/958

Statement of Objects and Reasons.-The principal object of this Bill (sections 3 and 4) is to provide for the recovery of arrears of revenue in districts other than those in which the arrears have accrued. The necessity of making provision in this behalf arises from the fact that most of the enactments relating to the recovery of revenue are local in their operation. Thus, the North-Western Provinces Land-revenue Act, 1873, extends only to the territories for the time being under the government of the Lieutenant-Governor of those Provinces, and the Oudh Land-revenue Act, 1876, only to the territories under the administration of the Chief Commissioner of that Province. The consequence is that a process for the recovery of an arrear which has accrued in Oudh cannot be enforced in an adjoining district of the North-Western Provinces. Similarly, a process for the recovery of an arrear which has accrued in the North-Western Provinces cannot be enforced in Madras, Bombay, Bengal, the Punjab of the Central Provinces. It has even been doubted whether, in the absence of such a clause as is to be found in section 94 of the Central Provinces Land-revenue Act, 1881, a process issued for the recovery of an arrear which has accrued in one district of the North-Western Provinces can be enforced in another district of those Provinces, The very great inconvenience arising from such a state of the law has been represented to the Government of India by the Governments of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh and the Punjab, and legislation on the lines of this Bill has been urged by those Governments and approved by all other Local Governments.

2. The minor object of the Bill (section 5) is to provide, as in section 61, subsection (3), of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1884, a machinery for the recovery of sums which are recoverable by officers other than Collectors and by public bodies as if the sums were arrears of land-revenue. Such sums are those mentioned in section 4, Act XII of 1850, section 9, Act XVII of 1878, and section 77, Act XV of 1879, which are recoverable as arrears of land-revenue by the head of the office, the District Magistrate and the Rangoon Port Commissioners, respectively.

3. Section 6, sub-section (4), of the Bill lays down a rule which has been law in the Bengal Presidency since the year 1822 and has since been enacted for most other parts of British India.

[14th February, 1890]

An Act to make better provision for recovering certain public demands.

Whereas it is expedient to make better provision for recovering certain public demands; It is hereby enacted as follows:-

The Act has been extended to the Union territory of (1) Goa, Daman and Diu by Regulation 12 of 1962, (2) Dadra and Nagar Haveli by Regulation 6 of 1963, (3) Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands by Regulation 8 of 1965. These islands are now known as Lakshadweep, see Act 34 of 1973, Section 3 (w.e.f. 1.11.1973) and (4) Pondicherry by Act 26 of 1968.

The Act has now been extended to Sikkim, see S.O. 529(E)/1973.