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    Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation

    Uploaded by

    Mahir Shanan

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 36
    CHAPTER —VI Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation (VIII of 1819) *1, Object and policy of the Regulation (Sec.1) :—The Patni ‘Taluk Regulation was passed with a view :— (1) The regulate and define the nature of patni Taluk. (2) To declare the legality of the practice of under-letting in the manner in which it has been exercised by the Patnidars and others. (3) To make provisions to protect the under-lessee from any collusion of his immediate superior with the zamindar or other for his ruin. (4) To secure the just rights of the zamindar on the sale of any tenure under the stipulations of the original engagements entered into with him. (5) To lay down the procedure by which the said tenures are to be brought to sale and the form and manner of conducting such sale. (6) To allow the zamindar means of realising his dues in the middle of the year as well as at the end of the year. (7) To extend this rule of realisation of dues twice a year in all cases in which the right of sales may have been reserved at the end of the year only. In other words, to extend the right to mid-year and year-end sales to cases where year-end sale is only stipulated for. *2, Origin of Patni Taluk :—At the permanent settlement, the Government by abdicating its position as the exclusive possesssor of the soil and contending itself. with a permanent rent charge on the land, escaped thenceforward the labour and risks attendant upon detailed mofassil management. The za- mindars were not slow to follow the example set before them and immediately began to dispose of their zamindaries in a similar manner, as the system.afforded them the escape from the ruin threatened by the high assessment of land-revenue made at the time of permanent settlement. oy 66 Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation j The Patni Taluks have their origin in the estates of Maharaja of Burdwan. The estates of the Maharaja were sa by the creation of Patni Taluks. The assessment of lar revenue on the estates settled with the Burdwan Raj was ,, high. For easy and punctual realisation of rent, leases middiemen in perpetuity and at fixed rent were granteq ;, large number of intermediaries, who were thus Ma; proprietors in the same way as the Government has Made }) Maharaja of Bardwan a proprietor. By degrees the SYSte> extended to other zamindaries and by the year 1819 ther, a large number of Patni taluks, especially in the districts ,; Hoogly, Burdwan, Bankura, Nadia and Purea that they y, formally legalised ky Regulation VIII of that year and me; were afforded to the zamindars of recovering arrears of rez; from their Patnidars almost identical with those by wh the demands of Government revenue were enforced agai themselves (Tagore Law Lectures, 1895; Roy's Patni Sales Lay P.4). *3. Nature of Patni Taluk :—The original meaning of th word “Patni” seems to be settled and it means a dependen: tenure settled in perpetuity at fixed rent. A patni taluk is heritable, capable of being transferred bj sale, answerable for his personal debts and subject to the process of the civil court in the same manner as othe! immovable property. a Patni taluk is not liable to cancelled for default in payment of the rent thereof, but tlt tenure may be brought to sale by public auction and the defaulting Patnidar is entitled to any surplus sale-proceet* beyond the arrears of rent due thereupon. A patni talukdar* entitled to let out the lands of his taluk in any manner m0 conducive to his interest and any engagements entered into , such talukdar with others are legal and binding between dl Parties to the same, their heirs and assignees : Proves however, that no such engagements shall operate a HS Prejudice of the right of the proprietor to hold the patni i ¢ answerable for any arrear of his rent in the sate in whic! granted it and free of all incumbrances resulting from th¢ of his tenants, the Patnidar (Sec.3); ac! ) vil Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation 67 the Patni was liable to summary sales, under Regulation 1 of 1819 for arrears of rent. The liability to summary ennial sales at the instance of the zamindar is a feature which distinguishes the Patni taluks from other permanent tenures: ‘The summary sales may be availed of only in case of arrears of rent due on account of the current year (in the case of the mid-year sale) or of the year just expired {in case of the first sale): The antecedent rents due for previous years cannot. be realised by summary sale under the Regulation. They, being mere personal debts, must be recovered in the same way as other debts by a regular suit in Civil Courts. The zamindar has, however, the additional right of bringing Patni taluks to sale under the ordinary procedure laid down for other classes aftenures and the effect of such a sale is the same as to the right of the purchaser to avoid incumbrances and to get other right as in sales under the Regulation. The Patni Regulation gives the zamindar the right to realise the rent by a summary procedure and that summary procedure is restricted only to periodical rents. But the zamindar is not bound to realise his rent every six months: He can wait for a longer period, he can proceed under the general law for the realisation of his rent. Section 195(e) of the B. T. Act provides that the Act would not apply to enactments relating to Patni tenure. But where the patni Regulation is silent, the provisions of the general Rent-law would apply. This has been settled by authorities. The Patni Regulation is silent, for instance, as to the realisation of rent beyond one year and therefore, the zaminder is entitled to bring his suit under the ordinary rent-law. . The Regulation does not take away the’ rights. of the zamindar to proceed in the ordinary way under the general law to recover arrears of rent. It only given him an additional right to recover rent by a summary process of sale which is testricted to the recovery of rent for one year only. The Patni Regulation was in force for more than a century and Patni tenures were sold under the provisions of the B. T. Act and no objection had ever been realised that a patni tenure could not be sold under the provisions of that Act, There is no difference s& Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation beteren tt ini taluks and other tenures In respect of the eeuckans a Section 63 of the B. T. Act. Accordingly, und,., the express provisions of Section 65 B. T. Act. the zamindar ;. entitled by a suit under the Act. to bring a Patni to sale with the consequences prescribed by the Act. A patni is not in all respects similar to a mourash,; mokarari tenure. “4. Comparison between M. M.T. and Patni Taluk :—The;, are many points of similarity between mourashi mokarar, tenure and Patni tenure. Both are (1) held for an unlimited time. (2) at a fixed rent, (3) heritable, (4) transferable, (5) capable of being sublet. and (6) not liable to ejectment for arrears of rent. Contrast :—{1) As to the nature of the tenure, the interest of 2 patnidar seems to be of a higher order. (2) Though both are exempted from ejectment for arrears of rent, and both may be sold for arrears, a patni taluk may be sold for current arrears, without a decree for the arrears, under the summary procedure Prescribed by the Patni Taluk Regulation. A mourashi mokarari tenure, on the other hand, T. Act, only in execution of a decree for arrears passed under Section 63, B. T. Act. (3) On a sale of the zamindari for arrears of revenue a mourashi mokarari tenure may be protected (a) if it exists at the time of the permanent settlement, or (b) if it has been heid Protected unless it comes under section 37 and 39 of the Revenue Sales Act XI of 1859. {4) On failure of heirs, the Patni tenure reverts to the zamindar. but a mourashi mokarari tenure escheats to the State. {5) The transferability, heritability and other incidents of mourash{ mokarari tenures are governed by the B. T. Act. while the incidents of Patni tenure are governed by the Patni Taluk Regulation of 1819, Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation 69 4 temporary-settled estates. A patni taluk has been defined in tie preamble to this Regulation as a taluk created by the dar to be held at a rent fixed in perpetuity by the lessee .d his heirs for ever. Consequently, it cannot be created in a tem orary settled estate. He cannot create a permanent tenure A fixed rent, because his own engagement is not a p ermanent one. 6. Creation of Patni by a Hindu Widow :—A Hindu widow create a valid Patni on her husband's estate, if there is egal necessity to justify the alienation. She is not a tenant for life, but is the owner of her husband's estate, the Patnidar acquires no more than life-interest of the widow, if there is no egal necessity to justify the lease. The grant of a Patni by her without legal necessity is not, however, void, but only yoidable and may be validated by the consent of the reversioner. Even when there is no longer necessity, she can. validly create Patni on her husband's estate which has devolved on her with the consent of the next reversioner. The consent of the reversioner is effective even when given after the execution of the deed of transfer. In order to set aside a patni lease granted by a Hindu widow, the reversioner must bring a suit within 12 years from the date on which the cause of action arose. 7. Creation of Patni by Mahomedan widow :—Under the Mehomedan Law, the mother is not the legal guardian of the property of her minor children. She is merely a de facto guardian—a bare custodian of the property and has no power to sell, mortgage, or otherwise deal with immovable property belonging to them. In Imambandi, V. Mutsaddi (45 I. A. 73, 83), their Lordship of the Privy Council held that the mother has no large powers to deal with her minor child's property than any outsider or non-relative who happens to have charge for the time being of the infant and any transfer by the mother is wholly void. In Mohamed Amin, V. Vokil Ahmed (A. SC.358), ithhas been held by the Supreme Court of India that a de-facto guardian has no authority to enter into a family settlement in respect of a minor's property, even though the settlement might be for his benefit. Therefore, a Mehomedan mother has i 70 Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation no power to create a Patni taluk in the estate of her Ming, child, 8. Creation of Patni by Shebait :—A grant of a Patni by a shebait of a debutter estate is not necessarily provided that it is made on account of unavoidable Necessity, In this respect the power of a shebait is similar to that of Fi manager of a minor's property. A permanent lease of debutte, property is void, if it ts not made for legal necessity, Where there is an unavoidable necessity compelling the shebait e alienate the property, such an allientation is clearly for th, benefit of the deity. But if there is no such necessity, the fac, that the value of the estate will be increased if an alienation by sale, mortgage or otherwise is effected, will not Justify such, a transaction, although it may be that thereby the endowment will be benefited. The period of limitation in such cases js governed by Section 10 and not article 134 of the Limitation Act. 9. Intermediate interest between a zamindari and a Patni tenure :—Acoording to the later decision of the Calcutta High Court, an intermediate interest can be created between a zamindari and Patni (41 C. W. N. 364; 34 C. L. J. 77). Earlier decision in 14°C. W. N. 389 was that a zamindar cannot lawfully create a Permanent tenure between his own interest and a Patni taluk of the first degree. So, where a zamindar grants a lease above a Patni, it should be construed to be only an assignment of the rent payable to the zamindar and there is no relationship of landlord and tenant between the so called lessee and patnidar. The mere giving of the name of a Patni to the interes! created between the zamindar and the Patnidar does not make it a patni as contemplated by the Patni Regulation. A sale of Such interest under the Regulation is without jurisdiction an the purchaser acquires no title. Such a purchaser's right ¢*! be questioned by the defendant Patnidar in a suit brought bY him for rent (50 Cal. 146). f There can be no objection to the assignment of the righ! ° e 1S the zamindar to receive rent from, the Patnidar which h¢ i, 4 entitled to get under the Patni settlement; for example, he ™”! leas, Void , Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation 71 an fjara or he may execute a mortgage and make over ion to the mortgagee. In such cases, the assignee of the zamindar's interest would be entitled to recover rent from the patnidar by virtue of the assignment even’ though there may pe no relationship of landlord and tenant between the assignee and the Patnidar. In 60 Cal. 1092 it has been held that @ zamindar who has carved out a patni tenure is competent to interpose between himself and his tenant an intermediate holder who may realise the rent payable to him- self by his original tenant, provided that he does not thereby prejudice the position of the first tenant. Such interest, even if described as a Patni, will not itself have all the incidents: of a patni tenure attached to it. But it there is a stipulation in the contract between the zamindar and the intermediate tenure- holder that the tenure would be liable to be sold under the summary process provided in the Patni Regulation, such stipulation would be perfectly valid. The existing Patnidar would have his rights intact as under the patni-patta. He is not affected by the sale of the intermediate interest, as his interest does not come within the range of encumbrance or annulable interests under Section 11 of the Patni regulation. *10, Incidents of Patni Taluks (Sec. 3). (1) Patni tenures declared valid, transferable and answerable for debt—Patni taluks are tenures in perpetuity at a fixed rent, heritable transferable, answerable for debts and subject to the process of courts. The tenure know by the name of Patni taluks, as described in Section 1 of this Regulation, shall be deemed to be valid tenures in perpetuity according to the engagements under which they are held. They are heritable and capable of being transferred by sale, gift or otherwise at the discretion of the holder, as well as answerable for his personal debts and subject to the process of the Courts in the same manner as other real. property. (2) Patnidars are competent to under-let in any manner most conductive to their interest :— Patni talukdars shall be Competent to let out the lands comprising their taluks in any manner. they may deem most conductive to their interests and. Be engagements so entered into by such talukdars with create | Partles to 72 Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation e legal and binding between the i a ay ponent assignees : Provided. however, tp, such engagement shall operate to the prejudice of the right . the zamindar to hold the superior tenure answerable fo any arrear of his rent in the state in which he granted itand free 7 all incumbrances resulting from the act of his tenant, (3) Patni tenures are not voidable for arrears, but lable G be sold by public auction, the patnidar being entitleg to surplus sale-proceeds :—In case of an arrear occurrin, Pon any patni tanure, it shall not be liable to be cancelled fo, : same, but the tenure shalll be brought to sale by public Auction, and holder of the tenure will be entitled to any exces: SIN the unt of the arrea; T Of rent "11, Right of Patnidar to resumed chakran lands :—Tht Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation 73 palks etc- for the maintenance of order, protection of life and roperty> the collection of revenue and other services per- ie nal to them. All these different classes of officers were the servants of the zamindars, appointed by them and removable by them. ‘They were remunerated in many cases by the grant of land rent-free or at a low rent in consideration of their services. The lands so granted were called chakran or service lands. ‘The Choukidari Chakran Lands were assessed at the same rate as other revenue paying lands by the D. S. and the P. S. All resumed choukidari chakran lands were transferred to the zamindars of the estates within which they were situated by the Village Choukidari Act of 1870 (Sec. 48). Now the question is whether the patnidar is entitled to claim the resumed choukidari chakran lands. It is a general principle of law that unless a different intention is expressed or necessarily implied, a transfer of property passes forthwith to the transferee all the interest which the transferor is then capable of passing in the property and the legal incidents thereof. Unless therefore there is an express reservation, the patnidar is entitled to the settlement of the resumed chakran lands. Thus where a patni lease conveyed to the Patnidar all the lands of which the zamindar at the time of the execution of the lease possessed in the mouza included choukidari chakran land, it was held that on resumption by the Government and a settlement with the zamindar under Act VI of 1870, the patnidar became entitled to possession of the choukidari chakran land, subject only to payment to the zamindar of extra assessment of rent imposed on account of the resumed land (11 C. W. N. 201). But if in assessing the Patni rent, the profits of all the lands including the chakran lands were fully taken into account the patnidar would not be liable to pay additional rent for the chakran lands when they came into his possessions (5 C. L. J. 52). a Under Section 41, Regulation VIII of 1793, the choukidari wee lands must be taken to have formed part of the estate al was settled with the zamindars. They were annexed to guzari lands and declared responsible for the public os UMpLio,, 74 Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation revenue assessed on the zamindarl. Upon reg, choukidari. cakhran land and transfer of the same 4, zamindar, the patnidar is entitled, if the land tg coven, the) the Patni lease, to bring a sult for recovery of Posse; Cd by not for specific performance of the contract. The limitation of such a suit 1s governed by Art. 149 schedule 1 of the Limitation Act.IX of 1908. The leading case on the point ts Ranjit Sing v, Kalidag, (44. 1. A.117). The position of Government and zamindar in Tespect of resumed C. C. L. :—The right of the Government is such lands has been defined in secy of State V. Kirtibash (42,1. A, 30). It was held in this case that the Government can resume such choukidari chakran lands if such lands had not been taken in consideration while the jama was fixed, though such lands might have been included in the malguzari lands of any estate. The Court will presume that every piece of land held as malguzari by any zamindar had been taken into account in fixing the jama under Section 41 of Regulation VIII of 1793, and burden lies on the Goverment to prove that any piece of land though held as malguzari had not actually been taken into account while the jama was assessed, *12 Right to minerals :—It is a well-established principle of law that a conveyance of land is prima facie a conveyance of the entire solum from the surface down to the centre of the earth, including the mines, quarries and minerals beneath or within it. So a grant of patni tenures in the absence of express limitation carries with it all the grantor's right, title and interest in the mines and minerals and the Patnidar would Possess all under ground rights in the absence of express reservation by the zamindar. This view seems to be in consonance with the English legal ideas and was taken by the Court in some earlier cases, But this view has been held to be incorrect by theit Lordships of the Privy Council as in their opinion, the za- mindar must be presumed to be the owner of the underground rights in the absence of any evidence that he has parted with it. As in the case of other permanent, heritable and transfer Sslon any | Periog o¢ | of or ag Bengal Patnt Taluk Regilation 15 se tenures: ereated by a zamindar, the sub-soll rights will . eg under a patnt only when granted in express terms, “phe proper test Is not whether nothing is expressly excluded: but what to expressly granted and general words covering all interests are not sufficient to pass sub-soll rights the absence of express words to that effect. Upon a grant of only the surface rights by a zamindar, he remains the owner of the sub-soil. A recital in the Patni deed that the grantee shall be in possession of “all the zamindary rights and interests in the land included in the mouza” does not convey the sub-soil rights to the grantee. It is now well settled in the case of Sash! Bhusan V. Raja gyoti prasad that when a grant is made by a zamindar of a tenure at 2 fixed rent, although the tenure may be permanent, peritable and transferable, minerals will not be held to have formed part of the grant in the absence of evidence to that effect. (44. 1. A. 46). 13, Rule as to the Liability for landlord's fee and security incase fo transfer. (Secs. 5 & 6) :— Sections 12 and 13 of the B. T_Act do not apply to Patni tenures which have been expressly excluded by Section 195 (e) of the same Act. The Patnidar has the right to transfer his taluk and a zamindar cannot refuse to give effect to alienations made by the Patnidar. But the zamindar is entitled to receive a fee fixed at 2% of the annual rent of the transferred taluk, the maximum being Rs.100 and could demand also substantial security from the transferee to the amount of half the jama as provided in Section 5 of the Patni Regulation. But this section has been ammended by Berigal Act XV of 1940 which provides that “notwithstanding anything contained in this Regulation, the provisions relating to security shall not, after the commencement of the Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation (Amendment) Act, 1940, apply to the transfer of a Patni Taluk ora share or a portion thereof”. Before the Amendment Act of 1940, the zamindar could aoe to register the name of the new transferee in his ‘erista for non-payment of fee and security. The omission by transferee from a patnidar to pay the fee and security to the 76 Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation zamindar does not affect in any way his title, His Sri perfected upon the transfer by the patnidar and are hr ate way contingent for their validity upon the payment or fea any security, The refusal to register the name of a trang meant that the original patnidar remained Persona responsible for the payment of the rent and the zamindar ly not bound to accept rent from an unregistered transferee, | After the Amendment Act of 1940, the patnidar Need i pay the security but he is to pay the fee on transfer at the rate of 2% on the jama and the maximum being Rs. 100. If the fee jg not paid the zamindar is not bound to recognise the tran: (Sec.6, Cl.1) and may sell the tenure in execution for arrears of rent obtained against the registered tenant. The zamindar is not bound to accept Payment of rent from an unregistered transferee of a Patni nor is he bound to Tecog- nise any deposit of rent made by such a transferee in his own name. The registration of name in the zamindar's sherista Te- lieves the outgoing patnidar of all personal liability as to the payment of rent subsequent to the cessation of his Possession while it enables the transferee to deal directly with the land- lord and affords him better opportunity of protecting his tenure. Unless a purchaser's name is registered in the land- lord's sherista, the landlord may recover his rent from the registered patnidar. A person who has purchased a patni at a sale in execution of a money decree, but has not registered his name in the landlord's sherista, is bound by a subsequent decree for arrears of rent obtained by the landlord against the registered Patnidar of such decree and is therefore a representative of the Judgement-debtor within the meaning of Sec.47 of the C. P. C- (82 Cal. 1031), The rules regarding fee are equally applicable to private as well as public sales in execution of decrees other than decrees for arrears of rent due on the Patni-tenure. But in the case of a sale held either under the Patni Regulation or in execution of decree for arrears of rent due on the tenure the purchaser is entitled to have his name registered and to have Possession without fee. Bengal Patni Taluk Regulation 7 of 14. See aoe accounts (Sec. 6A) :~{1) Sec. 6A of patni -gulation prescribes the procedure to open

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