BOMBAY SHETGI WATAN RIGHTS (RATNAGIRI) ABOLITION ACT, 1956

BOMBAY ACT No. II OF 1957

[ January, 1957]

An Act to abolish shetgi watans in the Ratnagiri District of the State of Bombay.

WHEREAS it is expedient to abolish shetgi watans in the town of Rajapur in the Ratnagiri District, and to provide for matters consequential or incidental thereto: It is hereby enacted in the Seventh Year of the Republic of! follows :-

SECTION 01: SHORT TITLE, EXTENT AND COMMENCEMENT

(1) This Act may be called the Bombay Shetgi Watan Rights (Ratnagiri) Abo” Act, 1956.

(2) It extends to the district of Ratnagiri in the State of Bombay

(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

SECTION 02: DEFINITIONS

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(a) “prescribed” means prescribed by rule made under this

Act:

(b) “shetgiwatan” means the watan, commonly known as shetgi watan or shetki watan, consisting of -

(i) the first right of weighment or measurement of .merchandise imported by the land route into the market (peth) of the town of Rajapur in Rajapur Taluka of the Ratnagiri District, and

(ii) the right to collect shetgi watan emoluments respect thereof, under any custom, usage, grant, sanad, takid or other title:

(c) “shetgi watan emolument” means the fee by way of or salai or by whatever name called, and whether levi in kind or otherwise, as an incident of the shetgi watat

(d) “shetgi watandar” means the holder of a shetgi watan or any part thereof.

1. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Bombay G. G. 1950. Part V, page 382.

SECTION 03: ABOLITION OF SHETGI WATANS

Notwithstanding any custom, usage, grant, sanad or decree or order of a court, -

(a) all shetgi watans including all incidents thereof or relating thereto, shall be and are hereby abolished, and

(b) all rights of shetye watandars to any shetgi watan emoluments shall be deemed to have been extinguished.

SECTION 04: QUANTUM OF COMPENSATION

A shetgi watandar shall, for the abolition or extinguishment of any of his rights by virtue of section 3, be entitled to compensation at the rate of three times the average of the value of shetgi watan emoluments collected by him during the three years immediately preceding ‘the commencement of this Act.

SECTION 05: METHOD OF AWARDING COMPENSATION

(1) Any shetgi watandar entitled to compensation under section 4 may, within six months from the commencement of this Act, make an application to the Collector in the prescribed form, accompanied by the prescribed information for determining the amount of compensation payable to him under the said section.

(2) On receipt of such application the Collector shall, after holding a formal enquiry in the manner provided by Chapter XII of the Bombay Land Revenue Code, 1879, make an award determining the amount of compensation.

SECTION 06: APPEAL

Any person aggrieved by the award of the Collector may, within 60 days of the date of such award, appeal to the Bombay Revenue Tribunal constituted under the Bombay Revenue Tribunal Act, 1939, notwithstanding anything in the said Act. The provisions of sections 4, 5, 12 and 14 of the Indian Limitation Act, 1908, shall apply to the filing of such appeals.

SECTION 07: PROCEDURE BEFORE REVENUE TRIBUNAL

(1) The Bombay Revenue Tribunal shall, after giving, notice to the appellant and the

State Government, decide the appeal and record its decision.

(2) In deciding an appeal under this Act the Bombay Revenue ‘:Tribunal shall have and may exercise all the powers of a court, and shall follow the like procedure which a court follows, in deciding appeals from a decree or order of an original court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

SECTION 08: COURT FEES

Notwithstanding anything contained in the Court-fees l every appeal made under this Act to the Bombay Revenue Tribunal shall bear a court-fee stamp of such value as may be prescribed.

SECTION 09: FINALITY OF AWARD AND DECISION OF REVENUE TRIBUNAL

The award made by the Collector, subject to an appeal to the Bombay Revenue Tribunal, and the decision of the Bombay Revenue Tribunal on the appeal shall be final and conclusive, and shall not be questioned in any suit or proceeding in any court.

SECTION 10: RULES

The State Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

THE BOMBAY SHETGI WATAN RIGHTS (RATNAGIRI) ABOLITION RULES, 1957

G. N., R.D., NO. WTN56/10017-P, DATED 27TH MARCH, 1957 (B.G., PT. IV-B, P. 480)

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 10 of the Bombay Shetgi Watan Rights (Ratnagiri) Abolition Act, 1956 (Bombay II of 1957), the Government of Bombay hereby makes the following rules, namely

1. Short Title. - These rules may be called the Bombay Shetgi Watan Rights (Ratnagiri) Abolition Rules, 1957.

2. Definitions. - In these rules,

(a) “Act” means the Bombay Shetgi Watan Rights (Ratnagiri) Abolition Act, 1956;

(b) “Form” means a form appended to these rules; (c) “Section” means a section of the Act.

3. Form of application. - The application to be made by a Shetgi Watandar under sub-section (1) of Section 5 shall be in Form A.

4. Court-fees. - Every appeal made to the Bombay Revenue Tribunal shall bear a Court-fee stamp of Rs. 3