The Himachal Pradesh Restitution of Mortgaged Lands Act, 1976

THE HIMACHAL PRADESH RESTITUTION OF MORTGAGED 
LANDS ACT, 1976 
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
Sections: 
1.  Short title, extent and commencement. 
2.  Application of Act to subsisting mortgages. 
3.  Definitions. 
4.  Petition for restitution. 
5.  Procedure for dealing with petition for restitution. 
6.  Petition when to be dismissed. 
7.  Power of the Collector to declare and enforce orders in favour 
of mortgagor and to grant compensation to mortgagee in 
certain cases.  
8.  Effect of order of restitution when compensation is payable. 
9.  Power of the Collector to eject mortgagee. 
10.  Appeal. 
11.  Revision. 
12.  Limitation of appeal. 
13.  Jurisdiction of civil courts barred. 
14.  Rule making power. 
15.  Repeal and savings. 
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THE HIMACHAL PRADESH RESTITUTION OF MORTGAGED 
LANDS ACT, 1976 
(ACT NO. 20. OF 1976)1 
(Received the assent of the Governor on the 30th April, 1976 and was 
published in the Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh (Extra-ordinary), dated the 4th 
May, 1976, pp. 1210-1214). 
An Act to provide for the restitution of lands on which a mortgage 
subsist. 
BE it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Himachal .Pradesh in 
the Twenty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:- 
                                                 
1. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see the Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh 
(Extra-ordinary), dated 17th March, 1976, p. 901. 
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH RESTITUTION OF MORTGAGED LANDS ACT, 1976 2 
1. Short title, extent and commencement.-  (1) This Act shall be 
called the Himachal Pradesh Restitution of Mortgaged Lands Act, 1976. 
(2) It extends to the whole of Himachal Pradesh.  
(3) It shall come into force at once. 
2. Application of Act to subsisting mortgages.- Notwithstanding 
anything contained in any enactment for the time being in force, this Act shall 
apply to any subsisting mortgages of land which were effected more than 20 
years prior to the date on which an application for the restitution of the 
possession of the mortgaged land under section 4 of this Act is made. 
Explanation.- A mortgage shall be deemed to subsist notwithstanding 
a decree or order for its redemption having been passed provided redemption 
has not taken place before the commencement of this Act. 
3. Definitions.- (1) The expression “land” means land which is not 
occupied as the site of any building in a town or village and is occupied or let 
for agricultural purposes or for purposes subservient to agriculture or for 
pasture, and includes- 
(a)  the sites of buildings and other structures on such land; 
(b)  a share in the profits of an estate or holding; 
(e)  any dues or any fixed percentage of the land revenue payable 
by an inferior land-owner to a superior land-owner; 
(d)  a right to receive rent; 
(e)  any right to water enjoyed by the owner or occupier of land as 
such;  
(f)  any right of occupancy; and 
(g)  all trees standing on such land. 
(2) The expression “Collector” means the Collector of the district in 
which the mortgaged property or any part thereof is situated, and shall include 
an Assistant Collector of the 1st grade specially empowered by the State 
Government to perform the duties of the Collector for the purposes of this 
Act. 
(3) The expression “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the 
area in which the mortgaged property or any part thereof is situated, and shall 
include any officer specially empowered by the State Government to perform 
the duties of a Commissioner for the purposes of this Act by a notification to 
be published in the Official Gazette. 
(4) “Prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act. 
(5) “Mortgagor” or “Mortgagee” respectively shall include the 
assignee and the representative-in-interest of such ‘mortgagor’ or ‘mortgagee’ 
as the case may be. 
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH RESTITUTION OF MORTGAGED LANDS ACT, 1976 3
4. Petition for restitution.- A mortgagor to whose land the 
provisions of this Act apply, may at any time present a petition to the 
Collector praying for restitution of possession of the land mortgaged. The 
petition shall be duly verified in the manner prescribed for such petitions. 
5. Procedure for dealing with petition for restitution.- On receipt 
of such petition the Collector, after such enquiries as may be prescribed, shall 
record an order in writing with reasons stating whether the mortgage in ques-
tion is one to which this Act applies. 
6. Petition when to be dismissed.- If the Collector finds that the 
mortgage is one to which this Act does not apply, he shall dismiss the petition. 
7. Power of the Collector to declare and enforce orders in favour 
of mortgagor and to grant compensation to mortgagee in certain cases.- 
(1) If the Collector finds that the mortgage is one to which this Act applies he 
shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment for the time 
being in force in cases where he finds that the value of the benefits enjoyed by 
the mortgagee, while in possession, equal or exceed twice the amount of the 
principal sum originally advanced under the mortgage, order in writing- 
(a)  that the mortgage be extinguished; and 
(b)  where the mortgagee is still in possession that the mortgagor 
be put into possession of the mortgaged land as against the 
mortgagee and that the title deeds, if any, be restored to the 
mortgagor.  
(2) If in cases to which this Act applies, the Collector finds that the 
value of the benefits enjoyed by the mortgagee while in possession is less than 
twice the amount of the principal sum originally advanced and some payment 
is still due to the mortgagee according to the terms of the mortgage, the 
Collector shall, by order in writing, and notwithstanding anything contained in 
any other enactment for the time being in force direct, that the land be restored 
to the mortgagor and he be put in possession subject, however, to the payment 
of compensation by the mortgagor to the mortgagee at rates not exceeding the 
following scale:- 
(i)  thirty times the land revenue assessed on the land at the time 
when it was mortgaged if the mortgagee has been in 
possession for a period exceeding twenty years but not 
exceeding twenty-five years; 
(ii)  fifteen times the land revenue assessed on the land at the time 
when it was mortgaged if the mortgagee has been in 
possession for a period exceeding twenty-five years. 
Explanation.- The Collector shall for the purposes of this section 
compute the period of possession from the date on which the mortgagee 
entered into possession, to the date of the presentation of the petition under 
section 4. 
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH RESTITUTION OF MORTGAGED LANDS ACT, 1976 4 
8. Effect or order of restitution when compensation is payable.- If 
the Collector finds that any sum is due to the mortgagee by way of 
compensation under sub-section (2) of section 7, he shall require the 
mortgagor to deposit the amount, in such manner as shall be prescribed; and 
on deposit of the amount he shall declare the rights of the mortgagee 
extinguished and require the mortgagee to deliver possession of the land to the 
mortgagor together with all documents of title relating to the land. 
9. Power of the Collector to eject mortgagee.- The Collector may, 
after declaring the rights of the mortgagee extinguished, eject the mortgagee 
and order delivery of possession of the mortgaged land to the mortgagor. In 
case of resistance the Collector may exercise all the powers conferred on a 
civil court by rules 97 and 98 of Order XXI of the Code of Civil Procedure, 
1908 (5 of 1908). 
10. Appeal.- An appeal shall lie from an original or appellate order 
made under this Act, as follows, namely:- 
(a) to the Commissioner when the order is made by a Collector; 
(b) to the Financial Commissioner when the order is made by the 
Commissioner: 
Provided that when an original order is confirmed on first appeal a 
further appeal shall not lie. 
11. Revision.- The Financial Commissioner may, at any time, of his 
own motion or on application made, call for the record of any case pending or 
decided under this Act and may in any such case pass such order as he thinks 
fit: 
Provided that he shall not under this section pass any order reversing 
or modifying any proceedings or order without giving the person concerned 
an opportunity of being heard. 
12. Limitation of appeal.- (1) The period of limitation for an appeal 
under the last foregoing section shall run from the date of the order appealed 
against, and shall be as follows:- 
(a)  when the appeal lies to the Commissioner-Sixty days; 
(b)  when the appeal lies to the Financial Commissioner-Ninety 
days. 
(2) In computing the period of limitation for an appeal under this 
section the period requisite for obtaining copies of the order appealed against 
shall be excluded. 
(3) The provisions of section 5 of the Indian Limitation Act, 1963 (36 
of 1963) shall apply to all appeals under this Act. 
13. Jurisdiction of civil courts barred.- No civil court shall have 
jurisdiction to entertain any claim to enforce any right under a mortgage 
declared extinguished under this Act, or to question the validity of any 
proceedings under this Act. 
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH RESTITUTION OF MORTGAGED LANDS ACT, 1976 5
14. Rule making power.- (1) The State Government may, subject to 
the condition of previous publication, make rules for the purpose of giving 
effect to the provisions of this Act. 
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the 
foregoing power, the State Government shall make rules regulating or 
determining the following matters, namely:- 
(a)  the presentation and verification of petitions under section 4 
of this Act; 
(b)  the procedure by which the Collector shall deal with such 
petitions under sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Act and assess 
compensation, if any; 
(c)  the procedure and principles by which the Collector shall 
assess the amount due under the mortgage, and the value of 
the benefits accruing to the mortgagee while in possession; 
(d)  the procedure for making the deposit prescribed by section 8 
of this Act; and 
(e)  the procedure for enforcing ejectment of the mortgagee and 
delivery of possession to the mortgagor under section 9 of 
this Act. 
(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be 
after it is made, before the State Legislature while it is in session for a total 
period of ten days which may be comprised in one session or in two 
successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so 
laid or the session immediately following, the legislature requires any 
modification in the rules or desires that the rule should not be made, the rule 
shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as 
the case may be, 56, however, that any such modification or annulment shall 
be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that 
rule. 
15. Repeal and savings.- The Punjab Restitution of Mortgaged Lands 
Act, 1938 (4 of 1938), as applied to Himachal Pradesh by the Himachal 
Pradesh (Application of Laws) Order, 1948 and the Punjab Restitution of 
Mortgaged Land Act, 1938 (4 of 1938) in its application to the territories 
added to Himachal Pradesh by section 5 of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 
1966, (31 of 1966), are hereby repealed: 
Provided that anything done, action taken, rules made or notification 
issued in exercise of the powers conferred by or under the provisions of the 
Acts so repealed to the extent of their being consistent with the provisions of 
this Act, shall be deemed to have been done, taken, made or issued in exercise 
of the powers conferred by or under this Act, as if this Act was in force on the 
day on which such thing was done, action taken, rules made or notification 
issued. 
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