The Government of Gujarat on February 13, 2026, issued the Saurashtra Gharkhed, Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands (Gujarat Amendment) Bill, 2026 to further amend the Saurashtra Gharkhed, Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance, 1949.
The following amendments have been stated:
• For section 75 the following section shall be substituted, namely:-
“75. If the Collector suo motu or on the application of any person interested in such land has reason to believe that any person unauthorisedly occupying or wrongfully in possession of any land, -
(a) the transfer of which either by the act of parties or by the operation of law is invalid under the provisions of this Ordinance,
(b) the management of which has been assumed under the said provisions, or
(c) to the use and occupation of which he is not entitled under the said provisions and the said provisions do not provide for the eviction of such persons,
then such land shall be disposed of in the following manner, namely: -
(i) the Collector shall issue a notice to the transferor, the transferee or the person acquiring such land, as the case may be, to show cause as to why the transfer or acquisition should not be declared to be invalid and shall hold an inquiry and decide whether the transfer or acquisition of land is valid or not;
(ii) after holding such inquiry, if the Collector comes to a conclusion that the transfer or acquisition of land to be invalid, he shall make an order declaring the transfer or acquisition to be invalid, unless the parties to such transfer or acquisition give an undertaking in writing that within a period of three months from such date as the Collector may fix, they shall restore the land alongwith the rights and interest therein to the position in which it was immediately before the transfer or acquisition, and the land is so restored within that period;
(iii) on the declaration made by the Collector, such land shall be deemed to vest in the State Government, free from all encumbrances lawfully subsisting thereon on the date of such vesting and shall be disposed of as a land vested in the State Government.”.
• In section 75A, for sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be deemed to have substituted with effect from the 5th day of December, 2015, namely:-
“(2) If the Collector comes to a decision that the transfer of such land is not valid then he shall pass an order thereby,-
(i) imposing the penalty of three times the amount of the prevailing Jantri of such land on the person or the institution in whose favour such land is not validly transferred; and
(ii) directing the person or institution in whose favour such land is not validly transferred to restore the land alongwith the rights and interest therein to the position in which it was immediately before such transfer within a period of one month of such order.”.
[BILL No. 3 OF 2026]
