(1) This Act may be called the Punjab Land Reforms Act,
1972.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Punjab.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
1 For Statement of Objects and Reasons. see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), 1972, Page 1471 2 For Statement of Objects and Reasons. see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), dated the 21st September, 1973, Page 919 3 For Statement of Objects and Reasons. see Punjab Government Gazette (Extraordinary), dated the 30th February, 1976, Page 230 Short title, extent and commencement.
CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY
2. It is hereby declared that this Act is for giving effect to the policy of the State towards securing the principles specified in clauses (b) and (c) of Article 39 of the Constitution of India.
3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, —
(1) "appointed day" means the twenty-fourth day of January, 1971;
(2) "banjar land" means land which has remained uncultivated for a continuous period of not less than four years immediately preceding the date on which the question whether such land is banjar or not arises;
(3) "Collector" means the Collector of the district or any officer not below the rank of Assistant Collector of the first grade empowered in this behalf by the State Government;
(4) "family" in relation to a person means the person, the wife or husband, as the case may be, of such person and his or her minor children, other than a married minor daughter;
(5) "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
(a) the sites of buildings, and other structures on such land; and
(b) banjar land;
(6) "landowner" shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Punjab Act XVII of 1887);
Declaration as to giving effect to certain directive principles.
Definitions.
Explanation, In respect of land mortgaged with possession, the mortgagee shall be deemed to be the landowner;
(7) "minor" means a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years;
(8) "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 other agricultural purpose 1[***];
(9) "Pepsu law" means the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1955;
(10) "person" includes a company, family, association or other body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, and any institution capable of holding property;
(11) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(12) "Punjab law" means the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act, 1953;
2[(13) "self-cultivation" means cultivation by a landowner either personally or through any member of his family or through his brother, or through a servant or hired labour under the personal supervision of the landowner or supervision of a member of his family, subject to the condition that the servant or hired labour is paid wages in cash or in kind or partly in cash and partly in kind but not as a share of the produce;]
3[(14) ***];
(15) "surplus area" means the area in excess of the permissible area;
1 Omitted by Punjab Act No. 19 of 2017, Section 2 2 Substituted by Punjab Act No. 40 of 1973, Section 2 3 Omitted by Punjab Act No. 40 of 1973, Section 2
(16) "tenant" has the meaning assigned to it in the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887 (Act XVI of 1887) and includes a sub-tenant, and self-cultivating lessee, but shall not include a present holder as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the East Punjab Displaced Persons (Land Resettlement) Act, 1949 ;
(17) all other words and expressions used herein and not defined but defined in the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887 (Punjab Act XVI of 1887), or the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 (Punjab Act XVII of 1887), shall have the meaning assigned to them in either of those Acts.
CHAPTER II CEILING ON LAND
4. 1[(1) Subject to the provisions of section 5, no person shall own or, hold land as landowner or mortgagee with possession or tenant or partly in one capacity and partly in another in excess of the permissible area.]
(2) 'Permissible area' shall mean in respect of-
(a) land under assured irrigation and capable of yielding at least two crops in a year (hereinafter in this Act referred to as 'the first quality land'), seven hectares; or
(b) land under assured irrigation for only one crop in a year, eleven hectares; or
(c) barani land, 20.5 hectares; or
(d) land of other classes including banjar land, an area to be determined according to the prescribed scale with reference to the intensity of irrigation, productivity and soil classification of such classes, having regard to the respective valuation and the permissible area of the classes of land mentioned at
(a), (b) and (c) above 2[subject to the condition that 1 Substituted by Punjab Act No. 40 of 1973, Section 3 2 Added by Punjab Act No. 40 of 1973, Section 3 Permissible Area.
the area so determined shall not exceed 21.8 hectares]:
Provided that—
(i) where land consists of two or more classes, the permissible area shall be determined on the basis of relative valuation of such classes of land, subject to the condition that it does not exceed 21.8 hectares;
(ii) where the number of members of a family exceeds five, the permissible area shall be increased by one-fifth of the permissible area for each member in excess of five, subject to the condition that additional land shall be allowed for not more than three such members.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), where any land is comprised in an orchard 1[on the appointed day] such land shall, for the purpose of determining the permissible area, be treated as barani land.
2[(4) (a) Where a person is a member of a registered cooperative farming society, his share in the land held by such society together with his other land, if any, or if such person is a member of a family, together with the land held by every member of the family shall be taken into account for determining the permissible area;
(b) where a person is a member of a family, the land held by such person together with the land held by every other member of the family, whether individually or jointly, shall be taken into account for determining the permissible area.]
(5) In determining the permissible area, any land which was transferred by sale, gift or otherwise, other than a bona fide sale or transfer, after the appointed day but before the commencement of this Act, shall be taken into account as if such 1 Substituted for words “at the commencement of this Act” by Punjab Act No. 40 of 1973, Section 3 2 Substituted by Punjab Act No. 40 of 1973, Section 3 land had not been transferred and the onus of proving the transfer as bona fide shall be on the transferor.
(6) For the purpose of valuation of land one and quarter hectares of banjar land shall be treated as equivalent in value to one hectare of barani land.
(7) For evaluating the land of any person at any time under this Act, the land owned by him immediately before the commencement of this Act as well as the land acquired by him after such commencement by inheritance, bequest or gift from a person to whom he is an heir shall be evaluated as if the evaluation was being made on the appointed day and the land acquired by him after such commencement in any other manner shall be evaluated as if the evaluation was being made on the date of such acquisition.
5. 1[(1) Every person, who on the appointed day or at any time thereafter, owns or hold land as landowner or mortgagee with possession or tenant or partly in one capacity and partly in another in excess of the permissible area, shall select his permissible area and intimate his selection to the Collector, and where land is situate in more than one district, to the Collectors concerned, through a declaration, to be furnished in such form and manner and within such period, as may be prescribed and if such person has an adult son or adult daughter, he shall also be entitled to select separate permissible area in respect of each such son or daughter, as the case may be, out of the land owned or held by him, subject to the condition that the land so selected together with the land already owned or held by such son or daughter, shall not exceed the permissible area of each such son or daughter:
Provided that where land is situated in more than one patwar circle, the declaration shall be supported by an affidavit in the prescribed form.]
(2) In making the selection, such a person shall include, firstly, land mortgaged without possession and, secondly, land under self-cultivation on the date of commencement of the period prescribed for furnishing the declaration under sub-section (1), but shall not include area declared surplus under the Punjab law, the Pepsu law or this Act, 1 Substituted by Punjab Act No. 15 of 2014, Section 2 Selection of permissible area and furnishing of declaration buy certain persons.
other than the area which was exempt from utilization by the State Government immediately before such commencement.
6. If any person fails to furnish the declaration in accordance with the provisions of section 5, the Collector shall obtain the requisite information in the prescribed manner.