Sec 205 to 221 Chapter XVI (Consolidation Of Holdings) The Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959

205. Definitions.—

In this Chapter—

(i) "Consolidation of holding" means the redistribution of all or any of the land in village, so as to allot to the Bhumiswami continuous plots of land for the convenience of cultivation;

(ii) "Consolidation Officer" means a Revenue Officer, not below the rank of a Tahsildar, appointed by the State Government for any district or districts to exercise the powers, and to perform the duties of a Consolidation Officer under this Code.

206. Initiation of consolidation proceedings.—

(1) Any two or more Bhumiswamis in a village holding together not less than the minimum area of land prescribed by rules made under Section 221, may apply in writing stating such particulars as may be prescribed by rules made under Section 221, to the Consolidation Officer for the consolidation of their holdings.

(2) The Collector may of his own motion direct the Consolidation Officer to make an enquiry into the feasibility of consolidation of holdings in any village.

(3) If two thirds of the Bhumiswamis in a village apply for consolidation of their holdings or if in the course of an enquiry into an application made under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) two-thirds of the Bhumiswamis of the village make an application agreeing to the consolidation of their holdings, such application shall be deemed to be the application on behalf of all the Bhumiswamis of the village.

(4) If in a case falling under sub-section (3), any scheme of consolidation of holdings is confirmed, it shall be binding on all the Bhumiswamis of the village, and on any persons who may subsequently be entitled to hold or occupy the land.

(5) In any other case, if any scheme of consolidation of holdings is confirmed, it shall be binding on the applicants and those who have agreed to the consolidation of their holdings and on any persons who may subsequently be entitled to hold or occupy the land affected by the scheme.

207. Rejection of application.—

(1) If on receipt of any such application or at any stage of the proceedings thereon, there appears to be good and sufficient reason for disallowing the application or for excluding the case of any applicant from consideration, the Consolidation Officer may submit the application to the Collector with a recommendation that the application be rejected in whole or in part, or that the proceedings be quashed.

(2) The Collector, on receipt of the recommendation, may accept it and pass orders accordingly or may order further inquiry.

208. Admission of application.—

If the Consolidation Officer admits the application, he shall proceed to deal with the same in accordance with the procedure laid down by or under this Code.

209. Preparation of scheme for consolidation of holdings.—

(1) If the Bhumiswamis making the application under Section 206 submit a scheme of consolidation of holdings mutually agreed to, the Consolidation Officer, shall, in the manner laid down by rules made under Section 221 examine it and, if necessary, modify it.

(2) If no scheme is submitted with the application, the Consolidation Officer shall prepare a scheme for the consolidation of holdings in the manner laid down by rules made under Section 221.

(3) If the Consolidation Officer is of the opinion that the redistribution of land in accordance with a scheme of consolidation will have the result of allotting to any Bhumiswami a holding or land of a less market or productive value than that of his original holding or land, the scheme may provide for the payment of compensation to such Bhumiswami by such person or persons as the Consolidation Officer may direct.

(4) Where the scheme of consolidation is complete, the Consolidation Officer, after considering and as far as possible removing the objections, if any, made to the scheme, shall submit it for confirmation to the Collector.

(5) When the scheme of consolidation is complete, and if all the Bhumiswamis affected by such scheme, agree to enter into possession of the holdings allotted to them thereunder, the Consolidation Officer may allow them to enter into such possession from a date to be mentioned in the scheme.

210. Confirmation of scheme.—

The Collector may either confirm the scheme with or without modification or refuse to confirm it after considering the objection or objections, if any, to the scheme of consolidation and the recommendation of the Consolidation Officer. The decision of the Collector, subject to any order that may be passed in revision by the ¹[Commissioner, Land Records] under Section 50, shall be final.

(1. Substituted by C'G. Act No. 6 of 2022, w.e.f. 4-5-2022, for the words "Settlement Commissioner".)

211. Procedure on confirmation.—

(1) Upon confirmation of the scheme of consolidation, the Consolidation Officer shall, if necessary, demarcate the boundaries of the holdings and shall proceed to announce the decisions finally made and cause to be prepared in accordance with the scheme, a new field map, record-of-rights, other records prescribed under Section 114, Nistar Patrak and Wajib-ul-arz.

(2) The new records prepared under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have been prepared under Chapter IX or XVII, as the case may be.

212. Right of Bhumiswami to possession of holdings.—

Bhumiswami affected by the scheme of consolidation, if they have not entered into possession under sub-section (5) of Section 209, shall be entitled to possession of the holdings allotted to them under the scheme, from the commencement of the agricultural year next following confirmation; and the Consolidation Officer shall, if necessary, put them, by warrant in possession of the holdings to which they are entitled:

Provided that if all the Bhumiswamis agree, they may, after confirmation, be put into possession of their holdings by the Consolidation Officer from any earlier date.

213. Transfer of rights of Bhumiswamis in holdings.—

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Code, the rights of Bhumiswamis in their holdings shall, for the purpose of giving effect to any scheme of consolidation affecting them, be transferable by exchange or otherwise and no person shall be entitled to object to or interfere with any transfer made for the said purpose.

(2) The Consolidation Officer may also transfer by exchange or otherwise any land belonging to the State Government where such transfer is necessary for the purpose of giving effect to any scheme of consolidation.

214. No instrument necessary to effect transfer.—

Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force—

(a) no instrument in writing shall be necessary in order to give effect to a transfer involved in carrying out any scheme of consolidation of holdings; and

(b) no such instrument, if executed, shall require registration.

215. Costs of carrying out scheme.—

(1) The Consolidation Officer shall, unless the State Government for sufficient reasons directs otherwise, recover from the Bhumiswamis whose holdings are affected by the scheme for consolidation of holdings, the cost of carrying out the scheme, which shall be assessed in accordance with rules made under Section 221.

(2) The Consolidation Officer shall apportion the costs among the Bhumiswamis liable to pay them according to occupied area of the holdings affected by the scheme.

216. Recovery of Compensation and cost.—

Any amount payable as compensation under sub-section (3) of Section 209, or as costs under Section 215, may be recovered as an arrear of land revenue.

217. Suspension of partition proceedings during currency of consolidation proceedings.—

When an application for the consolidation of holdings has been admitted under Section 208, no proceedings for partition of the holdings which will affect the scheme of consolidation shall be commenced and all such proceedings pending shall remain in abeyance during the continuation of the consolidation proceedings.

218. Transfer of property during proceedings.—

When an application for the consolidation of holdings has been admitted, no Bhumiswami upon whom the scheme will be binding shall have power, during the continuance of the consolidation proceedings, to transfer or otherwise deal with any part of his original holding or land so as to affect the rights of any other Bhumiswami thereto under the scheme of consolidation.

219. Rights of Bhumiswamis after consolidation same as before.—

A Bhumiswami shall have the same rights in the holding or land allotted to him in pursuance of a scheme of consolidation as he had in his original holding.

220. Encumbrances of Bhumiswamis.—

(1) If the holding of any Bhumiswami brought under the scheme of consolidation is validity burdened with any lease mortgage or other encumbrance, such lease mortgage or other encumbrance, shall be transferred and shall attach to the holding allotted to him under the scheme or to such part of it as the Consolidation Officer, subject to any rules that may be made under Section 221, may have appointed in preparing the scheme; and thereupon, the lessee, mortgage or other encumbrancer, as the case may be, shall cease to have any right in or against the land from which the lease, mortgage or other encumbrance has been transferred.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or any other enactment for the time being in force the Consolidation Officer shall, if necessary, put any lessee or any mortgagee or other encumbrancer entitled to possession, by warrant, into possession of the holding or part of a holding to which his lease, mortgage or other encumbrance has been transferred under sub-section (1).

221. Power to make rules.—

(1) The State Government may make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Chapter.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, the State Government may make rules—

(a) prescribing the minimum area of land to be held by the persons making an application under sub-section (1) of Section 206;

(b) providing for the particulars to be contained in any application made under Section 206;

(c) providing for the procedure to be followed by the Consolidation Officer in dealing with applications for the consolidation of holdings and for the appointment and constitution of any Advisory Committee dr Panchayat to assist the Consolidation Officer in the examination or preparation of the scheme;

(d) for determining the compensation to be paid in cases falling under sub-section (3) of Section 209;

(e) for regulating the assessment of costs under Section 215;

(f) for determining the market or productive value of the different holdings and lands brought under any scheme of consolidation;

(g) for the guidance of the Consolidation Officer in respect of the transfer of encumbrances and leases under Section 220; and

(h) generally for the guidance of the Consolidation Officer and other Officers and persons in all proceedings under this Chapter.