THE

LAND REVENUE RULES, 1968

	The Land Revenue Rules, 1968, are an integral part of the legal framework governing land administration and revenue collection in Pakistan. These rules provide detailed procedures and guidelines for the implementation of the Land Revenue Act, 1967. For a comprehensive understanding of the Land Revenue Rules, 1968, and how they apply to your specific situation or land-related matters, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at 24Justice. Our team of legal experts can offer you personalized advice and assistance. Feel free to reach out, and we’ll be glad to provide you with the information you need to navigate the intricacies of land revenue regulations in Pakistan.
	PART I Preliminary
1.	Short title and commencement
2.	Definitions
	PART II Procedure of Revenue Officers
3.	Statements and pleadings to be brief
4.	Verification of applications, etc.
5.	Proceeding not to abate on death or marriage of party
6.	In fixing dates, etc. Revenue Officer to follow procedure of Revenue Court
6-A.	Remand of case
7.	Commissions
8.	Expenses of witnesses
9.	Record of mutation proceedings
10.	Record of other proceedings under the Act
11.	Contents of orders
12.	Apportionment and recovery of costs
13.	Execution of orders of ejectment, etc
14.	Charges for service of process through post
	PART III Village Headmen (Lambardars)
15.	Village headmen
16.	Number of headmen
17.	Matters to be considered in first appointment
18.	Dismissal of headmen
19.	Matters to be considered in appointment of successor
20.	Appointment of revenue farmers and mortgages as headmen
21.	Appointment of officiating headmen in place of absentees
22.	Duties of headmen
23.	Collection, control and distribution of village officers’ cesses
24.	Punishments
25.	Appointment of substitutes for non-resident headmen
26.	Appointment of other substitutes and their position
27.	Dissemination of office of substitute
28.	Rules governing appointment and removal of substitute
29.	Remuneration of substitute
	PART IV Record-of-rights And Periodical Records
30.	Other documents included in the records-of-rights and periodical records
31.	Manner in which the Record-of-Rights prepared, signed and attested
32.	Gist of the order of mutation
33.	Report regarding cause of delay in mutation cases
34.	Roznamcha Waqiati to be maintained by the Patwari
34-A	Collection of mutation fee in case of registered deeds
35.	Production of documents or furnishing of information under section 47
36.	Inspection of Records of Patwari and grant of certified copies or extracts therefrom
37.	Inspection of maps and land records filed in the Tehsil revenue record room or consigned to the district sub divisional revenue record room
37-A	Preparation of produce statements and 5 yearly abstracts
	PART V Crop Inspection And Kharaba
38.	Date on which inspection of each harvest to be commenced
39.	Crop Inspection Register
39-A	Fard Raftar Girdawari
40.	Correction of entries in the Crop Inspection Register
41.	Failure of crop to be entered in the Register Girdawari
42.	Scale on which relief to be given
43.	Circumstances under which no Kharaba Statement is to be prepared
	PART VI Demand Statements (Dhal Bachh)
44.	Bachh Papers
	PART VII A – Collection Of Land-revenue By Lambardars
45.	Place of payment
	B – Collection Of Land-revenue By Tapedars
46.	Payment of land revenue and rates and cesses
47.	Security to be furnished by Mukhtiarkar, Head Munshi, Supervising Tapedar and Tapedar
48.	Surety to be liable in the same manner as Principal
49.	Liability of surety not affected by death of Principal or by his taking a different appointment
50.	How surety may withdraw from further liability
51.	Register of sureties
	COLLECTION OF RATES AND CESSES
52.	Number of instalments and amount
53.	Rates and cesses paid alongwith first instalments of land revenue
54.	Rules in the case of estates in which no land revenue is payable
55.	Portion of rates and cesses not payable to Government
	RECOVERY OF ARREARS
56.	Application by Headmen for recovery of arrears from defaulters
57.	Defaulter to be summoned
58.	Recovery of arrears from defaulters
59.	Sale under section 88 or section 90 to be proceeded by attachment
	PROCESS FEES
60.	Charge for service of process
	PART VIII Remission Of Land Revenue
61.	Power to sanction remission
	PART IX Survey And Boundaries
62.	Demarcated areas of forest land, etc. owned by Government to be considered estates
63.	Survey marks
64.	Boundary marks
	A – Tri-junction Pillars (Sihadas) B – Burjis
65.	Land measurement or survey
66.	Size of area of Survey/Khasra Number
67.	Conditions for and restrictions upon subdivision of Survey/Khasra -numbers
	PART IX A Demarcation Of Land And Eviction Of Unauthorized Land-owners
67-A	Demarcation of Land
67-B	Eviction of unauthorised land-owners
	PART X Execution Of Certain Orders Of Civil And Criminal Courts Through Revenue Officers
68.	Appraisement of value of produce before sale
69.	Agency to be used in conducting sale
70.	Date on which possession is to be given to decree-holder ‘of Civil Court
	PART XI Miscellaneous
71.	Village Note Book
72.	Forms

 

 

THE

1. P. LAND REVENUE

RULES, 1968

 

13^th  July, 1968

No. 377/68-219-U (1).- With reference to the Board of Revenue, West Pakistan Notification No. 82/68-43-U (1), dated the 4th March, 1969, published in the Extraordinary issue of the ‘Gazette of West Pakistan’, dated the 12th March, 1968 and in supersession of all existing rules on the subject, the Board of Revenue, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it by sections 4 (9) (iii), 20, 36, 37 (2), 38 (2), 39 (2), 41, 42, 43, 55, 77, 113, 121, 122 (2), 129 (1), 133, 148, 170, 177 and 182 of the West Pakistan Land Revenue Act, 1967 (West Pakistan Act XVII of 1967), and with the prior approval of Government, and in the case of rules under section 170 of the said Act, with the concurrence of the High Court, is pleased to make the following rules:–

 

PART I

Preliminary

1. Short title and commencement.- (1) These rules may be called the West Pakistan Land Revenue Rules, 1968.

(2)       They shall come into force at once.

 

2. Definitions. In these rules unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context’

(a)        ‘Act’ means the West Pakistan Land Revenue Act, 1967;

(b)        ‘Form’ means a form appended to these rules;

(c)        ‘Section’ means a section of the Act; and

(d)       ‘Union Committee’, ‘Town committee’ and ‘Union Council’ shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them under the Basic Democracies Order, 1959 (P.O. No. 18 of 1959).

 

PART II

Procedure of Revenue Officers

3.      Statements and pleadings to be brief. – The statements and pleadings made by or on behalf of parties’ to any proceedings before a Revenue Officer, whether oral or written, shall be as brief as the nature of the case admits; and shall not be argumentative, but shall be confined as much as possible to a simple and concise narrative of the facts which the party by whom or on whose behalf the statement or pleading is made believes to be material to the case and which he either admits or believes that he will-be able to prove.

 

4. Verification of applications etc.- Every written application or statement filed by a party to a proceeding before a Revenue Officer shall be drawn up and verified in the manner provided by the Civil Procedure Code for written statements in suits.

 

5. Proceeding not to abate on death or marriage of party. – The death of one of the parties to a proceeding before a Revenue Officer, or, in a proceeding to which a female is a party, her marriage, shall not cause the proceeding to abate; and the Revenue Officer before whom the proceeding is held shall have power to make the successor-in-interest of the deceased person or of the married female, a party thereto.

 

6. In fixing dates, etc. Revenue Officer to follow procedure of Revenue Court. – In fixing dates for the hearing of parties and their witnesses, in adjourning proceedings, and in dismissing applications for default, or for other sufficient reason, a Revenue Officer shall, so far as the nature of the case may require or permit, be guided generally by the principles laid down in the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (Act V of 1908).

 

6-A.     Remand of case. (a) In an appeal under section 164. or in a revision under section 1641 against the final order of a Revenue Officer in a case, no Appellate or Revisional authority other than the Board or Revenue shall have the power to remand he case:

(b)       Subject to clause (a), the Appellate or the Revisional Authority, as the case may be, shall finally determine the case notwithstanding that the impugned order proceeds upon a ground other than that on which the Appellate or Revisional Authority precedes:

(c)        Where the impugned order has omitted to decide a question of fact which appears to the Appellate or the Revisional Authority, as the case may be, to be essential for the correct decision of the case, the said Authority may direct the Revenue Officer who passed the impugned order to return a finding thereon, after recording additional evidence, if necessary, the Appellate or the Revisional Authority, as the case may be, shall after considering any objections which may be preferred against such finding by a party within a time to be fixed by the said Authority, proceed to decide the case;

(d)       The Appellate or the Revisional Authority may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, allow additional evidence to be produced and take such evidence either itself or direct the Revenue Officer whole passed the impugned order or any other subordinate Revenue Officer to take such evidence and sent the same to it.

 

7. Commissions. – The provisions of sections 75 to 78 of the Civil Procedure Code (Act V of 1908) and of Order XXVI in Schedule-1 annexed to the said Code in respect of Commissions shall apply to proceedings before a Revenue Officer.

 

8. Expenses of witnesses.– (1) A Revenue Officer may award to a witness attending his Court or office a sum on account of his expenses, not exceeding the amount admissible to him in civil suits under the Rules and Orders of the High Court

(2)        The sum so awarded shall be the costs in the proceedings.

 

9. Record of mutation proceedings. – In proceedings under subsection (6) of section 42, a record of statements of parties and witnesses shall be made by the Revenue Officer with his own hand, and his order shall state briefly the persons examined by him, the facts to which they deposed and the grounds of the order.

Explanation.- Where the acquisition of the right is by a registered deed or by or under the order or decree of a Court, it shall not be necessary to record the statements of the parties, and witnesses or to enforce their attendance.

 

10. Record to other proceedings under the Act. -In other proceedings under the Act, not being proceedings under section 141, the Revenue Officer shall make, with his own hand, a brief memorandum of the statements of parties and witnesses at the time when each statement is made.

 

11. Contents of orders. – In every proceeding in which an order is passed on merits after inquiry, the Revenue Officer making the order shall also record a brief statement of the reasons on which it is founded.

 

12. Appointment and recovery of costs. – (1) In proceedings in which costs have incurred, the final order shall apportion the costs between the parties to the proceedings.

(2)       Costs thus apportioned shall be recoverable by the Revenue Officer by attachment and sale of the movable property of the person liable for the same in the manner prescribed in section 83.

 

13. Execution of orders of ejectment etc.- (1) Orders of ejectment from, and delivery of possession of immovable property, shall be enforced in the manner provided in the Code of Civil Procedure and the Rules and order of the High Court, for the time being in force, in respect of the execution of a decree of a civil Court; and in enforcing these orders, a Revenue Officer shall have all the powers in regard to contempts, resistance and the like, which a Civil Court may exercise in the execution of a decree of the description mentioned in sub-rule (1).

 

14. Charges for service of process through post. – In all cases in which processes are issued by post, the parties concerned shall be required to pay talbana, at the rate of [Rupee one] per head.

PART III
Village Headmen (Lambardars)

15. The rules in this Part and Rules 55, 56, 57 and 58 in sc far as they relate to headmen (Lambardars), shall not extend to the areas excepted under section 180.

 

16. Number of headmen.-(l) A sufficient number of headmen shall be appointed to every estate, and this number when once fixed shall not be increased except by or under the order of the Commissioner.

(2)       Except as provided in Rule 21, if an estate or a considerable portion thereof is owned by Government, the headmen may be appointed from among the tenants and in other estates he shall be appointed from among the land-owners.

(3)       The lessee of an uncultivated or forest estate owned by Government shall, during the currency of his lease, be the headman thereof.

 

17. Matters to be considered in first appointment.- In all first appointments of headmen regard shall be had among other matters to:-

(a)        the hereditary claims of the candidate;

(b)        extent of property in the estate, if there are no sub-divisions of the estate, and in case there be sub-divisions of the estate the extent of the property in the sub-division for which appointment is to be made, possessed by the candidate;

(c)        services rendered to the Government by him or by his family;

(d)       his personal influence, character, ability and freedom from indebtedness;

(e)        the strength and importance of the community from which selection of a headman is to be made;

(f)        his ability to undergo training in Civil Defence in the case of headmen in Tehsils situated along the Border.

18. Dismissal of headmen.- (1) A headman shall be dismissed when-

(a)       he has been, on conviction for an offence involving moral turpitude, sentence to imprisonment for a term of not less than six months; or

(b)       in an estate owned altogether or chiefly by Government, he ceases to possess the interest which led to his appointment; or

(c)       in any other estate, he ceases to be a land owner in the estate or sub-division of the estate in respect of which he holds office; or

(d)       he has mortgaged his holding and has delivered possession of the holding to the mortgagee; provided that in special cases the Collector may, with the Commissioner’s sanction, retain him in his office, if he can furnish adequate security for the payment of the revenue he has to collect and for the due discharge of his duties; or

(e)       his holding has been transferred under section 84, or the assessment thereof has been annulled under section 86

(2)       A headman may be dismissed when-

(a)       any criminal proceedings which have been taken against him show that he is unfit to be entrusted any longer with the duties of a headman; or

(b)       he is seriously embarrassed by debt, or if his unencumbered holding is so small as to disqualify him, in the Collector’s opinion, for the responsibilities of a headman; or

(c)       owing to age or physical or mental incapacity, or absence from the estate, he is unable to discharge his duties; or

(d)       there is reason to believe that he has taken part in, or concealed illicit distillation, or the smuggling of food grains, cocaine, opium or charas; or

(e)       he takes part in any unconstitutional agitation against the Government or fails to give his active support to the Government in the maintenance of law and order; or

(f)        he neglects to discharge his duties, or is otherwise shown to be incompetent; or

(g)       the estate or sub-division thereof, in respect of which he holds office, or his own holding, is attached, either for an arrear of land revenue or by order of any Court.

• A headman shall not be dismissed unless an opportunity has been  afforded to him of showing cause against the proposed action.

            

19. Matters to be considered in appointment of successor. – (1) In an estate or sub-division thereof, owned chiefly or altogether by Government, a successor to the office of headman shall be selected, with due regard to all the considerations, other than hereditary claims, stated in Rule 17:

Provided that in such an estate or sub-division thereof, notified for the purpose by the Board of Revenue, the selection shall, as far as possible, be made in the manner prescribed by sub-rule (2) if a suitable heir is forthcoming.

(2)       In other estates, the nearest eligible heir, according to the rules of primogeniture shall be appointed unless some special custom of succession to the office be distinctly proved but subject, in every case, to the following provisions-

(a)        The claim of collateral of the last incumbent to succeed shall not be admitted solely on the ground of inheritance, unless the claimant is a descendant, in the male line, of the paternal greatgrand father of the last incumbent.

(b)        Where a headman has been dismissed in accordance with the provisions of Rule 18, the Collector may refuse to appoint any of his heirs-

(i)         if the circumstances of the offence, dereliction of duty or disqualification, for which the headman was dismissed, make it probable that he would be unsuitable as a headman;

(ii)        if there is reason to believe that he has connived at the offence or dereliction of duty for which the headman has been dismissed;

(iii)       if any disqualification for which the headman has been dismissed, attaches to him;

(iv)      if he may reasonably be supposed to be under the influence of the dismissed headman or his family to an undesirable extent.

Explanation.- If a dismissed headman’s heir is considered fit to succeed, regard shall be had to the property which he would inherit.

(c)        The Collector may also refuse to appoint a person claiming as an heir, on any ground which would necessitate or justify the dismissal of that person from the office of the headman.

(d)        A female is not ordinarily eligible for appointment to the office of a headman, but may be appointed, when she is the sole owner of the estate for which the appointment has to be made, or for special reasons.

(3)        Failing the appointment of an heir, a successor to the office shall be appointed in the manner, and with regard to the considerations, described in Rule 17.

(4)        Election shall not, in any case, be restorted to as an aid in making appointments under this rule or Rule 16.

 

20. Appointment of revenue farmers and mortgagees as Headman. – (1) Where an office of headman becomes vacant in consequence of any proceedings taken for the recovery of an arrear of land revenue, under section 84, 85 or 86, the transferee, agent, or farmer who, under these proceedings, obtains possession of the land on which the arrears were due may, in the discretion of the Collector, be appointed a headman.

(2)       Where a headman, who is personally responsible for more than half the land-revenue of an estate or of the sub-division thereof, in respect of which he holds office, has mortgaged his holding and has delivered possession thereof to the mortgagee, and the office of headman has become vacant in consequence thereof, the mortgagee may, at th’ discretion of Collector, be appointed as headman.

(3)       On the termination of any such transfer, farm or attachment, as is referred to in sub-rule (1), or on the release of any such mortgage as is referred to in sub-rule (2), a headman appointed under this rue shall cease to hold office, and a new headman shall be appointed with reference to the considerations enumerated in Rule 17.

 

21. Appointment of officiating headman in place of absentees. – Where a headman has abandoned the estate, a temporary headman may be appointed by the Collector in place of absentee headman, till a permanent headman is appointed, keeping in view the following principles.

(i)        In estates wholly abandoned by the proprietors, or in which a major area or the whole of a patti has been abandoned, appointment shall be made from among the persons who have been resettled on the land in the estate, preferably from those who have previously been headmen in the estates vacated by them in India; and if no such persons are available, selection should be made from among other persons who have been re-settled on the land in the estate in accordance with the provisions of Rules 16 and 17.

(ii)       In estates which are wholly or mostly owned by Government, appointment shall be made in the manner provided in Rule 16 (2); preference being given to those who have previously been headmen.

(iii)       In estates where only a small portion of land has been abandoned by the proprietors, the appointment may be made from among the landowners or those resettled in the estate.

Explanation. – A surety for persons appointed as headmen may be taken, in cases where may be considered appropriate.

 

22. Duties of headmen.- In addition to the duties imposed upon headmen under any other law, a headman shall-

(i)        collect, by due date, the land-revenue and all sums recoverable as land-revenue, from the estate or sub-division of an estate in which he holds office, and pay the same personally or by revenue money-order or by remittance of currency notes through the post or at place where treasury business is conducted by the State Bank of Pakistan, or any other bank, by cheque, on a local bank, at the place and time appointed in that behalf, to the Tehsildar concerned;

(ii)       collect the rents and other income of the common land, and account for these to the persons entitled thereto;

(iii)       issue receipts in Form I to the landowners, and others, in token of having recovered the Government dues from them;

Explanation. – The Tehsildar should arrange to supply printed receipt books (Form I) to the headmen, free of cost, according to their requirements.

(iv)      report to the Tehsildar all encroachments on roads (including village roads) or on Governments waste lands and injuries to, or appropriation of, Government property situated within the estate;

(v)        report any injury to public buildings in the estate;

(vi)       implement, to the best of his ability, any orders that he may receive from the Collector, requiring him to furnish information or to assist in providing, on payment, supplies or means of transport for troops or for officers of Government on duly;

(vii)     assist, in such manner as the Collector may from time to time direct, at all crop inspection, recording of mutations, surveys, preparation of records of rights or other revenue business within the estate.

(viii)     attend the summons of all authorities having jurisdiction in the estate; assist, when so required by them, all officers of the Government in the discharge of their duties: furnish all relevant information in this behalf and generally act for the land-owner, tenants and other residents of the estate or sub-division of the estate in which he holds office, in regard to their responsibilities to the Government;

(ix)      report to the patwari any outbreak of disease among human beings or cattle in the estate or subdivision of an estate in which he holds office;

(x)       report to the patwari the deaths of any right-borders in the estate, or sub-division of the estate, in which he holds office.

(xi)      report any breach or cut in a Government Irrigation canal or channel, to the nearest Canal Officer, Zilladar or canal patwari.

(xii)     under the general or special directions of the Collector, to use his good offices to assist all officers of Government and other persons, duly authorized by the Collector, in the enrollment of military personnel.

 

23. Collection, control and distribution of village officers cesses.- (1)  The Collector may, at any time, revise the arrangements in an estate regarding the collection, control and distribution of the village officers cess.

(2) The headman shall be paid the following remunerations for his services:–

(i)        for collection of land-revenue (Pachotra, 5% of the amount of land-revenue collected.

• for collection of water rate (abiana), 3% of the amount collected.

(iii)     for the collection of:-

(a)        Rehabilitation Fee;

(b)       Historical Mosque Fund Cess;

(c)        Cultivation Commission at the rate of Lease Money and Cash 3% of the amount collected Rent;

(d)       Consolidation Fee;

(e)        Development cess; and

(f)        Mutation Fee.

Explanation 1. – The remuneration or Lambardari fee shall be calculated on the actual amount collected and not on the demand.

Explanation 2. – The remuneration for the collection of land-revenue (Pachotra) is a surcharge and is to be recovered from the land-owners, in addition to the land-revenue.

Explanation 3. – In the case of water-rate (Abiana) and the fees and cesses mentioned in sub-rule (2), the Commission payable to the Lambardar is not recovered as surcharge, but is deducted from the amount recovered.

 

24. Punishments. – Where a headman commits a breach of or neglects, the duties imposed on him, by or under these rules or by or under any other law for the time being in force, the Collector may, after giving him an opportunity of showing cause against the proposed action, by order direct that-

(a)       the emoluments of his office be withheld and forfeited to Government, for a term, not exceeding one year; or

(b)       he may be suspended form office, for a term not exceeding one year.

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