dsoy Hkkjrh; ys[kk ,oa ys[kkijh{kk foHkkx ds iz;ksx gsrq FOR USE OF INDIAN AUDIT AND ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT ONLY dk;kZy; egkys[kkdkj ¼vkfFkZd ,oa jktLo {ks= ys[kkijh{kk½ jktLFkku] t;iqj OFFICE OF THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (ECONOMIC & REVENUE SECTOR AUDIT) RAJASTHAN, JAIPUR jktLo ys[kkijh{kk fu;e iqLrd ¼Hkw&jktLo½ REVENUE AUDIT MANUAL (LAND REVENUE) egkys[kkdkj ¼vkfFkZd ,oa jktLo {ks= ys[kkijh{kk½ jktLFkku] t;iqj }kjk tkjh dh xbZ Issued By THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (ECONOMIC & REVENUE SECTOR AUDIT) RAJASTHAN, JAIPUR 1 PREFACE This Manual was first brought out in 2003 with the aim to provide guidance to those entrusted with audit of land revenue receipts. In this Manual the basic provisions of laws, relating to levy, assessment and collection of land revenue have been discussed. In the course of audit, if any reference has to be made to a particular provision of law such reference should be made to the provisions of the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956 and the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955. The major changes made in the Act/Rules are as under:- 1. Section 90 B of Land Revenue Act, 1956 had been deleted and some new sub-sections inserted in the section 90 A of this Act. These Sub-Section deals with termination of rights in the land and vesting of this land in favour of State Government. There after, this land shall be deemed to have been placed at the disposal of local authority and available for allotment by local authority for any permissible non-agricultural purpose. 2. The Rajasthan Land Revenue (Conversion of agricultural land for non- agricultural purposed in rural areas) Rules, 2007 introduced vide notification No. F6 (6) Rev 6/92/Pt. 14 dated 2.4.2007 repealing the earlier Rules, 1992. These rules have been amendend vide notification No F6 (6) Rev-6/92 pt 4 dated 16.7.2012, F6(26) Rev-6/2014/33 dated 06.10.2016 and i- 9(28) Raj-6/17/14 dated 06.11.2017. The Rajasthan Land Revenue (Allotment of Unoccupied Government Agricultural Lands for the Construction of Schools, Colleges, Dispensaries, Dharamshalas & Other Buildings of Public Utility) Rules, 1963 were formed and amendments were made in these rules vide notification f.14(1) revenue-6/2005/35 dated 06.11.2015 notification f.14(1) revenue-6/2005/3 dated 12.01.2016, notification F.14(1) Rev- 6/2005/07 dated 24.02.2016 and Rajasthan Land Revenue (Industrial area allotment) Rules, 1959 were made and in which amendments were made vide notification 11(4) Rev. 6/2014/7 dated 22.05.2015 and provisions for Entrapreneurship development institute were made vide notification 11(4) Rev.6/2014/4 dated 29.01.2016. This Manual should be treated only as a guide and audit checks indicated therein should not be taken as exhaustive. This volume is corrected upto 31.3.2018. State Revenue Audit Section concerned dealing with the audit of land revenue at the Headquarter will be responsible for keeping the manual upto date. Suggestions for the improvement of the manual and bringing out of errors and omissions are welcome. Jaipur (Anadi Misra) Date: Accountant General (E&RSA), Rajasthan, Jaipur 2 CONTENTS Revenue Audit Manual (Land Revenue) Page No. Chapter 1 Introduction 4 Chapter 2 Historical and Legislative background 6 Chapter 3 Organisational set up and accounting functions. 8 Chapter 4 The Rajasthan tenancy Act 1955. 13 Chapter 5 The Rajasthan Land Revenue Act 1956. 24 Chapter 6 Procedure for Raising of Demand, Collection of 49 Revenue, Remittance of collections in treasuries and reconciliation. Chapter 7 The Accounting methods and Records. 57 Chapter 8 Procedure of Audit. 62 Chapter 9 Best International Practices of Audit Approved by 71 INTOSAI and ASOSAI Appendix 1 to 29 77 Glossary of terms 165 Important Circulars and Notifications 170 3 CHAPTER - 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has been entrusted with the duty to audit all receipts which are payable into the Consolidated Fund of India and of each State and of each Union Territory having a Legislative Assembly and to satisfy himself that the rules and procedure in that behalf are designed to secure an effective check on assessment, collection and proper allocation of revenue and are being duly observed and to make for this purpose such examination as he thinks fit and to report thereon. 1.2 Accordingly, regular audit of land revenue receipts and refunds had been under-taken by the Indian Audit and Accounts Department from February 1973. 1.3 The audit of land revenue receipts and refunds remains subject to the general principles governing the audit of receipts as laid down in chapter 3 of section II of the Comptroller & Auditor General’s Manual of Standing Orders (Audit). This Manual enumerates the position specifically in regard to Land Revenue Receipts in same detail. 1.4 The most important function of audit in regard to revenue receipts and refunds is to see that adequate regulations and procedure have been framed by the Revenue Department to secure an effective check on assessment, collection, etc. and to satisfy itself by adequate test-check that such regulations and procedure are actually being duly observed. Audit should also make such examination as it thinks fit in regard to the correctness of the sum brought to account. In audit of receipts, ordinarily the general is more important than the particular. 1.5 It is primarily the responsibility of the department authorities to see that all revenues or other amount due to Government which have to be brought to account are correctly and promptly assessed, realised and credited to Government account. During the audit of receipts, it should, however, be seen that all receipts which have entered in the books of a department are correctly calculated and are, in fact credited to Government account in time. It should be seen that the internal procedure adequately secures correct and regular accounting of demands collection and refunds and no amounts due to Government are left outstanding on its book without sufficient reasons and that the executive have not granted unjustified or unauthorised remissions. 1.6 Audit of revenue receipts differs from that of expenditure in that in the former, attention must be given not only to examining the records of amounts actually received but also to ascertaining that adequate precautions are taken to ensure that all the amounts received or due to be received during a particular period of accounts, are properly and promptly brought to account. 4 1.7 Audit Department should not in any way substitute itself for the Revenue Authorities in the performance of their statutory duties, but audit should satisfy itself in general that the departmental machinery is sufficiently safeguarded against errors and frauds and, so far as can be judged, the procedural is calculated to give effect to the requirements of law. 1.8 Audit of receipts will be regulated mainly with reference to the statutory provisions or financial or other rules or orders, which may be applicable to the particular receipts involved. If the test-check reveals any defect in such rules, the advisability of an amendment should be brought to notice. 1.9 To discharge these functions effectively the auditor must be thoroughly conversant with the processes and procedures relating to the levy and collection of taxes and the laws and the rules governing such processes and procedures. 1.10 In the subsequent chapters of this Manual the basic provisions of law and the rules governing the assessment and collection of land revenue are set out. Being only a summary, this Manual should in no sense, be regarded as a substitute for the Acts themselves and therefore, it should be treated merely as a preliminary step to enable the auditor to grasp the essentials of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act 1955, the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act 1956, the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Surcharge) Act 1960 and the Rajasthan Ceiling on Holdings Act, 1973. For a further and comprehensive study as also while raising audit point, he should refer to the provisions of the Acts, the rules made thereunder, and to the instructions issued by the State Government and the Board of Revenue from time to time. 5 CHAPTER - 2 Historical and Legislative Background 2.1 Before dealing with the basic provisions of the laws and rules governing the assessment and collection of land revenue and tenancies, it would be necessary to review briefly the historical and legislative background of the main enactments, which regulate the substantive and procedural laws relating to the land revenue and tenancies in Rajasthan. 2.2 At the time of formation of Rajasthan the various erstwhile princely States, that were unified varied in agricultural development. In these states the rulers had assigned most part of the land to various classes of persons (e.g. Zamidar, Malik, Biswadar, Jagirdar or Thekedar etc.) and religious institutions, about only 40 per cent of the land being held directly by tenants. 2.3 With the formation of Rajasthan, the first problem was to abolish the various types of intermediaries and resume the land other than khudkast land and the second was to bring uniformity in the tenancy legislation. To achieve the first objective various legislations were passed, including:- (i) The Rajasthan Land Reforms and Jagir Resumption Act, 1952 and (ii) The Rajasthan Zamidari and Biswadari Abolition Act, 1959 under which the various types of intermediaries were abolished. 2.4 To achieve the second objective, various ordinances were issued and enactments passed in piecemeal. A comprehensive legislation was passed in 1955, which is known as the Rajasthan Tenancy Act 1955.