There was a time when all the judgments and orders was passed by and according to the discretion of kings and queens but later on gradual developments in the field of Indian judicial system was started and further it was classified into civil and criminal wings of law whereby mayor courts was established and later on Diwani and Nizamat Adaalats was established and later on the civil and criminal courts were established separately for resolving disputes in different courts for saving the time and expeditious resolution of disputes.

Initially the dispute related to land and realization of land revenue is covered under the civil laws and is governed by Zamindari Acts and its proceedings are executed according to procedure established by the civil courts, but later on it was need for emergence of separate land and revenue law for the separation of civil and revenue courts and proceedings, and which was successfully codified as Bhopal state, Mahkoshal Region, Vindhya Region, Rewa State, etc land revenue acts and After the independence of India, due to the variance in the laws it was the need of codified and integrated law for whole of the state Madhya Pradesh, so on 15th of September 1959 the Madhya Pradesh land revenue code was enacted and from 02nd of October 1959 the act was enforced and board of revenue was setup accordingly, with principal bench at Gwalior.

Consolidation is old concept and was practiced by the bhumiswami's since a long time ago with the mutual consent of each other and is logically accepted by the farmers, zamindars, etc. because they get their whole of the land at a same place and is easy for them to cultivate at a large scale and to protect their land and crops too.

Consolidation Of Holdings

The term consolidation means to unite or to settle something together, and consolidation of holdings means to unite the lands together at a one place for the purpose of integrated cultivation. The consolidation of holding is done after the applications submitted by the Bhumiswami's of that village either by the Government plans or by the plans and maps made by the mutual consent of all the bhumiswamis of that village. And the proceedings of consolidated by consolidation officer, generally the Tahsildar of that particular tehsil is consolidation officer, but it is not fixed as the consolidation officer may be any revenue officer not below the rank of tehsildar.

According to the definition as mentioned under section 205 of Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue code is as follows:
Consolidation of holding means the redistribution of all or any of the land in a village, so as to allot to the bhumiswami continuous plots of land for the convenience of cultivation. And whereas, Consolidation Officer means a Revenue Officer, not below the rank of a Tahsildar, appointed by the State Government for any district or districts to exercise the powers, and to perform the duties of the consolidation Officer under this Code.

Initiation Of Consolidation Of Holdings

The initiation of proceedings of consolidation is started by either of the following methods:

1. After the application signed and given by the 2 or more bhumiswamis of that village who are having land more than or equal to minimum land prescribed by rules under section 221 of MPLRC
2. The collector of the district may also direct the consolidation officer for initiation of the proceedings by own motion

The application given by the bhumiswamis under section 206 (1) and consent of 2/3rd villagers of that village for the proceedings of consolidation directed by the collector under section 206(2) is deemed to be the application given by the whole of the village.

After receiving of application of consolidation or at any stage of the proceedings of consolidation, if it appears that there are good and sufficient reason for disallowing the application, the Consolidation Officer may submit the application to the Collector with a recommendation that the application must be rejected in whole or in part, or that the proceedings to be quashed. Now the Collector, after getting this recommendation from consolidation officer, either may accept and reject the application or he may pass orders accordingly and may order for further inquiry under section 207 of MPLRC.

Preparation And Confirmation Of Schemes For Consolidation Of Holdings

If the Consolidation Officer admits the application, he shall start the proceedings according to the procedure laid down by or under this Code. Then according to section 209 there are two conditions that is:
Either the bhumiswamis of that village may submit a scheme of consolidation of holdings after mutual agreement and consent to the Consolidation Officer,
Or the consolidation officer shall make the scheme for consolidation of holding according to the manner laid down by this act in rules under Section 221.
There after the consolidation officer may examine it and, if necessary, modify it and start the proceedings of consolidation.

If the Consolidation Officer finds that the re-distribution of land in accordance with a scheme of consolidation will have the result such that the bhumiswami of new holding or land will get a less market or productive value than that of his original holding, after consolidation, then the consolidation officer shall make orders for the payment of compensation to the bhumiswami who is suffering from loss.

When the scheme of consolidation is completed without any objections, then the Consolidation Officer shall submit it for confirmation to the Collector. After the submission of report by the consolidation officer to the collector, the Collector may:

• either confirm the scheme or
• direct the consolidation officer for the modification or
• may also refuse to confirm it after considering the objections.

Whereas the decision of the Collector shall be binding, but may be revised by the commissioner if required and shall be final under section 210 of MPLRC.

After the finality of order of confirmation of the scheme of consolidation, the Consolidation Officer shall:

• demarcate the boundaries of the holdings
• publish a new field map,
• provide the record-of-rights to the bhumiswamis,
• and provide other records prescribed under Section 114, Nistar Patrak and Wajib-ul-arz.

And all these new records prepared under section 211(1) shall be deemed to have been prepared under Chapter IX or XVII of MPLRC.

Rights Of Bhumiswami After Consolidation Of Holdings

The bhumiswami who get the land after by the proceedings of consolidation and if they have not entered into possession allotted to them under the consolidation scheme from the date of entry as mentioned in scheme, they shall be entitled to possession of the holdings, from the commencement of the next upcoming agricultural year and the Consolidation Officer shall, put the bhumiswamis in possession which they are entitle for, after confirmation of scheme by using the powers of warrant. But if all the bhumiswamis are mutually agreed then they may, after confirmation, be put into possession of their holdings by the Consolidation Officer from any earlier date also.

According to section 213 of MPLRC, the rights of bhumiswamis in their holdings shall:

• be transferable by exchange or otherwise
• and no person shall be entitled to object to or interfere with any transfer made for the said purpose.

To complete the proceedings of consolidation of holdings, the Consolidation Officer may also transfer by exchange or otherwise any land belonging to the State Government where such transfer is necessary.

According to section 214 of MPLRC there is no requirement of any instruments:

1. In writing to give effect to a transfer
2. For the registration of the lands.

According to section 219 of MPLRC, A bhumiswami shall have the same rights in the holding or land allotted to him in pursuance of a scheme of consolidation as he had in his original holding.

Suspension Of Rights Of Bhumiswami

As per section 217 of MPLRC, when an application for the consolidation of holdings has been admitted under Section 208, all the proceedings for partition of holding shall be suspended until the consolidation is not completed.

And similarly for the transfer of property according to section 218 when an application for the consolidation of holdings has been admitted, no bhumiswami upon whom the scheme will be binding shall have power, during the continuance of the consolidation proceedings, to transfer or otherwise deal with any part of his original holding or land so as to affect the rights of any other bhumiswami thereto under the scheme of consolidation.

Costs And Compensation

The proceedings of costs and compensation is done according to section 215 and 216 of the MPLRC whereas the costs for carrying out the scheme shall be recovered from the bhumiswamis in accordance with rules made under this code according to Section 221 by the consolidation Officer. But if the state government directs any other method or procedure then the consolidation officer may proceed and shall recover the costs according to directions passed by the state government.

The Consolidation Officer shall calculate the costs which are to be paid and divide it among the bhumiswamis who are liable to pay, according to occupied area of the holdings affected by the scheme. Any amount payable as compensation under sub-section (3) of Section 209, or as costs under Section 215, may be deemed and recovered as an arrear of land revenue.

Encumbrances Of Bhumiswamis (Section 220)

If there is any charge or burden on the holding of the bhumiswami which is under the scheme of the consolidation with:

1. any lease,
2. mortgage or
3. other encumbrance,

Then, such lease, mortgage or other encumbrance, shall be transferred and shall attach to the new holding allotted to him under the scheme. And if needed and is necessary, then the Consolidation Officer shall by warrant, put any lessee or any mortgagee or any encumbrancer into the possession of the holding or part of a holding to which his lease, mortgage or other encumbrance has been transferred under sub-section (1) of section 220.

Power To Make Rules (Section 221)

The State Government may make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Chapter related to:

1. prescribing the minimum area of land to be held by the persons making an application under sub-section (1) of Section 206.
2. providing for the particulars to be contained in any application made under Sec 206.
3. providing for the procedure to be followed by the Consolidation Officer in dealing with applications for the consolidation of holdings and for the appointment and constitution of any Advisory Committee or Panchayat to assist the Consolidation Officer in the examination or preparation of the scheme.
4. for determining the compensation to be paid in cases falling under sub-section (3) of Section 209.
5. for regulating the assessment of costs under Section 215.
6. for determining the market or productive value of the different holdings and lands brought under any scheme of consolidation.
7. for the guidance of the Consolidation Officer in respect of the transfer of encumbrances and leases under Section 220.
8. for the guidance of the Consolidation Officer and other officers and persons in all proceedings under this Chapter.

Conclusion
Consolidation of holdings is the arrangement of land in such a way that all the holdings of one bhumiswami united at a same place and the benefits to bhumiswami from this consolidation are as follows:

1. the area of field is increased for the production of crops
2. the irrigation facility is centralized
3. more yielding of crops is possible
4. easy for cutting, harvesting, threshing, etc.
5. can take care of all the crops from stray animals at a time as he don't need to go to different farms

Consolidation proceedings are initialed and completed by the consolidation officers under guidance of collector of district with the mutual consent and agreement of the bhumiswamis so it is not any arbitrary action of government but a positive initiative to integrate the field which increase the cultivation or growing of crops.

Authentication No: JL30584267155-25-720