Every tenant who, on the first day of January, 1884, had held the same land continuously for twelve years, otherwise than as an absolute occupancy-tenant or a sub-tenant, and every person who is at the commencement of this Act, or thereafter becomes, a tenant (not being an absolute occupancy-tenant or a sub-tenant) of land in the districts of Chanda, Nimar and Sambalpur, shall be deemed to be an occupancy-tenant of that land : Provided that the land is not.--
         (a) sir land, or
         (b) held in lieu of wages, or
         (c) held, in any district other than Sambalpur, under a written lease in which it is expressly agreed that a right of occupancy in the land shall not be acquired or that the tenant shall quit the land at the termination of the lease.
     Explanation I.--The occupation of any person from whom the tenant inherited or lawfully acquired his holding shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be the occupation of the tenant.
     Explanation II.--Where, by the custom of any village, the holdings of tenants are, or have been, liable to periodical re-distribution, land which a tenant or any person under whom he claims has, in accordance with that custom, from time to time, received in exchange for land previously held by him, is, for the purpose of calculating, under this section, the period of twelve years, deemed to be the same land as the land which he held before the exchange.