Land Development (Amendment) Act 2022

This Act may be cited as the Land Development

(Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2022.

The Land Development Ordinance (Chapter 464)

(hereinafter referred to as the “principal enactment”) is hereby amended by the substitution for the words “Land

Commissioner” wherever those words occur in the principal enactment or in any written law, notice, notification, contract, communication or other document, of the words

“Commissioner-General of Lands”.

Section 5 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following section is substituted therefore:-

5. There may be appointed one or more

Additional Land Commissioners, Deputy Land

Commissioners,

Assistant

Land

Commissioners and such other officers as may, from time to time, be required for the purposes of this Ordinance.”.

Section 19 of the principal enactment is hereby amended by the addition immediately after subsection (6)

of that section, of the following new subsection:-

“(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection (6), the approval of the Divisional

Secretary shall not be required when mortgaging such holding to a licenced commercial bank, the State

Mortgage and Investment Bank, the Development

Finance Corporation of Ceylon, the National

“Appointment of Additional

Land

Commissioners and other officers

Development Bank of Sri Lanka, the National Housing

Development Authority, the Housing Development

Finance Corporation Bank of Sri Lanka, any registered society or other prescribed institution.”.

The following new section is hereby inserted immediately after section 27 of the principal enactment and shall have effect as section 28 of that enactment:-

28. State Land which has not been surveyed by the Surveyor-General shall not be alienated by a grant.”.

Section 30 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following section is substituted therefore:-

30. The land alienated on any grant shall be described with reference to a plan prepared by or under the authority of the Surveyor-General and kept in his charge. The plan prepared by or under the authority of the Surveyor-General shall be attached to each grant.”.

Section 104 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following section is substituted therefore:-

104. The President may make order cancelling the grant of a holding where the

President is satisfied that-

there has been a failure of succession thereto either because of there is no person lawfully entitled to succeed or because no person so entitled is willing to succeed; or

the grant has been obtained fraudulently on false information or the grant has been issued to a person other than the legitimate occupant.”.

The following new sections are hereby inserted immediately after section 104 of the principal enactment which shall have effect as sections 104A, 104B, 104C and 104D:-

104A. (1) If it appears to the Commissioner-General of Lands on the information as may be available or received from a person having an interest to the title of the holding under the provisions of this Act, as the case may be, that the owner of a holding has deliberately given false information in order to obtain a grant or the grant has been issued to a person other than the legitimate occupant, the Commissioner-General of Lands shall issue a notice to the owner or occupier of a holding in the prescribed form.

Such notice shall specify that the grant issued in respect of such holding may be cancelled for reasons shown unless sufficient cause to the contrary is shown by the owner to the Commissioner-General of Lands on a date and at a time and place specified in such notice.

The Commissioner-General of Lands may, on the information as may be available also cause a copy of such notice to be served on a person having an interest to the title of the holding under the provisions of this Act.

The notice shall be served on the owner of the holding through registered post and a copy of the notice shall be affixed in a conspicuous place on the holding.

Where–

an owner who has been served with a notice under subsection (1) cannot be found by the exercise of due diligence, the notice shall be deemed to be duly served on that owner if a copy thereof is left with some member of the family of such owner or with a person residing with such owner; or

there is no member of the family of that owner on whom the notice can be so served, the notice shall be deemed to be duly served on that owner if a copy thereof is affixed to some conspicuous part of the house or home in which the owner ordinarily resides.

The Minister may, where necessary call for further clarifications from the

Where the Minister is satisfied that there has been reasons to cancel the grant, the

The President may, having considered the recommendations of the Commissioner-General of Lands make order whether or not to cancel the grant.

Upon the receipt of the order of the

Section 156 of the principal enactment is hereby amended by the insertion immediately after paragraph (h)

thereof, of the following new paragraph:-

“(ha) the procedure to be followed by the owner of the holding when disposing or mortgaging the holding under this Act;”.

The Third Schedule to the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following Schedule is substituted therefore:-

“THIRD SCHEDULE

[ Sections 51 and 72]

Rules

1. (a) The group of relatives from which a successor may be nominated for the purposes of section 51 shall be as set out in the subjoined table.

The title of a holding or the land for the purposes of section 72, shall devolve on one only of the group of relatives of the permit holder or owner in the order of priority in which they are respectively mentioned in the subjoined table. The older being preferred to the younger where there are more relatives than one in any group.

Where in any group of relatives mentioned in the subjoined table there are two or more persons of the same age equally entitled and willing to succeed to the title to the holding or the land, the title to the holding or the land shall devolve on such persons as may be determined by the Divisional Secretary of the relevant Divisional

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c)

where any person in the order of priority in which they are respectively mentioned in the subjoined table developed such land, the title to the holding or the land shall not devolve on the older person referred to in paragraph (b) but on the person who developed such land; or

where there are two or more persons in the order of priority in which they are respectively mentioned in the subjoined table developed the land, the title to the holding or the land shall devolve on such persons who developed such land.

Children

Siblings

Grand Children

Uncles and Aunts

Parents

Nephews and Nieces

Sinhala and Tamil texts of this Act, the Sinhala text shall prevail.

Sinhala text to prevail in case of inconsistency