4. . (1) At any time within one year after the date on which this chapter comes into force any landlord who is subject to or whose immovable property or any part thereof is encumbered with private debts, may make an application in writing to the Collector of the district in which his land or any portion of his land is situated stating the amount of such private debts and also of his public debts both decreed and undecreed and requesting that the provisions of this Act be applied to him :
Provided that when the property of any landlord is under the superintendence of the Court of Wards any application under this section shall be made by the manager of his property and, when any landlord is by reason of personal incapacity disqualified from instituting any proceeding in a civil court, an application under this section may be made on his behalf by his legal or natural guardian or any person actually managing his property :
Provided also that no application by a member of a joint Hindu family shall be entertained, unless
(a) all the members of such family join and the fact is stated in the application, or
(b) the applicant makes in the application an express declaration of his intention of separating from the joint family and states the names and addresses of the remaining members of the family and the share which the applicant would be entitled to get on partition of the family property.
Provided also that no landlord who has been adjudicated insolvent and has not been discharged shall apply under this section :
Provided also that if an application under this section is made by all the heirs of a deceased debtor who are not members of a joint Hindu family, then this fact shall be stated in the application :
Provided also that if an application under this section is made by one or more but not by all the heirs of a deceased debtor who are not members of a joint Hindu family then this fact shall be stated in the application and the names and addresses of those heirs who have not joined in the application and the shares of all the heirs in the property inherited by them from the deceased debtor shall be mentioned in the application.
(2) The [ State Government] may by notification in the [ Official Gazette] [ extend] the time prescribed for making applications under this section by a further period of six months.
(3) If within three months after the date on which Chapter III of this Act comes into force a landlord has applied for amendment of a decree under the provisions of the United Provinces Agriculturists Relief Act, 1934, the period from the date of his application to the date of the final disposal thereof shall be excluded from the period within which he may make an application under sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section.
(4) If a landlord presents an application under this section within a period of six months next following the last date on which an application may be made under the provisions of sub-section (1) or (2) of this section, as the case may be, and satisfied the Collector that he was prevented by any sufficient cause from applying within the period prescribed by those sub-sections, the Collector may accept the application.
[ (5)] If an objection is taken before the Collector or Special Judge that the application is defective and such an objection is upheld, the Collector or Special Judge, as the case may be, shall at the request of the landlord amend the application in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, relating to the amendment of plaints, and shall proceed with the case.
[ (6) No application shall be dismissed by reason only of the fact that the applicant is a landlord by virtue of succession to or surrender by a Hindu widow or other limited owner.]