SR TOPIC PAGE

No. No.

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. OBJECT 1

III. CONTENT 1-6

i. Terms used under the code

ii. Provisions made under the code

iii. Land Tillers

iv. Payment leaved for Non- usage of land

V. CASES 7-8

i. Shankarlal Shriram Lohiya vs The State Of

Maharashtra
1 July, 2019 WRIT PETITOIN NO. 8799 OF
2017
ii. M/S. Niketan Land And Estate Pvt. vs State
Of Maharashtra
10 January, 2017 WRIT PETITION NO.6747 OF
2016

VI. RECENTLY AMMENDED RULE 8-9

VII. CONCLUSION 9

VIII. BIBLIOGRAPHY 9
 OCCUPANT CLASS 1 OCCUPANT CLASS 2

INTRODUCATION:

Land being one of the 5 elements of nature. It is basic source of sustenance of life
for all creatures on earth. Therefore the system of land revenue and land tenure is
significant as there should be laws to govern the different aspects relating to land.
In the History of Land Revenue Legislation there exists Survey and settlement
Act,1865 which was later amended in year 1868, further there was the code of
Bombay Land Revenue in the year 1879 amended in year 1013 and then in year
1939. Later in the year 1957 there was enactment in the Bombay Revenue tribunal
Act which was applicable to the whole state of Maharashtra. In year 1966 there was
unification of all the codes and the ‘THE MAHARASHTRA LAND REVENUE
CODE. 1966’ was enacted.

OBJECT:

1. To determine within the ambit of the MLRC what the relevant terms mean.
2. To ascertain what different provisions are imposed in relation to conversion of both
forms of land under the code.
3. To study the Legislature in relation to Occupant class I and Occupant class II.
4. To know what are the penalties levied by non-usage of the land.
5. To study relevant case law for better understanding of Occupant Class I and
Occupant Class II.
6. To know about the amendments those have been bought recently in the Rules of the
code.
7. To compare the both classes and ascertain the difference between the two.

CONTENT:

Terms under the code

The term "occupancy1" means a portion of land held by an occupant.

Whereas "occupant"2 means a holder in actual possession of unalienated land, other

than a tenant or Government lessee; provided that, where a holder in actual
possession is a tenant, the land holder or the superior landlord, as the case may be,
shall be deemed to be the occupant.

Under the code it is mentioned that there are 3 kinds of people who hold the land
1
http://www.bareactslive.com/MAH/mh129.htm

2
http://www.bareactslive.com/MAH/mh129.htm
 Firstly it can be “Occupant Class I”3 shall consist of persons who -

(a) hold unalienated land in perpetuity and without any restrictions on the right to
transfer;
(b) immediately before the commencement of this Code hold land in full occupancy
or Bhumiswami rights without any restrictions on the right to transfer in accordance
with the provisions of any law relating to land revenue in force in any part of the
State immediately before such commencement; and
(c) notwithstanding any notification or order issued under Section 150 of the
Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1954, are holders of land in Bhumidhari
rights in any local area in Vidarbha and are permitted hereafter, subject to the rules
made by the State Government in this behalf, on payment of a premium (not
exceeding three times the assessment payable in respect of such land) to be
included in occupants- Class I.
“Occupants - Class-II”4 shall consist of persons who, -

(a) hold unalienated land in perpetuity subject to restrictions on the right to transfer;

(b) immediately before the commencement of this Code hold -

(i) (deleted)

(ii) elsewhere hold land in occupancy rights with

restrictions on the right to transfer under any other law relating to land revenue; and

(c) before the commencement of this Code have been granted rights in unalienated
land under leases which entitle them to hold the land in perpetuity, or for a period
not less than fifty years with option to renew on fixed rent, under any law relating
to land revenue and in force before the commencement of this Code; and all
provisions of this Code relating to the rights, liabilities and responsibilities of
Occupants- Class-II shall apply to them as if they were Occupants-Class-II under
this Code.

Provisions under the code:

There are conditions in relation to the rights of the occupant, the person who has the
right to use the land is under the obligation to use the land only due payment is
rendered on account of the land revenue and on fulfilment of any other condition
that is adjoined to the section in the codes which is mentioned under the S.37 of the
said code

4
The revenue is fixed under the code which is suppose to be paid by the occupant
and the government lessee shall pay as land revenue lease money fixed under the
terms of the lease as mentioned under S.39.

The section 42 (A) of the code mentions that Occupant of class I need not seek
prior permission from the collector for conversion of the land for any Development
Plan prepared and published as per the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and
Town Planning Act, 1966. The Authorities in the planning would ascertain the
occupancy and encumbrance on the property

Land which fall under Occupant class II or it is the land which is leased by the
government, the occupant needs to apply to the planning authority for the
permission to change the use of land further the collector hands a NOC, the
applicant is supposed to pay Nazarana and other government dues only after which
a NOC would be issued. On issuance of the NOC the planning authority gets
permission for development as per the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and
Town Planning Act, 1966.

Under section 42 B the provisions for conversation of land use for lands included in
final Development plan area is stated as below

After receiving the payment it is the responsibility of the Collector to grant sadan in
the period of sixty days from the date of payment. Later subsequent entry should be
made in the record which reflects the conversion of the said land under
consideration to a non-agricultural land with effect from the date on which the
payment was made.

The dues subject to the taxes, premium, the nazaranas and other Government dues
as per the prevailing orders of the Government, shall be issued to the concerned
occupant as follow:

(a) in respect of land held as Occupant Class-I, within 30 days from the date of
application ;

(b) in respect of land held as Occupant Class-II, -

(i) within 30 days from the date of application, where the Collector is competent to
grant permission for change of use of such land at his level ;

(ii) within 30 days from the date on which the permission of the authority,
competent to allow such conversion or change of use, is received by the Collector

When we consider the land under the section 42(c) which talks about the land
which is present in the draft region plan, in respect of a land held as Occupant
Class-II, nazarana or premium and other Government dues levied for such
conversion, as per the prevailing orders of the Government and the relevant
provisions of the law, are paid and the same is applicable to the land which is
suppose to be converted and lies in the residential area belonging to class II
classification.

Explanation of the word Nazarana:

When the purchase is made by the occupant of Class II, the payment that needs to
be made to the collector is 2% of the purchase price in case where the land which is
under the consideration is of bona fide industrial use whereas in case of integrated
town planning it is 50% of the purchase price and the payment for the same needs
to be done within a month of execution of the sale deed irrespective of the use. If
there is failure in depositing the money within a span of a month then the purchaser
will leaved with penalty of 75% of the purchase price or the value in the market i.e
market value whichever is higher.

Land to Tillers
Under Section 42 of Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Act,1948 transfer of
ownership of the tenant land to the person who was tenant because of the system
bought under the British Rule. On 1st April 1957 these lands where given back to
the owners who were made tenants in the said British time and this day was known
as the known as the "Tillers' Day". There is complete sale and purchase on the
tiller’s day. The title of landlord passes immediately to the tenant on the tiller’s day.
The tiller who purchased the land under this act is classified as an Occupant Class
II. The land of Occupant Class II is heritable but transfer of land is valid subject to
fulfilling conditions imposed by the Government.

Payment leaved for Non- usage of land:

This provision won’t be applicable to the areas notified as eco-sensitive zone by

Government of India.

The land which is purchased for the sake of industrial use should be put to use
within a period of 5 years from the date of purchase, this period was subsequently
extended to fifteen years by the Maharashtra Act No. 25 of the year 2005. The
amendment also emphasis that purchaser should pay tax if the purchase land is been
held by the seller:
 A)Occupant I &II an amount equal to Three times of an annual assessment of non-
agriculturaltax payable under Maharashtra Revenue Land Code,1966 as Non-
Utlization tax per year

B)Only Occupant class II- additional amount equivalent to 48% of the purchase
price.

Shankarlal Shriram Lohiya vs The State Of Maharashtra5

1 July, 2019 WRIT PETITOIN NO. 8799 OF 2017

Facts: This is a petition filled by the applicant against the respondent State of
Maharashtra to incorporate the word 'owner' instead of 'occupant - Class - I' in the
7/12 extract of agricultural land which is in adherence with Scheme of Section 148
of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (for short M.L.R.C.).
Held: the court held that the allied Statutes such as Bombay Tenancy and
Agricultural Lands Act, Land Ceiling Act and Vatan Laws contain the term 'owner.
It is reiterated that, the 7/12 extract is not a document of title. The 7/12 extract also
contains nature of tenure of the person in occupation of the land. If the person holds
the land as an owner, he is shown as 'Occupant - Class-I', the record of rights has
been maintained in complete adherence to the provisions of M.L.R.C. and the
relevant rules thereunder, and name of owner of the particular land does figure in
the 7/12 extract, with a nature of tenure as 'Occupant - Class-I',from which it
beomes clear that the person hols the land in what capacity i.e as the owner of the
land or otherwise. Hence concluding that the public interest litigation failed.

M/S. Niketan Land And Estate Pvt. vs State Of Maharashtra6

10 January, 2017 WRIT PETITION NO.6747 OF 2016

Facts: In this case the applicant was aggrieved by the order which was passed by
the state which imposed payment on unearned income and for the land in
consideration to be continued as Occupant class II land. The land was allotted to the

5
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/190390051/
6
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/133326315/
 father of the appellant in the year1949. The allotted i.e. the father of the said
Namdeo Bankar has stated in the Kabuliyat that the said land has been granted to
him in perpetuity from 08/06/1949 subject to the provisions of the Maharashtra
Land lgc 20 of 34 wp-6747.16 Revenue Code, 1879 and subject to the further
condition that neither he nor his legal heirs shall at any point of time divide,
mortgage, partition, sell, transfer by any means and further condition that he would
not transfer the land as a whole or allow any part of it to be cultivated, used or
occupied by any other person so as to divide it without prior permission of the
Collector. As indicated above the transfer and conversion of agricultural lands
allotted by the State Government on the basis of Occupancy Class II is regulated by
the said GR dated 08/09/1983. The said GR postulates the terms and conditions on
which the transfer and conversion can be granted. One of the conditions is that the
transferee would continue to occupy the land as Occupant Class-II.
Held: The court in this case held that the applicant is now estopped from
contending the GR and have also shown the willingness to pay the unearned
income and in fact have now deposited the said unearned income with the
Collector, Nashik.  Hence the instant case is not a case where the renewal of lease
was sought but is the case where the original allottee had sought permission to
transfer and for conversion of the agricultural land to non-agricultural.  The said
GR therefore supplements the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code in so far as the
transfer and conversion of the land belonging to agricultural Class II is concerned.
Due to the above mentioned facts the court concluded that since the original owner
did not complained about the contentions of the GR stating that the occupant will
continue as Class II owner now after all these years the subsequent owner does not
have grounds to challenge this order by the commissioner of Nashik.

RECENTLY AMMENDED RULE7

In the notification dated March 8th, 2019 it was notified in the Maharashtra Land
Revenue (Conversion of Occupancy Class-II and Leaseholder lands into
Occupancy Class-I). The conversion rule apply to the land granted or allowed to be
used for the purpose of agriculture, residence, commercial and industrial purpose
on the basis of occupant class II or on lease holder basis. The land of occupant class
I can be converted to occupant class II by writing an application to the District
collector or by paying prescribed premium, depending on the category of holding
the prescribed premium may vary from 15% to 75% of the value of land as per
prescribed rate of assessment.
Inclusion of Bhumidhans in Occupants-Class I, Permission8
7
https://www.mondaq.com/india/landlord-tenant--leases/789400/conversion-of-government-lands-into-
occupancy-class-i-lands
8
https://www.latestlaws.com/bare-acts/state-acts-rules/maharashtra-state-laws/maharashtra-land-revenue-
code-1966/maharashtra-land-revenue-inclusion-of-certain-bhumidharis-in-occupants-class-i-permission-rules-
1968/
The Government of Maharashtra had made the following rule, the same having
been previously published as required by sub-section (1) of section 329 of the said
code:
A person holding land in Bhumidhari rights in the Vidarbha area of the State who is
classed as Occupant - Class II under sub-section (3) of Section 29 and desires to be
included in Occupants - Class I under clause of sub-section (2) of that section shall
make an application in that behalf addressed to the Collector.
When reference is made to vidharbha region the Occupant of Class I are referend as
under:
(i) a malik makbuza;

(ii) a raiyat malik;

(iii) an absolute occupancy tenant;

(iv) an occupant;

(v) an ante-alienation tenant;

(vi) a tenant of antiquity;

(vii) a Bhumiswami

And the Occupant of Class II include

(i) an occupancy tenant;

(ii) a raiyat;

(iii) a tenant;

(iv) a permanent tenant;

(v) a Bhumidhari;

CONCLUSION:
The main purpose of dividing the land holders into different class is that the
government is notified if any occupant class-2 person is selling his agricultural
land. The land provided to occupant class-2 is for the purpose of their well-being
and economic development
when such person transfers the land allotted to him ,the whole purpose of land
allotment is explicated .Thus, under various sections of act ,it is notified that such
transfer of land is void and land will be transferred to the original occupier and after
amendment also heavy tax was levied on each transfer of land to protect the
purpose of its sanction.
In case of land transfer by occupant class-1 it is stated that the original land holder
has to first offer for sale (if selling) such land to the tenant of land,in order to
protect the tenancy rights

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.bareactslive.com/MAH/mh129.htm