RAIYAT UNDER THE WEST BENGAL LAND REFORMS ACT, 1955

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RAIYAT
Section 2(10) – Raiyat means a person or an institution holding land for any purpose whatsoever. Person is defined in Section 3(42) of General Causes Act, 1987 “Person shall include any company or association or body of individuals whether incorporated or not.”

V.K. Rao v. Special Collector – The SC observed the word institution includes religion, charitable or cultural institutions holding land.

Section 2(7) – Land means land of every description and a raiyat holding land of every description has to hold it for any purpose whatsoever subject to the ceiling limit as prescribed in Chapter IIB of the Act.

According to Section 14K (a) ceiling area means the maximum extent of land which a raiyat shall be entitled to own and if fixed with reference to the family of the raiyat.
- A raiyat being adult unmarried person = 2.50 Hectares.
- A raiyat who is a sole surviving member of a family = 2.50 Hectares.
- A raiyat having a family consisting of 2 members but less than 5 = Maximum 5 Hectares.
-  A raiyat having a family of more than 5 members = 5 Hectares + 0.50 Hectares for each member in excess of 5, but shouldn’t exceed 7.00 Hectares.



Section 4 mentions the extent of the rights of raiyats along with the limitations in respect of their land. In general, raiyats can transfer their land by sale, gift, bequest, exchange and some forms of mortgage.

The LR Act creates the presumption that raiyats can engage in any kind of transfer unless specifically restricted by the legislation. Such transfers must be in writing and must be recorded.

Section 4(1) declares the raiyat as an absolute owner of his plot of land and also makes this right heritable and transferable. But a person or an institution shall not be regarded as a raiyat for the purpose of this section if such a person or institution holds any plot of land –
  1. i.  Under any permit, lease or license granted under the provisions of this section, or
  2. ii. As a thika tenant defined in Section 2(14) of the West Bengal Thika Tenancy Act, 2001, or
  3. iii. Under Sairati interests or retaining such plot of lands under Section 6(1) (g), read with Section 6(3) of W.B.E.A. Act, 1953.

 Sub-Sections (2), (2A), (4) and (5) deal with the limitation regarding the above stated rights.

Section 4(2) – The Raiyat has not been given the rght to the Sub-soil of his own plot of land.

Section 4 (2A) – Imposes following Restrictions on raiyats:-
  1. i. A raiyat shal not quarry sand from his plot of land or permit any person to do so, or
  2. ii. He shall not dig or use the earth or clay of his plot of land for the purpose to manufacture bricks or tiles or permit any person to do so.
  3. However, he is permitted to do above stated activities only for his own use and for that he must take prior permission of the State Govt. on payment of prescribed fees.

Section 4(2B) – Provides penalty for breach of Section 4(2A), Fine not exceeding Rs.2000/- and Rs.200/- for each day continuing the breach.

Section 4(2C) – Any provision imposing fine under Section 4(2B) is subject to appeal to be preferred in accordance with Section 54 and 55 of the Act.

Section 4(4) – The law places some limits on raiyats to use their land, deprives then of their land if these limits are violated. Specifically, raiyats:
  1. Cannot lease out any part of their land,
  2. Cannot use their land for any purpose other than the purpose for which the land is held or was settled, unless written permission is received from District Collector, and
  3. Must personally cultivate their land.
Raiyats must reside in the locality where the land is situated and the produce of land must be the principal source of raiyats income. If these requirements are not satisfied for 3 consecutive years, land vests with the State and the State becomes obliged to compensate the raiyat.

Section 14V – Compensation is 15 times the land revenue assessed for the land or 135 Rupees per acre where land revenue has not been assessed.

Section 14T – Lays down the duty of raiyat to furnish return to the R.O. containing full description of land which he proposes to retain and also the land which is in excess of the ceiling area.

Section 7 – A raiyat has been given the right to mortgage his plot of land or any share thereof only in three types of mortgages, such as:

  1. Simple Mortgage,
  2. Usufructuary Mortgage for period not exceeding 15 years,
  3. Mortgage by deposit of title deeds.

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