Lease Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The rights of an occupancy-raiyat in respect of the use of land are in Section 21 of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908.

Section 21 lets an occupancy-raiyat use the land in any manner that does not materially impair its value or make it unfit for agriculture, for example for manufacture of bricks and tiles for domestic and agricultural use, digging wells and tanks, and planting trees.

The other sections deal with other matters. Transfer by occupancy-raiyats, the subject people most often confuse with this one, is governed by Section 46, not by Sections 20, 40 or 41.

Answer: D

Under the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, it is the State Government that may order a survey and the preparation of a record-of-rights.

Section 80 of the Act empowers the State Government to direct that a survey be made and a record-of-rights be prepared for any local area, estate or tenure. The work is then carried out by a Revenue Officer appointed for the purpose.

So the Revenue Officer, the Deputy Commissioner and the Circle Officer act in carrying out or administering the record, but none of them has the power to order the survey in the first place.

Answer: D

The key's answer is All of these.

The key says that korkar land is also known by all three names given, Babhala Khanwat, Jalsasan and Ariat. None of these names, nor the term korkar land, could be found in any source, so they could not be confirmed.

The answer therefore rests on the Commission's key. Since 'All of these' is itself an option, an answer that picks only one of the other three would be correct only if the key had accepted just that one, and it did not.

Answer: D

The one that is not a class of tenants is Bhuinhari Khunt Kattidar.

Section 4 of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act lists the classes of tenants as tenure-holders, raiyats (occupancy-raiyats, non-occupancy-raiyats and raiyats having khunt-katti rights), under-raiyats and Mundari khunt-kattidars.

Tenure holder, raiyat and Mundari khunt-kattidar therefore all appear in the list. Bhuinhari tenures are recognised and recorded separately under the Chota Nagpur Tenures Act, 1869, but 'Bhuinhari khunt kattidar' is not one of the classes of tenants under Section 4.

Answer: B

The CNT Act was enacted on 11th November, 1908.

The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 (Bengal Act VI of 1908) received assent and was passed on 11 November 1908. It was framed after the unrest of the Birsa Ulgulan, to protect tribal and raiyati land and to recognise the Mundari khuntkatti system.

The other three dates share the day of the month but not the month, which is the trap: only November is right.

Answer: C

The period is 5 years.

Section 33 of the Santhal Parganas Tenancy (Supplementary Provisions) Act, 1949 provides that if waste land settled under the Act is not brought under cultivation within five years from the date of settlement, the Deputy Commissioner may, on application by a jamabandi raiyat, the village headman, a mulraiyat or the landlord, set the settlement aside and resettle the land.

The heading of the section itself reads 'Settlement of waste land liable to be set aside if not cultivated within five years', so 3, 7 and 9 years are wrong.

Answer: A

Applications under the S.P.T. Act must be made within 1 year from the date of occurring of the cause of action.

Section 64 of the Santhal Parganas Tenancy (Supplementary Provisions) Act, 1949, the general rule of limitation, says that all applications under the Act for which no other period is provided shall be made within one year from the date of the accruing of the cause of action. Applications under Section 42 (ejectment of a person in unauthorised possession of agricultural land) have no limitation at all.

Three, five and seven years are not the Act's general limitation period.

Answer: A

Review is provided for in Section 60 of the Santhal Parganas Tenancy (Supplementary Provisions) Act, 1949.

Section 60 lets the Commissioner, for sufficient reasons recorded in writing, review an order passed by himself or by an officer subordinate to him, and limits the power of subordinate officers to review their own orders without his sanction.

Sections 40, 50 and 70 are not the review provision; for comparison, Section 64 sets the Act's general one-year limitation and Section 42 deals with ejecting a person in unauthorised possession of agricultural land.

Answer: A

The answer the paper accepts is 1 month's Rent.

Section 6 of the Jharkhand Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 2011 makes it unlawful to claim or receive, for the grant, renewal or continuance of a tenancy, any salami, fine or like sum in addition to the rent, or any sum exceeding one month's rent as rent in advance. One month's rent is therefore the only payment beyond the rent itself that a landlord may lawfully take.

Two, three and seven months' rent all exceed that limit, so none of them is the ceiling the Act sets.

Answer: A

The option belongs to the lessee.

The last paragraph of Section 110 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 provides that where the time limited by a lease of immovable property is expressed as terminable before its expiration, and the lease omits to mention at whose option it is so terminable, the lessee, and not the lessor, shall have such option.

The rule construes the silence against the lessor, who framed the grant. The lessor is the transferor under a lease, so 'Lessor' and 'Transferor' describe the same party and are both wrong.