AGRICULTURAL LAND LAWS : BTALA, 1948

(In this Article, we continue with our study of the
Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (‘Act’) which deals with
certain aspects of the law relating to agricultural lands in the State of
Maharashtra.)

Transfers to non-agriculturists :

U/s.63 of the Act, any transfer, i.e., sale, gift,
exchange, lease, mortgage with possession of agricultural land in favour of any
non-agriculturist is not be valid unless it is in accordance with the provisions
of the Act. The terms sale, gift, exchange and mortgage are not defined in this
Act and hence, the definitions given under the Transfer of Property Act, 1882
would apply.

This section could be regarded as one of the most vital
provisions of this Act since it regulates transactions of agricultural land
involving non-agriculturists. Even if a person is an agriculturist of another
State, say Punjab, and he wishes to buy agricultural land in Maharashtra, then
section 63 would apply. An important exception to the provisions of section 63
would be in the case of succession to agricultural land by a non-agriculturist.
Thus, if the legal heirs of an agriculturist are non-agriculturists or if the
legatees under his will are non-agriculturists, even then the succession/bequest
in their favour would be valid. In law, succession to property cannot lie in a
vacuum and the BTALA would not override succession laws [refer Ghanshyambhai
v. State of Gujarat, (1999) 2 Guj. LR 1061].

Similarly, any transfer in favour of an agriculturist of any
land exceeding the ceilings fixed under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands
(Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961 (which we would be examining in subsequent
Articles) is not valid unless it is in accordance with the provisions of the
Act.

The above transfers can be done with the prior permission of
the Collector, subject to such conditions as he deems fit. However, he would not
grant such a permission if the buyer is a non-agriculturist and his income from
other sources is more than Rs.5,000 per year.

Some of the conditions under which the Collector would grant
permission for the transfer of an agricultural land are as follows :

(i) the land is required for non-agricultural purposes; or

(ii) the land is required for the benefit of an
industrial/commercial/educational/charitable undertaking; or

(iii) the land is being sold in execution of a decree of a
Civil Court for arrears of land revenue; or

(iv) the land is being gifted by way of a trust or
otherwise bona fide by the owner in favour of his family member.

Once the permission has been granted by the Collector it must
be acted upon within one year, unless extended by the Collector up to a maximum
period of five years.

If a land is transferred in violation of section 63, then
u/s.84C the transfer becomes invalid on an Order so made by the Mamlatdar. If
the parties give an undertaking that they would restore the land to its original
position within three months, then the transfer does not become invalid.

Once such an Order is passed by the Mamlatdar, the land vests
in the State Government. The amount received by the transferor for selling the
land shall be deemed to be forfeited in favour of the State. Further, the
Mamlatdar would determine the reasonable price of the land and grant the land on
a new tenure on payment of occupancy price equal to the reasonable price so
determined. The reasonable price would not be lower than 20 times the land
assessment and not more than 200 times the land assessment. Further, it would
include, the value of any structures, wells, permanent fixtures, etc., on the
land.

Transfer of land to non-agriculturists for bona fide
industrial use :

U/s.63-1A of the Act, transfer of land in favour of a
non-agriculturist without the Collector’s permission is permissible in the
following two cases :

The other conditions for the above are that :

In case the total area of the land so proposed to be used
exceeds 10 hectares/25 acres, then the prior permission of the Development
Commissioner (Industries) would be required. Thus, if the purchaser of the
agricultural land is a company which desires to undertake a special township
project and it wants Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the same, then it would
have to ensure that the size of the plot is 25 acres or more. In such a case, it
would need the prior approval of the Development Commissioner of Industries for
first acquiring such an agricultural land.

The purchaser of the land for the above purposes must put it
to the industrial use within 15 years from the date of purchase or else the
seller has the right to repurchase the land at the price at which he sold it.
Till 2004, the limit was five years and it was extended to 15 years by the
Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Laws (Amendment) Act, 2004. If the
purchaser was holding the land in 2004 and had failed to put it to use within
five years of purchase, then he can put it to industrial use within the
remaining period out of 15 years, subject to payment of certain non-agricultural
tax.

Bona fide industrial use :

Agricultural land can be purchased without approval if it is
for a bona fide industrial use which has been defined under the Act to
mean the following :

Special township project:

Agricultural land can also be purchased without the approval of the Collector if it is for constructing a special township project as per the Rules framed under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966. Although, in such cases apart from the permission of the Collector, special township projects require a host of other regulatory clearances, as high as 30- 35 approvals. Some of the key requirements for a special township project are as follows:

Construction and real estate development other than what is specified above is not covered. Thus, the Collector’s permission would be required for the same.

A special township project is eligible for various sops and benefits under the Maharashtra Housing Policy. Some of the benefits are as follows:

In addition, special township projects are also eligible for external commercial borrowings under the FEMA Regulations.

Significance of Act:

This Act is very important to industry at large since it lays down the circumstances under which company/non-agriculturist can buy agricultural land. The management of companies dealing with or in agricultural land would be well advised to pay heed to the provisions of this Act or else they face the risk of losing the land altogether.