Section 19
. (1) On receipt of the application under section 17, the Debt Settlement Officer shall, after giving an opportunity to the parties concerned to appear and be heard, determine in respect of the debt in question the amount of the principal and the amount of interest 2 [at the rate specified in sub-section (2) of section 9] up to the date of commencement of this Act.
19 . (1) On receipt of the application under section 17, the Debt Settlement Officer shall, after giving an opportunity to the parties concerned to appear and be heard, determine in respect of the debt in question the amount of the principal and the amount of interest 2 [at the rate specified in sub-section (2) of section 9] up to the date of commencement of this Act.
(2) Every decision of the Debt Settlement Officer determining the amount of debt under sub -section (1) shall, subject to the result of an appeal under section 23, be final and shall not be called in question in any civil court.
(3) The procedure to be followed by the Debt Settlement Officer in any proceeding under this Chapter shall be such as may be prescribed.
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, or in any contract, decree, or other instrument, the liability of a small farmer to repay any debt 3[including] interest shall not exceed twenty per cent of the gross value of agriculture produce for the year preceding the year in which the application under section 17 is made multiplied by seven and such liability shall be spread over a period of seven years to be reckoned from the date of its determination under section 19.
4[(1)] Every debt in excess of the amount determined under section 19 to be payable by a small farmer shall with effect from the date of such determination, stand discharged and shall not be recoverable.