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The Bihar Debt Relief Act, 1976
The Bihar Debt Relief Act, 1976
Sections
1. Short title and commencement.
Section 12. Definitions.
Section 23. Discharge of debts of Scheduled debtors and consequences of such discharge.
Section 34. Agreement for working as labourer in lieu of debt to be void.
Section 45. Certain debts and liabilities not to be affected.
Section 56. Penalties.
Section 67. Power of State Government to make Rules.
Section 78. Power to remove difficulties.
Section 89. Repeal and Saving.
Section 9
the-bihar-debt-relief-act-1976.json
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9 Sections
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Bihar
{
"id": 15760,
"slug": "the-bihar-debt-relief-act-1976",
"title": "The Bihar Debt Relief Act, 1976",
"short_title": "The Bihar Debt Relief Act, 1976",
"act_number": "Bihar Act 10 of 1977",
"act_year": 1976,
"act_type": "STATE",
"location": "Bihar",
"law_status": "unknown",
"enactment_date": null,
"description": "The Bihar Debt Relief Act, 1976",
"preamble": "",
"section_label": "Section",
"sections": [
{
"number": "1",
"title": "1. Short title and commencement.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
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{
"number": "2",
"title": "2. Definitions.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "(a) \"Debt\" means all liabilities to a money-lender in cash or kind, secured or unsecured, payable under a decree or order of a Civil Court or otherwise including any transaction which is in substance a debt, and subsisting on the date of the commencement of this Act, whether due or not due;\n(b) \"Scheduled debtor\" means a person who is a small farmer, or a marginal farmer, or a rural artisan, or an agricultural labourer, who is ordinarily resident in the State of Bihar;\n(c) \"Small farmer\" means a farmer who owns land measuring not more than two acres of irrigated land or four acres of unirrigated land:\n(d) \"Marginal farmer\" means a farmer who owns land measuring not more than one acre of irrigated land or two acres of unirrigated land:\n(e) \"Rural artisan\" is a person who does not hold any agricultural land and whose principal means of livelihood is production or repair of traditional tools, implements and other articles or things used for agriculture or purposes ancillary thereto and also a person who normally earns his livelihood by practising a craft either by his own labour or by the labour of the members of his family in the rural area, and whose annual income does not exceed Rs. 2,400;\n(f) \"Agricultural labourer\" is a person who follows any one or more of the following agricultural operations in the capacity of a labourer on hire or exchange, whether paid in cash, in kind or partly in cash and partly in kind and who does not hold more than one acre of irrigated or two acres of unirrigated land and whose annual income does not exceed Rs. 2,400:-\n(i) farming including cultivation and tillage of soil etc.,\n(ii) dairy farming,\n(iii) production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any horticultural commodity,\n(iv) raising of livestock, bees or poultry, and\n(v) any practice performed on a farm as incidental to or in conjunction with farm operations (including any forestry or timbering operations) and operations for market and delivery to storage to carriage for transportation of farm production;\n(g) \"Bank\" means-\n(i) banking company as defined in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949;\n(ii) the State Bank of India constituted under the State Bark of India Act, 1955;\n(iii) Subsidiary Bank as defined in the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959;\n(iv) a corresponding new Bank constituted under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970;\n(v) the Agricultural Refinance Corporation, constituted under the Agricultural Refinance Corporation Act, 1963;\n(vi) the Agricultural Finance Corporation, a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956; and\n(vii) any other financial institution notified by the State Government in the Official Gazette as a bank for the purpose of this Act;\n(h) \"Civil Court\" means and includes-\n(i) any court exercising jurisdiction under the Provincial Insolvency Act, 1920 (Act V of 1920);\n(ii) a gram cutchery established under the Bihar Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 (Bihar Act VII of 1948);\n(iii) a court exercising powers under the Provincial Small Cause Courts Act, 1887 (Act IX of 1887);\n(i) \"Co-operative Society\" means a society registered or deemed to have been registered under the provisions of the Bihar and Orissa Cooperative Societies Act, 1935 (B. and O. Act VI of 1935); and\n(j) \"Money-lender\" means a money-lender as defined in Section 2 of the Bihar Money Lenders Act, 1947 (Bihar Act XXII of 1975).",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": true,
"sort_order": 1
},
{
"number": "3",
"title": "3. Discharge of debts of Scheduled debtors and consequences of such discharge.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "(a) no such debt due from a scheduled debtor shall be recoverable from him or from any movable or immovable property belonging to him, nor shall any such property be liable to be attached or sold or be proceeded against in any manner in the execution of any decree or order relating to such debt;\n(b) no Civil Court shall entertain any suit or proceeding against a Scheduled debtor for the recovery of such debt or any portion thereof or are interest due thereon:\n(c) all suits and proceedings (including appeals, revision proceedings in execution and attachment), pending on the date of commencement of this Act, for the recovery of any such debt or interest due thereon against a Scheduled debtor shall abate:\n(d) every Scheduled debtor undergoing detention in a civil prison in execution of any decree for money, passed against him by a Civil Court in respect of any such debt shall be released; and\n(e) every property pledged by a Scheduled debtor shall on the commencement of this Act, stand released in favour of such debtor, and the creditor shall be bound to return the same to the debtor forthwith.",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
"sort_order": 2
},
{
"number": "4",
"title": "4. Agreement for working as labourer in lieu of debt to be void.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
"sort_order": 3
},
{
"number": "5",
"title": "5. Certain debts and liabilities not to be affected.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "(a) any liability in respect of maintenance whether under a decree of court or not;\n(b) any debt due to-\n(i) the Central Government or any State Government;\n(ii) any Local Authority;\n(iii) any bank as defined in clause (g) of Section 2;\n(iv) the Agricultural Refinance Corporation Limited, a Company incorporated under the Refinance Corporation Act, 1963;\n(v) any rent due in respect of any property let out to a debtor;\n(vi) any liability arising out of breach of trust or any tortuous liability;\n(vii) any liability in respect of wages or remuneration due as salary or otherwise for services rendered;\n(viii) any debt which represents the price of goods purchased by a debtor; and\n(ix) any other financial institution as may be notified by the State Government in the Official Gazette.",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
"sort_order": 4
},
{
"number": "6",
"title": "6. Penalties.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
"sort_order": 5
},
{
"number": "7",
"title": "7. Power of State Government to make Rules.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
"sort_order": 6
},
{
"number": "8",
"title": "8. Power to remove difficulties.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
"sort_order": 7
},
{
"number": "9",
"title": "9. Repeal and Saving.",
"chapter": null,
"content": "",
"footnote": "",
"is_definition": false,
"sort_order": 8
}
],
"metadata": {
"Act ID": "bh163",
"Act Number": "Bihar Act 10 of 1977",
"Enactment Date": "",
"Act Year": "1976",
"Short Title": "The Bihar Debt Relief Act, 1976",
"Type": "STATE",
"Location": "Bihar"
},
"updated_at": "2026-09-29 21:55:19"
}