Land Law-2 Sub-Letting & Barga

Sub-Letting and Barga
Tuesday, August 24, 2021 1

Sub-Letting
And
Barga
• Meaning of Sub-Letting,
• Lease and Sub-lease,
• Prohibition of Sub-letting
 Regular Provions,
 Irregular (temporary) provisions,
• SAT Act, 1950 and PRC Act, 1991
• Sub-letting and Barga,
• Meaning of Barga,
• Provisions for Barga Cultivation

• Meaning of Barga,
• Provisions for Barga Cultivation,
• Barga Contract,
• Recognition of Bargadars,
• Barga after the death of Bargadar,
• Termination of Barga Contract,
• Division of Barga Product (crops);
• Right of Preemption of a Bargadar;
• Ceiling of Barga land;
• Restriction of Cultivation;
• Disputes;
• Appeals;
• Bar to the Jurisdiction of Court;

The term 'sub-letting' in general sense means
letting part of property to somebody else on rent.
The term 'sub-letting' in another sense means

leasing to another person.
So, sub-letting is synonymous to sub-lease.

Oxford Dictionary terms the sub-letting
as the granting of a sub-lease.
It defines sub-letting as 'a lease granted

by a person who is himself a lessee of
the same property.

Sub-letting has not been defined under the State
Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950, though several words
and expressions are clearly defined in section 2 of the said
Act.
But it is said in section 2(31) of the State Acquisition and
Tenancy Act, 1950 that words used in the Parts 1-4 of the
Act but not defined therein are to be given the same
meaning as they bear in the Bengal Tenancy Act 1885 (Act
No. VIII of 1885) or the Sylhet Tenancy Act 1936 (Assam Act
No.XI of 1936).
So we can consider other laws to find out the meaning of
the expression.

The Bengal Tenancy Act 1885 and the Sylhet
Tenancy Act 1936 Acts treat sub-letting as
the creation of a subordinate tenancy on a
special contract between lessee and sub-
lessee under which the sub-lessee would be
liable to pay rent for that land to a person
other than the Government.

In the case of Government of East Pakistan v
Md. Hossain (reported in 16 DLR (SC) at page-
667), sub-letting is said to connote the creation
of subordinate tenancy or under-raiyati, under
which the sub-lessee would, but for a special
contract, be liable to pay rent for that land to a
person other than the Government.
.

So, sub-letting of land means creation of further
letting of the let property through a contract.
In the 'State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950
giving part of one's property to somebody else
on payment of rent is referred to as sub-letting.
.
In indicates that the creation of
letting subsists between the
State and the malik of the land,
and when the malik of the land
creates further letting for his
property it is sub-letting.
Relation between Letting and Sub-letting
Letting by Government to Malik
Sub-letting by Malik to Another person

The sub-lease must be shorter than the main lease.
Under the general law regarding transfer of property, sub-lease connotes the
transfer of only a part of the original lessee's interest, whereas in lease the whole
interest is transferred.
In the case of a lease, the lessee stands in the shoes of the original landlord
whereas a sub-lessee is liable to the sub-lessor; he cannot sue or he sued by the
original landlord.
The formalities for creating and terminating a sub-lease are the same as those for a
lease. There is often a covenant in a lease, prohibiting sub-letting. If a lessee sub-
lets in breach of the covenant, the lessor has the right of forfeiture of the lease.

Object of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950, is to:
(a)acquire all rent-receiving interests and certain other
interests in land and to oblige. And people who got in
excess of 375 standard bighas of land to lose excessive
lands due to acquisition by the Government.
(b)create only one class of raiyat, to place the raiyats directly
under the Government and to make them obliged to pay
rent to the Government as well.
The intention of the SAT Act through this provision are:
maliks of the land will cultivate the land themselves and
concentrate on production and will help building a happier and
healthier nation.
And, if sub-letting were allowed, it would enable maliks of the

land to create further sub-tenancy and put the under-tenants
in oppression as existed before the State Acquisition and
Tenancy Act, 1950. This means it would be totally incompatible
with very object of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950
and could jeopardise the existence of the State Acquisition and
Tenancy Act, 1950 as well.
(please see the case of Govt. of East Pakistan Vs. Md. Hossain, 16 DLR (SC) 667.)

a. To create one class of raiyat by equalling the status of the rent-
receiver to that of a raiyat,
b. to enable raiyats to cultivate the land themselves and concentrate on
improving productivity of the land,
c. to enable raiyats to pay rent directly to the government so as to
relieve raiyats of the excessive rent burden often created by the
intermediaries,
the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 contained in its tenancy
part certain provisions debarring land owners from creating further
tenancy.
To materialise these objects, certain regular and irregular provisions
have been made.

Relenant Provisions of Law
1. Regular Provisions
(ii) Section 93 of the SAT Act, 1950, &
(ii) Section 81A(2) of the SAT Act, 1950
2. Irregular (Temporary) Provision

Section 75A of SAT Act, 1950

(i) Section 93 of the SAT Act, 1950
Section 93 of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 says that no raiyat
shall sub-let the whole or any part of his holding on any terms or conditions
whatsoever. If any holding or part of a holding is sub-let in contravention of
the provisions of this section, the interest of the raiyat in the holding or in
that part of the holding shall be extinguished, and the holding or the part of
the holding, as the case may be, shall vest in the Government from the date
of such sub-letting free from all encumbrances.
This is a regular provision prohibiting sub-letting of agricultural lands. This

provision was made to materialise the very objects of the State Acquisition
and Tenancy Act, 1950. If this was not made, the whole object would have
frustrated. However, the operation of this provision was delayed till the
commencement of the tenancy part of the State Acquisition and Tenancy
Act, 1950.

1. Regular Provisions
(ii) Section 81A(2) of the SAT ACT, 1950
Under the proviso of section 81A(2), a non-agricultural tenant has also been
prohibited to sub-let the whole or any part of his tenancy on any terms and
conditions whatsoever. I f a non-agricultural tenant sub-lets any tenancy or
any part of a tenancy in contravention of this provision, his interest in the
tenancy or in the part of the tenancy shall be extinguished and the tenancy
or the part of a tenancy shall vest in the Government from the date of such
sub-letting free from all encumbrances.
This is also a regular provision prohibiting sub-letting of non-agricultural

lands. This provision was also made to materialise the very objects of the
State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950. If this was not made, the whole
object would remain unsatisfied.

Section 75A of the SAT Act, 1950
 The operation of the above provisions was deferred till the
commencement of the tenancy part of the State Acquisition and
Tenancy Act, 1950.
 Later it was found that certain people who were allowed to retain up
to 375 bighas or less lands in their khas possession, did not cultivate
or use the lands themselves.
 They sub-let their lands to other people and thus created sub-
tenancies. This creation of sub-tenancies worked against the very
objective of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950.
 It made raiyats indirect tenants of the State again and made them
to pay excessive rents thorough intermediaries.
Continues to next slide
Section 75A of the SAT Act, 1950
Comes from previous slide
 To guard against such discrepancies, in 1954 section 75A of the
State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 was inserted by the
East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy (Amendment) Act
1954 (East Bengal Act XII of 1954).
 This was introduced as a temporal measure to prevent the

mischief practised by some people before the commencement
of the tenancy part of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act,
1950.

Section 75A of the SAT Act, 1950 runs as follows:
(1) On and from the date of publication of a notification under sub-section (3) of
Section 17 or under sub-section (I) of Section 31, no person shall sub-let any
land in his khas possession in the area to which such notification relates.
(2) Any sub-letting made in contravention of sub-section (1) shall be null and
void and the land so sub-let shall he forfeited to the Government.
This temporal provision gave the malik the option to voluntarily surrender
their lands and receive compensation. This seemed to be a better option
than to get the land forfeited to the government without having
compensation.

Analysis of Section 75A
• The expression ‘the land so sub-let shall be forfeited to the
Government' was added by the East Bengal State Acquisition and
Tenancy (Amendment) Act 1956 (East Pakistan Act IV of 1956).
• This makes any person, at any time, to apply to the Government

for the acquisition of any of his khas lands under sub-section (2)
of section on payment of compensation at the rate prescribed
for such land in Section 39.
• This section came into force on 30 August 1954.

Continues to the next slide

Analysis of Section 75A
• However, it was actually made operative only from the date of notification
under sub-section (3) of section 17 or under sub-section (1) of section 31.
• The section had no retrospective operation and did not invalidate leases
created before such date.
• As soon as the provisions of 75A came into effect, sub-letting was turned
into null and void.
• Before the provisions of 75A came into effect,-sub-letting was valid.


• Before the provisions of 75A (2) got amended, the sub-let property
reverts back to the original owner.
• So it is crystal clear that all the provisions contained in sections 75A, 93

and 81 A (2) are in the same spirit.
• Government has acquired all the sub-ordinate tenancies at the cost of

huge expenditure and great hardship.
• And if the agricultural or the non-agricultural tenant is allowed to sub-

let their property and thus sub-ordinate tenancies are created again,
the object of the state acquisition will go in vain.

Relationship between State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950
and the Premises Rent Control Act, 1991
There is no inconsistency between the provision of section
75A of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 and that of the
Premises Rent Control Act, 1991 which provides for letting out of
premises on monthly basis.
Letting out of land along with building thereon on a

temporary basis is outside the scope of section 75A.

Relationship between Sub-letting and Barga
Sub-letting and Barga serve the same purposes.

 However, in sub-letting rent is to be realised, and
 in barga, produce of the barga land is to be shared.
 To get relief of sub-letting as is in random practice, barga is a

solution to save the very objects of the State Acquisition and
Tenancy Act, 1950.

Meaning of Barga
The word `barga' means:
• share-cropping under a contract;
• In other word, it means the cultivation of land of one person by
another person under a contract.
• The person who owns the land is called the 'owner' of the land
and the person who cultivates the land is called `bargadar'.
• So barga is a relationship between the owner and cultivator.

Meaning of Barga
There is a statutory definition of bargader in the Land Reforms
Ordinance. 1984.
• Section 2(a) of the Land Reforms Ordinance, 1984 defines
'bargadar’ as a person who under the system generally known
as adhi, burga or bhag cultivates the land of another person on
condition of delivering a share of produce of such land to that
person.
• Section 2(b) defines ‘barga contract’ as the contract under

which any land is cultivated by a person as a bargadar.

Provision for Barga Cultivation
For the first time detailed provision has

been made for barga cultivation in the
Land Reforms Ordinance, 1984.
Chapter V of the Ordinance, has laid down

and those provisions are quoted in few
slids:
Provision for Barga Cultivation
(A) Cultivation under Barga Contract
Section 8 runs as follows:
(1) Subject to the other provisions of this Ordinance, no person shall allow
another person to cultivate his land and no per-son shall cultivate the land
of another person on condition of sharing the produce of such land between
them unless they execute a contract for such cultivation in such form and
manner as may be prescribed
(2) A barga contract shall be valid for a period of five years commencing from
such date as may be specified in the barga contract.

(B) Recognition of Existing Bargadars
Section 9 says that-
(1) Any person cultivating the land of another person as a bargadar
immediately before the commencement of this Odinance shall be deemed
to be a bargadar in respect of such land under this Ordinance.
(2) The owner and the bargadar of any land referred to in sub-section (I) shall
execute a contract as required under section 8 within ninety days from the
date of commencement of this Ordinance.
(3) If the parties fail to execute the contract within the specified period, any of
them may make an application to the pre-scribed authority for getting a
contract executed.
(B) Recognition of Existing Bargadars (comes from previous slide)
(4) The prescribed authority shall, after making such enquiry as it deems fit, within sixty
days of receipt of the application, decide whether or not the applicant is entitled to
get such contract executed.
(5) If the prescribed authority decides that the applicant is entitled to get a contract
executed in respect of any property mentioned in the application, it shall direct the
opposite par-ty to execute the contract within two weeks from the date of receipt of
the direction and, if such party fails to execute, the authority shall execute it on
behalf of such party.
(6) A hargu contract executed under this section shall be deemed to be effective from
the date of commencement of this Ordinance, and shall be valid for a period of five
years from that date.

(C) Cultivation of Barga Land after Burgadar’s Death
Section 10 lays down that-
(1) Where a bargadar dies before the expiry of the period of barga
contract, the cultivation of the barga land may be continued by
the surviving members of the family of the deceased bargadar
till such expiry or till the barga contract is terminated under
this Ordinance.
(2) Where the bargadar dies without leaving any person in his
family who is in a position to cultivate the land, the owner of
the land may bring the land under his personal cultivation or
allow such land to he cultivated by another bargadar.
(D) Termination of Barga Contract
Section 11 deals with the termination of burga contract in the following:
(1) No owner shall be entitled to terminate a baradar contract except in
execution of an order, made by the prescribed authority, on the ground that-
(a) the bargadar has, without any reasonable cause, failed to cultivate the barga
land;
(b) the bargadar has, without any reasonable cause, failed to produce any crop
equal to the average output of such crop in any land similar to the burga
land in the locality,
(c) the bargadar has used the barga land wholly or partly For any purpose other
than agriculture;

(d) the bargadar has contravened any provision of this Ordinance or
the rules or orders made thereunder;
(e) the bargadar has surrendered or voluntarily abandoned his right

of cultivation;
(f) the barga land is not under personal cultivation of the bargadar:
or

(g) the owner requires the barga land bona fide for personal
cultivation.

(2) if the owner, without reasonable cause, fails to bring under
personal cultivation any land on termination of a barga
contract under sub-section (1)(g) or allows such land to he
cultivated by some other bargadar within twenty four months
of the date of such termination, the prescribed authority may.
on an application made by the evicted bargadar, restore the
pos-session of the land to such bargadar who shall thereupon
continue to cultivate the land till the expiry of the period of
barga contract or termination of the barga contract under this
Ordinance.

(E) Division of Produce of Barga Land
(1 ) The produce of any barga land shall he divided in the following manner,
namely:
(a) one-third shall be received by the owner for the land;
(b) one third shall be received by bargadar for the labour;
(c) one-third shall be received by the owner or the bargadar or by both in
proportion to the cost of cultivation, other than the cost of labour, borne by
them.
(2) The harvested crop of any barga land shall he stored for-thrashing and
division either at any place belonging to the bargadar or any place
belonging to the owner, whichever is nearer to the barga land, or at any
other place agreed upon between the parties.

Section 12 runs as follows: (comes from previous slide)
(3) The bargadar shall tender to the owner the share of the produce due to him
immediately after harvesting of the crop and when the tendered share is
accepted by the owner, each.. party shall give to the other a receipt in such
form as may be prescribed for the quantity of the produce received by him.
(4) If the owner refuses to accept the share of the produce tendered to him by
the bargadar or to give a receipt there-fore, the bargadar shall give
intimation- of such fact in writ-ing to the prescribed authority.
(5) The prescribed authority shall, on receipt of such intimation, serve a notice
upon the owner, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, asking him
to take delivery of the pro-duce within seven days from the date of service
of the notice.

(6) If the owner fails to take delivery of the produce within seven
days from the date of service of the notice, the pre-scribed
authority shall permit the bargadar to sell the pro-duce to any
Government purchasing agency or, in the absence of such
agency, in the local market.
(7) If the bargadar sells the produce, he shall deposit the proceeds
of such sale with the prescribed authority within seven days
from the date of sale.

(8) The prescribed authority shall give to the bargadar a receipt, in
such form as may be prescribed, stating therein the amount of
money deposited with him and the quantity of produce sold by
the bargadar and such receipt shall discharge the bargadar
from his obligation to deliver the share of the produce to the
owner. However, the quantity of the produce due to the owner,
the obligation of the bargadar with regard to the delivery of the
quantity of the produce not tendered or sold shall continue.

(9) Where a deposit is made under sub-section (7), the pre-scribed
authority shall give intimation of such deposit to the owner in
such form and manner as may be prescribed.
(10) lithe owner does not receive the money in deposit from the
prescribed authority within one month from the date of receipt
of intimation of such deposit, the prescribed authority may
deposit the money in the treasury in revenue deposit to the
credit of the owner and give intimation of such deposit to the
owner in such form and manner as may be prescribed.

(F) Bargadar's Right to Pre-emption
(1) Where the owner intends to sell the barga land, he shall ask the bargadar in
writing if he is willing to purchase the land. However, this provision shall not
apply where the owner sells the land to a co-sharer or to his parent, wife,
son, daughter or son's son or to any other member of his family.
(2) The bargadar shall, within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the offer,
inform the owner in writing of his decision to purchase or not to purchase
the land.
(3) If the bargadar agrees to purchase the land, he shall negotiate the price of
the land with the owner and purchase the land on such terms as may be
agreed upon between them.
(F) Bargadar's Right to Pre-emption
(Comes from the previous slide)
(4) If the owner does not receive any intimation from the bargadar regarding
his decision either to purchase or not to purchase the land within the
specified time or if the bargadar informs the owner of his decision not to
purchase the land or if the bargadar does not agree to pay the price
demanded by the owner, the owner may sell the land to any person he
deems fit. However, the owner shall not sell the land to such person at a
price which is lower than the price offered by the bargadar.
(5) Where the barga land is purchased by a person other than the bargadar,
the barga contract in respect of the land shall be binding upon the
purchaser as if the purchaser were a party to the contract.

(G) Ceiling of Barga Land
Section 14 says:
(1) No bargadar shall be entitled to cultivate more than fifteen standard bighas
of land. In computing this ceiling, area or any land owned by the bargadar
as well as the land cultivated by him as a bargadar and held by him under a
complete usufructuary mortgage shall be taken into account.
(2) If a bargadar cultivates land in excess of fifteen standard bighas, the share
of the produce due to him as a bargadar in respect of the excess land may
he compulsorily procured by the Government by order made in this behalf
by the prescribed authority.

(H) Restriction of Cultivation
Section 15 reads as follows:
(1) No person shall cultivate the land of another person
except under a barga contract or complete
usufructuary mortgage or as a servant or labourer.
(2) If a person cultivates the land of another person in

violation of the provisions of this section, the produce
of the land may be compulsorily procured by the
Government by order made in this behalf by the
prescribed authority.
(I) Disputes
Section 16 says:
(1 ) There may be a dispute between a bargadar and the owner in respect of-
(a) Division or delivery of the produce,
(b) Termination of barga contract,
(c) Place of storing and thrashing of the produce shall be decided by the
prescribed authority.
(2) If in deciding any dispute referred to in sub-section (1), any question arises
as to whether a person is a bargadar or not or to whom the share of the
produce is deliverable, such question shall be determined by the prescribed
authority (to be appointed by the Government with Official Gazette
notification).

(I) Disputes
Comes from previous slide
(3) The prescribed authority shall not entertain any

dispute il it is not referred to it by an application praying
for its decision thereon within three months from the
date on which the dispute arose.

(4) The prescribed authority shall, after giving the parties
an opportunity of being heard and adducing evidence
and making such enquiry as it deems necessary, give its
decision within three months from the date of receipt of
the application.
(J) Appeals
(1) An appeal shall lie to the prescribed appellate authority (to he appointed
by the Government with Official Gazette notification) against any order,
decision or action made or taken by the prescribed authority under any
provision of this Ordinance.
(2) An appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within thirty days from the
date of receipt or knowledge of the order, decision or action appealed
against.
(3) The decision of the prescribed appellate authority shall he final.

(K) Bar to Jurisdiction
Section 20 says that no order, decision,
action or proceedings made or taken by
any authority under this Ordinance shall
be called in question in any Court and no
Court shall entertain any suit or
proceeding in respect of any such order,
decision, action or proceedings.
Any Question?

Land Law-2 Sub-Letting & Barga

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Sub-Letting and Barga

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 1

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 3

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 4

The term 'sub-letting' in another sense means

So, sub-letting is synonymous to sub-lease.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 5

It defines sub-letting as 'a lease granted

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 6

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Tuesday, August 24, 2021 9

Letting by Government to Malik

Sub-letting by Malik to Another person

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And, if sub-letting were allowed, it would enable maliks of the

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2. Irregular (Temporary) Provision

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This is a regular provision prohibiting sub-letting of agricultural lands. This

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This is also a regular provision prohibiting sub-letting of non-agricultural

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 This was introduced as a temporal measure to prevent the

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• This makes any person, at any time, to apply to the Government

• This section came into force on 30 August 1954.

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• Before the provisions of 75A came into effect,-sub-letting was valid.

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• So it is crystal clear that all the provisions contained in sections 75A, 93

• Government has acquired all the sub-ordinate tenancies at the cost of

• And if the agricultural or the non-agricultural tenant is allowed to sub-

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 25

Letting out of land along with building thereon on a

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Sub-letting and Barga serve the same purposes.

 in barga, produce of the barga land is to be shared.

 To get relief of sub-letting as is in random practice, barga is a

Tuesday, August 24, 2021 27

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• Section 2(b) defines ‘barga contract’ as the contract under

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For the first time detailed provision has

Chapter V of the Ordinance, has laid down

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(e) the bargadar has surrendered or voluntarily abandoned his right

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(2) If a person cultivates the land of another person in

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