# BUDHAN SINGH & ANR v. NABI BUX & ANR

- **Citation:** [1970] 2 S.C.R. 10
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1969-07-03
- **Bench:** K. S. Hegde, A. N. Ray
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/budhan-singh-anr-v-nabi-bux-anr-4749
- **Pages:** 9

## Headnote

U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 (Act 1 of
1951), s. 9-'Held', meaning of-Whether means 'lawfully held'--Construction of statutes-General legislative intent is to advance justice and
reason -Interpretation which will have harsh or ridiculous effect must be.
avoided-Ryot leaving residential building during
communal
riots-In
his c.bsence landlord entering on land and constructing new building in
place of tenants' building-Tenant returning--Tenant whether entitled to
ne1v building under s. 9'.
The respondents being Ryots of the appellants were granted over sixty
years 11go a village site by the ancestors of the appellants on which they
built their residential houses.
During the 1947 riots the respondents in
order to seek safety fled from the village temporarily and came back in
1949.
They found that their residential buildings on the aforesaid site
had been demolished and that in their place the appellants had raised a cowshed. The appe!lants refused to give back possession of the site and building
to the respondents whereupon on January 9, 1951 the respondents filed a
suit for possession. The appellants based their defence on the provisions
of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 (Act 1 of
1951) which came into force on January 26, 1951. According to s. 4
of the Act, with effect from the notified date. i.e. July 1, 1952, all Estates
became vested in the State of Uttar Pradesh: The lands and buildings enu·
merated' in ss. 6 and 9 were however settled on the persons who 'held' them.
The contention of the appellants was that they 'held' the buildings on the
relevant date and therefore the buildings were deemed to be settled on them
by the State Government.
In the A!lahabad High Court there was con·
flict of opinion as to the meaning of the word 'held' in s. 9.
In Pheku
Chamar's case a Division Bench of the Court held that the word 'held' in
s. 9 connotes the existence of a right or title in the holder. However in
Bharat's case another Division Bench of the Court declined to fo!low Phekhu
Clzanw.r's case arid came to the conclusion that the legislature, used \vide
language in s. 9 and it covers the case of buildings belonging to persons
who constructed them whether lawfully or unlawfully. When the present
case came up in second appeal before the High Court it was referred to a
Full Bench. The majority of judges adopted the view taken in Phekhu
Chanzar's case and decided against the appellants; the dissenting
judge
took the view that since the buildings constructed by the respondents did
not exist on the date of vesting they were not entitled to the, benefit of s.
9. In appeal to this Court by certificate,
HELD : ( 1) Though in fact the vesting of the Estate and the deemed
settlement of some rights in respect of certain classes of lands or buildings
included in the Estate took place simultaneously, in law the two must be
treated as different transactions; first there was a vesting of the Estates in
the State absolutely and free of all encumbrances.
Then followed
the
deemed settlement by the State of some rights with the persons mentioned
in ss. 6 and 9.
Therefore in law it would not be correct to say that what
vested in the State are only those interests not coming within ss.
6
or 9. [13 B-C)
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
BUDHAN SINGH v. NAB! BUX (Hegde, ]. )
11
Rana. Sheo Ambar Singh v. Allahabad Bank Ltd. Allahabad, [1962J 2
S.C.R. 441 and Shivashankar Prasad Shah & Ors. v. Vaikunth Nath Singh
& Ors., C.A. No. 368/66 decided on 3-7-1969, referred to.
(ii)
It was unfortunate that the Division Bench in Bharaf s
case
should have thought it proper to sit in judgment over the correctness of a
decision rendered by a Bench of co-Ordinate jurisdiction.
Judicial propriety requires that if a bench of a High Court is unable to agree with
the decision already rendered by another co-ordinate bench of the same
High Court the question should be referred to a larger bench. Otherwise
the decisions of High Co

## Text

10
BUDHAN SINGH & ANR.
v.
NABI BUX & ANR.
Augus~ 20, 1969
[K. S. HEGDE AND A. N. RAY, JJ.]
U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 (Act 1 of
1951), s. 9-'Held', meaning of-Whether means 'lawfully held'--Construction of statutes-General legislative intent is to advance justice and
reason -Interpretation which will have harsh or ridiculous effect must be.
avoided-Ryot leaving residential building during
communal
riots-In
his c.bsence landlord entering on land and constructing new building in
place of tenants' building-Tenant returning--Tenant whether entitled to
ne1v building under s. 9'.
The respondents being Ryots of the appellants were granted over sixty
years 11go a village site by the ancestors of the appellants on which they
built their residential houses.
During the 1947 riots the respondents in
order to seek safety fled from the village temporarily and came back in
1949.
They found that their residential buildings on the aforesaid site
had been demolished and that in their place the appellants had raised a cowshed. The appe!lants refused to give back possession of the site and building
to the respondents whereupon on January 9, 1951 the respondents filed a
suit for possession. The appellants based their defence on the provisions
of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 (Act 1 of
1951) which came into force on January 26, 1951. According to s. 4
of the Act, with effect from the notified date. i.e. July 1, 1952, all Estates
became vested in the State of Uttar Pradesh: The lands and buildings enu·
merated' in ss. 6 and 9 were however settled on the persons who 'held' them.
The contention of the appellants was that they 'held' the buildings on the
relevant date and therefore the buildings were deemed to be settled on them
by the State Government.
In the A!lahabad High Court there was con·
flict of opinion as to the meaning of the word 'held' in s. 9.
In Pheku
Chamar's case a Division Bench of the Court held that the word 'held' in
s. 9 connotes the existence of a right or title in the holder. However in
Bharat's case another Division Bench of the Court declined to fo!low Phekhu
Clzanw.r's case arid came to the conclusion that the legislature, used \vide
language in s. 9 and it covers the case of buildings belonging to persons
who constructed them whether lawfully or unlawfully. When the present
case came up in second appeal before the High Court it was referred to a
Full Bench. The majority of judges adopted the view taken in Phekhu
Chanzar's case and decided against the appellants; the dissenting
judge
took the view that since the buildings constructed by the respondents did
not exist on the date of vesting they were not entitled to the, benefit of s.
9. In appeal to this Court by certificate,
HELD : ( 1) Though in fact the vesting of the Estate and the deemed
settlement of some rights in respect of certain classes of lands or buildings
included in the Estate took place simultaneously, in law the two must be
treated as different transactions; first there was a vesting of the Estates in
the State absolutely and free of all encumbrances.
Then followed
the
deemed settlement by the State of some rights with the persons mentioned
in ss. 6 and 9.
Therefore in law it would not be correct to say that what
vested in the State are only those interests not coming within ss.
6
or 9. [13 B-C)
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
BUDHAN SINGH v. NAB! BUX (Hegde, ]. )
11
Rana. Sheo Ambar Singh v. Allahabad Bank Ltd. Allahabad, [1962J 2
S.C.R. 441 and Shivashankar Prasad Shah & Ors. v. Vaikunth Nath Singh
& Ors., C.A. No. 368/66 decided on 3-7-1969, referred to.
(ii)
It was unfortunate that the Division Bench in Bharaf s
case
should have thought it proper to sit in judgment over the correctness of a
decision rendered by a Bench of co-Ordinate jurisdiction.
Judicial propriety requires that if a bench of a High Court is unable to agree with
the decision already rendered by another co-ordinate bench of the same
High Court the question should be referred to a larger bench. Otherwise
the decisions of High Courts will not only lose respect in the eyes of the
public, it will also make the task of the subordinate courts difficult. [15 El
(iii) Justice and reason constitute the great general legislative intent
in every piece of legislation. Consequently where the suggested construction operates harshly, ridiculously .or in any other manner contrary
to
prevailing conception of justice and reason in most instances it would
seem that the apparent or suggested meaning of the statute, was not the
ono intended by the law-makers. [16 BJ
In the. present case it was hard to believe that the legislature in enacting
s. 9 intended to ignore the rights of persons having legal title to possession
and wanted to make a gift of any building to a trespasser howsoever recent
the trespass might have been if only he happened to be in physical possession of the buildings on the date of vesting. It is difficult to discern any
legislative policy in support of that construction. [16 DJ
According to Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary the word
'held' is technically understood to mean to possess by legal title.
There·
fore by interpreting the word 'held' as 'lawfully held' there was no addition of any word to the section. According to the words of s. 9 and in
the context of the scheme of the Act it is proper to
construe the word
'held' in the section as 'lawfully held'. The appellants contention in this
regard must be rejected. [17 B-DJ
Pheku Chamar & Ors. v. Barish Chandra & Ors, A.LR. 1953 All. 406,
approved.
Bharat and Anr. v. Ch. Khawn Singh & Anr. A.l.R. 1958 All. 332,
disapproved.
K. K. Handique v. The Member, Board of Agricultural lncome•tax
Assam, A.LR. 1966 S.C. 1191 and Eramma v. Verrupanna & Ors. [19661
2 S.C.R. 626, applied.
(iv) When the respondents left the village owing to communal disturbances they eould not be said to have abandoned t.1ieir residential buildings.
The appellants unlawfully demolished them and entered the land as trespassers. The cow-shed they erected on the land was not greater in value than
the respondents residential buildings.
On equitable considerations
it
must be held that when the respondents came back to their village in
1949, they were entitled to recover not only the site but also the building
constructed on it by the appellants. Hence it should be held that oil the
date of vesting, the respondents were the owners of the building in question for in law they were holding the same. [14 A-EJ
[Question whether if a stranger constructs a building on the land of
another, the true owner of the land is entitled to recover the land ·with
the builqing on it. left open.] [14 DJ
12
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1970] 2 S.C.R.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1789 of
A
1966.
Appeal from the judgment and decree dated May 24, 1961
of the Al!ahabad High Court in SecOillld Appeal No. 1302 of 1952.
B. C. Misra, G. S. Chatterjee and M. M. Kshatriya, for the
appellants.
B
J. P. Go.val and G. N. Wantoo, for the respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Hegde, J.
The scope of s. 9 of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition
and and Reforms Act, 1950 (U.P. Act 1 of 1951) (to be hereinafter referred to as the Act) comes up for decision in this appeal
by certificate.
The facts relevant for deciding this
appeal are no more in
dispute.
The respondents were Ryots under the appellants in
village Nagli Abdulla, a hemlet of village Machhra.
The site
of the building in dispute in this appeal had been taken by the
father of the respondents from the appellant's ancestors over 60
years ago and thereafter the respondents put up some buildings on that site for their residential purposes. During the communal
disturbances in 1947 they left the village temporarily as a measure of safety and took shelter with some of their relations in
some other village at a distant place. They came back to their
village in the year 1949 when the conditions improved. At that
time they found the appellants occupying that site after putting
up a cow-shed on the site in which the.ir
residential buildings
stood.
Those residential
buildings had been demolished and
the site in question included as a part of the house of the appellants. As the appellants refused to deliver possession of the suit
property, the respondents instituted a suit for possession of the
same on January 9, 1951.
On January 26, 1951, the Act came into force.
Section 4
of the Act provided for the vesting of the Estates in the State. It
prescribes that as soon as may be after the commencement of the
Act, the State Government may, by notification, declare that. as
from a date to be specified, all Estates situate in Uttar Pradesh
shall vest in the State and as from the beginning of the date so
specified, a!l such Estates shall stand transferred to and vest, except as otherwise provided in the Act, in the State free from all
encumbrances. Section 6 of the Act enumerates the consequences
of the vesting of an Estate in the State. Section 9 deals with the
buildings in the abadi. Reading ss. 4, 6 and. 9 together, it follows
that all Estates notified under s.4 vest in the State free from all
encumbrances. The quondam proprietors or tenure-holders of
those Estates lose all interests in those Estates.
As proprietors
c
D
E
F
G
H
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
BUDHAN SINGH v. NAB! BUX (Hegde, J.)
13
or tenure holders they retain no interest in respect of them
whatsoever.
But in respect of the land or buildings enumerated
in s. 6 and s. 9, the State settled on the person who held them
certain rights.
Though in fact the vesting of the Estates and the
·deemed settlement of some rights in respect of certain classes of
land or buildings included in the Estate took place simultaneously, in law the two must be treated as different transactions; first
there was a vesting of the Estates in the State absolutely and free
of all encumbrances.
Then followed the deemed settlement by
the State of some righ;s with the ersons mentioned in ss. 6 and
9.
Therefore in law it would not be correct to say that what
vested in the State are only those interests not coming within ss. 6
or 9; see-Rana Shea Ambar Singh v.
Allahabad Bank Ltd.,
Allahabad (1).
In this connection reference may also
usefully
be made to the decision of this Court in Shivashankar Prasad
Shah and Ors. v. Vaikunth Nath Singh and Ors.( 2 ), a decision
rendered under the Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950, the relevant
provisions of which are similar to the provisions of the Act.
In
this case notification under s.4 of the Act was issued on July 1,
1952. Hence the vesting contemplated under s. 4 took place on
that date.
Section 9 of the Act, the section with which we are concerned
in this case, reads thus:
"All wells, trees in abadi, and all buildings situated
within the limits of an estate, belonging to or held by
an intermediary or tenant or other persons, whether
residing in the village or not, shall continue to belong
to or be held by such intermediary or tenant or person
as the case may be, and tlie site of the wells or the
buildings within the area appurtenant thereto shall be
deemed to be settled with him by the State Government
on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed."
In view of that provision all buildings situate within the limits of
an Estate held by an
intermediary or tenant or other person,
whether residing in the village or not continues to be held by him
and the site of the buildings within the area appurtenant thereto
should be
deemed to have been settled with him by the State
Government on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.
As seen earlier till about 1947, the respondents were lawfully
holding the buildings and the site with which we are concerned
in this case as Ryots.
They never gave up their possession of
(1) [19621 2, S.C.R. 441.
(2) Civil Appeal No. 368/66 decided on 3-7-1969.
14
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1970] 2 S.C.R.
the buildings
voluntarily.
The fact that they
vacated those
buildings and took shelter with their relations during the time of
th.e communal disturbances cannot be considered as abandonment
of the buildings. In law they continued to be in possession of
the buildings.
Hence the appellant's entry into the suit site was
an unlawful act. In the eye of law they were trespassers. In
demolishing the buildings put up by the respondents, they
comniitted the offence of mischief.
The fact they had put up
new structures cannot under the Transfer of Property Act, enhance their rights to the property. We have no material before us
from which we can find out the value of the buildings demolished
by them and the value of the buildings put up by them unlawfully.
From the description of the buildings given in evidence, it
appears that the newly put up building is only· cattle-shed. We
are not satisfied that the newly put up building is worth more than
the buildings that had been demolished by the appellants. In the
the circumstances of the case all that can be said is that the old
buildings have been substituted by the new building.
Therefore
the owners of the old buildings continue to be the owners of the
new building.
In that view of the matter it is not necessary to
consider whether if a stranger builds a building on the land of
another, the· true owner of the land is entitled to recover the land
with the building on it.
Equitable considerations persuade us
to hold that when the respondents came back to their village in
1949, they were entitled to recover not only the site but also the
building constructed on it by th.e appellants. Hence it should be
held that on the date of vesting, the respondents were the owners
of the building in question. In law they were holding the same.
The controversy between the parties in this appeal is as to
the meaning to be attached to the word "held" in s.9 of the Act.
Is the holding contemplated therein 'lawful holding " or a mere
holding lawful or otherwise.
It is contended on behalf of the
appellants that the di«tionary meaning of the word "held" merely
means "to
have a
possession of'; s.9
merely
contemplates
physical possession and nothing more; on the date of the vesting
they were in physical possession of the site as well as the building;
therefore the building must be deemed to have been settled with
them.
On the other hand it is contended on behalf of :he res·
pondent that the word "held" in s. 9 of the Act means "lawfully
held" and that section does not confer any benefit on a trespasser.
The meaning of the word "held" in s.9 came up for consideration before a
Division Bench of the
Allahabad High
Court
consisting of Agarwala and Chaturvedi, JJ. in Pheku Chamar and
Ors. v. Barish Chandra and Ors. (1). In that case the learned
I) A.l.R. 1953 All .. 406.
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
BUDHAN SINGH v. NAB! BUX (Hegde, J.)
I 5
judges held that the legislature has deliberately used the word
"held" and that word connotes the existence of a right or title in
the holder. They further opined that s. 9 does not confer a right
on the persons having. no title to the land. The settlement contemplated by the section is confined in its application to the case
where the building is lawfully held by the person in possession.
The learned judges also observed that in enacting s.9, the legislature never meant to deprive the citizens of their lawful rights
over the lands merely because a trespasser has
succeeded in
making some construction on it.
Section 9 does not mean that
if a person has made some construction whatsoever over any ]and
lying within the limits of an estate, however wrongful or recent
the possession might be, that construction must be deemed to
have been settled with him bv the State
Government.
The
meaning of the word "held" in ·s.9 again came up before another
Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court consisting of Desai
and Takru, JJ. in Bharat and anr. v. Ch. Khazan Singh & anr.(')
The learned judges declined to follow the
decision :n Pheku
Chamar's case('). They came
to
the
conclusion that the
legislature used a wide language in s.9 and it covers the case of
buildings belonging to persons who constructed them lawfully or
unlawfully. It is unfortunate that the latter. Division Bench
should have thought it proper to sit in judgment over the correctness of a decision rendered by a Bench of co-ordinate jurisdiction.
Judicial propriety requires that if a bench of High Court is unable
to agree with the decision already rendered by an other co-ordinate bench of the same High Court, the question should be referred to a larger bench.
Otherwise the decisions of High Courts
will not only lose respect in the eyes of the public, it wi!l also
make the task of the sub-ordinate courts difficult.
The question of Jaw referred to hereinbefore again arose for
decision in this case. When this case came up in the second appeal before Sahai, J. he referred it to a Full Bench in view o~ the
conflict of opinion noticed earlier. The Full Bench was presided
over by Dasai, C.J. who was a party to the decision in Bharat'~
case('). The other members
of.
th~ bench
we~e Muk~rJl
and Dwivedi, JJ. Mukerji and Dw1ved1, JJ. agreed ~tth t~e vil'.w
taken in Pheku Chamar's case(2). Desai, C.J.
m his dissenting judgment did not deal with the meaning of the word
"held" in s. 9 but on the other hand opined that the suit should
have been dismissed because of the fact that the buildings put
up by the respondents were not there on the date of vesting and
hence the respondents were not entitled to the benefit of s.9.
Before considering the meaning of the word "held" in s. 9, it is
necessarv to mention that it is proper to assume that the lawmakers who are the representatives of the people enact laws
(I) A.LR. 1958 All. 332.
(2) A.I.R. 1953 All. 4
16
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1970] 2 S.C.R.
which the society considers as honest, fair and equitable.
The
object of every legislation is to advance public welfare. In
other words as observed by Crawford in his book on Statutory
Constructions the entire
legislative
process is
influenced
by
considerations of justice and reason.
Justice and· reason constitute the great general legislative intent in every piece of legislation.
Consequently where the suggested construction operates
harshly,. ridiculously or in any other manner contrary to prevailing
conceptions of justice and reason, in most instances, it would seem
·that the apparent or suggested meaning of the statute, was not the
one intended by the law-makers.
In the absence of some other
indication that the harsh or ridiculous effect was actually intended
by the legislature, there is little reason to believe that it represents
the legislative intent.
We are unable to persuade ourselves to believe that the legislature intended to ignore the rights of persons having legal title
to possession and wanted to make a gift of any building to a trespasser howsoever recent the trespass might have been if only he
happened to be in physical possession of the building on the date
of vesting.
We are also unable to discern any legislative policy
in support of that construction. It was urged before us by the
learned Counsel for the appellants that the legislature with a view
to put a stop to any controversy as to any rights in or over any
building directed that whoever was in physical possession of a
building on the date of vesting shall be deemed to be the settlee
of that building.
He further urged that it would have been a
hard and laborious task for the State to investigate into disputed
questions relating to title or possession before making the settlement contemplated by s. 9 and therefore the legislature cut the
Gordian Knot by conferring title on the person who was in possession of the building. We see no merit in this argument. The
settlement contemplated by s. 9 is a deemed settlement. That
settlement took place immediately the vesting took place.
No
inquiry was contemplated before that settlement. If there is any
dispute as to who is the settlee, the same has to be decided by
the civil courts. The State is not concerned with the same. Section 9 merely settles the building on the person who was holding
it on the date of vesting.
It is true that according to the dictionary meaning the word
"held" can mean either a lawful holding or even a holding without any semblance of a right such as holding by a trespasser.
But the real question is as to what is the legislative intent? Did
the legislature intend to settle the concerned building with
a
person who was lawfully holding or with any person holding lawfully or otherwise? Mr. Misra contended that there is no justification for us to read into the section the word "lawfully" before
the word "held".
According to him, if the legislature intended
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
-
BUDHAN SINGH v. NAB! BUX (Hegde, J.)
12'
that the holding should be a lawful one, it would have said
"lawfully held". He wanted us to interpret the section
as
it
stands.
It is true that the legislature could have used the word "lawfully held" in place of the word "held" in s. 9 but as mentioned
earlier one of the dictionary meanings given to the word "held" is
"lawfully held". In Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary (Second Edition), it is stated that in legal parlance the
word "held" means to possess by "legal title". In other words the
word "held" is technically understood to mean to possess by legal
title. Therefore by interpreting the word "held" as
"lawfully
held", we are not adding any word to the section. We are merely
spelling out the meaning of that word. It may further be seen
that the section speaks of all buildings. . . . within the limits of
an Estate, belonging to or held by an intermediary or tenant or
other person". . . . The word "belonging" undoubtedly refers to
legal title. The words "held by an intermediary" also refer to a
possession by legal title. The words "held by tenant" also refer·
to holding by legal title. In the sequence mentioned above it is
proper to construe the word "held" in s. 9 when used in relation
to the words "other person" as meaning "lawfully held" by that
person. That interpretation flows from the context in which the
word "held" has been used.
We have earlier mentioned that the·
said interpretation accords with justice.
The expression "held" has been used in the Act in various
other sections-see ss. 2(1)(c), 13, 17, 18,
21,
144,
204,
240A, 298, 304, and 314 to connote possession by legal title.
Mr. Misra, learned Counsel for the appellants does not deny that
the expression--"held" in those sections means held lawfully. But
according to him that is because of the context in which the word·
is used. Mr. Misra is right in saying so but he overlooks the
context in which that expression is used in s. 9.
We have already
made reference to that context.
He failed to point out to us any
section in the Act,
leaving aside s. 9 for the time being where
the word "held" has been used as meaning mere holding, lawful
or otherwise.
In K. K. Handique v. The Member, Board of
Agricultural Income Tax, Assam (1) this Court was called upon
to consider the meaning of the word "holds" in ss. 12 and 13 of
the Assam Agricultural Income Tax Act. Subba Rao, J. (as he
then was) speaking for the Court observed that
the expression
"holds" includes a two-fold idea of the actual possession of a
thing and also of being invested with a legal title though some
times it is used only to mean actual possession. After reading
ss. 12 and 13 together he observed that the word "holds" in those
sections means holding by legal title. In Eramma v. Verrupanna
& Ors.('), this Court considered the nteaning of the worcf
(I) A.l.R. 1966 S.C. 1191.
(2) [1966] 2, S.C.R. 626.
,
l8
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1970] 2 s.c.IR.
"possessed" in s. 14 ( 1) of the Hindu Succesion Act which !aid
.down that "any property possessed by a female Hindu whether
acquired before or after the commencement of this Act shall be
held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner''. It
held that the property possessed by a female widow, as contem·
plated in the section, is clearly a property to which she has acquired some kind of title whether before or after the commencement of the Act. It is true that in arriving at that conclusion the
Court took into consideration the language of the provision as
a whole and also the explanation to the section.
The scheme of
the Act is to abolish all Estates and vest the concerned property
in the State but at the same time certain rights were conferred on
persons in possession of lands or buildings.
It is reasonable to
think that the persons who were within the contemplation of the
Act are those who were in possession of lands or buildings on the
basis of some legal title.
Bearing in mind the purpose with which
the legislation was enacted, the sch.~me of the Act and the language used in s. 9, we are of opinion that the word "held" in s. 9
means "lawfully held". In other words we accept the correctness
of the view taken by Mukerji and Dwivedi, JJ. For the reasons
already mentioned we are unable to agree with Desai, C.J. that
the fact that the appellants had demolished the buildings put up
by the respondents and put up some other building in their place
had conferred any rights on them under s. 9.
In the result the appeal is dismissed with costs.
G.C.
Appeal dismissed.
A
B
c
D
E
•