REGISTRATION OF TEMPLE LANDS

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Temple Lands Registration Ordinance.

2. From the time when this Ordinance shall commence and take effect there shall be within Ceylon one or more person or persons, not exceeding three in number, appointed as[3] the commissioner or commissioners for carrying into effect the provisions of this Ordinance and for executing the several powers hereby conferred upon them.[3]

3. Every such commissioner shall, before proceeding to execute the duties imposed on him by this Ordinance, take and subscribe before some Justice of the Peace the oath following: –

I, A. B., do swear that I will faithfully, impartially, and honestly, according to the best of my skill and ability, execute and perform the several trusts, powers, and authorities vested and reposed in me as a Commissioner by virtue of the Temple Lands Registration Ordinance, according to equity and good conscience, and without favour or affection, prejudice or partiality, to any person or persons whomsoever. And I do further swear that I will not directly or indirectly receive or knowingly permit any other person to receive any fee or reward for anything done or to be done under the said Ordinance, excepting only such as the said Ordinance appoints or authorizes. So help me God.

Which oath so taken and subscribed by each commissioner shall be enrolled in the Supreme Court.

4. No such commissioner shall be capable whilst holding such commission, of being a purchaser, either in his own name or in the name or names of any person or persons, of any lands within any part of Ceylon to which the provisions of this Ordinance extend.

5. There may be appointed[3] a clerk to the said commissioners, and such other ministerial officers as3 may appear necessary for enabling such commissioners duly to execute the provisions of this Ordinance; and it shall be lawful for the Minister[3] from time to time to frame and establish such regulations as to him may appear necessary for carrying into effect the several provisions of this Ordinance :

Provided such regulations shall not be repugnant to or inconsistent with this Ordinance.3

6. The commissioners appointed by virtue of this Ordinance shall hold their sittings at any such place and at such times as shall from time to time be appointed by them, and as shall be found convenient and necessary for the despatch of business ; and public notice in writing under the hand of such commissioners of the place and time so to be appointed shall be given by publication in the Gazette, and in such other manner as such commissioners shall direct and as may appear best adapted for giving publicity thereto ; and the proceedings of the said commissioners in the investigation of any claims or the settlement of any disputes, in virtue of the provisions of this Ordinance, shall be carried on and the decisions and orders of such commissioners shall be pronounced and declared with open doors.

7. So soon as this Ordinance shall come into operation the commissioners appointed by virtue thereof shall and they are hereby authorized and required to inquire into the boundaries of all lands, of whatsoever description the same may be, belonging or alleged to belong to or in the possession of all wihares and dewales within any district of the Kandyan provinces, to which the privilege of exemption from taxation of temple lands extends ; and in case it shall appear to such commissioners that the boundaries of the same respectively are not sufficiently ascertained and distinguished, such commissioners shall and they are hereby authorized and required to ascertain, determine, set out, and fix the same respectively ; and after the said boundaries shall be so ascertained, determined, set out, and fixed, the same shall and are hereby declared to be the boundaries of such lands respectively, so far as regards any question between such temples and Her Majesty’s Government, touching any claim to exemption from taxation, or touching the boundaries or extent of any lands whatsoever claimed by any such temple :

Provided always that before such commissioners proceed to ascertain and set out such boundaries, they shall and are hereby required to give public notice by writing under their hands in the English and Sinhalese languages, to be fixed in the most public places in the district within which such lands are situated ; and also by writing to be delivered to or left at the last or usual places of abode of the persons in charge of the temples to which such lands are alleged to belong, three weeks at least before the time of setting out such boundaries, of their intention to ascertain, determine, set out, and fix the same respectively.

8. So soon as public notice shall have been given by such commissioners of their intention to ascertain, de- termine, set out, and fix the boundaries of all temple lands as aforesaid, within any district or village, all persons who shall have or claim to have any right to or in any lands situated within such district or village, belonging or alleged to belong to any wihare or dewale, shall deliver or transmit to such commissioners, within such time as they shall appoint for that purpose, a schedule in writing signed by the person having charge of the revenues of the temple to which such lands are alleged to belong, which schedule shall be as near as is material in the form following : –

9. Provided that it shall and may be lawful for any such person, instead of delivering to such commissioners such schedule as aforesaid, to appear in person before such commissioners within such time as may be allowed for that purpose, and to state verbally to such commissioners the particulars of his claim required to be stated in such schedule ; and it shall be the duty of such commissioners, or one of them, thereupon to take down in writing, in the form required by the preceding section, the particulars of such claim, and to require such person to sign the same, or, in case of inability, the same shall be signed by the commissioners by whom such claim has been reduced to writing.

10. All the said claims (whether delivered by the claimants to such commissioners, or by them reduced into writing) shall at all reasonable times, until after the commissioners have made registration of the lands claimed as hereinafter provided, be open to the inspection and perusal of all parties interested or claiming to be interested in the premises, their respective attorneys or agents, who may take copies thereof or extracts therefrom respectively; and if any person interested or claiming to be interested in the premises shall have any objection to offer to any such claim, the particulars of such objection shall be reduced into writing and signed by him, and shall be delivered to the said commissioners at or before some meeting of such commissioners, to be by them appointed for that purpose ; or such objections shall be verbally stated at any such meeting to such commissioners, and by them reduced into writing and signed by the party objecting, or in case of his inability to sign, by the commissioner by whom such objection has been reduced into writing ; and no such objection as aforesaid shall afterwards be received unless for some legal disability, or special cause to be allowed by the said commissioners.

11. It shall be lawful for such commissioners and they are hereby required to inquire and determine the right and title of any such temple to exemption from taxation in respect of any lands alleged to belong thereunto, and what are the true and proper boundaries, name, and description of the lands belonging to any such temple ; but nothing herein contained shall authorize such commissioners to hear and determine any difference or dispute between any such temple and any person (except differences or disputes between such temple and Our Lady the Queen) touching the right or title to any land of any such person ; or to determine any question as to the validity or legal effect and construction of any grant, conveyance, mortgage, or other instrument, in virtue of which any such person claims to be entitled to such property :

Provided, however, that no such difference or dispute and that no such question as aforesaid shall impede or delay the commissioners in the execution of the powers vested in them by this Ordinance ; but the claims to exemption from taxation shall be inquired into and determined, the boundaries of such temple lands shall be set out, the survey hereinafter mentioned shall be proceeded in, and the register of such lands shall be made, notwithstanding such difference, dispute, or questions.

12. If any person claiming on behalf of any such temple any land situated in Ceylon in virtue of any grant, sannas, or other instrument made and executed prior to the 1st day of February, 1840, and of which no public registry exists, shall produce to the said commissioners the grant, sannas, or other instrument in virtue of which such person claims the said property or part thereof, or any right or interest therein, the said commissioners shall, and they are hereby required to examine and inquire strictly into the genuineness and authenticity of such grant, sannas, or other instrument, and if they shall be satisfied that the same is genuine they shall cause a true copy thereof to be made and certified under their hands, and to be then delivered to the secretary of the proper District Court, to be by him preserved in the District Court, in like manner as the duplicates of other deeds affecting land ; and no such grant, sannas, or other instrument dated prior to the said 1st day of February, 1840, and of which no public registry exists, which shall not have been produced to such commissioners in manner above mentioned, on or before the day on which the lands mentioned or described in such instrument shall have been registered as hereinafter provided, and of which a certified copy shall not have been forwarded to the District Court for the purpose aforesaid, shall after such registration be admitted in any court as evidence of the title of such temple to the lands therein mentioned or referred to, in any suit with the Crown touching the right to such lands, or to exemption from taxation in respect thereof.

13. In the execution of the powers vested in such commissioners by virtue of this Ordinance they shall be guided by equity and good conscience only, and by the best evidence that can or may be procured, although not such as would be required or be admissible of ordinary cases ; nor shall they be bound by the strict rules of law in any case, or by any technicalities or legal forms whatever; and it shall be lawful for the said commissioners, if they think proper, to examine on oath the parties, or any of them making or opposing any claim investigated or inquired into by such commissioners, touching any of the matters in dispute.

14. It shall be lawful to and for the said commissioners from time to time, as they shall see occasion, by any writing under their hands, to summon and require any person to appear before them at any time and place in such writing to be appointed, to testify the truth touching any claim or any matter in dispute between any proprietors or interested persons, or otherwise relating to the execution of the powers given by this Ordinance, and to produce in evidence all deeds, instruments, surveys, or writings in the possession or control of any such person, in so far as the same shall be necessary for the due investigation of any such claim or dispute, or for enabling the said commissioners duly to execute the powers given by this Ordinance ; and to cause a copy of such writing to be served on such person required to give evidence or to produce such deeds, instruments, surveys, or writings, or to be left at his usual or last place of abode ; and every person so summoned who shall not appear before such commissioners pursuant to such summons (without assigning some reasonable excuse for not appearing), or appearing shall without sufficient cause refuse to be sworn or examined on oath (which oath such commissioners are hereby empowered and required to administer), or shall without sufficient cause refuse or wilfully neglect to produce any such deeds, instruments, surveys, or writings, shall for every such neglect or refusal forfeit and pay such sum of money, not exceeding fifty rupees, as such commissioners shall think fit and order ; and it shall be lawful for the commissioners in such order to direct payment of any such fine to be made into the Magistrate’s Court of the district in which such person resides ; and if payment shall not be made as directed the said Magistrate’s Court shall proceed to enforce the same and the charges relating to the recovery thereof, and to deal with the person liable to make the same in such manner as if the said fine had been imposed by such court.

15. Provided that no witness summoned to attend before such commissioners shall be bound or obliged to travel more than ten miles from his usual place of abode for the purpose of such attendance.

16. All evidence given before such commissioners shall be taken down in writing in presence of the witnesses respectively giving the same, and shall at the time of their examination be signed by them, or in case of their refusal or inability to sign, by the commissioner by whom the same has been reduced to writing ; and if any person shall in any examination, affidavit or deposition to be had or taken in pursuance of this Ordinance before any such commissioners, knowingly and wilfully swear any matter or thing which shall be false, every such person so offending shall, on conviction thereof before any competent court, be deemed guilty of giving false evidence in a judicial proceeding, and shall suffer the like pains and penalties as persons guilty of intentionally giving false evidence in a judicial proceeding are now subject and liable to.

17. In case any party or any witness shall reside at a greater distance than ten miles from the place where the sittings of any such commissioners are appointed to be holden, or if any such person shall by reason of age, sickness, or infirmity be unable to travel, it shall be lawful for such commissioners to order by writing under their hands that such person shall be examined and cross-examined, upon oath, before any Justice of the Peace to be named in such order, as to any matter concerning which such commissioners require to be informed; and all Justices of the Peace in Ceylon are hereby authorized and required, upon the receipt of any such order, to summon such person before him and to examine him upon oath, and to transmit such examination under his hand to the said commissioners.

18. It shall be lawful for such commissioners, whenever they shall see occasion, by writing under their hand, to order and direct the person in charge of any temple land, the boundaries of which have been ascertained and set out by such commissioners under the provisions of this Ordinance, to put up or make such fences, ditches, mounds, or other marks on the land of such description and at such places as to such commissioners shall appear necessary; and if any person shall refuse or neglect to put up or make such landmarks, and at such places as the said commissioners shall have ordered, within one month from the date of such order, it shall be lawful for such commissioners to cause such landmarks to be put up or made, and to recover from such person twice the amount of the costs necessarily incurred therein and the said costs shall be recovered in like manner as any fine imposed on any witness under section 14 of this Ordinance.

19. Every person who shall wilfully remove, destroy, or efface, or attempt to remove, destroy, or efface, any landmark which shall have been put up or made under the authority and for the purposes of this Ordinance, shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable on conviction thereof in any competent court to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees, or to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding one year.

20. So soon as conveniently may be after the said commissioners shall have ascertained and set out the boundaries of all lands belonging to any such temples within any district, or within any convenient subdivision of a district, or within any village, as the case may be, such commissioners shall form and draw up, or cause to be formed and drawn up, a register thereof, which shall be in the form A in the Schedule, and shall express the situation, description, and name of the several lands registered ; the name and situation of the temple to which the same belong; the boundaries, so far as the same can be described by existing landmarks; the extent, so far as the same is known ; the names of the adjoining properties, or if they have no names, the names of the adjoining proprietors or occupiers; and the dates and description of any deeds or instruments produced to such commissioners relative to such property: