HP
Henil Patel & AssociatesAdvocates
 ← Back to Home
Home / Legal Insights / Tenancy Law
Deep Dive

Section 63AB, Section 63AC and Section 63AD of the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948

This is the regularization cluster. It deals with old invalid transfers, later bona fide purchasers, industrial or agricultural validation routes, and the consequence structure that grew after the 2015 amendment era.

Contents
  1. What this cluster is for
  2. Section 63AB
  3. Section 63AC
  4. Section 63AD
  5. Where Section 43-1D fits
  6. Practical route in real files
  7. Key judgments
  8. Checklist
  9. Primary references

1) What this cluster is for

The regularization cluster is designed to deal with old transfers that were technically invalid under Section 63, but where the legislature later created a curing or validation route for limited categories of cases. This is not a broad pardon for every illegal transfer. It is a controlled statutory solution for identified situations.

The practical point: regularization is a statutory exception, not a general equity argument.

2) Section 63AB

Section 63AB is the major 2015-era regularization provision, inserted by the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015 (Act 28 of 2015, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette on 16 September 2015). In Shashikant Vasudevbhai Patel v. State of Gujarat (Gujarat High Court, 10 September 2018), the court held that the word “person” in Section 63AB is not limited to a natural person and can include juristic persons such as a company or a cooperative society; the division bench in State of Gujarat v. Nandubhai Mahasukhbhai Patel (9 January 2020) confirmed this approach, and the Supreme Court dismissed the State’s appeal in February 2021. The section can validate a last transaction made on or before 30 June 2015, where the person in whose favour that last transaction was made is an agriculturist, on payment of 10% of the prevailing Jantri value, subject to the Act’s conditions.

In practice, Section 63AB comes up when an earlier invalid transfer has been followed by a later valid or regularizable last transaction. The law then asks whether the final purchaser falls within the statutory rescue route and whether the factual chain fits the provision.

3) Section 63AC

Section 63AC creates a special route for a defined category: a public trust registered for a charitable purpose under the Gujarat Public Trusts Act, 1950, or a company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 with charitable objects to which Section 8 of that Act applies, which purchased land in contravention of Section 63(1) on or before 30 June 2015. Such an institution was entitled to apply, within six months from the commencement of the 2015 Amendment Act, to the Collector for conversion of the land to a non-agricultural purpose, and on payment of the amount prescribed by the State Government the Collector allows the conversion. Gujarat decisions — for example Shri Nijanand Jogani Abhiyan Trust (Gujarat High Court, 10 July 2024) — have treated this as a real statutory permission mechanism that can operate post facto, not a mere paper objection; the Collector must apply the actual section, not improvise a narrower restriction unsupported by the statute.

4) Section 63AD

Section 63AD is the invalid-transfer consequence provision in this cluster. Where the Mamlatdar, after notice and hearing, decides that a transfer in breach of Section 63(1) in favour of a non-agriculturist or an institution is not valid, he must impose a penalty of three times the prevailing Jantri value of the land and direct the person or institution to restore the land, with its rights and interests, to the position immediately before the invalid transfer within one month of the order.

Do not assume Section 63AD automatically wipes the slate clean. It usually works through penalty and restoration logic, not a free forgiveness of the defect.

5) Where Section 43-1D fits

Section 43-1D is part of the restricted-tenure architecture. The same broader Article of the Act also covers Section 43 transfers and, in later amendments, makes certain purchase categories subject to Section 43’s sanction logic. In real files, if the land is still under Section 43 restrictions, a Section 63AB or 63AC route may not solve the issue unless the whole legal path is read together.

Important clarification: Section 43B is a different provision about reasonable rent, so it is not the regularization section. The regularization logic you actually need is in the Section 63AB / 63AC / 63AD cluster and the Section 43-1D restricted-tenure background.

6) Practical route in real files

  1. Identify the full chain of transfer dates and parties.
  2. See whether the last transaction falls within the Section 63AB/63AC window.
  3. Check whether the buyer is agriculturist, company, society, trust, or other entity.
  4. Check whether the land is still under Section 43 restriction or has been converted.
  5. Apply for the correct statutory relief and be ready to pay the prescribed Jantri-linked amount where applicable.
  6. If the land is being regularized, ensure the mutation chain follows the statutory order and does not skip the underlying validation step.

In Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar matters, this cluster often appears in older housing-cooperative, company, and multi-party land chain files. The real question is not “can the parties say it was regularized?” The question is whether the correct statutory box was actually checked.

7) Key judgments

Case Key summary
State of Gujarat v. Nandubhai Mahasukhbhai Patel Gujarat High Court, 2020; the Supreme Court dismissed the State’s appeal in 2021. Strong authority on the meaning of “person” in Section 63AB and the Jantri-linked validation logic.
Shashikant Vasudevbhai Patel Gujarat High Court, 2018. Decides that “person” in Section 63AB includes juristic persons such as companies and cooperative societies, and explains the 2015 regularization context and the 10% Jantri route in practice.
Sonaben Naranbhai Patel Gujarat High Court, 2023. Shows Section 63AB operating in a live land dispute and how the Mamlatdar handled the application on the ground.
Abdul Rahim Abdul Sattar Foda Gujarat High Court, 2017. Useful on the interrelationship between Section 63AB and invalid-transfer proceedings under Section 84C.
Nijanand Jogani Abhiyan Trust and later Section 63AC cases Gujarat High Court, 2024. Useful for the post facto or special-permission side of the regularization cluster under Section 63AC.

The policy lesson is clear. These sections are meant to cure defined historical defects, not to authorize any new illegal transfer you want to label as regularization.

8) Checklist

Question Why it matters
What was the last valid transaction date? Determines whether Section 63AB applies.
Is the last purchaser agriculturist? Central to the validation route.
Is the buyer a company, society or trust? May still be covered, depending on the statutory reading and facts.
Is Section 43 restriction still alive? May require a separate permission or premium path.
Has the correct Jantri-linked amount been paid? Usually a condition for validation.

9) Primary references

This is the regularization article. If you want to extend the series further, the next useful cluster is Section 84C delay cases and Section 32M default / 32P disposal.