State Lands Rules

Except as provided in paragraph (2), no State land shall be alienated without the approval of the President.

The Commissioner of Lands may approve the alienation of land which is included in a State reserve, a reserve for any road or back lane or any other reserve which is no longer required by the Government as such reserve.

Where there are two or more applications in respect of the same land, alienation of such land shall be made pursuant to a sale by public auction or after public invitation of tenders unless the Minister in his discretion otherwise decides.

The Minister or Commissioner of Lands may appoint in writing any statutory body to act as agent of the Government in the disposal of specified State land, and to manage such specified State land and grant any State title in connection with such disposal.

A statutory body which has been appointed under paragraph (1) shall, in addition to the functions, duties and powers conferred on it by the written law under which it is established, have —

An appointment of a statutory body under paragraph (1) may only be made after obtaining the concurrence of the Minister charged with the responsibility for the statutory body.

In this rule, “specified State land” means any parcel of State land or any class of State land specified in the appointment of the statutory body to act as agent of the Government under paragraph (1).

In all cases in which State land is to be granted or leased on special covenants and conditions, the special covenants and conditions shall be endorsed on or inserted in the title and shall be signed and sealed by the grantee or lessee.

Special covenants and conditions in relation to buildings on or to the use of alienated State land may be embodied in separate agreements.

Where State land is to be granted or leased on trust, the grantee or lessee thereof shall execute and register a declaration of trust at the time of the issue of the title.

Where a title is to be issued in the names of two or more persons, the nature of their tenancy or interest shall be stated therein.

Where a title is to be issued to a person as executor or administrator of a deceased person, he shall be so described in the title.

When the sale of State land by public auction or public tender has been authorised, the Collector of Land Revenue must publish a notice of sale in accordance with paragraph (1A) on the Internet website of the ministry or department of the Government, or of the agent of the Government, through which the sale is to be carried out.

A notice of sale mentioned in paragraph (1) must describe the land and state —

An auctioneer may be appointed by the Collector of Land Revenue or his agent authorised in that behalf to conduct a public auction, and the costs thereof shall be recovered from the proceeds of sale or met from any available funds.

A deposit of not less than 5% on the price bid or, where an upset price is demanded, 25% on the price bid shall be paid and the Collector of Land Revenue shall give a receipt for the same.

The balance of the sale price and charges shall be paid within one month from the date of sale or within such further period as the Collector of Land Revenue may, on such terms and conditions as he considers fit, allow, failing which, the sale shall be void and of no effect and the amount deposited shall be forfeited to the Government.

The consideration for the alienation of State land shall be a premium or an annual rent or both.

The Minister may, in his discretion, permit the payment of the premium by instalments on such terms and conditions as he considers fit, having regard to the circumstances of each case.

The Minister may, in any case in which he thinks fit, waive wholly or partly the payment of any annual rent for such period as he thinks fit.

The Collector of Land Revenue may issue licences or enter into tenancy agreements for the occupation of State land for temporary purposes.

Every licence or tenancy agreement referred to in paragraph (1) shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Collector of Land Revenue considers fit to impose.

Every licence issued on or after 18 February 2021 must be issued for a period of less than 10 years.

The Collector of Land Revenue may reissue to the licensee under a previous licence that expires on or after 18 February 2021 another licence for a period of less than 10 years for the same State land.

No licence issued under these Rules shall create or be deemed to create a tenancy in favour of the licensee or give the licensee as against the Government the exclusive right to the occupation of the land described therein.

Every licence or tenancy shall be subject to the following conditions unless expressly excluded in the licence or tenancy agreement by the Collector of Land Revenue:

The Collector of Land Revenue may in any case impose such other conditions as he thinks fit which shall be attached to or endorsed on the licence or stipulated in the tenancy agreement.

The Collector of Land Revenue may at any time cancel or revoke any licence issued or terminate any tenancy agreement entered under these Rules.

Where a licence is cancelled or revoked or a tenancy agreement is terminated, the Collector of Land Revenue may, in his discretion, impose a fee for such part of the month or year during which the licensee or tenant was in occupation of State land and refund the balance to the licensee or tenant, as the case may be.

Where the Collector of Land Revenue is of the opinion that a licensee or tenant has failed to observe any condition subject to which the licence was issued or the tenancy was entered into, he may cause any deposit or part thereof made under rule 27 to be forfeited to the Government.

No licensee, tenant or any other person shall be entitled to any compensation or damages whatsoever by reason of the cancellation or revocation of a licence or the termination of a tenancy agreement by the Collector of Land Revenue under these Rules.

No proceedings shall be taken for the removal of any person continuing to occupy State land after the cancellation, expiry or revocation of a licence issued or the termination or expiry of a tenancy agreement entered into under these Rules unless a notice to remove or to quit in a form approved by the Commissioner of Lands has been served on such person requiring him to remove or to quit within such time as may be specified in the notice.

A notice issued under this rule shall be served either personally or by delivering the notice or a copy thereof to a person on the premises where the person to be served ordinarily resides or is last known to have resided.

If there is no person on the premises to whom a copy of the notice may be delivered, the notice may be duly served by affixing a copy thereof on some conspicuous part of the premises or land affected by such notice.