(1) This Act may be called the Puducherry Cultivating Tenants Protection Act, 1970.
(2) It extends to the regions known as Puducherry, Karaikal and Yanam in the Union territory of Puducherry.
(3) It shall come into force on such 1date as the Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint:
Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act or for different areas and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed, in relation to any area, as a reference to the coming into force of that provision in such area.
Definitions.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:-
(a) “cultivating tenant” means a person who contributes his own physical labour or that of any member of his family in the cultivation of any land belonging to another, under an agreement express or implied on condition of paying rent therefor in cash or in kind or delivering or receiving a share of the produce and includes --
(i) any such person who continues in possession of the land after the determination of the agreement;
(ii) the heir of such person, if the heir contributes his own physical labour or that of any member of his family in the cultivation of such land;
(iii) a sub-tenant if he contributes his own physical labour or that of any member of his family in the cultivation of such land;
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1. The Act came into force in Puducherry, Karaikal and Yanam regions on the 10th day of April 1971 vide Notification No. 6896/70/E, dated 10th April 1971.
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(iv) any such sub-tenant who continues in possession of the land notwithstanding that the person who sublet the land to such sub-tenant ceases to have the right to possession of such land; and
(v) a person who cultivates the land on payment of waram;
but does not include a mere intermediary or his heir;
(b) “cultivation” means the use of lands for the purpose of agriculture or horticulture and a person is said to carry on personal cultivation on a land when he contributes his own physical labour or that of the members of his family in the cultivation of that land;
(c) “garden land” means dry land irrigated by lifting water from wells or other sources;
(d) “Government” means the Administrator appointed by the President under article 239 of the Constitution;
(e) “holding” means a parcel or parcels of land held by a cultivating tenant;
(f) “land” means land used for the purpose of agriculture or horticulture and includes any building, or any waste, vacant or forest land, appurtenant thereto, and any house-site belonging to the landlord and let to the cultivating tenant under the same agreement of tenancy;
1[(g) landlord” in relation to a holding or part thereof means the person entitled to receive the rent due in respect of such holding or part;]
(h) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(i) “Revenue Court” means the Revenue Court constituted by notification in the Official Gazette by the Government; and
(j) “Wet land” means land registered as such in the revenue accounts.
Explanation. --- One hectare of wet land shall be deemed to be equivalent to one and a half hectares of garden land or three hectares of dry land and any reference to hectares of wet land shall be deemed to include a reference to dry or garden land reduced to their equivalent extent of wet land.
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1. Substituted by Act 9 of 1972, section 2, with effect from 10-4-1971.
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2-A. Nothing in this act shall apply, to ---
(i) leases or tenancies of lands belonging to or vested in the Government of the Union territory of Puducherry, the Central Government, a State Government, a local authority, or a corporation owned or controlled by any of the said Governments, or authority; or
(ii) leases or tenancies of lands created by the Administrator General or the Official Trustee or an Official Receiver or officer appointed by a Court under the provisions of any law, or by any person holding under or deriving title from any of the Officers aforesaid.]
Landlords not to evict cultivating tenants.