In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) "adult" means a person who is not a minor;
(b) "appointed day" means the 24th day of January, 1971;
(c) "banjar land" means land which has remained uncultivated for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the appointed day and includes culturable waste land recorded as banjar in the revenue records;
(d) "Collector" means the Collector of a District or any other officer not below the rank of an Assistant Collector of the First Grade empowered in this behalf by the State Government;
(e) "family" means husband, wife and their minor children or any one or more of them;
2[(ee) "handicapped person" means a crippled, or physically or medically deficient person whose annual income from all sources does not exceed rupees seven thousand and five hundred and who, on account of injury, disease or congenital deformity, is substantially prevented from or is incapable of leading a normal life or earning full wages for the work in
1. Passed in Hindi by the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. For Statement of Objects and Reasons see the Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh dated 29th August, 2012, pp. 3155-3157.
2. Clauses (ee) and (eee) added vide H.P. Act No. 11 of 1987, effective from 28th July, 1973.
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH CEILING ON LAND HOLDINGS ACT, 1972 4 which he is employed or obtaining or keeping employment or undertaking work on his own, of a kind in view of that injury, disease or deformity which work would have suited his age, experience and qualifications;
Explanation.- For the purposes of this clause, a person who has incurred physical disablement to the extent of fifty per cent or more shall be deemed to be substantially incapable or disabled person;
(eee) "houseless person" means a person who owns no house or site to construct a house:
Provided that a person whose father is alive or whose annual income from all sources exceeds Rs. 3,000/- shall not be deemed to be a houseless person;]
(f) "land" means land which is not occupied as the site of any building in a town or village and is occupied or has been let for agricultural purposes or for purposes subservient to agriculture, or for pasture and includes-
(i) the sites of buildings and other structures on such land;
(ii) orchards;
(iii) ghasnies;
(iv) banjar land; and
(v) private forests;
(g) "landowner" means a person defined as such in the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954) or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (17 of 1887), as the case may be, and shall include the predecessor or successor in interest of the landowner;
(h) "landless person" means a person who, holding no land for agricultural purposes, whether as an owner or a tenant, earns his livelihood principally by manual labour on land and intends to take the profession of agriculture and is capable of cultivating the land personally 1[:]
2[Provided that a person whose father is alive or whose annual income from all sources exceeds Rs. 3,000 shall not be deemed to be a landless person];
(i) "land revenue" means land revenue assessed under any law for the time being in force or assessable under the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954) or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (17 of 1887), as the case may be;
1. Substituted for the sign “;” vide H.P. Act No. 11 of 1987, effective from 28th July, 1973.
2. Proviso added vide H. P. Act No. 11 of 1987, effective from 28th July, 1973.
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH CEILING ON LAND HOLDINGS ACT, 1972 5
(j) "minor" means a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years;
(k) "orchard" means a compact area of land having fruit bearing trees grown thereon in such number that they preclude, or when fully grown would preclude, a substantial part of such land from being used for any agricultural purpose 1[but shall not include land under banana or guava gardens or vineyards];
2[(l) "other eligible person" means person,-
(i) who, holding for agricultural purposes land less than one acre whether as an owner or a tenant, earns his livelihood principally by manual labour on land and intends to take the profession of agriculture and is capable of cultivating the land personally;
(ii) whose father is not alive; and
(iii) whose annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 3,000/-;
and shall not include a person who holds a share or a portion of an estate jointly owned or cultivated by two or more persons;]
(m) "permissible area" means the extent of land specified in section 4 of this Act;
(n) "person" means the landowner 3[,] 4[tenant and mortgagee with possession], and includes a company, a family, an association or other body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, and any institution capable of holding property;
(o) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(p) "private forest" means a forest which is not the property of the Government or to over which the State has no proprietary rights or the whole or any part of the forest produce of which the State is not entitled;
(q) "separate unit" means an adult son or in case of his death, his widow and children, if any 5[***];
(r) "surplus area" means the area in excess of the permissible area;
1. Inserted vide H.P. Act No. 1 of 1974, effective from 28th July, 1973.
2. Clause (l) omitted vide H.P. Act No. 1 of 1974 and again added vide H.P. Act No. 11 of 1987, effective from 28th July, 1973.
3. The sign “,” inserted vide H.P. Act No. 1 of 1974, effective from 28th July, 1973.
4. Substituted for the words "and tenant" vide H. P. Act No. 1 of 1974, effective from 28th July, 1973.
5. The words ", and an adult daughter" omitted vide H. P. Act No. 1 of 1974, effective from 28th July, 1973.
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH CEILING ON LAND HOLDINGS ACT, 1972 6
(s) "tea estate" means an area under tea plantation and includes such other area necessary for purposes subservient to tea plantation as may be prescribed;
(t) "tenant" means a person who holds land under a landowner, and is, or but for a contract to the contrary would be liable to pay rent for that land to that landowner, and includes-
(i) a sub-tenant 1[*****]; and
(ii) the predecessors or successors in interest of a tenant or a sub-tenant, as the case may be, but it does not include-
(a) a mortgagee of the rights of landowner; or
(b) a person to whom a holding has been transferred or an estate or holding has been let in farm under the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954) or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (17 of 1887), as the case may be, for the recovery of an arrear of land revenue or of a sum recoverable as such an arrear; 2[xxxxx] 3[xxxxxxxx]
(u) "tenancy" means a parcel of land held by a tenant of a landowner under one lease or one set of conditions; and
(v) the words and expressions used herein but not defined in this Act shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act, 1954 (6 of 1954), or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (17 of 1887), as the case may be.
CHAPTER II CEILING ON LAND HOLDINGS, ACQUISITION AND DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS AREA