5. Liability of houses to appropriation.—Every house situate in a cantonment or part of a
cantonment in respect of which a notification under sub-section (1) of section 3 is for the time being in
force shall be liable to appropriation by 4
[the Central Government] on a lease in the manner and subject to
the conditions hereinafter provided.
5
[6. Conditions on which houses may be appropriated.—(1) Where—
(a) a military officer who is stationed in or has been posted to the cantonment, or a President of a
military mess in the cantonment, applies in writing to the Officer Commanding the station stating that
he is unable to secure suitable accommodation in the cantonment for himself or the mess on reasonable
terms by private agreement, and that-no suitable house or quarter 6
[belonging to the Government] is
available for his occupation or for the occupation of the mess, and the Officer Commanding the station
is satisfied on inquiry of the truth of the facts so stated; or
(b) the Officer Commanding the station is satisfied on inquiry that there is not in the cantonment a
sufficient and assured supply of houses available at reasonable rates of rent by private agreement to
meet the requirements of the military officers and military messes whose accommodation in the
cantonment is in his opinion necessary or expedient,
the Officer Commanding the station may, with a view to enforcing the liability under section 5, serve a
notice on the owner of any house which appears to him to be suitable for occupation by a military officer
or a military mess, as the case may be, within the cantonment, or, if this Act is in force in part only of the
cantonment, within that part, requiring the owner to permit the house to be inspected, measured and
surveyed by such person and on such date, not being less than three clear days from the service of the
notice, and at such time between sunrise and sunset, as may be specified in the notice.
(2) On the date and at the time so specified the owner shall be bound to afford all reasonable facilities
to the person specified in the notice for the purpose of the inspection, measurement and survey of the house
and, if he refuses or neglects to do so, such person may, subject to any rules made under this Act, enter on
the premises and do all such things as may be reasonably necessary for the said purpose.]
1. Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for “L.G.”
2. Subs., ibid., for section 4.
3. Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for the words “crown contract”
4. Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for “the Govt.”.
5. Subs. by Act 9 of 1930, s. 3, for section 6.
6. Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for “belonging to Govt.”.
6
7. Procedure for taking house on lease.—(1) If, on the report of such person as aforesaid, the
1
[Officer Commanding the station] is satisfied that the house is suitable for occupation by a military
officer or a military mess, lie may 2*** by notice —
(a) require the owner to execute a lease of the house to 3
[the Central Government] for a specified
period which shall not be less than five years;
(b) require the existing occupier, if any, to vacate the house; and
(c) require the owner to execute within such time as may be specified in the notice such repairs as
may, in the opinion of the 1
[Officer Commanding the station], be necessary for the purpose of putting
the house into a state of reasonable repair.
(2) Every notice issued under sub-section (1) shall state the amount of the annual rent proposed as
reasonable for the house, calculated on the assumption that the owner will carry out the required repairs, if
any. It shall also contain an estimate of the cost of such repairs.
(3) The following shall be deemed to be conditions of every lease executed under sub-Section (1),
namely:—
(a) that the house shall, on the expiration of the lease, be redelivered to the owner in a state of
reasonable repair, and
(b) that the grounds and the garden, if any, appertaining to the house shall be maintained in the
condition in which they are at the time at which the lease is executed:
4
[Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to affect the right of 3
[the Central
Government] to avoid the lease in any such event as is specified in clause (e) of section 108 of the
Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882).]
8. [Procedure to be observed before taking a house on lease.] Rep. by the Cantonments (HouseAccommodation Amendment) Act, 1930 (9 of 1930), s. 5.
9. Sanction to be obtained before a house is occupied as a hospital, etc.—No house in any
cantonment or part of a cantonment in which this Act is operative shall, unless it was so occupied at the
date of the issue of the notification declaring this Act or the 5Cantonments (House-Accommodation) Act,
1902 (2 of 1902), as the case may be, to be operative, be occupied for the purposes of a hospital, school,
school hostel, bank, hotel, or shop, or by a railway administration, a company or firm engaged in trade or
business or a club, without the previous sanction of the Officer Commanding the District given with the
concurrence of the Commissioner or, in a State where there are no Commissioners, of the Collector.
10. Houses not to be appropriated in certain cases.— No notice shall be issued under section 7 if
the house—
(a) was, at the date of the issue of the notification declaring this Act or the 5Cantonment (HouseAccommodation) Act, 1902 (2 of 1902), as the case may be, to be operative in the cantonment or part of
the cantonment, or is, with such sanction as is required by section 9, occupied as a hospital, school,
school hostel, bank, hotel or shop, and has been so occupied continuously during the three years
immediately preceding the time when the occasion for issuing the notice arises, or
(b) was, at the date of such a notification as is referred to in clause (a), or is, with such sanction as
aforesaid, occupied by a railway administration or by a company or firm engaged in trade or business
or by a dill), or
(c) is occupied by the owner, or
1. Subs. by Act 10 of 1925, s. 6, for “Commanding Officer of the Cantonment”
2. The words “with the previous sanction of the Officer Commanding the District” were rep. by Act 9 of 1930, s. 4.
3. Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for “the Government.”.
4. Ins. by Act 9 of 1930, s. 4.
5. Rep. by s. 39 and the Schedule of this Act
7
(d) has been appropriated by the State Government with the concurrence of the Officer
Commanding the District, or by the Central Government, for use as a public office or for any other
purpose.
11. Time to be allowed for giving possession of house.—(1) If a house is unoccupied, a notice
issued under section 7 may require the owner to give possession of the same to the 1
[Officer Commanding
the station] within twenty-one days from the service of the notice.
(2) If a house is occupied, a notice issued under section 7 shall not require its vacation in less than
thirty days from the service of the notice.
(3) Where a notice has been issued under section 7 and the house has been vacated in pursuance
thereof, the lease shall be deemed to have commenced on the date on which the house was so vacated.
12. Surrender of house when to be enforced.— If the owner fails to give possession of a house to
the 1
[Officer Commanding the station] in pursuance of a notice issued under section 7, or if the existing
occupier fails to vacate a house in pursuance of such a notice, the District Magistrate, by himself or by
another person generally or specially authorised by him in this behalf, shall enter on the premises and
enforce the surrender of the house.
13. Option in certain cases for owner on whom notice is issued under section 7 to call upon the
Government to purchase.— (1) If a house, in respect of which a notice is issued under section 7, is
shown to the satisfaction of the 2
[Central Government], or is proved by a decree or order of a court of
competent jurisdiction, to have been erected
(a) under any conditions, rules, regulations or orders which were in force in Bengal prior to the
eighth day of December, 1864, and conferred on the owner the option of offering the house for sale to
the military officer applying for its appropriation for his occupation or to the East India Company or
the Government, or
(c) under any conditions, rules, regulations or orders which were in force in Bombay prior to the
first day of June, 1875, and conferred such an option as is described in clause (a),
then the owner shall have the option of either complying with the ‘notice or offering the house 3
[for sale
to the Central Government].
(2) If the owner elects to sell the house, and 4
[the Central Government] is willing to purchase it, the
question of the amount of the purchase-money to be paid shall, in the event of disagreement, be referred
to 5
[a civil court, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter IV].
14. Provision where house is held on long lease by a tenant.— (1) If a house, in respect of which a
notice is issued under section 7, is occupied by a tenant holding in good faith and for valuable
consideration under a registered lease for any term exceeding one year, the Central Government shall, for
the term of one year from the date on which the house is vacated in pursuance of the notice, or for the
unexpired term of the lease whichever is the shorter, be liable to the owner for the rent fixed by the
registered lease instead of for the rent payable under this Act if the rent so fixed exceeds the rent so
payable.
(2) If a house, in respect of which a notice is issued under section 7, is occupied by a tenant holding in
good faith and for valuable consideration under a registered lease from year to year, the Central
Government shall be liable as aforesaid for the term of six months from the date on which the house is
vacated in pursuance of the notice.
1. Subs. by Act 10 of 1925, s. 6, for “Commanding Officer of the Cantonment”
2. Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for “L.G.”
3. Subs., ibid., for “sale to the Govt.”
4. Subs., ibid., for “the Govt.”.
5. Subs. by Act 9 of 1930, s. 6, for “a Committee of Arbitration.”.
8
(3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed—
(a) to render the Central Government so liable unless an application in writing in this behalf is
made by the owner to the 1
[Officer Commanding the station] within fifteen days from the service of
the notice; or
(b) to limit or otherwise affect any agreement between the Government and the owner.
15. Power for owner to refer to civil court on question of rent.—(1) If the owner considers that the
rent stated in a notice issued under section 7 is not reasonable, he may, within a period of 2
[thirty] days
from the service of such notice, 3
[refer the matter to a civil court, in accordance with the provisions of
Chapter IV]:
4
[Provided that where an appeal has been made to the Officer Commanding the District under
section 30, the period of thirty days shall be reckoned from the date on which the owner received notice of
the result of the appeal under sub-section (2) of section 32.]
(2) If the owner does not make such a 5
[reference] within the said period, he shall be deemed to have
accepted the rent so offered.
16. Power for owner to refer to civil court on question of repairs.—(1) If the owner fails to
execute any repairs to a house as required by a notice issued to him under section 7, the 1
[Officer
Commanding the station] may by notice require the owner to execute the repairs within such period, not
being less than 6
[thirty] days, as maybe specified in the notice.
(2) If the owner objects to any requisition contained in a notice issued under sub-section (1), he may
within 6
[thirty] days from the service of the notice 7
[refer the matter to a civil court in accordance with the
the provisions of Chapter IV]:
8
[Provided that where an appeal has been made to the Officer Commanding the District under section
30, the period of thirty days shall be reckoned from the date on which the owner received notice of the
result of the appeal under sub-section (2) of section 32.]
9
[(3) Every reference under sub-section (2) shall be accompanied by an estimate of the repairs, if any,
any, which the owner considers necessary in order to put the house into a state of reasonable repair.]
10[17. Power to have repairs executed and recover cost.— If the owner fails to comply. with a
notice issued under sub-section (1) of section 16, the Military Engineer Services or the Public Works
Department may, with the previous sanction of the Officer Commanding the station and notwithstanding
any right of reference conferred by that section, cause the repairs specified in the notice to be executed at
the expense of 11[the Central Government], and the cost thereof, or, where a reference has been made, the
amount finally determined by the civil court, may be deducted from the rent payable to the owner.]
18. Notice to be given of devolution of interest in house, in cantonment.—Every person on whom
devolves, by transfer, by succession or by operation of law, the interest of an owner in any house, or in
any part of any house, situate in a cantonment or part of a cantonment in respect of which a notification
under sub-section (1) of section 3 is for the time being in force, shall be bound to give
1. Subs. by Act 10 of 1925, s. 6, for “Commanding Officer of the Cantonment”.
2. Subs. by Act 9 of 1930, s. 7, for “Fifteen”.
3. Subs. by s.7, ibid., for “require that the matter be referred by the Officer Commanding the station to a Committee of
Arbitration”
4. Ins. by Act 22 of 1933, s. 2.
5. Subs. by Act 9 of 1930, s. 7, for “requisition”.
6. Subs. by s. 8, ibid., for “fifteen”.
7. Subs. by s. 8, ibid., for “require that the matter be referred by the Officer Commanding the station to a Committee of
Arbitration”.
8. Ins. by Act 22 of 1933, s. 3.
9. Ins. by Act 9 of 1930, s. 8.
10. Subs. by s. 9, ibid., for section 17.
11. Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for “the Government”.
9
notice of the fact to the 1
[Officer Commanding the station] within one month from the date of such
devolution, and, if he, without reasonable cause, fails to do so, he shall be punishable with fine which may
extend to fifty rupees.