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LECTURE XII.

REMEDIES FOR THE RECOVERY OF RENT. LAKHIRAJ
AND SERVICE TENURES.

Remedies for the recovery of rent-Imprisonment and corporal punishment prohibited-Remedy by imprisonment restored-Remedies against khoodkashtsDistraint-Remedies when distraint ineffectual-Distraint under Acts X of of 1859 and VIII of 1869 (B.C.)-Ejectment-Personal liability of defaulterSale-Avoidance of incumbrances-Stoppage of sale by under-tenant-Sale under Act X of 1859 and subsequent Acts-Stoppage of sale-Sale at instance of sharer in joint estate-Avoidance of incumbrances-Unregistered tenantsAssignments of revenue and resumption thereof-Revenue-free grants made before 12th August 1765-Revenue-free grants made since 12th August 1765 and before 1st December 1790-Revenue-free grants made since 1st December 1790-Badshahee grants-Resumption-Provisions where lakhiraj and proprietary rights are distinct-Requisites of lakhiraj grants anterior to British rule-Further provisions-Cases upon resumption-Lands held upon service tenures-Ghatwallee tenures-Mokuddum tenures.

Remedies for THE remedies for the recovery of revenue have, for the the recovery of most part, been extended to the recovery of rent also.

rent.

Imprisonment and corporal punishment prohibited.

The Regulations of 29th April 1789 authorised the Collector to proceed against the talookdars and other inferior renters paying revenue to the zemindars in the same way as was prescribed by the Regulations for proceedings against defaulting renters paying revenue direct to Government.1

Personal punishment was one of the original remedies, as in the case of the zemindar. But the Regulations of 20th July 1792 forbade this, and provided that any landholder or farmer confining a ryot or inflicting corporal punishment upon him for arrears of rent should lose the arrears and besides be subject to a prosecution for assault

Colebrooke's Supplement, 492.
Ib., 335.

or false imprisonment.

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This provision is re-enacted in the amended Regulations contained in Regulation XVII of 1793, section 28, with the omission of the penalty of loss of the arrears. And the latter section was repealed by Act X of 1859, section 1.

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We have seen that the arrears of revenue might be Remedy by imprisonment recovered by sale after the Permanent Settlement; but the restored. zemindar could only distrain for his rent, and that under many restrictions, the tyranny of the zem indars being the evil chiefly guarded against. It was found, however, that the powers of distraint given to the zemindars were of little use; and the zemindar's land could be sold for arrears of revenue long before he could realise his rent by any process of law. Thus in Banaressy Ghose's case the Rajah was imprisoned for default while his ryots evaded payment. Regulation XXXV of 1795 was passed to remove these difficulties, but it was ineffective. It allowed defaulters to be imprisoned upon an application to the Court in cases of arrears over Rs. 500.5 The difficulties of the zemindars were further provided against by Regulation VII of 1799, to be hereafter noticed in detail. This Regulation proved beneficial. It repealed the limit of Rs. 500,7 and provided that after demand of arrears from the defaulter and his surety, or without demand if he have reason to believe that the defaulter or his surety is

Art. 27.

See as to this, Fifth Report, Vol. I, 637

Fifth Report, Vol. I, 70, 71.

Ib., 636, 642, 643.

Ss. 9, 10, 11.

Fifth Report, Vol. I, 78.

7 S. 14.

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XII.

LECTURE prepared to abscond, the proprietor or farmer may, if he cannot realise the arrears by the distraint of the personal property of the defaulter or his surety, cause them to be arrested in the prescribed manner; and if the arrears are found to be due after the prescribed investigation, the defaulter and his surety are to be kept in close custody until payment. These provisions are now repealed by section 1 of Act X of 1859.

Remedies against khoodkashts.

Distraint.

By the Putnee Regulation, VIII of 1819, section 15, clause 5, it is provided that khoodkasht ryots may be proceeded against by process of arrest, or summary suit, or distraint, in the usual manner; and if the defendant does not appear or cannot be arrested, the plaintiff may proceed ex parte to obtain the management of his lands under clause 3 of the same section. This section was repealed by Act X of 1859, section 1. This Act and Act VIII of 1869 (B.C.), while repealing the provisions for the imprisonment of ryots, also enacts that "if payment of rent, whether the same be legally due or not, is extorted from any under-tenant or ryot by illegal confinement or other duress, such under-tenant or ryot shall be entitled to recover damages up to two hundred rupees, without prejudice to any other liability of the person practising such extortion.

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The main remedy provided at the Permanent Settlement was distraint. This had been in use previously; and by the rules of 30th July 1790 the Board of Revenue directed that where the ryots gave security which was accepted by the landholders, the ryot's crops should not be attached

1 S. 15, cl. 1.

* Ib., cl. 5.

? Act X of 1859, s. 12. Act VIII of 1869 (B.C.), s. 13.

DISTRAINT UNDER THE REGULATIONS.

437

unless the security had absconded and other good security had not been tendered.1 The same provision is contained in the Regulations of the 23rd November 1791,' but was repealed by the Regulations of the 20th July 1792 and by Regulation VIII of 1793, section 67, clause 3, and Regulation XVII of 1793.

The Regulations of 20th July 1792, after reciting that in consequence of the rights of landholders not being sufficiently defined, some, in accordance with the previous practice, resort to most oppressive modes of realising rent, and often extort money in the same way, while others are deterred from using any compulsion by the same want of certainty as to their rights, empower zemindars, &c., without notice to the Collector, to distrain the crops and products of the earth of every description, the grain, cattle, and all other personal property belonging to their under-renters and ryots and the talookdars paying revenue through them, for arrears of rent or revenue, and to cause the same to be sold in discharge of such arrears. There must, however, be a previous demand. The same powers are vested in dependent talookdars with respect to their under-farmers and ryots and in under-farmers from zemindars, independent talookdars, and other actual proprietors, or from dependent talookdars; also in farmers who hold direct from Government, to enable such farmers to enforce payment of arrears of rent or revenue from their ryots, under-farmers, or dependent talookdars.5 But the property of persons

' Colebrooke's Supplement, 494.

2 Ib., 308, art. 70.

3 Ib., 335.

Art. 4. ⚫ Art. 1

LECTURE

XII.

438

DISTRAINT UNDER THE REGULATIONS:

XII.

LECTURE employed in the manufacture of the fabrics for the Com pany's investments is protected. Ploughs and implements of husbandry, cattle actually trained for the plough, and seed grain are not to be distrained if there is other distress available. Resistance to distress is to be punished with imprisonment. These provisions were re-enacted by Regulation XVII of 1793, the Court or a public officer being substituted for the Collector. This Regulation was repealed by section 1 of Act X of 1859. By these Regulations the property could be released by giving security. These provisions were repealed by Regulation XXXV of 1795, a Regulation, as already mentioned, passed to remove some of the difficulties which the zemindars experienced in realising their rents under the restrictions imposed at the Permanent Settlement. This was also repealed by section 1 of Act X of 1859.

Regulation VII of 1799 was also passed in furtherance of the same object. It recites that the present powers were sometimes insufficient, particularly where the crops not being in the immediate possession of the defaulter cannot be distrained and sold under Regulations XVII of 1793 and XXXV of 1795. It enacts, by section 2, that the power of distraint may be delegated to agents; by section 3, that no demand is necessary to constitute default (repealing the provisions of Regulation XVII of 1793, section 5); but the withholding payment beyond the due date renders the defaulter liable to immediate distraint for all such arrears

1 Art. 2.

2 Art. 3.

3 Art. 18.

Arts. 8, 9 of Regulation of 20th July 1792, and ss. 9, 10 of Regula

tion XVII of 1793.

Fifth Report, Vol. I, 70, 71.

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