The West Bengal Bargadars Act, 1950

West Ben 
Ord. X of 
1949. 
West Bengal Act II of 1950. 
THE WEST BENGAL BARGADA1?,5 ACT, 1950, 
[Passed by the West Bengal Legislature.] 
[Assent of the Governor was first published in the Calcutta Gazette, Extraordinary, of the 15th March, 1950.] 
An, Act to provide for the regulation of certain rights inter se of bargadars and owners of land and for the establishment of Bhag Chas Conciliation Boards for the settlement of 
disputes relating to certain matters between bargadars and owners of land. 
HEREAs it is expedient and necessary to provide for the regulation of certain rights inter se of bargadars and owners of land and for the establishment of Bhag Chas Conciliation Boards for the settlement of disputes relating to certain matters between bargadars and owners of land; 
It is hereby enacted as follows :— 
Preliminary. 
1. (1) This Act may be called the West Bengal Short
ent, 
title, 
ext  Bargadars Act, 1950. 
(2) It extends to the whole of West Bengal. 	 comm ment ence- 
and 
(3) It shall come into force on the date on which the duration.  West Bengal Bargadars Ordinance, 1949, ceases to operate. 
(4) It shall remain in force up to the 31st day of March, 1953. 
2. In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,— 
(a) "Appellate Officer" means an officer appointed under section 11; 
(b) "bargadar" means a person who under the system generally known as adhi, barges or bhag, cultivates the land- of another person on 
condition of delivering a share of the produce of 
such land to that other person but shall not 
include any such person— 
(i) if he has been expressly admitted to be a tenant 
by the owner in any document executed by 
him or executed in his favour and accepted by him, or 
(ii) if he has been held by a Civil Court to be a tenant; 
(c) "Board" means a Bhag Chas Conciliation Board 
established under sub-section (1) of section 6 and 
includes an officer authorised under the proviso 
to sub-section (4) of that section ; 
(d) "Collector" includes any officer appointed by the 
State Government to exercise all or any of 
the powers of a Collector under this Act; 
(e) "Court" includes the High Court; 
(.0 "notification" means a notification pliblished; in the 0,Ificial Gazette; 
Interpre-
tation. 
Division. of 
produce. 
Right to 
supply 
plough-
cattle, etc. 
Termina-
tion of 
cultivation 
by barga-
dar. 
2 	 The West Bengal Bargadars Act, 1950. 
[West Ben. Act 
(Rights of bargadars and owners of land inter se.— 
Sections 3-5.) 
(g) "owner" in relation to any land cultivated by any 
person as a bargadar means the person whose 
land the bargadar so cultivates; 
(h) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under 
this Act; and 
(i) "produce" includes straw or stalk of any crop. 
Rights of bargadars and owners of land inter se. 
3. The produce of any land cultivated by a bargadar 
shall be apportioned between the bargadar and the owner 
of such land in accordance with the following principles, 
namely :— 
(1) if the bargadar and the owner whose land he 
cultivates agree in writing to any mode of 
division, such mode of division shall be adopted; 
(2) if there is no such agreement as aforesaid— 
(a) the bargadar or the owner, as the case may be, 
who supplies any seed far growing any crop 
shall be entitled to an amount of the produce 
equivalent to the quantity of seed supplied; 
(b) the bargadar and the owner shall each be 
entitled to one-third of the balance of the pro-
duce which remains after deducting the amount 
of the produce referred to in paragraph (a) : 
Provided that the bargadar shall receive a 
greater share of the balance of the produce, 
if he is entitled to such greater share under a 
written contract between himself and the 
owner or under any local custom or usage; 
the remainder of the produce left after deducting 
the quantities referred to in paragraphs (a) 
and (b) shall be divided between the bargadar 
and the owner in such proportion as would be 
fair and reasonable having regard to their 
respective contributions to the cost of cultiva-
tion including in particular the supply of 
plough-cattle, plough and other agricultural 
implements and manure and to the cost of 
protection or irrigation of the land. 
4. As between a bargadar and the owner whose land he 
cultivates, the bargadar shall have the prior right to supply 
m
plough-cattle, plough, other agricultural implements or 
manure or to bear any other expenses of cultivation. 
5. (1) The owner of any land cultivated by a bargadar 
shll be entitled 	 erminate the cultivation of such land 
by
a 
 the bargadar ton t  one or more of the following grounds, 
namely :— 
(a) that the owner desires to cultivate the land by him-
self or by members of his family or by servants 
or labourers; 
(c) 
	
The West Bengal Bargadars Act, 1950. 	 3 
III of 1950.] 	 • 
(Conciliation proceedings between bargadars and owners.— 
Section 6.) 
(b) that the bargadar has misused the land or has wil-
fully neglected to cultivate it properly ; 
Explanation.—If the produce of any land cultivated 
by a bargadar in any year is unduly below the 
produce in the same year of similar and similarly 
situated lands in the vicinity, the bargadar shall 
be deemed to have wilfully neglected to culti-
vate the land properly; 
(c) that the bargadar has failed to deliver to the owner 
within the prescribed period at least that share 
of the produce to which the owner is entitled_ 
under paragraph (b) of clause (2) of section 3; 
Or 
(4) that the bargadar has failed to comply with any 
award or order of a Board or of an Appellate 
Officer, as the case may be, within the time 
allowed by the Board or by the Appellate Officer : 
Provided that the cultivation of such land by a bargadar 
shall not be terminated on any of the above 
grounds except under the order of a Board. 
(2) Where the cultivation of any land by a bargadar is terminated under clause (a) of sub-section (1) and the land is 
not cultivated by the owner himself or by members of his 
family or by servants or labourers within one year from the 
date of such termination or the land having been so culti-
vated is allowed to be cultivated by another bargadar within five years from such date, the bargadar first mentioned shall 
be entitled to be restored to the cultivation of the land by him. 
Conciliation proceedings between bargadars and owners. 
6. (1) The State Government may, by notification, 
establish one or more Bhag Chas Conciliation Boards for any local area specified in the notification. 
(2) Every Board shall consist of a Chairman who shall 
be a person in the service of Government and four other 
members, two of whom shall be representatives of bargadars cultivating lands situated ih the local area for which the 
Board has been established and the other two shall be 
representatives of owners of lands cultivated by such 
bargadars. 
(3) The Chairman and other members of the Board shall 
be appointed by the State Government and each of them 
shall hold office for such term not exceeding two years as 
the State Government may specify at the time of his 
appointment. 
(4) The State Government may, at any time, cancel 
by notification, the appointment of the Chairman or of any 
other member of a Board or dissolve any Board stating the 
reasons for such dissolution in the notification : 
Provided that when a Board is dissolved and the 
State Government does not consider the appointment 
Establish-
ment of 
Bhag Chas 
Concilia-
tion 
Boards. 
4 	 The West Bengal Bargadars Act, 1950. 
[West Ben. Act 
(Conciliation proceedings between bargadars and owners.—
Sections 7-9.) 
of another Board to be necessary or desirable, it may 
authorise any person in the service of Government to exercise 
all or any of the powers of the Board, as it thinks fit. 
Bhag Chaa 
Concilia-
tion 
Boards to 
have 
exclusive 
jurisdic-
tion to 
decide 
certain 
disputes. 
Power of 
Board to 
cause crop 
to be har-
vested and 
thrashed. 
Bar of 
jurisdic-
tion. 
7. (1) Every dispute between a bargadar and the owner 
whose land the bargadar cultivates with regard to any of 
the following matters, namely 
(a) the division or delivery of the produce; 
(b) the priority of the right to supply plough-cattle, 
plough, other agricultural implements or manure 
or to bear any other expenses of cultivation; 
(c) the termination of or the restoration to cultivation 
of such land by the bargadar; 
(d) the place of thrashing or the place of delivery of 
the owner's share of the produce, 
shall be decided by a Board established for the local area 
within which such land is situated. 
(2) In deciding any dispute referred to in sub-section 
(1), a Board shall observe the provisions of sections 3, 4 and 
5. 
Explanation.—Where there is an agreement under 
clause (1) of section 3, a Board shall consider whether such 
agreement was made by the free consent of the parties 
thereto and shall disregard such agreement if it is satisfied 
that consent to such agreement was caused by coercion, 
undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake. 
(3) The decision of a Board shall be embodied in the form 
of an award where the dispute is in respect of the division of 
the produce and shall in other cases be in the form of an 
order. 
8. Where a Board established for a local area within 
which the land which a bargadar cultivates is situated, is 
satisfied that necessary steps igay not be taken by the 
bargadar or the owner as the case may be, for harvesting or 
thrashing any crop in proper time, it may of its own motion 
or on the application of the aggrieved party cause such crop 
to be harvested or thrashed at the expense of the defaulting 
party and may order such expense to be recovered from the 
defaulting party in such manner as may be prescribed. 
9. (1) No award or order or other proceedings what-
soever of a Board or of an Appellate Officer and no proceed-
ings whatsoever in execution of such award or order shall 
be questioned in any Court. 
(2) No Court shall entertain any suit or any proceedings 
whatsoever in respect of a matter required under sub-
section (1) of section 7 to be decided by a Board referred 
to in that sub-section. 
Act V of 
1908. 
I of 1872. 
The West Bengal Bargadars Act, 1950. 	 5 
H of 1950.] 
(Conciliation proceedings between bargadars and owners.— Supplemental.—Sections 10-18.) 
10. (1) A Board may exercise all such powers connected 
with the summoning and examining of parties and witnesses 
and with the production of documents as are conferred on 
a Civil Court by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. 
(2) In deciding any matter before it, a Board shall not 
be bound to observe the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. 
11. An appeal shall lie within the prescribed period to Appeal. an Appellate Officer to he appointed by the State 
Government against any award or order of a Board made 
under this Act, except where such award or order was 
made by the Board with the consent of the bargadar and the owner. 
Board's 
power to 
summon, 
etc. 
Act XLV 
of 1860. 
12. (1) The procedure to be followed by a Board or Procedure by an Appellate Officer, shall be as may be prescribed. 	 and 
(2) An award or order made by a Board or by an execution. 
Appellate Officer, shall be executed by the Collector in such 
manner as may be prescribed. 
Supplemental. 
13. Every Chairman or member of a Board and every .Appellate Officer shall 'be deemed to be a public servant within 
the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code. 
14. Any person who fails to comply with an award or 
order made under this Act shall be punishable with 
imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months 
or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees or with both. 
Chairman, 
etc., to be 
deemed 
to be 
public 
servants. 
Penalty. 
15. Any money payable under an award or order made Money under this Act shall be recoverable as an arrear of public to be demand, recover-
able as 
public 
16. No suit 
	
	 demand. 
, prosecution or other legal proceedings indemnity. whatsoever shall lie against any person in respect of any- 
thing which is in good faith done or intended to be done 
under this Act or any rules made thereunder. 
17. (1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to create 
any relationship of landlord and tenant between an owner and a bargadar who cultivates his land. 
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to confer on a bargadar any heritable or transferable right to cultivate the land of the owner. 
18. The provisions of this Act and of any rules made Act to 
thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything 
to prevail
r aoitlher 
the contrary in any other law, or in any custom, usage,  contract or instrument. 	 , law, etc. 
Non-
accrual 
of certain 
rights. 
6 	 The West Bengal Bargadars Act, 1950. 
[West Ben. Act II of 1950.1 
(Supplemental.—Sections 19, 20.) 
Power to 	 19. (1) The State Government may make rules .  to 
make 	 carry out the purposes of this Act. 
rules. 
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality 
of the foregoing provisions, such rules may provide for all 
or any of the following matters, namely : — 
(a) the period within which a bargadar shall deliver to 
the owner the share of the produce to which the 
owner is entitled under this Act; 
(b) the manner in which expenses shall be recovered 
under section 8 from the defaulting party; 
(c) the period within which an. appeal shall lie under 
section 11 to an Appellate Officer ; 
(d) the ' procedure to be followed by a Board or an 
Appellate Officer; 
(a) the manner in which an award or order made by a 
Board or Appellate Officer shall be executed by 
the Collector; and 
(f) any other matter required to be prescribed under 
this Act. 
20. Any rule, order, award or appointment made, any 
notification issued, any proceedings or prosecution com-
menced, any punishment incurred or imposed, any action 
taken or anything. done under any provision of the West 
Bengal Bargadars Ordinance, 1949, shall, on the said 
Ordinance ceasing to operate, be deemed to have been. made, 
issued, commenced, incurred, imposed, taken. or done under 
the corresponding provision of this Act, as if this Act had 
commenced on. the 14th day of November, 1949. 
Savings 
and 
validation. 
west Ben. 
Ord. X 
of 1949. 
WBGP-5011-64A-51V1 

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