23. Clause 1.-Except as hereinafter provided by section 23A, every estate, and, subject to the provisions of section 14 of Act XI of 1859, every share or part of an estate for which a separate account has been opened under section 10 or section 11 of the said Act, or under section 70 of Act VII of 1876, and also subject to the provisions of the proviso (2) to section 70 of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, every share or part of an estate for which a separate account has been opened undersection 65 of the said Regulation, shall be exempt from sale for arrears of Government revenue which have accrued whilst such estate, share or part has been under the charge of the Court: Provided that all such arrears of revenue shall be the first charge upon the sale-proceeds of any estate, share or part which may be sold for any other cause than for such arrears of revenue.

Clause 2.– If at the time when any property ceases to be under the charge of the Court of Wards, any liabilities enumerated in this clause are outstanding in respect of any part of property, the Collector may attach the whole or any part of such property whether consisting of estates, or shares or parts of estates, or tenures or holdings and collect the rents, cesses and other demands due and all arrears thereof, managing the property so attached either directly or through a manager or by farming as he may think fit: Provided that such attachment shall not remain in force for a period exceeding five years. The Collector shall from the proceeds of such property discharge the liabilities of the whole property in the following order of priority:-(1) cost of management,(2) arrears of Government revenue and interest,(3) current revenue,(4) cesses due to Government,(5) arrears of rent and cess due to the superior landlords and interest thereon,(6) other sums due to Government, including the principal of and interest on any loans advanced by any Government, and (7) current rent. After satisfaction of the above liabilities the Collector shall, subject to any order of the Civil Court in this behalf, release the property to the proprietor, and pay to him or his duly constituted agent any surplus that remains in the hands of the Collector, and shall furnish such proprietor with an account ofthe receipts and expenditure expending over the time when the property was under attachment.

¹[23A. Notwithstanding anything in clause 5, section 8, Regulation I of 1793, or in section 23 of this Act, contained, any estate, share or part of an estate on which an arrear of revenue has accrued while under the charge of the Court, may at any time be sold under the provisions of the law for the time being in force for the recovery of arrears of Government revenue, if the Court has certified in writing that the interests of the ward require that such estate, share or part be sold, and has stated in such writing the reasons upon which it has arrived at such conclusion.]

Clause 3 (1).–When the Court of Wards decides to withdraw from the charge of any property on the ground that in its opinion, the property is insufficient to pay the liabilities of the proprietor, secured and unsecured, within a reasonable period, it shall give the proprietor and his creditors such opportunities as it thinks reasonable to come to an agreement regarding the release of the property from the charge of which it is about to withdraw and if any such agreement is reached, the Court of Wards, if it is of opinion that the agreement is valid, shall release the property to the proprietor. If the property is not so released, the Court of Wards may, upon notice to the proprietor, call a meeting of his creditors to elect not less than two trustee to administer the property. At such meeting the creditors shall have votes in proportion to the debts owing to them respectively. The opinion of creditors to whom three-fourths of the debts of the proprietor are owing shall prevail. The procedure relating to the holding of such meeting shall be laid down by the Court of Wards. If the creditors fail to elect the trustees or if the trustees elected refuse to act within a time to be fixed by the Court of Wards, the Court of Wards may appoint the trustees. The trustees so elected or appointed shall be deemed to be appointed by the Civil Court. (2) Upon the trustees, so elected or appointed, as the case may be, expressing their willingness to act as trustees the property shall, subject to the right of the Collector to attachment, collection and discharge of the liabilities mentioned in section 23, vest in them, in trust to administer it under the directions of such Civil Court as may be prescribed by rules for discharging the other liabilities of the proprietor and making over the residue, if any, to him. The Collector shall pay to the trustees, instead of to the proprietor or his agent, any surplus that remains in his hands. Notice of the withdrawal of the Court of Wards and the vesting of the property in the trustees shall be published in the manner provided in section 64A. (3) Upon the vesting of the property in the trustees the charge of the Court of Wards shall be deemed to be withdrawn but the proprietor shall not become liable to arrest or imprisonment in execution of any decree or order for such liabilities. (4) Any adjudication of claims by the Court of Wards or compromise under section 10D shall be binding in the same manner and to the same extent as if the Court of Wards had not withdrawn from charge of the property and as if the Civil Court had made such adjudication or recorded such compromise. (5) The Civil Court shall have all the powers given by law, including the law of insolvency, for the administration of the said property and the trusts mentioned above and shall also have power to remove trustees and appoint new trustees. (6) The proprietor or the creditors will be at liberty to apply to the Civil Court from time to time, as there may be occasion, for such removal or appointment, for the framing of a scheme of administration, or for the termination of the trust and discharge of the trustees. (7) The form of notice, the manner of service thereof, the manner of signifying the willingness of trustees to act, the procedure for the election of trustees and the Civil Court under whose directions the trustees shall administer the property may be prescribed by rules to be framed by the Government.

24. No estate the sole property of a minor or of two or more minors, and descended to him or them by the regular course of inheritance, or by virtue of the will of, or some settlement made by, some deceased owner thereof, shall be sold for arrears of revenue accruing subsequently to his or their succession to the same, until such minor or one of such minors has completed his age of ²[eighteen years]; but all arrears of revenue shall be the first charge upon the proceeds of such estate if the estate is sold for any other cause during such minority.

The Collector may, on an arrear so accruing on any such estate, attach the estate and collect the rents and all arrears of rent due, managing the estate either directly or through a manager or by farming it, as he may think fit, for a period not exceeding ten years, nor extending beyond the time when such minor or one of such minors completes his age of ³[eighteen years].

25. The exemption from sale for arrears of revenue given by section 24 shall only apply to cases in which a written notice of the fact that the estate is the sole property of one or more minors, and entitled to such exemption, has been served on the Collector before the sale.

26. When an estate has been farmed under the provisions of section 24, the proceeds of such farm shall be paid to the Collector; and the Collector, after deducting the amount of the claims of the Government for revenue and other public demands, and the charges of management, shall either pay the proceeds to the person authorized to receive them for the proprietor, or shall dispose of them in any of the modes mentioned in section 49 or in section 50.