1[CHAPTER II
LOWERING OF CEILING ON HOLDINGS
3. Prohibition on holding land in excess of ceiling area; and area in excess of ceiling to be surplus lands.- (1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter and Chapter III, no person or family unit shall, after the commencement date, hold land in excess of the ceiling area, as determined in the manner hereinafter provided.
Explanation.- A person or family unit may hold exempted land to any extent.
(2) All land held by a person, or as the case may be, a family unit whether in this State or any other part of India in excess of the ceiling area, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force or usage, be deemed to be surplus land, and shall be dealt with in the manner hereinafter provided for surplus land.
In determining surplus land from the holding of a person, or as the case may be, of a family unit, the fact that the person or any member of the family unit has died (on or after commencement date or any date subsequent to the date on which the holding exceeds the ceiling area, but before the declaration of surplus land is made in respect of that holding) shall be ignored; and accordingly, the surplus land shall be determined as if that person, or as the case may be, the member of a family unit had not died.
Explanation.- In calculating the ceiling area to be held in this State, and determining the surplus land, the area of land in any other part of India (being land which a person or family unit is entitled to hold in such other part of India under any law relating to ceiling on land) shall be taken into consideration. Only land held in this State may be declared as surplus.
(3) Where any land-
(a) is held by a family of which a person is a member,
(b) is held in or operated by a co-operative society of which a person is a member,
(c) is held by a person jointly with others,
(d) is held by a person as a partner in a firm,
and the holding of such person or of a family unit of which such person is a member including the extent of share of such person, if any, in the land answering to any of the descriptions in clauses (a), (b), (c) or (d) above exceeds the ceiling area on or before the commencement date or on any date thereafter (hereinafter referred to as the relevant date), then for the purpose of determining the ceiling area and the surplus land in respect of that holding, the share of such person in the land aforesaid shall be calculated in the following manner :-
(i) in the land held by a family of which the person is a member, the share of each member of the family shall be determined so that each member who is entitled to a share on partition, shall be taken to be holding separately land to the extent of his share, as if the land had been so divided and separately held on the relevant date ;
(ii) in the land held in or operated by a co-operative society or held jointly with others or held by a firm, the share of the person shall be taken to be the extent of land such person would hold in proportion of his share in the co-operative society, or his share in the joint holding or his share as partner in the firm, as if the land had been so divided and separately held on the relevant date.
(4) No land shall be taken into consideration more than once in calculating the ceiling area for the holding of any person, or as the case may be, of family unit.
LOWERING OF CEILING ON HOLDINGS
3. Prohibition on holding land in excess of ceiling area; and area in excess of ceiling to be surplus lands.- (1) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter and Chapter III, no person or family unit shall, after the commencement date, hold land in excess of the ceiling area, as determined in the manner hereinafter provided.
Explanation.- A person or family unit may hold exempted land to any extent.
(2) All land held by a person, or as the case may be, a family unit whether in this State or any other part of India in excess of the ceiling area, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force or usage, be deemed to be surplus land, and shall be dealt with in the manner hereinafter provided for surplus land.
In determining surplus land from the holding of a person, or as the case may be, of a family unit, the fact that the person or any member of the family unit has died (on or after commencement date or any date subsequent to the date on which the holding exceeds the ceiling area, but before the declaration of surplus land is made in respect of that holding) shall be ignored; and accordingly, the surplus land shall be determined as if that person, or as the case may be, the member of a family unit had not died.
Explanation.- In calculating the ceiling area to be held in this State, and determining the surplus land, the area of land in any other part of India (being land which a person or family unit is entitled to hold in such other part of India under any law relating to ceiling on land) shall be taken into consideration. Only land held in this State may be declared as surplus.
(3) Where any land-
(a) is held by a family of which a person is a member,
(b) is held in or operated by a co-operative society of which a person is a member,
(c) is held by a person jointly with others,
(d) is held by a person as a partner in a firm,
and the holding of such person or of a family unit of which such person is a member including the extent of share of such person, if any, in the land answering to any of the descriptions in clauses (a), (b), (c) or (d) above exceeds the ceiling area on or before the commencement date or on any date thereafter (hereinafter referred to as the relevant date), then for the purpose of determining the ceiling area and the surplus land in respect of that holding, the share of such person in the land aforesaid shall be calculated in the following manner :-
(i) in the land held by a family of which the person is a member, the share of each member of the family shall be determined so that each member who is entitled to a share on partition, shall be taken to be holding separately land to the extent of his share, as if the land had been so divided and separately held on the relevant date ;
(ii) in the land held in or operated by a co-operative society or held jointly with others or held by a firm, the share of the person shall be taken to be the extent of land such person would hold in proportion of his share in the co-operative society, or his share in the joint holding or his share as partner in the firm, as if the land had been so divided and separately held on the relevant date.
(4) No land shall be taken into consideration more than once in calculating the ceiling area for the holding of any person, or as the case may be, of family unit.
Source footnotes
1 Chapters II and III were substituted by Mah. 21 of 1975, s. 4, read with Mah. 47 of 1975, s. 3. Section 5 of Mah. 21 of 1975 reads as under :-"5. Savings.- Notwithstanding the substitution of the Chapters II and III by section 4 of the Act all proceedings pending immediately before the commencement date in any court or tribunal or before any authority for the purpose of determining the ceiling area in respect of any holdings and the surplus land in such holdings in pursuance of the provisions in the original Chapters II and III shall be continued and disposed of by or under the principal Act, as if that Act had not been amended by the Amending Act, 1972; and the amount of compensation for such surplus land acquired by the State Government under sub-section (4), or as the case may be, sub-section (5), of section 21 shall be at the rate provided in the principal Act, as unamended by this Act. After the ceiling area is determined and the area delimited as surplus land is declared finally under section 21 of the principal Act, then, subject as aforesaid, the provisions of the principal Act as amended by this Act shall apply to such holding and land declared as surplus land."
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More sections of this act
Section 1 · Short title, extent and commencement.Section 2 · Definitions.Section 2A · Constitution and reconstitution of Tribunals.Section 4 · Land held by family unit.Section 5 · Ceiling area.Section 6 · Lands held in excess of ceiling area deemed to be within ceiling area in certain circumstances.Section 7 · Persons holding both exempted land and other land.Section 8 · Restriction on transfer, etc.India Code, Government of India. Text fetched 17 Oct 2026. Check the linked official text and subsequent notifications when applying a provision.