PREFACE

ItisimperativethateveryofficerintheState
Administrativemachineryisexpectedtoknowtherudimentsof
administrationandtoacquireathoroughknowledgeofvarious
RulesandRegulationsinthedaytodaychoreofadministration
withoutwadingthroughthevariouscodesandmanualsbrought
outbyGovernment.TakingthisintoconsiderationGovernment
announcedthatAmanualcontainingallorders,proceduresand
practicesinRevenueDepartmentwillbepreparedforthe
guidanceoftheofficialsoftheRevenueDepartment.
2.InpursuanttotheGovernmentsdirectionwiththe
guidanceofThiruT.E.Chakravarthy,DistrictRevenueOfficer
(Retired),withthesupportingstaffhaveputforthonemanual
containing42Draftnotescoveringallsubjectsthatarebeing
handledbytheStateofTamilNaduinconsultationwiththe
DepartmentsofRevenueAdministration,LandAdministration
andLandReforms.Thecontentsofthemanualhavebeen
regroupedaccordingtothesubjectsdealtwithbythethree
functionalCommissionersandalsothesubjectsthatrelateto
othersfacetsofRevenueAdministrationexecutedthroughthe
DistrictAdministration.
3.IamprofoundlythankfultotheGovernmentforsetting
intomotionsuchaninterestinginnovativeworkwhichwillgoa
longwayinimprovingtheefficiencyofthestaffandofficesofthe
RevenueDepartmentatalllevels.
4.IamsurethatthisManualonRevenueAdministration
willsatisfyevergrowingneedsofthefieldstafftoturnfor


counselattimeswhentheyneedtotakerightdecisionsina

givensetofcircumstancesandtheywillbebenefitedbythis
manual.
5.IamgratefultoThiruT.E.Chakravarthy,D.R.O.(Retired)
andalsothestaffwhorenderedtheirunstintedcooperationin
bringingoutthismanual.
6.Inavoluminousworklikethisone,errorsandomissions
arelikelytocreepininnocently.Suggestionsarewelcometo
improvethequalityofthecontentofthismanualfromallthe
fieldofficials.
7.IamalsothankfultoDirectorofStationeryandPrinting
forhavingbroughtoutthismanualforthebenefitoftheRevenue
DepartmentacrosstheState.
Date:14092001SUKAVANESHVAR
PrincipalCommissionerandCommissionerofRevenueAdministration
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REVENUEADMINISTRATIONDEPARTMENT

1.AZMOISH
Azmoish means the inspection of lands and fields to record the detailsof crops
raised, trees, wells and othersin Village account No.2(adangal) and to assess the approximate
outturn of the crop. The Revenue Inspector shall azmoish and the Deputy Tahsildars shall do
overazmoishtocheckthecorrectnessthereof.
2. It is the primary duty of the Village Administrative Officer to register in the
adangal the detailsof crops raised in the land, trees standing on all governmentlands (whether
under tree tax system or not) cases ofunauthorised occupation of Governmentlands,casesof
Fasli Jasthi and Theervai Jasthi,etc.Thisrecordingofcropsshouldbedoneeverymonthbythe
Village Administrative Officer. The cultivation account in (Village Account) Form No.1 and 1A
shall be preparedevery month. The Village Administrative Officer shouldfurnishthe area under
differentkindsofcropsharvested,outturn,etc.ThisstatementmustbecollectedfromtheVillage
Administrative Officers by theRevenueInspector. He must then prepare a firka report similarly.
The reports for theentiretalukistobecollectedbytheTahsildar.Heshallconveneameetingon
25th of every month which will be attended to by the RevenueInspectors, Agricultural Officers
and Taluk Statistical Inspector. The area under various crops for the Taluk shall bediscussed
and finalised. He will send a report to the District Revenue Officer based on this meeting.
Similarly the District Revenue Officer at the district level shall have discussions with Joint
Director(Agriculture), Assistant Director(Statistics) and Tahsildarsandfinalisethe Districtfigure.
The District report shall then be sent to the Government. This along with the reports sent by
Agriculture Department helps to decide the total quantityofpaddyandothercerealsproducedin
theStateandtofindoutwhetheritisdeficitorbuffer.Assuchthisisanimportantitemofwork.
3. The Revenue Inspector should attend to azmoish in all the Villages in the Firka
every month, especially during the cultivation season. By this he would ensure that all the
wetlands and atleast 50% of the Dry lands are inspected. The azmoish should generally begin
with the irrigation sources in the Villages. He must assess the water position with reference to
Village Account No.20(Rainfall statement). He should also find out whether the tanks require
repair. The repair couldbe of two kinds, immediate and long term. He must take up anareafor
azmoish on a day, so that he can complete inspection of all lands within a reasonable time.
Whiledoingazmoish,thefollowingrequirehisattention.
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1. Wet including assessed waste a. All the lands inspected should be inspected during the

period first cropisraisedwiththeaidofwaterfromGovernmentsource.This mayvary.Forarea

covered under CauveryMettur Project, first cropisKuruvai(JulytoSeptember/October)andthe
secondcropshallbeOctober/NovemberJanuary/February.
b.Whenwaterisavailableinthetankafterharvestofthefirstcrop,itispossibletoraisesecond
cropwiththeaidoftankwater.Ifwateristakenforthesecondcrop,itshouldberecordedfor
levyoffasliJasthi.Waterneednotnecessarilybetakenormadeavailablefortheentirecrop
period.Evenifitistakenforafewdays,FasliJasthiisleviable.Thedetailsshouldberecorded
bytheRevenueInspector.c.CertainlandsareclassifiedasBalingwetlandsduringsettlement
andremissiongrantedeveryyear,sinceatthetimeofsettlementthelanddidnotgetdirectflow
ofwaterandwaterhastobebaledusinghumanoranimalpower.Itmustbepersonallyverified
whetherwaterisstilltakenbybailingandwaterdoesnotflowdirect.Ifwaterflowsdirect,the
remissionshouldbestopped.Specificremarksoftheinspectingofficeronthisshouldbe
recordedtocorrecttheaccounts.Ifnecessary,atthetimeofJamabandhi.3.Porambokea.The
occupationinGovernmentlandsshouldberecorded.Thenatureofoccupation,nameofthe
occupier,theperiodofoccupationandwhetherobjectionableornotshouldberecorded.b.The
occupationasmentionedabovemaybebywayofcultivation.Waterforraisingthecropsmay
evenbetakenfromtheGovernmentsourceorinawellinaGovernmentland.Thesourceof
irrigationshouldalsoberecordedtodecidethelevyofThirvaiJasthi.
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c.Thedetailsofstructureslikebuildings,Pumpsets,etc.shouldbenoted.d.(i).Theremaybe

treesbothfruitbearingandnonfruitbearing.Thenumberoftreesunderdifferentspeciesshall
beindicatedintheAdangal.
(ii)Thenumberoftreescoveredby2CPattaandnumberaliveshallbeverifiedandentered.
Actionshallbetakentodeletethetreesnotavailableongroundfromthe2CPattalistbesides
appropriateactionfortheloss.(iii)Auctiontoselltheusurfructsoftreesshouldbeinitiated,ifthe
landisnotvestedinPanchayat.e.Inspectlandsheldonlease,transferredandalienatedand
verifywhetherthereareviolationsofconditions.
Thefollowinginformationshouldbegatheredandnotedduringtheinspectionof
lands.
1.Detailssuchasyoung,ripeforharvest,etc.shouldalsobeindicatedas
farasfoodcropsareconcerned.
2. If at thetime ofazmoish,thecropsareripeforharvest,orintheadvancedstage,theprobable
yieldthatislikelytobeshouldbeindicated.
3.Enquireintothedetailsoftenantbothregisteredandunregisteredif
any,andenterfactsintherespectivecolumnofadangal.
4. Check upincaseoflandsassignedearlierwhether thelandsareheldbytheassigneewithout
violating any of the conditions. The Depressed Class lands assigned to Scheduled
Caste/SchedulesTribesshouldsimilarlybeverified.Reportswhereviolationisnoticedshouldbe
senttotheTahsildar.
5. Inthecaseofplanmarkedchannel,footpath, etc,ensurethattheyhavenotbeenobliterated.If
it hasbeendoneso,actionunderTamilNaduEncroachmentAct1905shouldbeinitiatedtoevict
theoccupationandrestorethefootpath,channel,etc.
6.AlllandschargedFasliJasthi/TheervaiJasthiduringthepreviousfasli
butnotbroughttoaccountduringthecurrentfaslishouldbeinspected.
5

4. During the period of Drought, intensive azmoish should be done to decide

whether remission is to be granted and if so, at what percentage. This can bedecided on the
basisofthepercentageofyieldwhencomparedtonormalyears.
5.Apartfromthese,thefollowinginspectionalsorequiresattentionduringtheir
RevenueInspector'svisittotheVillage.
a.BirthandDeathRegister
TheRegistershouldbecheckedandattestedafteroralenquiryandverification.
b.OldAgePension
Physicalverificationofthepensionersandenquiryinregardtothereceiptofpensionhas
tobemade.
c.LandRevenueLoans
The progress in collection of Land Revenue loans, etc. should be reviewed and collection
workattendedto.(SeealsoinstructionsonLandRevenue).
d.PattaTransferApplications
ThePattaTransferApplicationspendingwiththeVillageAdministrativeOfficersshouldbe
verifiedtoavoiddelay.
ii.ChangeseffectedintheVillageaccountororderspassedonPattaTransferapplications
shouldbeattested.
e.StoneDepotRegister
TheregisterofA&Bstonesavailableinthevillagedepotshouldbephysicallyverifiedand
attested.
f.TheadversehealthconditionoftheVillagers,ifany,noticedshouldalsoberequiredtobe
reportedtotheTahsildar.
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2.ARMSACTANDRULES

The Arms Act 1959 (and Rules framed thereunder in 1962) is a Central Act. No
person shall possess a Fire Arm without a valid licence under this act. Licences areissued to
possess firearm or other weapon for bonafide purpose, i.e. for selfprotection, crop and cattle
protection, participating inSports, target practice etc. Under this Act, District Authority Collector
or District Revenue Officer is the Licencing Authority in respect ofnonprohibitedboreweapons
viz.Anysmoothboreweapon.Thefollowingarethenonprohibitedweapons:
1.SingleBarralledBreachloadinggun.2.DoubleBarralledBreachloadinggun.3.Single
BarralledMuzzleloadinggun.4.DoubleBarralledMuzzleloadinggun.5.Rifle6.Revolver7.
Pistol.
No licence is granted for hunting purposes. In respect of prohibited weapons viz. Automatic
weapons, the Central Government are the sole Licensing Authority and the District
Magistrates/Commissioner of Police have been specially empowered to renew those licences
i.e. prohibited bore weapons defined in Section 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c) (vide GSR 755 (E) dated
18.10.94).
NormallythelicencesissuedunderthisActarevalidforthreeyears.
As per Section 3(2) of the Arms Act 1959, no person shall acquire possession or
carry at any time more than three firearms. As per Section 3(2)(3) a person who is a Life
MemberofRifleClubcanpossessa.22Rifleinadditiontothreeweapons.
In their Lr.No.V.11026/8/89 Arms dated 4.7.1989, the Central Governmentissued
revised guidelines for Licences valid for all over India. Accordingly, the District Magistrates can
grant Licences valid for District/State/ and the State Government cangrant licences valid forall
India.
ProceduretobefollowedwhileprocessinganApplicationforagrantoflicenceunder
thisAct.
Application for the grant of licence or otherwise should be disposed of within 90
days. The Application should be in the prescribed format (FormA) with the requiredlicencefee
specifyingthepurposeforwhichthearmisrequired.NewArmsLicences shouldbegrantedonly
after verification of the characterand Antecedents of the Applicants. Itistheresponsibilityofthe
LicencingAuthoritiestogetspecificdetailed
7

reports from the SubordinateOfficersaswellasSuperintendentofPolice,DistrictForestOfficer

in case of crop protection. The Licencing Authorities are boundto afford a personal hearing to
the Applicants before passing an order. A the time of hearing the licencing authorities should
necessarily record a statement from theapplicant in proof of having heardthe party in person.
Likewise, the Licencing Authorities, before passing orders rejecting the request of the applicant
should give anopportunityofbeingheardpersonally.TheLicencingAuthority,beforerefusingthe
grant of licence or suspending, revocation, etc. should record the reasons in the proceedings.
The licencing Authority can cancel any licence if he finds it misused or obtained by
misrepresentation. In the rejection proceedings the appeal provision in Section 18(1) should
invariably be incorporated. The orders passed by the District Magistrate/Additional district
Magistrate under the provisions of Arms Act are statutory proceedings and office copy of such
proceedings should beapproved only by the District Magistrate/Additional District Magistrate as
thecasemaybeandshouldbespeakingorders.
Thepersonwhoappliedforgrantofalicence
(a) should have completed 21 years of age (b) should not be a convict and involved in any
criminal case (c) should havegood character and conduct and (d) he should not be an insane
person.
AsperSection14,therequestforthegrantofalicencecannotberejectedonthe
groundthatheisnotenoughwealthy.
As per Section 5oftheAct,thelicencees,incasetheysell ortransferanyarmsor
ammunition possessed by him to any person, shall forthwith inform in writing the District
Magistrate having jurisdiction or the officer incharge of nearest Police Station of such sale or
transfer together withthe particularsof the fire arms and ammunitions and thepersontowhom
they have been sold or transferred. Failure to give such information is punishable with
imprisonmentfor atermwhichmayextendtosixmonthsorwithfinewhichextendtoRs.500/or
withbothasperSection25(3)oftheAct.
Ifthelicenseeexpires,theweaponshouldbekeptunderpolicedeposit
immediatelyandthelicencecancelled.
RENEWAL:
As per Section 15, a licence shall unless revoked earlier, continue in force for a
period of three years from the date on which it is granted and renewablefromtimetotime.The
renewalshouldbeappliedforonemonthbeforetheexpirydate.
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RETAINER:

As perRule13(2)ofArmsRules,1962,alicenceinFormIIIgrantedtoa Company
for the protection of thepremises or property shall be in the name of a member, agent orother
representative of the Company, who shall be responsible for the custody of the weapon. The
name of the servantoranyotheremployeeentrustedwiththeweaponforguardingthepremises
or property of the Company shall be entered as a retainer in the appropriate column of the
licence.
APPEALS:
As appeal against theordersoftheLicencingAuthorityunderthisActlieswithin30
days from the date of issue of the order before the Principal Commissioner andCommissioner
of Revenue Administration (Section 18(1)). However, the delay in preferring the appeal is
Condoned under Section 18(2) by the Arms Act. A personal hearing is given to Appellant to
represent his case before the Appellate Authority and orders passed on merits. According to
Section 18(7) of the Arms Act every order of the Appellate Authority , confirming modifying or
reversingtheorderappealedagainstshallbeFINAL.
EXTENSIONOFAREAVALIDITYOFTHELICENCEES:
Since March 1990, the State Government have been delegated with powers to
grant arms licencesonAllIndiabasisinrespectofNon prohibitedboreweapons.Allapplications
to Government ofIndia forextension of area validity throughout India,should be madeonly after
the licensee had actually procured the weapon, andsuch applications should be accompanied
by the prescribed format, wherein PartIis to be filled in by the licensee and PartII andIIIareto
be filled in by the Licensing Authority and countersigned. In case where a licensee requests
extension of area or jurisdiction on the ground that he mightget a transferwithin Tamilnadu or
anywhere in India, such requests should be examined with referenceto rule 62(4) of the Arms
Rules. The Licensing Authority should entertain such applications,process them in the manner
referred to and forward them with a Xerox copy of the Licence, Police Report, Proforma
prescribed and with hisspecificrecommendations.TheGovernmentofIndiahavealsospecified
that as a rule, all India licences shall be granted in very rare cases only and specified the
followingthreecategoriesasasfewexceptionswhereaconsiderationcouldbegiven.
i.MinistersandMembersofParliament.ii.ServingOfficersofDefenceServices,Policeand
ParaMilitaryOrganisationsandOfficersofGovernmenthavingliabilitytoserveanywherein
India.iii.MembersofrecognisedRifleClubsandRifle
AssociationforbonafidesportsandGames.
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GRANTOFLICENCEINFORMXIANDXII

TheDistrictMagistrateistheAuthorityforgrantingalicenceinFormXIforrunning
aMatchFactory(underitem10(a)ofScheduleII)i.e.conversionofingredientifammunitioninto
Explosives/FireWorks.FormXIlicencesareissuedforRepairofArmsintheArmoury.FormXII
licencesareissuedforSales,KeepforSalesofArmsinanArmoury.
The Principal Commissioner and Commissioner ofRevenue Administration is the
licensing Authority/Renewing Authority for the licences in Form XI and Form XII under item 10
and11ofScheduleIItoArmsRules.
FORFEITUREOFWEAPONS
As per Section 21(3) of the Arms Act, all things deposited under Sub Section 2
within theperiodshallbeforfeitedtoGovernmentby order oftheDistrictMagistrate.Alicenseeis
liable to keep the weapon under deposit under rule 46(4)(b)(1) for a period of one year as a
consequence of its becoming unlawful under Section 21(1) otherwise than as under clause (a)
of the said rule(b), or asa consequenceofprovisoto subsection2ofsection3foraperiodof2
yearsunderRule46(4)(c).
DEPOSITOFWEAPON
If a licence is cancelled or ceased to be cancelled for non renewal, the weapon
should be kept in deposit with Police or Armoury. Necessary permission is required togetback
the weapon fromdepositortosellthesame.Iftheweapon isnottakenbackwithinthestipulated
time, a Notice has to be sent toshowcauseagainstforfeiture.Afterexaminingtheexplanationa
decision has to be taken as per rules. The sale proceeds of the weapon can be given to the
licenseeorthelegalheir.
In G.O.Ms.No.1032, Home (Pol.13) Department, dated 3.8.1998 the various
license/renewal fees prescribed under Arms Act 1959 have been revised.As such licencefees
pertainingtoalllicenceshavebeenenhanced.Appealfeesforweaponpistol/revolverisRs.100/
Appeal feefor gunsis Rs.50/ Licence fees inrespectofFormXI&XIIis Rs.300/
(Rupeesthreehundredonly)andrenewalfeesRs.200/(Rupeestwohundredonly).
The Tahsildar shall maintain a Registeroflicenseesresidingin hisTalukandshall
make entries whenever orders are received granting a new licence,renewing or canceling the
existinglicence.ThisRegistershouldbecomparedeveryyearwiththeoneintheCollectorate.
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