81. Revenue officers to be courts.—(1) A revenue officer, while exercising power under this Act or
any other law for the time being in force to inquire into or to decide any question arising for
determination between the Government and any person or between parties to any proceedings, shall be a
revenue court.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to limit or otherwise affect the inherent power of the revenue
court to make such orders as may be necessary for the ends of justice or to prevent the abuse of the
process of the revenue court.
82. Place of hearing.—Except for reasons to be recorded in writing, no revenue officer shall inquire
into or hear any case at any place outside the local limits of his jurisdiction:
Provided that a sub-divisional officer may inquire into or hear any case at the headquarters of the
district to which he is appointed.
83. Power to enter upon and survey land.—All revenue officers and persons acting under their
orders may, enter upon and survey any land and demarcate boundaries and do all other acts necessary for
the purpose of discharging their duties under this Act or any other law for the time being in force and in
so doing, shall cause no more damage than the circumstances of the case may require.
84. Power to transfer cases.—(1) The Administrator may transfer any case or class of cases arising
under this Act or any other law for the time being in force from any revenue officer to any other revenue
officer competent to deal with it.
(2) The deputy commissioner or a sub-divisional officer may transfer any case or class of cases
arising under this Act or any other law for the time being in force for inquiry or decision from his own file
or from the file of any revenue officer subordinate to him to the file of any other revenue officer
subordinate to him competent to deal with such case or class of cases.
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85. Power to take evidence, summon witness, etc.—(1) Every revenue officer not lower in rank
than a sub-deputy collector acting as a revenue court shall have power to take evidence and to summon
any person whose attendance he considers necessary, either as a party or as a witness or to produce any
document, for the purpose of any inquiry which such officer is legally empowered to make; and all
persons so summoned shall be bound to attend either in person or by an authorised agent as such officer
may direct, and to produce such documents as may be required.
(2) Every summons shall be in writing, signed and sealed by the officer issuing it and shall be in such
form and be served in such manner as may be prescribed.
86. Compelling attendance of witnesses.—If any person on whom a summons to attend as witness
or to produce any document has been served fails to comply with the summons, the officer by whom the
summons has been issued under section 85 may—
(a) issue a bailable warrant of arrest;
(b) order him to furnish security for appearance; or
(c) impose upon him a fine not exceeding rupees twenty.
87. Hearing in absence of party.—(1) If, on the date fixed for hearing a case or proceeding, a
revenue officer finds that a summons or notice was not served on any party due to the failure of the
opposite party to pay the requisite process fees for such service, the case or proceeding may be dismissed
for default of payment of such process fees.
(2) If any party to a case or proceeding before a revenue officer does not appear on the date fixed for
hearing, the case or proceeding may be heard and determined in his absence or may be dismissed for
default.
(3) The party against whom any order is passed under sub-section (1) or (2) may apply, within thirty
days from the date of such order, to have it set aside on the ground that he was prevented by sufficient
cause from paying the requisite process fees or from appearing at the hearing; and the revenue officer
may, after notice to the opposite party and after making such inquiry as he considers necessary, set aside
the order passed.
88. Adjournment of hearing.—(1) A revenue officer may, from time to time, for reasons to be
recorded, adjourn the hearing of a case or proceeding before him.
(2) The date and place of an adjourned hearing shall be intimated at the time of the adjournment to
such of the parties and witnesses as are present.
89. Power to order payment of costs.—A revenue officer may direct the parties to pay the cost
incurred in any case before him and also apportion the cost among the parties in such manner and to such
extent as he may think fit.
90. Use for force.—Where any order is passed under the provisions of this Act directing any person
to deliver possession of land or directing the eviction of any person from land, such order shall be
executed by the competent authority in such manner as may be prescribed and it shall be lawful for such
authority, in accordance with rules to be prescribed, to take such steps and use or cause to be used such
force as may be reasonably necessary for securing compliance with the order.
91. Appearances before and applications to revenue officers.—All appearances before,
applications to and acts to be done before, any revenue officer under this Act or any other law for the time
being in force may be made or done by the parties themselves or by their authorised agents or by any
legal practitioner:
Provided that any such appearance shall, if the revenue officer so directs, be made by the party in
person.
92. Correction of error or omission.—Any revenue officer by whom an order was passed in a case
or proceeding may, either on his own motion or on the application of a party, correct any error or
omission not affecting a material part of the case or proceeding, after such notice to the parties as he may
consider necessary.
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93. Appeals.—(1) Save as otherwise expressly provided, an appeal shall lie from every original order
passed under this Act,—
(a) if such an order is passed by an officer subordinate to the sub-divisional officer, to the
sub-divisional officer;
(b) if such an order is passed by the sub-divisional officer, to the deputy commissioner;
(c) if such an order is passed by the deputy commissioner, to the Administrator;
(d) if such an order is passed by an assistant survey and settlement officer, to the survey and
settlement officer or to a revenue officer notified by the Administrator in the Official Gazette to be
the appellate authority; and
(e) if such an order is passed by a survey and settlement officer, to the director of settlement and
land records or to a revenue officer notified by the Administrator in the Official Gazette to be the
appellate authority.
(2) A second appeal shall lie against any order passed in first appeal,—
(a) if such an order is passed under clause (a) of sub-section (1), to the deputy commissioner;
(b) if such an order is passed under clause (b) of sub-section (1), to the Administrator;
(c) if such an order is passed under clause (d) of sub-section (1), to the director of settlement and
land records or to a revenue officer notified by the Administrator in the Official Gazette to be the
second appellate authority; and
(d) if such an order is passed under clause (e) of sub-section (1), to the Administrator.
94. Limitation of appeals.—(1) No appeal shall lie,—
(a) in the case of first appeal, after the expiry of thirty days from the date of the order appealed
against; and
(b) in the case of a second appeal, after the expiry of sixty days from the date of the order
appealed against.
(2) In computing the above periods, the time required to obtain copies of the order appealed against
shall be excluded.
95. Revision.—The Administrator or the deputy commissioner may, at any time, either on his own
motion or on the application of any party, call for the records of any proceedings before any revenue
officer subordinate to him for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or the propriety of any
order passed by such revenue officer, and may pass such order in reference thereto as he thinks fit:
Provided that he shall not vary or reverse any order affecting any right between private persons
without having given to the parties interested notice to appear and be heard.
96. Review of orders.—A revenue officer may, either on his own motion or on the application of any
party interested, review any order passed by himself or by any of his predecessors-in-office and pass such
order in reference thereto as he thinks fit:
Provided that a revenue officer subordinate to the deputy commissioner shall, before reviewing any
order under this section, obtain the permission of the deputy commissioner and the deputy commissioner
shall, before reviewing an order passed by any of his predecessors-in-officer, obtain the permission of the
Administrator.
(2) No order affecting any question of right between private persons shall be reviewed except on the
application of a party to the proceedings or except after notice to the other party, and no application for
review of such order shall be entertained unless it is made within ninety days from the date of the order.
(3) No order shall be reviewed except on the following grounds, namely:—
(i) discovery of new and important matter of evidence; or
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(ii) some mistake or error apparent on the face of the record; or
(iii) any other sufficient reason.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the deputy commissioner shall be deemed to be the
successor-in-office of any revenue officer who has left the district or who has ceased to exercise powers
as a revenue officer and to whom there is no successor in the district.
(5) An order which has been dealt with in appeal or on revision shall not be reviewed by any officer
subordinate to the appellate or revisional authority.
97. Stay of execution of orders.—(1) A revenue officer who has passed any order or his
successor-in-office may, at any time before the expiry of the period prescribed for appeal, direct the stay
of execution of such order for such period as he thinks fit provided that no appeal has been filed.
(2) Any authority before whom a case is pending in appeal or revision may direct the stay of
execution of the order appealed from or under revision for such period as it may think fit.
(3) The revenue officer or other authority directing such stay of execution of any order may impose
such condition, or order such security to be furnished, as he or it may think fit.
98. Power to make rules.—(1) The Administrator may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make
rules for carrying out the purposes of this Part.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may
provide for—
(a) the manner of appointment of revenue officers, survey officers and settlement officers, and
other village officers and servants, their powers and duties, the official seals, if any, to be used by
them and the size and description of the seals;
(b) the deputy commissioner’s powers of superintendence and control over other officers;
(c) the officers who should hear and decide disputes regarding rights in or over any property
claimed by or against the Government and the procedure to be followed by them;
(d) the disposal of Government lands by assignment or grant to individuals or to public purposes
and the terms and conditions subject to which such assignments or grants may be made;
(e) the preservation and disposal of trees, brush wood jungle and other natural products on
Government land and the recovery of the value of trees or other natural product unauthorisedly
appropriated by persons;
(f) the procedure for summary eviction of trespassers on Government land;
(g) the alteration and revision of the land revenue in cases of alluvion or diluvion or of diversion
of land for purposes other than agriculture;
(h) the grant of permission to use agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes;
(i) the determination of additional rates for use of water;
(j) the circumstances in which remission or suspension of revenue may be made and the rate of
such remission or suspension;
(k) the form of receipt for payment of land revenue;
(l) the conduct of surveys and settlements of land revenue;
(m) the manner of estimating the cost of cultivation and other expenses in relation to the inquiry
into profits of agriculture;
(n) the division of survey numbers into sub-divisions and the assessment of sub-divisions;
(o) the statistical, fiscal and other records and registers to be prepared and maintained under this
Part;
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(p) the manner in which the costs and expenses incidental to revenue survey or the construction,
repair and maintenance of boundary marks shall be determined and appointed between persons who
are liable to bear the same;
(q) the fixing, construction, laying out, maintenance and repair of boundary marks, and the
settlement of disputes relating thereto;
(r) the division of areas into units for determining the revenue-rates and the preparation of the
table of revenue-rates;
(s) the preparation and the preliminary and final publication of the record of rights and the table
of revenue-rates;
(t) the hearing and disposal of objections to any entry or omission in the table of revenue-rates,
the record of rights, and the register of mutations;
(u) the manner and extent of alteration or revision of revenue-rates during the term of settlement;
(v) the correction of bona fide errors and mistakes in the revenue records, registers and maps
prepared under this Part;
(w) the manner in which the average yield of crops of land shall be ascertained;
(x) the manner of holding inquiries by revenue officers under this Part;
(y) the application of the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), to cases
and proceedings before a revenue court;
(z) the form of summons and other processes, notices, orders and proclamations to be issued or
made by revenue officers and the manner of their service;
(aa) the procedure for the attachment and sale of property and the confirmation and the setting
aside of sales of immovable property under Chapter VII;
(bb) the manner of publication of notices and proclamations of attachment and sale of property;
(cc) the manner in which the cost and expenses incidental to the attachment and sale of property
shall be determined;
(dd) the manner of payment of deposit and of the purchases money of property sold for arrears of
land revenue;
(ee) the circumstances in which precautionary measures for securing the land revenue under
section 79 may be taken;
(ff) the procedure for the transfer of cases from one revenue officer to another;
(gg) the manner of preferring appeals or applications for revision or review, the documents to
accompany the memorandum of appeal or such application and the fee, if any, liable therefor;
(hh) the grant of certified copies and the payment of fees for inspection and grant of certified
copies of revenue records and registers;
(ii) the mode of execution of any orders directing any person to deliver possession of land or to be
evicted from land, including the use of force for securing compliance with such order;
(jj) any other matter that is to be or may be prescribed.