The Odisha Communal Forest and Private Lands (Prohibition of Alienation) Act, 1948

The Orissa Communal Forest 
and Private Lands (Prohibition of Alienation) Act, 1948 
 
(Received the assent of the Governor General in the 5th February, 1948) 
 
An Act to prohibit the alienation of Communal, Forest and 
 Private Lands in the 2[State] of Orissa 
 
WHEREAS it is expedient to prohibit the alienation of all communal forests and 
private lands in the 2[State] of Orissa in the manner hereinafter appearing; 
 
It is hereby enacted as follows; 
 
1. Short title, extent and commencement  – (1) This Act may be called the Orissa 
Communal, Forest and Private Lands (Prohibition of Alienation) Act, 1948. 
 
(2) It extends to the whole of the 1[State] of Orissa except the district of Sambalpur. 
 
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 1946. 
 
2. Definitions-  In this Act, unless there is anyt hing repugnant in th e subject or the 
context- 
 
(a) Communal land means; 
(i)  in relation to estate s governed by the Madras Es tates Land Act, 1 of 1908, 
land of the description mentioned in Sub-clau se (a) or Sub-Clause (b) of Clause (16) 
of section 3 of that Act : and 
 
(ii) in relation to cases governed by the Orissa Tena ncy Act, 11 of 1913, lands 
recorded as gochar rakshit, or sarbasadharan in the reco rd-of-rights or waste lands 
which are either expressly or  impliedly set apart for the common use of the villagers, 
whether recorded, as such, in the record-of-rights or not: 
 
(b) Estate and Private land shall have th e same meanings respectively assigned to 
those expressions either in the Madras Es tates Land Act, 1 of 1908 or in the Orissa 
Tenancy Act, 11 of 1913. 
 
(c) Forest land includes any waste land cont aining shrubs and trees and any other 
class of land declared to be forest land by a notification of the 1[State] Government. 
 
(d) Landlords means- 
 
(i) in relation to estates governed by the Madras Estates Land Act, 1 to 1908, land 
holder as defined in that Act; and 
 1

(ii) in relation to cases governed by th e Orissa Tenancy Act, 11 of 1913, landlord 
as defined in that Act. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force or 
any express or implied agreement but subject to the provisions of Sub- section (2), no 
landlord shall, without the pr evious sanction of the Collect or sell, mortgage, lease or 
otherwise assign or alienate or convert into raiyati la nd any communal forest or 
private land or create occupancy rights therein: 
 
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to prohibit a landlord 
from leasing out his  priv ate land for a period not exceeding two years without 
previous sanction of the Collector. 
 
 2
3.  Prohibition  of  Alienation  of  Communal  Forest  and  Private  Lands  –  (1)
(2) When a piece of land comes within the definition of “forest” as given in the 
Orissa Preservation of Private Forests Act, VIII of 1947, and also within the 
definition of “communal land” or “forest la nd” as given in this Act the previous 
sanction given by the appropriate  authority under the clause (a) of sub-section (1) of 
section (3) of that Act shall be deemed to be the previous sanction as required by sub-
section (1) 
 
(3) Any landlord who contravenes the provi sions of sub-section (1) and any agent 
of the landlord who abets such contravention shall be punishable with fine which may 
extend to 1000 rupees:  
 
Provided that no landlord shall be liable to the penalty provided in this sub-
section of any contravention that took place prior to the date of the passing of this 
Act.  
 
Case Laws-: Section 3 – Khasmahal land and lease by Collector acting on behalf 
of the State, the landlord – previous sanction not necessary: 28(1962) CLT 24. 
 
Section 3- Character of communal land – Not Changed after vesting the reason is 
that it is not the nature of any encumbrance, but only represent the character of the 
land : 40(1974) CLT 38. 
 
Section 3- Land not mentioned as communal land in the record of rights- can not 
be treated as communal land in absence of evidence to the effect: ILR 1965 Cutt. 22: 
31(1965) CLT 654. 
 
Section 3- Govt. order No. 850 Dt . 2.8.1949- Delegation of Revenue powers-
S.D.O. empowered to grant lease of wa ste land up to 15 acres-Effect of  : 36 
(1970)CLT 536. 
 
4. Transaction of the Nature Specified in Section 3 to be void  – (1) Any 
transaction of the nature prohibited by Secti on 3 which took place on or after the 1 st day 
of April, 1946, shall be void and inoperative a nd shall not confer to take away or be 
deemed to have conferred to taken away any right whatever on or from any party to the 
transaction. 
 
Provided that nothing contained in this Sub- section shall be deemed to invalidate- 
 
(i) any such transaction in respect of privat e land or forest land entered into prior 
to the 30 th day of November, 1947 in favour of  any religious, charitable or 
educational institution or of any hospital or of any local authority or 
cooperative society registered either unde r the Madras Co op erative Societies 
Act, VI of 1932 or the Bihar and Orissa  Co-operative Societies Act, VI of 
1935, as the case may be, of any other public body or institution; 
 
 3
(ii) any such transaction in respect of privat e land or forest land entered into prior 
to the 30 th day of November, 1947 in favour of any person in good faith and 
for valuable consideration. 
 
 
(2) If any dispute arises as to the validity of the claim of any pers on to any land under 
Clauses (i) and (ii) of the pr oviso to Sub-section, (1) it sh all be upon to such person to 
apply to the District Judge of the district in which the land is situated for a decision as to 
the validity of such claim 
 
(3) The District Judge to whom an applica tion is made under Sub-section (2) shall, 
after giving notice to all the pers ons concerned in the transaction or interested in the land 
also, where the application is not made by the 1[State Government] to the State 
Government decide whether the claim to the land is valid or not; and his decision shall be 
final and not subject to appeal or revision in any superior Court. 
 
(4) The 1[State Government] may, by notification makes rules for the purpose of 
carrying into effect the provisions of this section and in particular as to the fees to be paid 
in respect to the application referred to  in Sub-section (3) and the procedure to be 
followed by the District Judge. 
 
Explanation- In Sub- section (2), (3) and (4) the expression “District Judge” shall 
include “Additional District Judge” in respect of those cases that may be transferred to 
him for disposal. 
 
Case Laws: Section 4 (1)- Civil Court’s jurisdiction  to determine the validity of a 
lease to “Nij –jote land”  as contemplated under-Scope of – Lessees to file such an 
application to enforce the law : ILR 1964 Cutt. 111: 30(1964) CLT. (Notes) 6. 
 
Section 4 (2)- Jurisdiction of the Court – District Judge appointed as competent 
authority to decide the validity of claim- Ju risdiction of the ordinary Civil Court barred : 
30 (1964) CLT 481. 
 
Section 4 (2) and section (7)  of the  Orissa  Estates A bolition Act, 1951- Plaintiff 
claiming “khas possession “ under section of the O.E.A. Act on the basis of a sale deed 
which defendant disputes being void under Act (1) of 1948-Order of Estate Abolition 
Collector setting land on plainti ff without considering validity of sale deed and plaintiff 
not filing dispute before District Judge for decision –Decree passed  of Civil Court basing 
on such sale deed and order of settlement of land under section (7) of O.E.A. Act invalid : 
36 (1970) CLT 636. 
 
Section 4(2) and (3) Applic ation of Lease af ter 1.4 .1946 Provisions not applicable-
No application of District Judge lies: ILR 1972 Cutt.753. 
 
Section 4 land leased out without previous sanction of Collector void: 64(1987) CLT 
41. 
 4
5 Collector to Sanction Prosecution-  No prosecution shall be  instituted under this 
Act against any person without the previous sanction of the Collector. 
 
6. Bar of Jurisdiction- No notification or order of the State Government or of the 
Collector under this Act shall be liable to be questioned in any Court of Law. 
 
7. Modification of Madras Act , 1 of 1908 and Bihar and Orissa Act, 11 of 1913-  
The provisions of this Act shall,  as far as may be read and construed as forming part of 
Madras Estates Land Act, 1 of 1903 , or as the case may be, of the Orissa Tenancy Act,11 
of 1913: 
 
Provided that where any of the provisions of  this act is inconsistent or repugnant to 
the provisions of the aforesaid acts, it shal l prevail and the said provisions of the 
aforesaid acts shall be deemed to be modified to that extent. 
 
8. Power to Remove Difficulties- If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the 
provisions of the Act, the 1[State Government] may as occasion may arise by order do 
anything which appears to them necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty. 
 5

‹ Prev All Odisha acts Next ›