Act Info:
THE BOMBAY KHOTI ABOLITION ACT, 1949
[Act No. 6 of 19501]
[3rd April, 1950]
PREAMBLE
An Act to abolish the khoti tenure in the 2[State of Bombay].
WHEREAS it is expedient to abolish the khoti tenure prevailing in the districts of *Ratnagiri and Kolaba in the 3[Bombay area of the State of Maharashtra] and to provide for certain consequential and incidental matters hereinafter appearing;
It is hereby enacted as follows
INTRODUCTION
The khoti tenure originated in the Konkan Region owing to the rugged nature of the tract. This created tremendous difficulty in collecting land revenue regularly. This situation created a middleman called khot .
This category of tenure, was historically created by Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur (1489-1510). Subsequently, some khots were created by Moghuls, Marathas and Peshwas.
In Konkan, two categories of Khoti tenures were existing (a) khoti in Ratnagiri and Kolaba District, (b) the Salsette estates known as Salsette khoti (in Bombay Suburban District and Thane District).
The khoti tenure in ex-Janjira State and Bhor State merged in the Kolaba District.
There were 952 villages in Ratnagiri and 464 villages in Kolaba, covering an area of 18,29,306 acres assessed under khoti tenure.
It was brought to the notice of Government that a large number of Khots in the Kolaba District who were entitled to get a share of the net proceeds of all fellings in reserved forests of the village under the terms of the Kabulayats executed by them failed to prefer their claims for compensation for extinguishment of their right to such share in the belief that they were not entitled to any such compensation. There claims become time-barred. Government considered that this had caused hardships and that further time should be allowed to them for preferring their claims for such compensation upto 31st March, 1964.- Vide Statement of Objects and Reasons. Mah. 43 of 1963.
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1. For Statement of Objects and Reasons, see Bombay Government Gazette, 1949, Part V, pp. 205-206.
*Read now Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
2. These words were substituted for the words Province of Bombay by Bom, 18 of 1950, section 2(i).
3. These words were substituted for the words State of Bombay by the Maharashtra Adaptation of Laws (State and Concurrent Subjects) Order, 1960.