, be deemed to be the duly appointed guardian of the said minor defendant for all the purposes of such suit;

(i) a written statement shall not be filed without the leave of the Court, but the Court shall record its reasons for granting or refusing such leave;

(j) the rules for recording the evidence of witnesses contained in Rule 13 of Order XVIII in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall apply, whether an appeal is allowed or not;

(k) (i) notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, where a suit is instituted for rent entered in a record-of-rights finally published under Chapter X or where the rent is payable under a registered lease between the landlord and the tenant or where the annual rent payable has been decreed in a previous suit between the landlord and the tenant, the Court may, if the plaintiff desires to proceed under this section, issue a special summons in the prescribed form;

(ia) service of the special summons referred to in sub-clause (i) shall ordinarily be effected by forwarding summons by post in a letter with acknowledgement due addressed to the defendant and registered under Chapter VI of the Indian Post Office Act, 1898; and when a summons is so forwarded, and it is proved that the letter was duly posted and registered, the Court may presume that the summons has been duly served;

(ii) when a special summons referred to in sub-clause (i) has been served, if the defendant fails to appear and defend the suit, the allegations in the plaint as regards the rent due shall be deemed to be admitted and the plaintiff shall be entitled to a decree for any sum not exceeding the sum mentioned in the summons together with interest at the rent of six per cent. per annum from the date of the suit up to the date of payment and for costs with interest thereon :

Provided that the Court may at its discretion in any case in which it thinks fit, direct the plaintiff to adduce evidence in support of his claim :

Provided also that notwithstanding anything contained in section 13 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, where a decree has been passed under this clause, no statement in the plaint regarding the nature, area and incidents of the tenancy or regarding any liability other than the rent claimed as due shall be evidence against the tenant in any subsequent suit or proceeding;

(iii) within seven days after the passing of a decree under sub clause (ii) the Court shall send at the cost of the plaintiff to the defendant or defendants against whom the decree has been passed a registered postcard in the prescribed form stating the particulars contained in the decree and no action in execution of a decree shall be taken until a period of sixty days has elapsed since the date of the decree;

(iiia) notwithstanding anything contained in section 34 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, no interest shall be payable from the date of the decree on the aggregate sum decreed, if such aggregate sum is paid in full by the judgment-debtor within sixty days from the date of the decree;

(iv) notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 13 of Order IX in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, or in section 153A of this Act, where a decree is passed ex parteagainst a defendant under sub-clause (ii), he may apply to the Court by which the decree was passed for an order to set aside the decree and the Court, if it is satisfied that summons was not duly served and that there is prima facie evidence of a bona fidedefence, may make an order setting aside the decree as against him or if necessary against all or any of the other defendants also;

(l) when any account-books, rent-rolls, collection-papers, measurement-papers, maps or extracts from records-of-rights have been produced by a party before any Court, and have been admitted in evidence in a suit pending therein;

copies of, extracts from, such documents, may be certified by a duly authorised officer of such Court to be true copies or extracts without the payment of any Court-fee, and such copies or extracts, may, with the permission of the Court, be substituted on the record for the originals, which may then be returned to the party;

and thereafter copies and extracts so certified, may be admitted in evidence in any other suit instituted in the same or any other Court, unless the Court before which they are produced sees fit to require the production of the originals;

(m) the Court may, when passing the decree, order on the oral application of the decree-holder the execution thereof, unless it is a decree for ejectment for arrears;

(n) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (3) of Rule 11 of Order XXI in Schedule I to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the Court shall not, unless for special reasons to be recorded in writing, direct the decree-holder to file a copy of the decree or any fresh vakalatnama for the purpose of executing the decree;

(o) notwithstanding anything contained in Rule 16 of Order XXI in Schedule Ito the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, an application for the execution of a decree for arrears obtained by a landlord shall not be made by an assignee of the decree unless the landlord’s interest in the land has become and is vested in him.

148A. Power of co-sharer landlord to sue for rent in respect of his share in a tenure or holding against the tenure or holding on making remaining co-sharers parties. — (1) A co-sharer landlord may institute a suit to recover the rent due to him in respect of his share in a tenure or holding, by making all the remaining co-sharer landlords parties defendant to the suit, and claiming that relief be granted to him in respect of his share of the rent against the entire tenure or holding.

(2) On the plaint being admitted, the Court shall by summons in the prescribed form call upon the remaining co-sharer landlords aforesaid to join in the suit as co-plaintiffs for their shares of the rent due to them in respect of the tenure or holding up to the date of the institution of the suit.

(3) On the date named in the summons for his appearance or on any subsequent date fixed by the Court in this behalf, any co-sharer landlord, who has been summoned as defendant, may apply to be joined in the suit as a co-plaintiff, and on his paying the Court-fee on the amount of his claim, he shall be joined as a co-plaintiff in respect of the rent claimed to be due to him up to the date of the institution of the suit.

(4) If it comes to the notice of the Court that any co-sharer landlord has before the service upon him of a summons under sub-section (2) instituted a separate suit to recover his share of the rent of the tenure or holding, the separate suit shall be consolidated with that brought under sub-section (1) and such co-sharer landlord shall be deemed to be a co-plaintiff and shall amend his plaint so as to claim the rent due to him up to the date of the institution of the suit under sub-section (1) :

Provided that, if the Court is not competent to consolidate and try the suit, such suit shall be transferred to a Court of competent jurisdiction for consolidation and trial.

(5) The summons on all the defendants to the suit other than co-sharer landlords shall thereafter be served, and the Court shall thereupon proceed to the trial of the suit.

(6) A decree passed by the Court for the rent claimed in a suit brought in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section shall, so far as may be, specify separately the amounts payable to each co-sharer and shall, as regards the remedies for enforcing the same, be as effectual as a decree obtained by a sole landlord or an entire body of landlords in a suit brought for the rent due to all the co-sharers.

(7) When one or more co-sharer landlords, having obtained a decree in a suit framed under this section, applies or apply for the execution of the decree by the sale of the tenure or holding, the Court shall, before proceeding to sell the tenure or holding, give notice of the application of the execution to the other co-sharers.

(8) (i) In disposing of the proceeds of a sale in execution of the decree referred to in sub-section (6) the following rules, instead of those contained in section 73 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shall be observed,—

(a) there shall first be paid to the decree-holders the costs incurred by them in bringing the tenure or holding to sale;

(b) there shall in the next place be paid to the decree-holders the amount due to them under the decree in execution of which the sale was made;

(c) if there remains a balance after these sums have been paid, there shall be paid therefrom to the decree-holders and to any defendant landlords, who have not joined as plaintiffs, but have made application in this behalf within one month from the date of the confirmation of the sale, any rent which may have fallen due to them in respect of the tenure or holding between the institution of the suit and the date of the confirmation of the sale, in proportion to their respective shares in the tenure or holding :

Provided that the Court shall issue a notice to the judgment-debtor or his pleader, if any, before ordering any such payment;

(d) the balance (if any) remaining after the payment of the rent mentioned in clause (c) shall, upon the expiration of two months from the confirmation of the sale, be paid to the judgment-debtor on his application unless the Court for reasons to be recorded in writing otherwise directs.

(ii) If the judgment-debtor disputes the right of the decree-holder or of the co-sharer landlord who has been made a party defendant to receive any sum on account of rent under clause (c), the Court shall determine the dispute and the determination shall have the force of a decree.

(9) When a suit has been instituted under the provisions of sub-section (1), no co-sharer landlord, who has been made a party defendant thereto and duly served with summons issued under sub-section (2), shall be entitled to recover, save as co-plaintiff in that suit, any rent in respect of the tenure or holding for the period in suit or for any period previous thereto.

(10) Where a suit instituted under the provisions of sub-section (1) has been withdrawn with leave to bring a fresh suit, the procedure, remedies and disabilities hereinbefore provided by this section shall apply to such fresh suit when instituted and to the parties thereto.

(11) In the event of the holding or tenure not being sold as a result of a suit instituted under sub-section (1), nothing contained in Rule 2 of Order II in Schedule I to the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, shall preclude a co-sharer landlord who has been joined as plaintiff under sub-section (3) or is deemed to be a co-plaintiff under sub-section (4) from recovering by suit, rent and interest due to him and damages, if awarded, in respect of the tenure or holding for the period subsequent to the date of the institution of the suit under this section.

(12) If the rent claimed in a plaint as amended under sub-section (4) is less than the rent claimed in the original plaint in the separate suit referred to in that sub-section, the balance of rent may be recovered under the provisions of clause (c) of sub-section (8) or of sub-section (11).

Payment into Court of money admitted to be due to third person.— (1) When a defendant admits that money is due from him on account of rent, but pleads that it is due not to the plaintiff but to a third person, the Court shall refuse to take cognisance of the plea unless the defendant pays into Court the amount so admitted to be duo.

(2) Where such a payment is made, the Court shall forthwith cause notice of the payment to be served on the third person.

(3) Unless the third person within three months from the receipt of the notice institutes a suit against the plaintiff and therein obtains an order restraining payment out of the money, it shall be paid out to the plaintiff on his application.

(4 ) Nothing in this section shall affect the right of any person to recover from the plaintiff money paid to him under sub-section (3).

Payment into Court of money admitted to be due to landlord.—When a defendant admits that money is due from him to the plaintiff on account of rent, but pleads that the amount claimed is in excess of the amount due, the Court shall refuse to take cognisance of the plea unless the defendant pays into Court the amount so admitted to be due.

Provision as to payment of portion of money.— When a defendant is liable to pay money into Court under section 149 Or 150, if the Court thinks that there are sufficient reasons for so ordering, it may take cognisance of the defendant’s plea on his paying into Court such reasonable portion of the money as the Court directs.

Court to grant receipt.— When a defendant pays money into Court under either of the said sections, the Court shall give the defendant a receipt, and the receipt so given shall operate as an acquittance in the same manner and to the same extent as if it had been given by the plaintiff or the third person, as the case may be.

Appeals in rent suits.— An appeal shall not lie from any decree or order passed, whether in the first instance or on appeal, in any suit instituted by a landlord for the recovery of rent where—

(a) the decree or order is passed by a District Judge, Additional Judge or Subordinate Judge, and the amount claimed in the suit does not exceed one hundred rupees; or

(b) the decree or order is passed by any other judicial officer specially empowered by the High Court to exercise final jurisdiction under this section, and the amount claimed in the suit does not exceed fifty rupees;

unless in either case the decree or order has decided a question relating to title to land or to some interest in land as between parties having conflicting claims thereto, or a question of a right to enhance or vary the rent of a tenant, or a question of the amount of rent annually payable by a tenant :

Provided that the District Judge may call for the record of any case in which a judicial officer as aforesaid has passed a decree or order to which this section applies, if it appears that the judicial officer has exercised a jurisdiction not vested in him by law, or has failed to exercise a jurisdiction so vested, or has acted in the exercise of his jurisdiction illegally or with material irregularity; and may pass such order as the District Judge thinks fit.

Explanation.— A question as to the regularity of the proceedings in publishing or conducting a sale in execution of a decree for arrears of rent is not a question relating to title to land or to some interest in land as between parties having conflicting claims thereto.

153A. Deposit on application to set aside ex-parte decree. — Every application for an order under Rule 13 of Order IX in Schedule I to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 to set aside a decree passed ex parte, or for a review of judgment; under section 114 and Rule 1 of Order XLVII in Schedule I to the said Code, in a suit between a landlord and tenant as such, shall contain a statement of the injury sustained by the applicant by reason of the decree or judgment;

and no such application shall be admitted—

(a) unless the applicant has, at or before the time when the application is admitted, deposited in the Court to which the application is presented the amount, if any, which he admits to be due from him to the decree-holder, or such amount as the Court may, for reasons to be recorded by it in writing, direct; or

(b) unless the Court, after considering the statement of injury is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded by it in writing that no such deposit is necessary.

Date from which decree for enhancement takes effect.— A decree for enhancement of rent under this Act, if passed in a suit instituted in the first eight months of an agricultural year, shall ordinarily take effect on the commencement of the agricultural year next following; and, if passed in a suit instituted in the last four months of the agricultural year, shall ordinarily take effect on the commencement of the agricultural year next but one following; but nothing in this section shall prevent the Court from fixing, for special reasons, a later date from which any such decree shall take effect.

Relief against forfeitures.— (1) A suit for the ejectment of a tenant, on the ground —

(a) that he has used the land in a manner which renders it unfit for the purposes of the tenancy, or

(b) that he has broken a condition on breach of which he is, under the terms of a contract between him and the landlord, liable to ejectment, shall not be entertained unless the landlord has served, in the prescribed manner, a notice on the tenant specifying the particular misuse or breach complained of, and, where the misuse or breach is capable of remedy, requiring the tenant to remedy the same, and, in any case, to pay reasonable compensation for the misuse or breach, and the tenant has failed to comply within a reasonable time with that request.

(2) A decree passed in favour of a landlord in any such suit shall declare the amount of compensation which would reasonably be payable to the plaintiff for the misuse or breach, and whether, in the opinion of the Court, the misuse or breach is capable of remedy, and shall fix a period during which it shall be open to the defendant to pay that amount to the plaintiff, and, where the misuse or breach is declared to be capable of remedy, to remedy the same.

(3) The Court may, from time to time, for special reasons, extend a period fixed by it under sub-section (2).

(4) If the defendant, within the period or extended period (as the case may be) fixed by the Court under this section, pays the compensation mentioned in the decree, and, where the misuse or breach is declared by the Court to be capable of remedy, remedies the misuse or breach to the satisfaction of the Court, the decree shall not be executed.

Rights of ejected raiyats’or under-raiyats’in respect of crops and land prepared for sowing. — The following rules shall apply in the case of every raiyat or under-raiyat ejected from a holding—

(a) when the raiyat or under-raiyat has, before the date of his ejectment, sown or planted crops in any land comprised to the holding, he shall be entitled, at the option of the landlord, either to retain possession of that land and to use it for the purpose of tending and gathering in the crops, or to receive from the landlord the value of the crops as estimated by the Court executing the decree for ejectment;

(b) when the raiyat or under-raiyat has, before the date of his ejectment, prepared for sowing any land comprised in his holding, but has not sown or planted crops in that land, he shall be entitled to receive from the landlord the value of the labour and capital expended by him in so preparing the land, as estimated by the Court executing the decree for ejectment, together with reasonable interest on that value;

(c) but a raiyat or under-raiyat shall not be entitled to retain possession of any land or receive any sum in respect thereof under this section where, after the commencement of proceedings by the landlord for his ejectment, he has cultivated or prepared the land contrary to the local usage; and

(d) if the landlord elects under this section to allow a raiyat or under raiyat to retain possession of the land, the raiyat or under-raiyat shall pay to the landlord, for the use and occupation of the land during the period for which he is allowed to retain possession of the same, such rent as the Court executing the decree for ejectment may deem reasonable.

Power for Court to fix fair rent as alternative to ejectment.— When a plaintiff institutes a suit for the ejectment of a trespasser he may, if he thinks fit, claim as alternative relief that the defendant be declared liable to pay for the land in his possession a fair and equitable rent to be determined by the Court, and the Court may grant such relief accordingly.

Application to determine incidents of tenancy.— (1) Subject to the provisions of section 111, the Court having jurisdiction to determine a suit for the possession of land may, on the application of either the landlord or the tenant of the land, determine all or any of the following matters, (namely) :

(a) the situation, quantity and boundaries of the land;

(b) the name and description of the tenant hereof (if any);

(c) the class or classes to which he belongs, that is to say, whether he is a tenure-holder, raiyatholding at fixed rates, occupancy raiyat, non-occupancy-raiyat, or under-raiyat with or without a right of occupancy, and, if he is a tenure-holder, whether he is a permanent tenure-holder or not and whether his rent is liable to enhancement during the continuance of his tenure; and

(d) the rent payable by him at the time of the application.

(2) If, in the opinion of the Court, any of these matters cannot be satisfactorily determined without a local inquiry, the Court may direct that a local inquiry be held under Order 26 in Schedule I to, and section 78 of, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, by such Revenue-officer as the State Government may authorise in that behalf by rule made under Rule 9 of Order 26 in Schedule I to the said Code.

(3) The order on any application under this section shall have the effect of, and be subject to the like appeal as, a decree.