Agricultural land laws : btala, 1948

(a) Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (‘BTALA’)

(b) Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961.

This Article gives a bird’s-eye view of the BTALA (also ‘the Act’). This Act is relevant to companies since it lays down the situations under which an agricultural land can be transferred to a non-agriculturist. This would be relevant to ascertain how and when can a company acquire agricultural land. If a Company acquires agricultural land in contravention of the Act, it can have serious consequences. The prohibition on companies acquiring agricultural land is also found under other laws. For instance, sometime ago, the Enforcement Directorate raided the offices of a large real estate developer company since it had acquired agricultural land with the proceeds of Foreign Direct Investment.

2. Applicability:

2.1 The Act is applicable to the Bombay Area of the State of Maharashtra. The Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960 divided the State of Bombay into two parts, namely, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Thus, the BTALA is in force in the whole of Maharashtra except the Marathwada (Latur, Nanded, Aurangabad) and Vidarbha (Nagpur, Akola, etc.) regions.

2.2 The Act seeks to govern the relationships between tenants and landlords of agricultural lands. Further, it lays down the law in respect to fixation of rent, rights of tenants, etc. Thus, it is similar to the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999.

3. Definitions:

3.1 The Act defines the term ‘agriculture’ to include the following :

(a) horticulture

(b) raising of crops, grass or garden produce

(c) the use by an agriculturist of his land for cattle grazing

(d) the use of any land for the purposes of rab manure

However, it states that the following are not agriculture :

(a) allied pursuits

(b) cutting of wood alone

Since the definition is an inclusive one, it retains its common parlance meaning as well as something more — Official Asssignee v. Maheshri Firm of Chandulal, 71 IC 657.

This is a definition which has been the series of a spate of controversies. Even under other Acts such as the Income-tax Act, there are several decisions on what constitutes agriculture. The decision of the Supreme Court in the case of CIT v. Benoy Kumar Sahas Roy, AIR 1957 SC 768 is relevant in this respect. It held that the term agriculture cannot be disassociated from the primary significance thereof, which is cultivation of the land and even though it can be extended in the manner both in regard to the process of agriculture and the products which are raised upon the land, there is no warrant for extending it to the land.

The expression emphasises the cultivation of land. Any operation which has something to do with the land, any operation which helps the land to yield the fruits or its crops, any operation which proves the natural produce of the land, may come within the expression — N. G. Desai v. State of Bombay, 57 Bom. LR 199.

3.2 The term ‘agriculturist’ is defined to mean someone who cultivates land personally.

4. Tenant:

4.1 A tenant is defined to mean a person who holds land on lease and includes :

(a) A person who is deemed to be a tenant u/s.4

(b) A person who is a protected tenant; and

(c) A person who is a permanent tenant

4.2 A permanent tenant means one who was considered accordingly prior to 1955 or someone whose commencement or duration of tenancy cannot be satisfactorily proved by reason of antiquity.

4.3 Deemed tenant:

4.3.1 A person lawfully cultivating any land belonging to another person is deemed to be a tenant if such land is not cultivated personally by the owner. Further, such a person should not be a part of the owner’s family or be his servant or be a mortgagee in possession.

4.3.2 Lawful cultivation is of prime importance and hence, the landlord must have placed his tenant in lawful possession of the land. If a litigation is pending in respect of the title to the land, cultivation on that land would not be lawful.

4.3.3 Land is said to be cultivated personally if a land is cultivated on one’s own account by :

(a) one’s own labour. An agriculturist lady continues to be so even after her marriage and she can continue her occupation as an agriculturist — Babib Doshi v. Dy. Collector, 1986 CLH 845. The cultivation must not be as an agent of the owner.

(b) by labour of family members, i.e., spouse, children or siblings in case of a joint family. A joint family is defined to mean an HUF and in case of other communities, a group or unit the members of which are by custom joint in estate or residence. In one case, even a married sister living with her husband has been regarded as a part of the family — Case No. 8953 O/154 of 1954.

(c) by hired servants or workers under personal supervision.

(d) cultivation through an agency on behalf of the juristic person does not come within the meaning of the words to cultivate personally in S. 2(b). An idol or juridical person is not capable of cultivating personally

— Shri Kalanka Devi Sansthan Patur v. Pandu Marotti, 1963 Mah LJ 249

4.3.4 A relative of a landlord does not automatically become a deemed tenant unless the relationship of landlord and tenant is proved — Smt. Amtibai Jesangbai v. Patel Purshottamdas, AIR 1983 (Guj.) 84.

4.3.5 The onus is on the person who alleges that he is a tenant to demonstrate that he is a tenant. All persons other than those specifically excluded and who are lawfully cultivating land belonging to others are deemed to be tenants.

4.3.6 If a person is cultivating a land under an Agreement of Sale he does not become a deemed tenant
— Ambalal v. Mangalbai, (1978) 19 GLR 799.

4.4 A protected tenant means one who has been afforded such protection under the earlier Tenancy Act of 1939.

5.    Ceiling Area:
5.1 Ceiling Area means the area of land fixed as ceiling area u/s.5 or u/s.7 in relation to land held as an owner or a tenant. It may be noted that this ceiling is different and separate from the ceiling fixed under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961. The objective of fixing a ceiling is to give each family a fair amount of subsistence, secondly to arrive at the economic unit or cultivation and thirdly to enable larger cultivation areas to those who can afford them in-sofar as it does not hamper equitable distribution of land.

5.2 The ceiling, depending upon the type of land, is as follows:

•         48 acres of jirayat land, i.e., dry crop land

•         24 acres of seasonally irrigated land or paddy or rice land

•         12 acres of perennially irrigated land

•         If the land consists of a combination of the above, then the ceiling shall be determined as follows:

1 acre of perennially irrigated land = 2 acres of seasonally irrigated land/paddy land = 4 acres of jirayat land

Warkas land, i.e., land used for rab manure for rice cultivation is to be excluded. Further, potkahraba land, i.e., one which is not fit for cultivation is not to be included in computing the land.

5.3 The Economic Holding is as follows:

•         16 acres of jirayat land

•         8 acres of seasonally irrigated land or paddy or rice land

•         4 acres of perennially irrigated land

        If the land consists of a combination of the above, then the ceiling shall be determined as specified for ceiling computation.

While people should be allowed to own land to the maximum extent possible, the cultivators must be given enough to at least maintain themselves and their family’s proper standard of living. This is taken care of by economic holding.

6.    Rent control and tenancy protection:

6.1 The Act contains provisions for the following:

(a)    Fixing the minimum and maximum rent for agricultural land
(b)    Fixing the rent by the mamltadar for different classes of land situate in a village
(c)    Liability of tenant to pay land revenue, irrigation cess and certain other cesses
(d)    Termination of tenancy under certain cases, such as, non-payment of rent, unlawful assignment/sub-letting, permanently damaging the land, etc.
(e)    Surrender of tenancy by the landlord
(f)    Provisions for dwelling houses of tenants
(g)    Tenants right to certain trees planted by him and produce thereon
(h)    Prohibition on a tenant from sub-dividing, sub-letting or assigning the land
(i)    The landlord is entitled to recover possession of the land if he requires it bona fide for cultivation personally or for any non-agricultural purpose. However, the landlord needs to give a notice to the tenant for the same.