Arable Land - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition arable-land

Definition :

Arable land. The Agricultural Holdings Act, 1923 (13 & 14 Geo. 5, c. 9), s. 30, allows freedom of cropping of arable land, which expression 'shall not include land in grass, which by the terms of any contract of tenancy is to be retained in the same condition throughout the tenancy.'

'Arable land' is meant not only land capable of cultivation but also actually cultivated. It is not arable not because it is cultivated but because it is something else such as waste, pasture, ancient meadow etc. Indeed the fact that the land is actually cultivated demonstrates its nature as arable-land, Ishvarlal Girdharilal Jushi v. State of Gujarat, AIR 1968 SC 870 (880): (1968) 2 SCR 267. [Land Acquisition Act, 1894, s. 17(1)]

According to the Oxford Dictionary 'arable land' is 'land which is capable of being ploughed or fit for village'. In the context of s. 17(1) of the Act the expression must be construed to mean 'lands which are mainly used for ploughing and for raising crops', Raja Anand Brahmo Slah v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1967 SC 1081 (1085): (1967) 1 SCR 373. [Land Accuisition Act, 1894, s. 17(1)]