The Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 is not an ordinary landlord-and-tenant law. It is a land reform statute that was enacted to protect agricultural tenants and regulate the transfer and ownership of agricultural land. Its provisions continue to affect tenancy rights, agricultural land ownership, transfer restrictions and land titles in Gujarat.

Anyone dealing with agricultural land in Gujarat may encounter this law through a 7/12 extract, mutation entry, tenancy record or old revenue order that can directly affect the property’s title and transferability. Understanding the Gujarat Tenancy Act is therefore important for landowners, tenants, buyers and anyone conducting a title search of agricultural land in Gujarat.

The statute

The governing legislation is the Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 — the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 as it applies in Gujarat, with separate legislation applying to the Vidarbha and Kutch areas historically. It is supplemented by the legislation on prevention of fragmentation and consolidation of holdings, and on agricultural land ceiling.

Who is a tenant

The Act’s definitions do the heavy lifting, because they extend far beyond people who hold a written lease.

A tenant is a person who holds land on lease and cultivates it. Critically, the Act also creates categories of deemed tenancy: a person lawfully cultivating land belonging to another is, in the circumstances the Act specifies, deemed to be a tenant, unless the relationship falls within the exceptions the Act lists — such as cultivation by a member of the owner’s family, by a mortgagee in possession, or by a person on wages.

The consequence is that a tenancy can arise from conduct rather than from documentation. Informal arrangements — a relative or neighbour permitted to cultivate for years — have repeatedly matured into claims of deemed tenancy, and much of the litigation under the Act concerns exactly this.

There are also protected tenants and, in the Act’s scheme, categories of tenancy that could not be terminated except on the grounds the statute allows.

The tiller’s right to purchase

The central mechanism of the Act conferred on tenants a statutory right to purchase the land they cultivated, with effect from the date the Act appoints — the day commonly referred to in practice as the tillers’ day. On that date, tenants of the specified classes were deemed to have purchased the land from their landlords, subject to the conditions the Act lays down.

The Agricultural Land Tribunal was then charged with determining the purchase price and issuing certificates, and the procedure the Act prescribes for that determination governs a very large body of old records. Where a tenant failed to exercise the right or the purchase became ineffective, the Act provides for the consequences, including disposal of the land under the provisions dealing with such situations.

For present purposes the practical point is this: land in Gujarat frequently carries an entry reflecting a purchase or certificate under this legislation, and the incidents of that entry travel with the land.

The restrictions that still bite

Three restrictions affect current transactions more than any others.

Restriction on transfer of land purchased under the Act. Land purchased or granted under the tenancy legislation carries a restriction on transfer: it cannot be sold, gifted, exchanged, leased or mortgaged without the previous sanction of the competent authority, and then only on the conditions prescribed. This is why so many parcels in Gujarat are described as being of “new tenure” or “restricted tenure”. A transfer made without sanction is liable to be held invalid, and the land may be treated as having been forfeited to the State in the circumstances the Act provides.

Bar on transfer to non-agriculturists. The Act restricts the sale, gift, exchange, lease or mortgage of agricultural land in favour of a person who is not an agriculturist, except with the permission of the competent authority. A purchaser who is not an agriculturist within the meaning of the Act cannot simply buy agricultural land in Gujarat.

Ceiling on holdings. Separate legislation limits the extent of agricultural land a person may hold.

These provisions are the reason a title search on agricultural land in Gujarat must go beyond the deed. A parcel may be entirely genuine and still be untransferable to the intended purchaser without prior permission.

The forum

Tenancy questions are not for the civil court. The Act confers jurisdiction on the Mamlatdar, the Agricultural Land Tribunal, the Collector and the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal, and bars the jurisdiction of civil courts to settle, decide or deal with any question which the Act requires those authorities to decide.

Within that structure:

• Section 75 provides for an appeal to the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal against an award of the Collector in the cases the section identifies, and provides that in deciding such appeals the Tribunal exercises the powers of a court and follows the procedure a court follows in appeals from an original decree under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
• Section 76 provides for an application for revision to the Tribunal against an order of the Collector, subject to the exceptions the section specifies.

An order of the Tribunal may then be challenged before the High Court of Gujarat by a Special Civil Application.

Questions of ownership under the general law — the validity of a deed, succession, partition — remain for the civil court. The dividing line is whether the question is one the Act assigns to the revenue authorities.

Practical guidance

For a buyer of agricultural land: verify the tenure from the 7/12 extract and the mutation history; establish whether any permission is required for the transfer and whether it has been obtained; and confirm that the purchaser is eligible to hold agricultural land at all. A transaction that offends the restrictions is not cured by registration.

For a landowner: informal cultivation arrangements carry real risk. Long, undocumented permission to cultivate is the factual pattern from which deemed tenancy claims arise.

For anyone facing a tenancy claim or a notice: these proceedings turn on old records — village records, the Agricultural Land Tribunal’s file, certified copies of entries and proof of service of notices at the time. Reconstructing that record is the work that decides the case, and it cannot be done at the hearing.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Gujarat Tenancy Act?

The Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 regulates agricultural tenancies, tenant rights, purchase rights and certain restrictions on agricultural land transfers in Gujarat.

2. What is deemed tenancy in Gujarat?

A person lawfully cultivating another person’s agricultural land may, in circumstances specified by the Act, be treated as a tenant even without a written lease.

3. Can a non-agriculturist buy agricultural land in Gujarat?

Generally, agricultural land cannot be transferred to a non-agriculturist except where the law permits the transfer with the required permission of the competent authority.

4. Can land purchased under tenancy law be transferred?

Certain land purchased or granted under the tenancy legislation is subject to restrictions on sale, gift, exchange, lease or mortgage and may require prior permission.

5. Which authorities decide tenancy disputes in Gujarat?

Depending on the issue, tenancy matters may be dealt with by the Mamlatdar, Agricultural Land Tribunal, Collector or Gujarat Revenue Tribunal. Civil-court jurisdiction is barred for questions that the Act assigns to these authorities.

Legal Information Disclaimer

This article is published for general legal information and educational purposes only. It reflects the position of Indian law as researched up to 10 August 2026 and may not account for subsequent amendments, notifications, rule changes or judicial developments. Tenancy questions depend closely on the facts, the dates and the records of each holding. It is not legal advice, does not take into account any individual’s particular facts or circumstances, and no advocate-client relationship arises from reading it. Readers dealing with an actual matter should obtain independent professional advice from a qualified advocate of their own choosing before acting on any information contained here. Statutory provisions, notified figures, rules and case citations referred to in this article have been compiled from published legal materials and may contain errors or omissions, and may have changed since the date stated; no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to their accuracy, completeness or currency, and each should be independently verified against the official text or the official record before being relied upon. No liability is accepted for any loss arising from reliance on this article.

Sources / Authorities

• Gujarat Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, as applicable in Gujarat) — definitions of tenant and deemed tenant; provisions on the tenant’s right to purchase and determination of price by the Agricultural Land Tribunal; restrictions on transfer of land purchased under the Act; restriction on transfer of agricultural land to non-agriculturists; Sections 75 and 76; and the bar on the jurisdiction of civil courts
• Bombay Revenue Tribunal Act, 1957 (Bombay Act No. XXXI of 1958), as adapted for Gujarat — constitution and powers of the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal — India Code, https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/4613/1/revenuetribunalact.pdf
• Bombay Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947, as applicable in Gujarat
• Gujarat Land Revenue Code, 1879 — Revenue Department, Government of Gujarat, https://revenuedepartment.gujarat.gov.in/downloads/act_BLRC_1879_n.pdf
• Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
• Constitution of India, Articles 226 and 227

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