Section 119. Eviction of tenant

119. Eviction of tenant. —(1) No person shall evicted from any land held by him as tenant except under the order of the competent authority made on any of the following grounds, namely:— (a) that the land has been reserved for personal cultivation of the landowner under section 102, or is deemed to have been reserved for personal cultivation of the landowner under section 104; (b) that a notice has been given to the tenant under sub-section (3) of section 106; (c) that the tenant has intentionally and wilfully committed such acts of waste as are calculated to impair materially or permanently the value or utility of the land for agricultural purposes; (d) that the tenant has failed to pay rent within a period of three months after it falls due: Provided that the competent authority may, if it thinks fit, grant further time not exceeding six months for payment of the rent; (e) that the tenant, not being a person under disability, has after the commencement of this Act, sub-let the land without the consent in writing of the landowner. (2) No order for eviction of a tenant shall be executed till the standing crops, if any, on the land are harvested. (3) Where any order for eviction has been made against a tenant on the ground specified in clause (a) of sub-section (1), then, notwithstanding such order, the tenant shall, until he is provided with alternative land in accordance with the rules made in this behalf, be entitled to retain possession of — (i) the entire land held by him as a tenant, in any case where the area of tenancy together with any other land held by him does not exceed 1.25 acres in area; and (ii) so much of the land held by him as a tenant as together with any other land held by him does not exceed the limit of 1.25 acres in area, in any case where the area of the tenancy together with the other land held by him exceeds the said limit: Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to a tenanat who holds land under any person who is a member of the Armed Forces of the Union. (4) Where any land has been reserved for the personal cultivation of a landowner by an order made under sub-section (3) of section 102, no suit or application for the eviction of the tenant in respect of such land under clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall lie after the expiry of five years from the commencement of this Act or one year from the date of the said order, whichever is later: Provided that where any such landowner is a person under disability, such suit or application may be instituted or made within a period of five years from the date when the disability ceases. — Explanation.— For the purposes of this sub-section, the disability of a person shall cease (a) in the case of a widow, if she remarries, on the date of her remarriage or if any person succeeds to the widow on her death, on the date of her death; (b) in the case of a minor, on the date of his attaining majority; (c) in the case of a woman who is unmarried or who is divorced or judicially separated from her husband, on the date of her marriage or remarriage, as the case may be, or in the case of a woman whose husband is a person falling under clause (d) or (e), on the date on which the disability of the husband ceases; (d) in the case of a person who is a member of the Armed Forces of the Union, on the date of his discharge from service or of his posting to the reserve; (e) in the case of a person suffering from a physical or mental disability, on the date on which the disability ceases to exist. — 120. Restoration of possession of land to tenant. Where a person who has taken possession of any land by evicting tenant therefrom on the ground that the land had been reserved for personal cultivation by him fails to cultivate such land personally within one year from the date on which he took possession thereof or ceases to cultivate such land personally in any year during a period of four years next following, the tenant shall be entitled to be restored to possession of the land from which he was evicted. Explanation.— For the purpose of this section, land shall not be deemed to be under the personal cultivation of a person (not being a person under disability) unless such person or a member of his family engages himself in the principal agricultural operations. 121. Certain lands to be non-resumable land of tenant. — If a landowner fails to — (a) apply for reservation of any land within the period prescribed in section 101, and the land is not deemed to have been reserved under section 104, or (b) file a suit or application for the eviction of the tenant from any land reserved under section 102 within the period prescribed in sub-section (4) of section 119, or (c) cultivate or ceases to cultivate the land and the tenant is restored to possession of the land under section 120, the competent authority may suo motu and shall, on application, after making such inquiry as may be prescribed, declare the land to be the non-resumable land of the tenant.