Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com Tiruchirappalli Kaiaeruvaram And Mattuvaram Act, 1958 36 of 1958 [31 March 1959] CONTENTS 1. Short title, extent and commencement 2. Definitions 3. Remuneration payable to kaiaeruvaramdar 4. Dismissal of kaiaeruvaramdar 5. Kaiaeruvaramdar to be re-engaged in certain cases 6. Adjudication of disputes 7. Application Of Madras Act XXV of 1955 and Madras Act XXIV of 1956 to mattuvaramdars 8. Transitory provision 9. Landowner entitled to resume possession in certain cases 10. Levy of court-fee 11. Revision by the High Court 12. Bar of jurisdiction of civil court 13. Power to make rules 14. Power to remove difficulties SCHEDULE 1 :- SCHEDULE Tiruchirappalli Kaiaeruvaram And Mattuvaram Act, 1958 36 of 1958 [31 March 1959] PREAMBLE An Act to define the conditions of engagement and to provide for the protection of kaiaeruvaramdars and mattuvaramdars in certain areas in the district of Tiruchirappalli. Whereas in certain areas of Tiruchirappalli district certain peculiar kinds of relationship in respect of land called kaiaeruvaram and mattuvaram are prevalent and whereas the uncertainties regarding the incidents of those relationships have led to frequent disputes between the Landowners and kaiaeruvaramdars and rnattuvaramdars, loading to unsettled conditions and broaches of peace and causing fall in agricultural production; And whereas it is expedient to define the conditions of engagement and to provide for the protection of kaiaeruvaramdars and rnattuvaramdars in certain areas in the district of Tiruchirappalli; Be it enacted in the Ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-- 1. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Fort St. George Gazette Extraordinary, dated the 9th September 1958, Part IV-A, pages 435 to 436. 1. Short title, extent and commencement :- (1) This Act may be called the Tiruchirappalli Kaiaeruvaram and Mattuvaram Act, 1958. ( 2 ) It extends to the villages in the district of Tiruchirappalli specified in the Schedule. (3) It shall come into force on the 1st day of April 1959. 2. Definitions :- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "garden land" means dry land irrigated by lifting water from wells or other sources; (b) "kaiaeruvaramdar" means any person engaged by a landowner to do ploughing and watering operations or ploughing operation alone on a land for remuneration for such work by a share in the crop on the land in respect of which such work is done or by payment of a fixed quantity of paddy or by both such share and payment; (c) landowner" in relation to a kaiaeruvaramdar or mattuvaramdar means the owner of a land who has engaged the kaiaeruvaramdar or the mattuvaramdar and includes any person deriving any right from such owner in respect of that land; (d) mattuvaramdar means any person engaged by a landowner to supply bulla for ploughing operations and to do ploughing and other operations on a land for remuneration for such work by a share in the crop on the land in respect of which such work is done; (e) one acre of wet land shall be deemed to be equivalent to one and a half acres of garden land or three acres of dry land and any reference to acres of wet land shall be deemed to include a reference to dry or garden land reduced to their equivalent extent of wet land. 3. Remuneration payable to kaiaeruvaramdar :- Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any pre- existing law, custom, usage, agreement or decree or order of a Court, the remuneration payable to any kaiaeruvaramdar shall be on the same terms as wore applicable to him immediately before the commencements of this Act. 4. Dismissal of kaiaeruvaramdar :- (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (2) and (3), no landowner shall dismiss a kaideruvaramdar after the commencement of the agricultural operations in a crop season. (2) Any landowner may dismiss a kaiaeruvaramdar for misconduct or for neglect of duty but shall within a week of the dismissal report the fact of such dismissal to the Tahsildar having jurisdiction over the area. (3) Any landowner or kaiaeruvaramdar may terminate the engagement by giving notice in writing of not less than twelve months or by mutual agreement, provided that where the landowner terminates the engagement under this sub-section, he shall be liable to pay to the kaiaeruvaramdar such compensation as may be prescribed or such amount as may be mutually agreed upon. 5. Kaiaeruvaramdar to be re-engaged in certain cases :- Any kaiaeruvaramdar whose engagement has been terminated on or after the 1st January 1957 and before the commencement of this Act shall, on application made within thirty days after the commencement of this Act to the Tahsildar having jurisdiction over the area in which the land is situated, be entitled to be re-engaged as a kaiaeruvaramdar under this Act by the landowner concerned: Provided that the application may be received after the period of thirty days aforesaid if the applicant satisfies the Tahsildar that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within that period: Provided further that any order for re-engaging any kaiaeruvaramdar under this section shall, in respect of any land where there are standing crops on the date of such order, take effect immediately after the harvest of such Crops. 6. Adjudication of disputes :- (1) Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, any dispute between a landowner and a kaiaeruvaramdar including any dismissal of a kaiaeruvaramdar under sub-section (2) of section 4 or any matter which affects their mutual harmonius relationship in the cultivation of land, shall, on application by any party aggrieved, or on receipt of the report made under sub-section (2) of section 4, be decided by the Tahsildar having jurisdiction over the area in which the land is situated. Explanation.--Where the land in respect of which the kaiaeruvaramdar is engaged is situated in the jurisdiction of more than one Tahsildar, it shall be open to the party aggrieved to apply to any one of those Tahsildars. (2) Against any final order passed by the Tahsildar under sub- section (1), an appeal shall lie to the Revenue Divisional Officer to whom the Tahsildar concerned is subordinate within thirty days of the passing of the order unless he, for reasons to be recorded in writing, considers that there was sufficient reason for not preferring the appeal within time and condones the delay in preferring the appeal within that time; and the decision of the Revenue Divisional Officer on such appeal shall be final. 7. Application Of Madras Act XXV of 1955 and Madras Act XXIV of 1956 to mattuvaramdars :- Notwithstanding anything contained in the Madras Cultivating Tenants Protection Act, 1955 (Madras Act XXV of 1955) and the Madras Cultivating Tenants (Payment of Fair Rent) Act, 1956 (Madras Act XXIV of 1956),-- (a) the provisions of those Acts shall apply to any mattuvaramdar under a landowner who owns more than ten acres of wet land and such a mattuvaramdar shall be deemed to be a cultivating tenant within the meaning of those Acts; and (b) any mattuvaramdar under a landowner referred to in sub- section (2) of section 9 whose engagement has not been terminated under that sub-section shall be entitled to continue as a mattuvaramdar on the same terms as were applicable to him immediately before the commencement of this Act and the Madras Cultivating Tenants Protection Act, 1955 (Madras Act XXV of 1955), shall as far as may be apply to him as if he were a cultivating tenant under that Act. 8. Transitory provision :- (1) Any proceeding under the Madras Cultivating Tenants Protection Act, 1955 (Madras Act XXV of 1956) (hereinafter in this section referred to as the said Act), which has been disposed of on or after the 1st January 1957 and before the commencement of this Act on the footing that the said Act did not apply to any mattuvaramdar referred to in clause (a) of section 7 shall, on application made by such mattuvaramdar within thirty days after the commencement of this Act, be reopened and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the said Act as if he were a cultivating tenant within the meaning of the said Act: Provided that the application may be received after the period of thirty days aforesaid if the applicant satisfies the authority concerned that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within that period. (2) Any mattuvaramdar referred to in clause (a) of section 7 whose engagement has been terminated on or after the 1st January 1957 and before the commencement of this Act on the footing that the said Act did not apply to him at the relevant time shall, on application made within thirty days after the commencement of this Act, be entitled to be re-engaged on the terms specified in clause (b) of section 7: Provided that no such application shall be maintainable as against a landowner who would be entitled to terminate the engagement under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) of section 9 to the extent specified in those sub-section: Provided further that the application may be received after the period of thirty days aforesaid if the applicant satisfies the authority concerned that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within that period. (3) The provisions of section 4 of the said Act shall, so far as may be, apply to any mattuvaramdar entitled to be re-engaged on an application made under sub-section (2). (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, any order f or re-engaging any mattuvaramdar under this section shall, in respect of any land where there are standing crops on the date of such order, take effect immediately after the harvest of such crops. 9. Landowner entitled to resume possession in certain cases :- (1 ) Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 7 and 8, a landowner who owns not more than three acres of wet land and who has not been assessed to any sales tax or income-tax under the respective laws relating to the levy of such taxes during 1955- 56 or 1956-57 shall be entitled to terminate the engagement of any mattuvaramdar as if this Act had not been passed. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sections 7 and 8, a landowner who owns not more than ten acres of wet land and who has not been assessed to any sales tax or income-tax under the respective laws relating to the levy of such taxes during 1955-56 or 1956-57 shall be entitled to terminate the engagement of the mattuvaramdars as if this Act had not been passed: Provided that the total extent of land in respect of which any such landowner as is referred to in this sub-section shall be entitled to so terminate the engagement of the mattuvaramdars shall not exceed three acres of wet land inclusive of the wet land on which such landowner has been carrying on personal cultivation: Provided further that any such landowner as is referred to in this sub-section shall have the right of choosing the lands in respect of which he desires to terminate the engagement of the mattuvaramdar. (3) Any landowner desiring to terminate the engagement of the mattuvaramdars under sub-section (1) or under subsection (2) shall apply to the Revenue Divisional Officer in whose jurisdiction the lands or any part thereof are situate and the provisions of sub- section (2) of section 4-A of the Madras Cultivating Tenants Protection Act, 1955 (Madras Act XXV of 1955), shall, so far as may be, apply to an application made under this sub-section. (4) No person who is not entitled to terminate the engagement of the mattuvaramdars under this section on the date of the commencement of this Act shall be deemed to be so entitled by reason of any subsequent change in his circumstances. 10. Levy of court-fee :- Every application or memorandum of appeal under this Act shall bear a court-foe stamp of one rupee. 11. Revision by the High Court :- The Revenue Divisional Officer shall be deemed to be a court subordinate to the High Court for the purposes of section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of 1908), and any order of the Revenue Divisional Officer under this Act shall be liable to revision by the High Court under the provisions of that section. 12. Bar of jurisdiction of civil court :- No civil court shall entertain any suit or other proceeding to set aside or modify any order, decision or award passed by any Tahsildar, Revenue Divisional Officer or other authority under this Act or in respect of any other matter falling within his or its scope. 13. Power to make rules :- (1) The State Government may, by notification, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act, and in particular for the execution or enforcement of any orders, decisions or awards passed thereunder or for the removal of any doubts or difficulties which may arise in giving effect to the provisions thereof. (2) All rules made under this Act shall, as soon as possible after they are made, be placed on the table of both the Houses of the Legislature and shall be subject to such modifications by way of amendments or repeal as the Legislative Assembly may make within fourteen days on which the House actually sits either in the same session or in more than one session. 14. Power to remove difficulties :- If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State Government may, as occasion may require, by order, do anything which appears to them necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty. A copy of every order passed under this section shall be laid before each House of the Legislature as soon as possible after they are made and shall be subject to such modifications whether by way of repeal or amendment as the Legislature may make in the same session or in the next session. SCHEDULE 1 SCHEDULE SCHEDULE. [See section 1 (2).] Serial number. Revenue number. Name of village. (1) (2) (3) (1) Kulitalai taluk. 1 15 Krishnarayapuram. 2 13a Mahadanapuram North. 3 14 Kammanallur. 4 11 Kallapalli. 5 12 Chintalavady. 6 10 Pill l 6 10 Pillapalayam. 7 8 K. Pettai. 8 7 Vadiyam. 9 6 Manathattai. 10 5 Vaigainallur North. 11 4 Kulitalai. 12 3 Rajendram. 13 2 Marudur North. 14 1 Kumaramangalam. 15 37 Poyyamani. 16 38 Nangavaram North. 17 38a Nangavaram South. (2) Musiri taluk. 1 30 Natham. 2 32 Arasalur. 3 33 Thottiam. 4 48 Ayyampalayam. 5 54 Amur. 6 55 Konasilam. 7 46 Sundakkai. 8 47 Vellur. 9 28 Sriramasamudram. 10 86 Alagarai. 11 34 Sithur. (3) Karur taluk. 1 22a Nerur North. 2 22B Nerur South. 3 23 Achamapuram. 4 25 Somur. 5 26 Koyampalli. (4) Tiruchirappalli taluk. 1 14 Andanallur. 2 17 Sirugamani. 3 19 Kulumani. (5) Lalgudi taluk. 1 2 Kariamanickam. 2 3 Kilianallur. 3 4 Melpathu. 4 11 Ulundangudi. 5 14 Manachanallur. 6 18 Melaseedeviraangalam. 7 19 Vengangudi.