their interest in the property; nor on the ground that the proceeds of sale materially exceed the amount of arrears due." By Regulation XVIII of 1814, the Collectors may advertise lands for sale for arrears of revenue, but may not actually sell without the previous sanction of the Board of Revenue. LECTURE of 1822. Regulation XI of 1822, since repealed,3 was passed to Regulation XI modify and explain the Regulations for sale for arrears. It recites that the existing Regulations are defective in not specifying the conditions necessary to the validity of revenue sales, and in not sufficiently defining the nature of the interest and title conveyed to the purchasers. That it is necessary to clear up these doubts, and to further regulate the course of proceeding. That in order to protect the zemindar against the risk of hardship and injury, which experience has shown must in many cases result from the absolute confirmation of sales according to the prescribed conditions, it is desirable to give the Board of Revenue power to annul sales by the Collectors, not only when irregularly conducted, but also when the defaulter may clearly appear to have been defrauded or deceived by his own agents, or when for any reason the confirmation of the sale may appear to be a measure of excessive severity or otherwise inexpedient or improper. By section 2, clause 2, a previous demand orattachment before sale is dispensed with, and the provisions restricting the revenue officers in selecting lands for sale or in fixing the time of sale are repealed. Section 3, clause 1, recites that the estates of proprietors are XI. LECTURE primarily liable to sale for arrears under section 2 of Regulation III of 1794, and that the property of all persons under engagements with Government, whether as proprietors, farmers, or managers, or as sureties for such, is likewise answerable for arrears. And it provides that the Collectors shall, with the sanction of the Board of Revenue, be entitled to have recourse to sale for the realisation of any arrear or interest thereon, or other revenue demand, whether any other revenue process shall have issued or not, and at any time of the year, subject only to the restrictions specially prescribed by any Regulation. By clause 2 estates under the Court of Wards are not to be liable to sale for arrears while under such management. By clause 3 joint estates during the progress of a butwarra or partition, and estates under attachment by a Court of Justice, are exempt from sale until the end of the year in which the arrear becomes due.1 And further, by clause 4, a power is reserved to the GovernorGeneral in Council to issue further restrictions upon the Board of Revenue and the revenue officers: and sales made in contravention of such orders shall be liable to be annulled within three years after such sale although not voidable under section 5. Further stringency is given to the remedy by sale by section 4, which provides that sales regularly conducted shall not be set aside by the Courts, except on the ground of failure to comply with one of the conditions thereinafter specifically declared essential to the validity of a sale. Parties aggrieved by any other defect in the proceedings are left to an action for damages. The conditions referred This is repealed as to land under butwarra by Act XX of 1836. See Act XIV of 1870. to are specified in section 5, and are―(1) that the lands or mehal sold form the estate on account of which the arrear has accrued or parcel of such estate, and are liable be to sold consistently with the principles and provisions of this Regulation; or are the property of the defaulter or surety; or as such property have been specially pledged to answer the demand in arrear: (2) that permission to sell has been received from the Board of Revenue before the day of sale: (3) that due notice of the demand and of the intention of the Collector to sell, as well as of the time and place of sale, has been given as provided in the Regulation: (4) that some part of the amount demanded in the notice, or of interest thereon, is due at the time of the lot being put up for sale: (5) that the sale is made at the time and place stated in the advertisement, and with the due publicity and freedom as thereinafter specifically directed. Provision is then made for the case in which the default is disputed. By section 10, clause 1, if the defaulter deny the existence of an arrear, the sale shall be stayed upon his paying in the whole demand, with five per cent. extra for charges; and by clause 3 such persons can proceed under section 23, provided they at the time deny the justness of the demand in writing. After the sale it shall not be liable to be annulled by any Court of Judicature on the plea that no arrear was justly due, unless such plea was preferred to the Collector or the Board before the sale or the confirmation by the Board, or unless good and sufficient reason be shown why such denial could not be made. And no counter claims by the zemindar against the Government are to affect the right to sell. Again, by section 11, the fact that the person engaging with Government, or his representative, is divested of the possession and management of the estate sold, LECTURE whether by the act of an individual or by the Collector or other officer acting under the orders of a Court of Judicature, or attaching the estate by virtue of the powers vested in him by this or any other Regulation, shall not be a ground for annulling the sale. The reason given for this is that all settled estates are liable for the revenue assessed upon them to the extent of the interests possessed by the persons engaging with Government, as ratified and confirmed by the act of settlement, and by those deriving title from such persons, unless otherwise specially provided. We have already noticed that, according to this Regulation, the defaulter cannot purchase, and the purchase must be bona fide on the purchaser's own account. Neither can an officer of the Collector's establishment purchase. And the Collector must satisfy himself on these points before knocking down the lot. The defaulter is defined by section 16 to be the person with or on account of whom the settlement of the land revenue may have been concluded by Government, or his heirs, successors, or assignees, in possession of the interest acquired or confirmed by such settlement. But it does not include those proprietors, putteedars, village zemindars, or the like, who at the time of the settlement held distinct properties, though paying their revenue through the recorded malgoozar, except in so far as such persons may be expressly declared responsible to Government. By section 20 it is provided that after the Board of Revenue has confirmed the sale and put the purchaser into possession, he can only be disturbed, on the plea of illegality in his purchase, by a decree in a regular suit. Section 22 provides for the balance of the purchase-money after 'S. 13. payment of the Government claim being paid to the defaulter. The rest of the Regulation is concerned with the effect of sale, a subject which I shall discuss separately. The provisions of Regulation XI of 1822 on the subject of sale were repealed by Act XII of 1841, section 1. By Regulation VII of 1830, also repealed by Act XII of 1841, section 1, the Collector may sell without previous sanction of the local Commissioner, but the sale is not to be final until confirmed by him. LECTURE 1841 and sub sequent Acts. We now come to a most important Act, XII of 1841. Act XII of This Act recites that it is desirable for the benefit of the agricultural community to regulate the number of periodical sales for arrears of revenue, to discontinue the levy of interest and penalties on such arrears, and to provide for sales at known and fixed periods. We have seen that it abolishes interest and the penalty on arrears. It provides by section 2 that the Sudder Board of Revenue at Calcutta shall determine, with regard to each permanently settled district or zillah under their jurisdiction, the fixed dates in each year on which shall be commenced the process for realising by the sale of mehals the arrears of land revenue due thereupon, and shall give notice thereof. This is repealed by Act I of 1845, which by section 3 re-enacts the same provisions with this difference, that the Board is to fix the dates on which all arrears of revenue and other claims realisable in the same way are to be paid up, and in default of which payment the estates are to be sold: due notices being also provided for. This provision is again repealed by Act XI of 1859 and re-enacted by section 3 of that Act. By section 4 (repealed by Act I of 1845, and substantially re-enacted by section 3 of that Act, which is again repealed by Act XI of 1859) the special sanction of |