Kanam Tenancy Abolition Act, 1976

No: 16 Dated: Mar, 25 1976

THE KANAM TENANCY ABOLITION ACT, 1976

(Act 16 ot 1976)

    An Act to provide for the abolition of the intermediary rights of jenmies in lands held by kanam tenants in the Cochin area of the State.

    Preamble. - Whereas under the Kanam Tenancy Act, 1955 the kanam tenants in the Cochin area of the State of Kerala are liable for the recurring and periodical payment of jenmikaram to their jenmies;

    And Whereas such jenmies are intermediaries between the State and the cultivators and their right to receive jenmikaram is a right in land;

    And Whereas it is considered necessary to abolish such intermediary right and to confer on the kanam tenants full proprietary rights over their holdings;

Be it enacted in the Twenty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Kanam Tenancy Abolition Act, 1976.

(2) It extends to the whole of the Cochin area of the State of Kerala.

(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of January, 1970.

2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(a) "appointed day" means the 1st day of January, 1970;

(b) " Cochin area" means the area comprising-

(i) the portion of the State of Kerala which before the 1st day of July, 1949, formed the State of Cochin excluding the enclaves absorbed in the Malabar district under the Provinces and States (Absorption of Enclaves) Order, 1950; and

(ii) the enclaves which formed part of the Malabar district absorbed in the State of Travancore-Cochin under the said Order;

(c) the expressions "cultivating tenant", "institution of a public nature" "the holder of a kudiyiruppu" and "wakf" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963(1 of 1964);

(d) the expressions "holding", "jenmi", "jenmikaram" and "kanam" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Kanam Tenancy Act, 1955 (XXIV of 1955);

(e) the expression "institution of a public nature" shall include a public trust and a wakf;

(f) "kanam tenant" means a person who holds land on kanam tenure and includes-

(i) the heir, assignee or legal representative of such person; or

(ii) a cultivating tenant or holder of a kudiyiruppu in whom the right, title and interest of such person have vested under the provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (1 of 1964);

(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(h) "Settlement Officer" means the Settlement Officer appointed under section 23.