The Tamil Nadu Inam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963

What the Act governs

The Tamil Nadu Inam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963 governs the acquisition of landholders’ rights in inam estates and the introduction of ryotwari settlement in those estates. It applies to all inam estates in Tamil Nadu except:

• Shencottah taluk of Tirunelveli district.
• Kanyakumari district.
• Territories specified in the Second Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh and Madras (Alteration of Boundaries) Act, 1959.

The provisions apply to an individual inam estate from the date appointed by the State Government through notification, subject to the special provisions stated for Pudukkottai inam estates and interruptions caused by court, tribunal or other authority orders.

Who may be affected

The Tamil Nadu Inam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963 may affect:

• Landholders and principal landholders who held inam estates immediately before the notified date.
• Ryots using agricultural ryoti land and paying rent to a landholder.
• People occupying land within an inam estate.
• Buyers or owners dealing with land whose history or classification may involve an existing, new, impartible, part village or Pudukkottai inam estate.
• Professionals checking whether land is private land or ryoti land and whether ryotwari settlement applies.

Key provisions in the supplied text

• Agriculture includes horticulture.
• The State Government appoints the Director of Settlement.
• A principal landholder is generally the person who held the inam estate immediately before the notified date. Special definitions apply to a joint Hindu family and an impartible inam estate.
• Private land in a new inam estate can include domain or home farm land and, subject to stated conditions, land personally cultivated by the landholder or land in which the landholder acquired the entire kudiwaram.
• A Pudukkottai inam estate includes an inam village in the merged territory of Pudukkottai specified in the schedules identified in the Act.
• Rent in a new inam estate includes payments in money or kind for the use or occupation of land, including specified water charges and certain other lawful payments.

Practical relevance for land checks

A property buyer or owner should establish whether the land formed part of an inam estate, the type of estate involved, the applicable notified date and whether the land was treated as private land or ryoti land. The supplied document warns that it may not contain every subsequent amendment and recommends checking the latest government publication or gazette notification and taking professional advice.