# GURDIT SINGH AND OTHERS v. STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS

- **Citation:** [1974] 3 S.C.R. 896
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1974-04-10
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 1897 of 1967
- **Bench:** K. K. Mathew, Alag!Riswami
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/gurdit-singh-and-others-v-state-of-punjab-and-others-6110
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

PepJu Tenancy and Agricuilural La11ds Act, 19SS-As amended by Act 16
<>! 1962 introducinl! Sec. 32~DD(b)-Retrospective effect of-Determination of
sztrplus area-Prei•ious order declaring no surplus land on basis of judgment and
decree of Civil -court-Whether ca11 be
reviewed
Ullder
Sec.
32~DD(b}
Natural iusltce .
. Judgment-Connotation of-Interpretation Qf statutes--Object of provision
is circumscribed by the language of the section.
·
The lands in question were bequeathed to appellants 2 and 3, sons of ·the
first appellant, by their grandfather. After the death of the testator mutations
in favour of appellants 2 and 3 were effected in the revenue records in 1939.
'Ibe first appellant managed to get the mutation of the land in bis name in 1944
for the reason that he wanted to get licence for a gun. Jn 19SS, when lhe Act
came into force, the first appelJant was shown to be the owner of the land in the
revenue records.
On October 30. 1956 the Act was amended so as to impose
A
B
c
a ceiling on the holding of land.
[)
Appellants 2 and 3 filed a suit in the civil court for a declaration that the Jand
belonsed to them and that there v."as no transfer of the land to the first appellant.
'Ibe latter, who was the only defendant, did not contest the suit and it was
decreed on February 14, 1961. Thereafter, in proceedings under the Act, by
order dated March 28, 1961 the CoUector declared on the basis of the jadgment
and decree of the civil court that there was no surplus land in the ownership and
pOssessiOh of th~ first appellant.
The Act was amended by Act 16 of 1962 and S. 32-DD was introduced into
the Act with retrospective effect from October 30, 1956, i.e. the date of the
earlier arnednment. Section 32-DD ~rOYided inter alia that for the purposes of
determining the surolu:; area of any penon, any judgrnent, decree or order of n
Court obtained after the commencement of the amending Act of 1956 and
having lhe effect of diminishing the area of such person which could have been
declared as his surpJn, area shall be ignored.
The Collector, acting purportedly
und~r Sec. 15 of the Punjab land Revenue Code reviewed bis order dared ~farch
28, 1961. By order dated May 20, 1963 be refused to give effect to the judgment and decree by ignoring them as enjoined by ~ction 32-DD and included
the land in the hQ)ding of the first appellant.
The appellnnts · fited a writ petition -in the lligh Court to quash this \'.>rder.
Tiie Hilb Court overruled the contentions of the appellants und di,missed
iln:
writ petition.
Before this Court. the appellants raised the same
contentions.
namely : (i) that the. Co1lector had no jurisdiction to review his order dated
~farch 28. 1961; Oil that lhe order in review-was passed without notice lo the
appellants; and (iii) lhat. in any event. the iudgn1ent of the civil court was not
of the nature.contemplated by section 32-DD.
Allowing th~ appeal,
flELD: (1) The order of the Collector dated March 28, 1961, was in perfectly
E
F
G
valid 1>ne wh'n h \\"as pas-red.
No one challeng!d that order and it became final
for alt p;irposes. Th: Collector cou1d not have anticipated th~ enactm~nt of thp
sectioa with rtff'Mpecth·e effect and passed the order conformtn& to its provisions. we· cannot subscrib.! to the view that the order of th~ Col!cctor passed
H
bn MarCh 28, 1961, became null and void merely h~cauie he failed to take- int<'
account the provision~ of Sec. 32-DD even if bv virtue of the fiction it is to be
assumed that the section was on the statute book when he passed it. Vle do not
'
.-
;
GURDIT SINGH v. PUNJAB (Mathew, /.)
897
A
think that we can extend the ratio of the·decision in the Anisminic case (infra)
to a case where the provision overlooked during the course of the enquiry \vas
not on the statute book but was beaotten and brought into being sub&equently,
though with retrospective vitality. The order of the Collector dated March 28,
1961 cannot, therefore, be regarded as null a_nd void. There was no proviM.on
in

## Text

896
GURDIT SINGH AND OTHERS
v.
STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS
April 10, 1974
(K. K. MATHEW AND A, ALAG!RISWAMI, JJ.]
PepJu Tenancy and Agricuilural La11ds Act, 19SS-As amended by Act 16
<>! 1962 introducinl! Sec. 32~DD(b)-Retrospective effect of-Determination of
sztrplus area-Prei•ious order declaring no surplus land on basis of judgment and
decree of Civil -court-Whether ca11 be
reviewed
Ullder
Sec.
32~DD(b}
Natural iusltce .
. Judgment-Connotation of-Interpretation Qf statutes--Object of provision
is circumscribed by the language of the section.
·
The lands in question were bequeathed to appellants 2 and 3, sons of ·the
first appellant, by their grandfather. After the death of the testator mutations
in favour of appellants 2 and 3 were effected in the revenue records in 1939.
'Ibe first appellant managed to get the mutation of the land in bis name in 1944
for the reason that he wanted to get licence for a gun. Jn 19SS, when lhe Act
came into force, the first appelJant was shown to be the owner of the land in the
revenue records.
On October 30. 1956 the Act was amended so as to impose
A
B
c
a ceiling on the holding of land.
[)
Appellants 2 and 3 filed a suit in the civil court for a declaration that the Jand
belonsed to them and that there v."as no transfer of the land to the first appellant.
'Ibe latter, who was the only defendant, did not contest the suit and it was
decreed on February 14, 1961. Thereafter, in proceedings under the Act, by
order dated March 28, 1961 the CoUector declared on the basis of the jadgment
and decree of the civil court that there was no surplus land in the ownership and
pOssessiOh of th~ first appellant.
The Act was amended by Act 16 of 1962 and S. 32-DD was introduced into
the Act with retrospective effect from October 30, 1956, i.e. the date of the
earlier arnednment. Section 32-DD ~rOYided inter alia that for the purposes of
determining the surolu:; area of any penon, any judgrnent, decree or order of n
Court obtained after the commencement of the amending Act of 1956 and
having lhe effect of diminishing the area of such person which could have been
declared as his surpJn, area shall be ignored.
The Collector, acting purportedly
und~r Sec. 15 of the Punjab land Revenue Code reviewed bis order dared ~farch
28, 1961. By order dated May 20, 1963 be refused to give effect to the judgment and decree by ignoring them as enjoined by ~ction 32-DD and included
the land in the hQ)ding of the first appellant.
The appellnnts · fited a writ petition -in the lligh Court to quash this \'.>rder.
Tiie Hilb Court overruled the contentions of the appellants und di,missed
iln:
writ petition.
Before this Court. the appellants raised the same
contentions.
namely : (i) that the. Co1lector had no jurisdiction to review his order dated
~farch 28. 1961; Oil that lhe order in review-was passed without notice lo the
appellants; and (iii) lhat. in any event. the iudgn1ent of the civil court was not
of the nature.contemplated by section 32-DD.
Allowing th~ appeal,
flELD: (1) The order of the Collector dated March 28, 1961, was in perfectly
E
F
G
valid 1>ne wh'n h \\"as pas-red.
No one challeng!d that order and it became final
for alt p;irposes. Th: Collector cou1d not have anticipated th~ enactm~nt of thp
sectioa with rtff'Mpecth·e effect and passed the order conformtn& to its provisions. we· cannot subscrib.! to the view that the order of th~ Col!cctor passed
H
bn MarCh 28, 1961, became null and void merely h~cauie he failed to take- int<'
account the provision~ of Sec. 32-DD even if bv virtue of the fiction it is to be
assumed that the section was on the statute book when he passed it. Vle do not
'
.-
;
GURDIT SINGH v. PUNJAB (Mathew, /.)
897
A
think that we can extend the ratio of the·decision in the Anisminic case (infra)
to a case where the provision overlooked during the course of the enquiry \vas
not on the statute book but was beaotten and brought into being sub&equently,
though with retrospective vitality. The order of the Collector dated March 28,
1961 cannot, therefore, be regarded as null a_nd void. There was no proviM.on
in the amending A~t wPich enabled the_ Collector to review it,
We cannot stretch
the fiction of retrospectivity so far as to make the order nuU and void witbOut
further ado. [899 D-900 B]
B
c
0
E
F
G
H
An~mini1: Ltd. v. Foreign Compensation Commissio11, [1967] 3 W.L.R. 382,
distingQished.
•
(II) we are also not satisfied that the Collector was acting in comonance
with ihe principles of natural justice when he passed the order dated May 20,
1963, as he gave no opportunity to appellants 2 and 3 of being heard. The fact
that the first appellant was heard before that order was J)assed is of no moment
because the persons who were. vitally concerned in re-opening the case
w~re
appeIJants 2 and 3. Admittedly, no notice of the proceedings to re-open the
case was given to them.
If notice had been given to them, they could have
shown the true nature and character of the jadgment of the civil court . upon
which they re!fed. [900 B-D]
(111) Nor are we satisfied that every judgment which has the apparent effect
of diminishing the area of land of a person would be within the ambit of S. 32DD(b ). The judgment of the civil court adjudicated on the rights of the parties
as they existed before the suit and' when it declared that the mutation was effected
not with the idea of transferring the properly to the first appellant but for some
other reason. the. effect of the declaration was that there was no real transfer Qf
the property in favour of the first appellant and that the property remained
always in the ownership of appellants 2 and 3, notwithstanding the purported
transfer evidenced by the mutation in the revenue records.
It is impermi~sible
to give the wide Janguage employed in clause (b) of Sec. 3200 an unconfined
operation. If the effect of the judgment is only to declare ·that the land never
belonged to the first appellant, it has not the effect of diminishing the area of
land in his possession. The ob;E:ct of this provision in an Act like the one under
consideration is to prevent circumvention of its provisions by dubious and indirect
methods.
Rut that is no reason why we should put a construction upon the
section which its language can hardly bear. The High Court went wrong in
assuming that the Collector was right when he ignored the judgment
by his
order dated· May 20, 1963 on the ground that it had effect of diminishing the
area of the first appellant which could have been declared as his surplus.
[900 F- 901 G]
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1897 of 1967.
From the Judgment and Order dated the 27th September, 1966,
of the Punjab High Court at Chandigarh in Civil Writ No. 1371 of
1963.
S. K. Mehta, K. R. Nagara;a, M. Qamaruddill and Vinod Dhawan,
for the appellants.
V. C. Mahajan, O. P. Sharma and R. N. Sachthey, for the respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
MATHEW, J. The first appellant is the father of appellants 2 and 3.
The property in question belonged to the father of first appellant. By
a will executed by him, he bcqu•athed the property to appellants 2
and 3. After the death of the tastator, mutations in favour of appellants
2 and 3 were effected in the revenue records in the year 1996 B.K.
(1939). The first appellant managed to get the mutation of the land
898
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1974] 3 S.C.R.
in his name in 1944 for the reason that he wanted to get licence for a
gun. In 19.55; when the Pepsu Tanancy and Agricultural Lands Act
(hereinafter referred to as the Act) came into force, the first appellant
was shown to be the owner of the land in the revenue records. Chapter
IV-Ai of the Act was inserted by Pepsu Act No. 15 of 1956 on October 30, 1956 and by s. 32A of this chapter, ceiling was placed on the
holding of land.
A suit was filed by appellants 2 and 3 for a declaration that the land
belonged to them, thal the mutation of the land in the name of the first
appellant in the revenue records was for the purpose of enabling him to
obtain a gun licence and that there was no transfer of the land to first
appellant. The first appellant was the only defendant in the ·suit. He
did not contest the suit and it was decreed on February 14, 1961. A
few weeks later, the question of declaration of the surplus area of the
land in the hands of tQ.e first appellant came up for consideration before
the Collector of Bhatinda. On the basis of the judgment and decree
passed by the Civil Court that there was no transfer of the land to the
first appellant, the Collector, by his order dated March 28, 1961, declared that there was no surplus land in the ownership and possession
of the first appellant.
The Act was amended by Act No. 16 of 1962 and s. 32-DD was
introduced into the Act with retrospective effect fro1n October 30,
1956. That section reads:
"32-DD. Future tenancies iu surplus area and
certaill
judg1nents etc. to be ignored-Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, for the purposes of determining the surplus area of any person-
(a) a tenancy
created after the commenceinent of the
Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands
(Second
A,.mendment) Act, 1956, in any area of land which
could have been declared as the surplus area of such
person; and
(b) any judgment, decree or order of a court or other authority, obtained after the commencement of that Act
and having the effect of diminishing the area of such
person which could have been declared as his surplus
area shall be ignored."
A
B
c
D
E
F
The Collector thereupon made a reference presumably under s. 15
G
of the Punjab Land Revenue Code for sanction to the Commissioner
of Patiala to review his order dated March 28, 1961, as it omitted to
include the land in question in the holding of the first appellant on the
basis of the judgment and decree.
The sanction was given, the Collector reviewed the order and he refused to give effect to the judgment
and decree by ignoring them as enjoined by s. 32-DD and included the
land in the holding of the first appellant.
H
The appellants filed a writ petition in the High Court of Punjab to
1 quash this order. Before the High Court, three contentions were raised
'
e
c
D
E
F
G
H
GURDIT SINGH v .. PUNJAB (Mathew, J.)
899
by the appellants :
( 1) that the Collector had no jurisdiction to review' his order dated March 28, 1961; (2) that the order in review was
passed without notice. to the appellants; and ( 3) that, in any event, the
judgment of the civil court only made a declaration as regards rights of
the parties on the date of the suit and it was not, therefore, a judgment
of the nature contemplated bys. 32-DD. The High Court overruled all
the contentions and hdd that the order of the Collector was rendered
null and void by virtue of the provisions of s. 32-DD and, therefore, the
Collector had the power to determine by his order dated May 29, 1963,
the surplus area after ignoring the judgment and decree.
The High
Court said that since mandatory provisions of s. 32-DD which has retrospective operation were not taken into consideration, the order passed by the Collector on March 28, 1961 was non est as being one made
without jurisdiction and that, the order dated May 20, 1963, must° be
deemed to be the order determining the holding of the first appellant
for the purpose of the Act as amended.
We are not satisfied that this is a correct approach'to the question.
The Collector purport\'d to act under s. 15 of the· Land Revenue Code,
which, obviously, has no application. The High Court did not rest its
decision on s. 15 of the Punjab Land Revenue Code for holding that
Collector had jurisdiction to pass the order dated May 20, 1963. When
the Collector passed the order dated March, 28, 1961 determining the
surplus area in the hands of the first appellant, he took into consideration the effect of the judgment of the civil court declaring that the muta_
tion of the name of the first appellant in the revenue record was effect-
·ed only to enable him to obtain a gun licence. That order of the .Collector dated March 28, 1961 was a perfectly valid one when it was passed. No one challenged that order and it became final for all purposes.
It was only when s. 32-DD was incorporated in the Act with retrospective effect from October 3p, 1956 that the question arose whether
that order was valid.· Tpe Collector could not have anticipated the enactment of the section with retrospective effect and passed the order
conforming to °its provisions. It is rather curious that the draftsman of
the amending Act No. 16 of 1962 did not inc~rporate a provision for
re-opening orders. already passed before s. 32-DD came to be enacted
as that section was made retrospectiv0. We cannot subscribe to the view
that the order of the Collector passed on March 28, 1961 became null
and void merely because he failed to take into account the provisions of
s. 32-DD even if by virtue of the fiction it is to be assumed that the section was on the statute book when he passed it. We are aware that in
Anisminic Ltd. v. Foreign Compensation Commission(') the House of
Lords has held that even if a tribunal had jurisdiction to enter upon an
enquiry, the fact that it overlooked an applicable mandatory provision
in the course of the enquiry would denude it of its jurisdiction; but we
doubt whether that principle has any application in a case when the provision overlooked was not in actual existence at the time when the inquiry was conducted and the order was 'J>assed. In other words, we do
not think that we can extend the ratio of the decision in that case to a
case where the provision overlooked during the course of the inquiry
(!) (1967) 3 W.L.R. 382,
900
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1974] 3 S.C.ll.
was not on the statute book but was begotten and brought into being subsequently, though with retrospective vitality. The imagination sometimes has to boggle before .stark reality. The order of the Collector
dated March 28, 1961, cannot, therefore, be regarded as null and void.
It was a valid order when it was passed, and there was no provision in
the amending Act which enabled the Collector to review it; We cannot
stretch the fiction so far as to make the order null and void without further ado.
We are also not satisfied that the Collector was acting in consonance with the principles of natural justice when he passed the order
dated May 20, 1963, as he gave no opportunity ta appellants 2 and 3
of being heard. The fact that the first appellant was heard before that
order was passed is of no moment because the persons· who were vitally
concerned in re-opening the case were appellants 2 and 3. Admittedly,
no notice of the prcr.eedings to re-open the case was given to them. It
is not for us to speculate what defences were available to them and
whether the defences available would have materially affected the des·
tiny of the decision. We do not think it necessary to decide in this
case whether the failure to observe the rule audi a/teram partem "Would
per se vitiate an crder or whether it is also necessary to show prejudice
to the person affected resulting from the failure to observe the rule.
Suffice. it to say that in the present case we are of the view that if
notice had been given to appellants 2 and 3. they could, at any rate,
have shown the true nature and character of the judgment of the civil
court upon which they relied.
It is relevant to note that the judgment itself was not challenged as
collusive by the respondents. We are quite aware that the defendant in
the suit in which the judgment was obtained, namely, the first appellant,
did not put forward any contention. But it would be rash to jump to the
conclusicl!l from the mere fact that no defence was put forward by the
first appellant in the suit that the decree was obtained collusively. U!ider
s. 43 of the E.vidence Act, a person who is not a party to a judgment
can show that it was obtained by fraud or collusion. No such attempt
was made in this case.
·
Nor are we satisfied that every judgment which has the apparent
effect of diminshing the area of land of a person would be within the
ambit of s. 32-DD(b). Generally speaking. a judgment adjudicates on
the rights of the parties as they existed before the suit in which it was
obtained.
A
B
c
D
E
F
A judgment ·is an aftlrn1ation of a relation between a particular pre·
dicate and a particular subject. So. in law. it is the affirmation by the
G
law of the legal consequences attending a proved or admitted state of
facts. It is always a declaration that a liability, recognised as within the
jural spJ;i<;re, does or does not exist. A judgment. as the culmination of
the action, declares the existence of the right, recognizes the commission of the injury. or negatives of the allegaticn of one or the other(').
A judgment of a court is an affirmation, by the authorised societal
H
agent of the state. speaking by warrant of law and in the name of the
(I) See Black on Judgments, Vol. 1, 2nd ed., pp. 1-2.
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
. -:-.
GURD!T SINGH v. PUNJAB (Mathew, /.)
901
state, of the legal consequences attending a proved or admitted state
of facts. Its declaratory, determinative and adjudicatory function is its
distinctive characteristic. Its recording gives an official certification to
a pre-existing relation or
establishes a new one on pre-existing
grounds(').
The judgment of the civil court with which we are concerned,
adjudicated on the rights of the parties as they existed before the suit
and when it declared that the mutation was effected not with the idea
of transferring the property to the first appellant but for some other
reason, the effect of the declaration was that there was no real transfer
of the property in favour of the first appellant and that the property
remained always in the ownership of appellants 2 and 3, notwithstanding the purported transfer evidenced by the mutation in the revenue
records. It is impermissible to give the wide language employed in
clause (b) of s. 32-DD an unconfined operation. When a transfer or
mutation is made on account of fraud or mistake and if a suit is filed
for a declaration that the transfer or mutation was made on account
of fraud or mistake and a judgme,nt obtained, certainly the judgment
would not have the effect of diminishing the area of a person which
could have been declared as a surplus area within the meaning of s.
32-DD (b). The legal effect of such a declaration would be that the
transferee or the person in whose name the mutation was effected had
no right in the property. The land must have belonged to the first
appellant prior to the judgment in crder that it might be postulated
that the judgment has the effect of diminishing the total area in his
hands. To put it differently, prior to the judgment, the land must have
belonged to him in order that it may be said that the effect of the
judgment is to diminish the area of his holding. If the effect of the
judgment is only tci declare that the land never belonged to the first
appellant, it has not the effect of diminishing the area of land in his
possession. We are aware that the object of this provision in an Act
like the one under consideration is to prev~t circumvention of its provisions by dubious and indirect methods. But that is no reason why
we should put a construction upon the section which its language can
hardly bear. It wculd have been open to the respondents to allege and
prove that the judgment was obtained collusively. But that could have
been done only after notice to appellants 2 and 3 and atfer giving them
an opportunity of being heard. Therefore, to say, as the High Court
has said, that no prejudice was caused to appellants 2 and 3 fci" want
of an opportunity to them of being heard, is neither here nor there. We
think the High Court went wrong in assuming that the Collector was
right whert he ignored the judgment by his order dated May 20, 1963
on the ground that " had the effect c{ diminishing the area of the first
appellant which could have been declared as his surplus.
We, therefore, set aside the order of the High Court and allow the
appeal. We make no order as to costs.
S.B.W.
Appeal allowed.
~--
-
(I) See Borchard, "Declaratory Judgments", 2nd ed., pp. 8~10 .