A mulraiyat, pradhan or village headman shall not settle any waste land or vacant holding with himself or any co-mulraiyat without the previous sanction in writing of the Deputy Commissioner.
COMMENT Mulraiyat and village pradhan are similar words. Village headman is also of the same category. Muraiyat retain raiyati land patta of the land cancelled- Because petitioner was grandson of village pradhan- Held-Cancellation is invalid as petitioner was not retaining any raiyat- The word Mulraiyat is Synonymous with the word “village Pradhan” or “Village Headman” and only difference is that Mulraiyat are entitled to retain their raiyat lands. There was no material before Divisional Commissioner to retain raiyat lands. There was no material before Divisinal Commissioner to hold that the petitioner was in any way retaining any raiyati land in the capacity of Muraiyat or in capacity of Co-mulraiyat of the merely because the petitioner happened to be Bhagina (Sister’s son ) of the village pradhan, he could not have been categorized a co-mulraiyat attracting the provisions of section 29 of the Act.
{Gadahar Mandal v.state of Bihar, 2000 (3) BLJ 784: 2000 (3) PLJR 756 (Pat)}.
30. Vacant holding not to be sub-divided for purpose of settlement- No vacant holding shall be sub-divided for the purpose of settlement without the consent of the landlord and the approval of the Deputy commissioner.
31. Two or more village headman, co-mulraiyat or landlords to settle waste land jointly- Excepts as otherwise provided in this Act, where there are two or more village headman, co-mulraiyat or landlords in a village held jointly by them and the settlement of waste land has not been made jointly by all such village headmen, co-mulraiyats or landlords, as the case may be, the settlement may on objection be set aside or modified at the discretion of the Deputy Commissioner.
32. Objection before the Deputy commissioner against settlement of waste land and vacant holdings- (1) A person, if aggrieved by any act of the village headman or muraiyat or landlord, as the case may be, in setting or refusing to settle waste land or a vacant holding, or if aggrieved by any act of any other person in respect of such land or holding, may make an application before the Deputy Commissioner within one year from the year on which reclamationin pursuance of settlement was commenced or settlement was refused.
(2) (a) On receipt of such an application the Deputy Commissioner shall serve in the prescribed manner on the parties interested other than the applicant, notice of the date on which he intends to hear and decide the application.
Explanation.-For the purpose of this clause all th Jamabandi raiyats of the village and the village headman or mulraiyat if it is pradhani village or mulraiyate village or the landlord if it is khas village, shall be deemed to be parties interested.
(b) After serving the notice required by clause (a) and hearing the parties and the enquiry the Deputy Commissioner may, in cases where settlement has been made, either confirm or modify or set aside The settlement, or, in cases where settlement has been refused, order the waste land or vacant holding to be settled. He may himself settle the land or holding in question with a jamabandi raiyat in accordance with the principles laid down in Section 28 and in the record-of-rights on such terms as he may think proper.
(3) No claim for compensation by any person evicted from land reclaimed or held in contravention of the provisions of this Act or any law or anything having the force of law in the Santal Parganas shall be admissible.
COMMENT Section 32.- Application of.- The provisions of Section 32 are applicable only in respect of such cases where settlements have been made after coming into force of the Act. The settlements which were made by the village Pradhanbefore coming into force of the Act cannot be modified or varied or set aside in term of Section 32 of the Act. The provisions of the said Act have a prospective operation. [Ghanshyam Pandit v. Commissioner, 1988 P L J R 140].