The State Acquisition (Ad-interim Payment) Act, 1957 (East Pakistan Act)

An Act to make provisions for more expeditious ad-interim payment. WHEREAS under sub-section (1) of section 6 of the [* * *] State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950, a rent-receiver whose rent-receiving interests not held under wakf, wakf-al-aulad, debutter or any other trust are acquired under sub-section (1) of section 3 of that Act is, with effect from the date of acquisition, entitled to receive annually in cash in respect of such interests an ad-interim payment at the rate of one-third of the net income on account of the demands of rent and cesses for any period after the date of acquisition collected by the Government for such interests in the year to which such payment relates; AND WHEREAS in the cases of such rent-receiving interests acquired after the 1st April, 1956, under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the said Act, it will take much time to collect necessary details and start and maintain separate accounts of collections of rents and cesses made by the Government in respect of such rent-receiving interests held by each rent-receiver for complying with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 6 of the said Act; AND WHEREAS the making of ad-interim payments in such cases according to the provision of sub-section (1) of section 6 of the said Act will in the aforesaid circumstances, be much delayed and will consequently cause much hardship to the rent-receivers concerned; AND WHEREAS in order to avoid such hardship, it is considered expedient to make provisions for more expeditious ad-interim payments in such cases on a simpler basis; It is hereby enacted as follows:-

Section 1. Short title, extent and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the ¹* * * State Acquisition (Ad-interim Payment) Act, 1957.

(2) It extends to the whole of ²Bangladesh.

(3) It shall come into force at once.

Section 2. Definitions

In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant to the subject or context,-

(1) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(2) “Revenue-officer” includes any officer whom the Government may appoint to discharge all or any of the functions of a Revenue-officer under this Act or any rules made thereunder; and

(3) all other words and expressions used in this Act shall have the same meanings as in the ³* * * State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950.

Section 3. Ad-interim payment

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-sections (1), (3) and (4) of section 6 of the ⁴* * * State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950(hereinafter referred to as the said Act), a rent-receiver, whose interests in any estate, taluk, tenure, holding or tenancy or part thereof, not held under wakf, wakf-al-aulad, debutter or any other trust, have been acquired under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the said Act after the 1st day of April, 1956, shall, with effect from the date of such acquisition, be entitled to receive annually, in cash, in respect of such interests, at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed, an ad-interim payment at the rate of one-sixth of the net income calculated according to the provisions in sub-section (2).

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), the net income of a rent-receiver from any estate, taluk, tenure, holding or tenancy or part thereof shall be calculated by deducting from the gross assets, consisting of the aggregate of the rents and cesses which were payable to such rent-receiver by his immediately subordinate tenants in such estate, taluk, tenure, holding, tenancy or part thereof for the agricultural year immediately preceding the date of acquisition, the following, namely:-

(3) In calculating the amounts of deduction under sub-section (2), the Revenue-officer shall be guided by such rules as may be made in this behalf by the Government.

Section 4. Service of notice to furnish statements

(1) For the purpose of calculating the net income under section 3, the Revenue-officer shall publish a proclamation in the prescribed manner in every village requiring the rent-receivers concerned to furnish, within sixty days from the date of publication of the proclamation or within such further time as may be allowed by the Revenue-officer on application, statements in the prescribed forms showing therein their gross assets and deductible amounts as referred to in sub-section (2) of section 3 and such other particulars as may be prescribed:

Provided that the Government may, at any time, by notification in the official Gazette, allow such of the rent-receivers, as have not already furnished such statements in pursuance of the said Proclamation, a second opportunity to furnish the same to the Revenue-Officer within such period as may be specified in the notification.

(2) The net income shall be calculated by the Revenue-officer after considering the returns furnished under sub-section (1) and making such enquiry as he thinks fit.

(3) The submission of the statements required under sub-section (1) shall be the condition precedent to the making of ad-interim payments under section 3.

Section 5. Appeal

Any person aggrieved by an order of the Revenue-officer determining the amount of any ad-interim payment under section 3 may, within a prescribed period and in the prescribed manner, present an appeal in writing to a prescribed superior Revenue Authority, and the decision of such Authority and also, subject only to such decision an order of the Revenue-officer passed under that section shall be final.

Section 6. Exemption of ad-interim payment from attachment

Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and the ⁶* * Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, any amount payable to a rent-receiver under section 3 shall not be liable to attachment in execution of any decree or order of a Civil Court or of a certificate signed under the ⁷ * * Public Demands Recovery Act, 1913, other than a decree or certificate for the recovery of arrears of revenue, rent or cesses due in respect of the interests to which such payment relates.

Section 7. Ceasing of ad-interim payments and adjustment thereof

With effect from the 1st day of the agricultural year next following the date of publication in the official Gazette of a notification under sub-section (2) of section 43 of the said Act, declaring that a Compensation Assessment-roll has been finally published, the ad-interim payment under section 3 in respect of the interest for which compensation has been assessed in such roll shall cease; and the total amount of ad-interim payments made under section 3 in respect of any such interests, less an amount calculated at the rate of three per centum per annum on the amount of compensation assessed for such interests in such roll from the date of acquisition of such interests under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the said Act till the last day of the agricultural year in which such notification is so published, shall be deducted from the amount of such compensation before proceeding to make payment of such compensation under sub-section (1) of section 58 of the said Act.

Section 8. [Omitted]

[Option.- Omitted by section 3 and the Second Schedule of the Bangladesh Laws (Revision And Declaration) Act, 1973 (Act No. VIII of 1973).]

Section 9. Power to make rules

The Government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

Section 10. [Repealed]

[Repeal and saving.- Repealed by section 3 and the Second Schedule of the Repealing and Amending Ordinance, 1966 (East Pakistan Ordinance No. XIII of 1966).]