# MUDDADA CHAYANA v. KARNAM NARAYANA AND ANR. ETC. '

- **Citation:** [1979] 3 S.C.R. 201
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1979-02-14
- **Bench:** D. A. Desai, Q. Chinnappa Reddy
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/muddada-chayana-v-karnam-narayana-and-anr-etc-7779
- **Pages:** 8

## Headnote

k
~
Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area)
Estates (Abolition and
Conversion into
Ryotwari) Act (A.P. Act 26 of 1948), Sections 56(1)(c) 55, 11 and 15-
•
Whether operation of Section 56(1) (c) is limited only to the purposes of sec-
~
lions 55 ·and 56(1)(a) ond (b)-lnterpretation of a statute.
,..,
Uilder Section 56(1)(c) of the Andhra Pradesh
(Andhra Area) Estates
(Abolition and conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, "where, after an estate
is notified, a dispute {1.<rises as to (a) whether any rent due from a ryot for
any fasli year is in arrear or (b) what amount of rent is in arrear or (c)
who the lawful ryot in respect of any holding is, th>! dispute shall be decided
l>y the Settlement Officer". Section 56(2) of the Act provides for an appeal
to the Estates Abolition Tribunal agtdnst the decision of the Settlement Officer
whose decision was final and not to be questioned in any court of law.
The petition filed before the Tahsildar, Pathapatn<lm under section 13 of
the Andhra Tenancy Act by the appellant, for the eviction of the respondents
c
D
on the ground of default in i:tiyment of rent was dismissed on the ground,
among others that the respondents had occupancy rights in the
land. The
E
appeal before the Revenue Divisional Officer Tekkali \Vas dismissed
on the
ground that the petition for eviction wafj not maintainable since the question
as to who was the lawful ryot in respect of lany holding in an estate had to
be decided by the Settlement Officer under Section 56(l)(c) of the Andhra
Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act
and that the decision of such question was within the exclusive competence of
the Settlement Offi'Cer.
In the revision petition filed before it under Art. 227
F
~f
the Constitution, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
agreed
·with
the
,.._ r
appellate order.
Disn1issi11g the appeal by special leave the Court.
•
~
HELD : l. Interpretation of a statute contextual or otherwise must further
G
and not frustrate the object of the statute. [207 DJ
•
•
The object of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and
Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948 is to protect ryots_ and not to leave them
i~ wilderness.
When the Act provides a machinery in Section 56(1) (c) to
discover who the lti.wful ryot of a holding \Vas, it is not for the Court to
denude the Act of a11 meaning by confining the pruvisions to the bounds of
H ·
Section 55 and 56(1) (a) and (b) on the ground of "contextual interpreta·
tion". [207 C-DJ
14-196 SCl/79
r
202
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1979] 3 s.c.R.
A
2. The scope of section 56(1) (c) cannot be restricted to mean that it waa
B
c
controlled by Section 55 and 56(1)(a} and (b) and that an enquiry into the
que&tion as to who was the lawful tyot of a holding under that section was
permissible only for the purpose of identifying the person liable to pay the
arrear of rent which had accrued in respect of the holding before the taking
over of the estate. [204 E-G]
...
..
It would indeed be anomalous and ludicrous and reduce the Act to an
-
oddity, if the Act avowedly aimed at reform by the conferment of ryotwari
--4
pattas oo ryots and the <!ibolition of intermediaries is to be held not to cont.a.in
any provision for the determination of the vital question as to who was the
*
lawful ryot of a holding. Section 56(1)(c) is indeed such a provision. A con•
textual interpretation may not be quite appropri~,te in view of the fact that
..
Sections 55 and 56(l)(a) and (b) occur under the heading 'Miscelluneous',-l._
Any other interpretation would lea,d to conflict of jurisdiction and the
imp1e~
r---
raentation of the Act would be thrown into disarray. (206 F, 207 A, B-C]
i..
Munuswami Naidu (died) & Ors., v. R. Venkata Reddy and Ors., A.LR.
1978 A.P. 200 (F.B.); approved.
D
3. The Andhra Pradesh Estates Abolition Act is a self contained Code 'in
E
F
G
H
which a provision is olso made for the adjudication of various types of disputes
arising after an estate is notified by specially

## Text

201
MUDDADA CHAYANA
A
v.
KARNAM NARAYANA AND ANR. ETC.
'
February 14, 1979
B
(D. A. DESAI AND Q. CHINNAPPA REDDY, JJ.]
k
~
Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area)
Estates (Abolition and
Conversion into
Ryotwari) Act (A.P. Act 26 of 1948), Sections 56(1)(c) 55, 11 and 15-
•
Whether operation of Section 56(1) (c) is limited only to the purposes of sec-
~
lions 55 ·and 56(1)(a) ond (b)-lnterpretation of a statute.
,..,
Uilder Section 56(1)(c) of the Andhra Pradesh
(Andhra Area) Estates
(Abolition and conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, "where, after an estate
is notified, a dispute {1.<rises as to (a) whether any rent due from a ryot for
any fasli year is in arrear or (b) what amount of rent is in arrear or (c)
who the lawful ryot in respect of any holding is, th>! dispute shall be decided
l>y the Settlement Officer". Section 56(2) of the Act provides for an appeal
to the Estates Abolition Tribunal agtdnst the decision of the Settlement Officer
whose decision was final and not to be questioned in any court of law.
The petition filed before the Tahsildar, Pathapatn<lm under section 13 of
the Andhra Tenancy Act by the appellant, for the eviction of the respondents
c
D
on the ground of default in i:tiyment of rent was dismissed on the ground,
among others that the respondents had occupancy rights in the
land. The
E
appeal before the Revenue Divisional Officer Tekkali \Vas dismissed
on the
ground that the petition for eviction wafj not maintainable since the question
as to who was the lawful ryot in respect of lany holding in an estate had to
be decided by the Settlement Officer under Section 56(l)(c) of the Andhra
Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act
and that the decision of such question was within the exclusive competence of
the Settlement Offi'Cer.
In the revision petition filed before it under Art. 227
F
~f
the Constitution, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
agreed
·with
the
,.._ r
appellate order.
Disn1issi11g the appeal by special leave the Court.
•
~
HELD : l. Interpretation of a statute contextual or otherwise must further
G
and not frustrate the object of the statute. [207 DJ
•
•
The object of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and
Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948 is to protect ryots_ and not to leave them
i~ wilderness.
When the Act provides a machinery in Section 56(1) (c) to
discover who the lti.wful ryot of a holding \Vas, it is not for the Court to
denude the Act of a11 meaning by confining the pruvisions to the bounds of
H ·
Section 55 and 56(1) (a) and (b) on the ground of "contextual interpreta·
tion". [207 C-DJ
14-196 SCl/79
r
202
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1979] 3 s.c.R.
A
2. The scope of section 56(1) (c) cannot be restricted to mean that it waa
B
c
controlled by Section 55 and 56(1)(a} and (b) and that an enquiry into the
que&tion as to who was the lawful tyot of a holding under that section was
permissible only for the purpose of identifying the person liable to pay the
arrear of rent which had accrued in respect of the holding before the taking
over of the estate. [204 E-G]
...
..
It would indeed be anomalous and ludicrous and reduce the Act to an
-
oddity, if the Act avowedly aimed at reform by the conferment of ryotwari
--4
pattas oo ryots and the <!ibolition of intermediaries is to be held not to cont.a.in
any provision for the determination of the vital question as to who was the
*
lawful ryot of a holding. Section 56(1)(c) is indeed such a provision. A con•
textual interpretation may not be quite appropri~,te in view of the fact that
..
Sections 55 and 56(l)(a) and (b) occur under the heading 'Miscelluneous',-l._
Any other interpretation would lea,d to conflict of jurisdiction and the
imp1e~
r---
raentation of the Act would be thrown into disarray. (206 F, 207 A, B-C]
i..
Munuswami Naidu (died) & Ors., v. R. Venkata Reddy and Ors., A.LR.
1978 A.P. 200 (F.B.); approved.
D
3. The Andhra Pradesh Estates Abolition Act is a self contained Code 'in
E
F
G
H
which a provision is olso made for the adjudication of various types of disputes
arising after an estate is notified by specially constituted Tribunals.
On gene~
ral principles, the special Tribunals constituted by the Act must necessarily be
held to have exclusive jurisdiction to decide disputes entrusted by the statute
to them for their adjudication. [204 D-EJ
Appanna v. Sriramamurthy, [1958] 1 Andh. W.R. 420; npproved.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeals Nos. 1760-1763/
69.
the Judgment and Decree dated
High Court in
Civil Revision
Appeals by Special Leave from
25-10-1967 of the Andhra Pradesh
Application Nos. 342-345 /64.
---..
Vepa P. Sarathi and A. V. Rangam for the Appellant.
Ex-parte for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
CHINNAPPA REDDY, J.-The petitioner who lost before the Subordinate Tribmrals and the High Court is the appellant in this appeal by
special leave.
Alleging that he was the landlord and that the respondents were his tenants in respect of certain lands, in Bhommika village,
the appellant filed petition before the Tehsildar, Pathapatnam under
Section 13 of the Andhra Tenancy Act for the eviction of the respon-
.......
I
I
i•
I •
, •
II!! j •
I
l-
..
•
•
•
•
M. CHAY ANA v. K. NARAYANA (Chinnappa Reddy, J.)
20 J
dents on the ground of default in payment of rent.
The respondents
pleaded that the lands were situated in an Inam Estate which had been
taken over by the Government under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, and that, they and their ancestors, who had occupancy rights were always in cultivating possession of the lands. It
was also pleaded that after the taking over of the estate by the Govern··
ment there was no longer any relationship of landlord and tenant between the petitioner and the respondents.
The Tehsildar dismissed
the petition for eviction on the ground, among others, that the respondents had occupancy rights in the land.
The landlord preferred
an appeal before the Revenue Divisional Officer, Tekkali.
The Revenue Divisional Officer rejected the appeal on the ground that the
petition for eviction was not maintainable since the question as to who
was the 1'awful ryot in respect of any holding in an estate had to be
decided by the Settlement Officer under Section 56(1) (c)
of the
Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion
into Ryotwari) A.ct, and that th_e decision of such question was within
the exclusive competence of the Settlement Officer.
A revision petition filed before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh under Article 227
of the Constitution was dismissed by the High Court again for
the
reason that the question as to who was entitled to the grant of ryotwari patta had to be decided by the Settlement Officer under Section
56 of the A.ndhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates
(Abolition and,
Conversion into Ryotwari) Act and that the decision of such question
was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Settlement Officer.
The
appellant has preferred this appeal by special leave of this Court.
Shri Vepa P. Sarathi, learned Counsel for the appellant argued
that the view expressed by the High Court regarding the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Settlement Officer to decide the question as to who
was the lawful ryot of a holding was not good law in view of the decisior: of a Full Bench of three Judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court
in Cherukuru Muthayya v. Gadde Gopalakrishnayya & Ors.(1)
it is not disputed that the lands are situated in Bhommika village.
It is not also disputed that Bhommika village was in Inam estate and
that it was taken over by the Government under the provisions of the
Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion
into Ryotwari) Act. The appellant claims that he is the lawful ryot
of the lands in dispute and that the respondents are his tenants. On
the other hand the respondents claim that they are the lawful ryots of
(1) A. I. R · 1974 A. P. 85.
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
A
B
c
204
SuFREME COURT REPORTS
[J 979] 3 S.C.R.
th~ holding. The question at issue between the parties therefore is,
whether the appellant or the respondents are the lawful ryots of the
holding.
Under Section 56(1) (e) of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra
Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act "where,
after an estate is notified, a dispute arises as to (a) whether any rent
due from a ryot for any fasli year is in arrear or (b) what amount of
rent is in arear or (c) who the lawful ryot in respect of any holding is,
the dispute shall be decided by the Settlement Officer". Section 56(2)
provides for an appeal to the Estates Abolition Tribunal against the
decision of the Settlement Officer and further provides that the decision
of the Tribunal shall be final and shall not be liable to be questioned
in any Court of law. Prima facie, therefore, the question as to who is ·
the lawfnl ryot of any holding, if such question arises for decision after
&n estate is notified, has to be resolved by the Settlement Officer and
by the Estates Abolition Trib0nal under Section 56 (1) (c) and 56(2)
of the Andhra Pradesh Estates Abolition Act The Andhra Pradesh
Esmtes Abolition AClt is a self contained code in which provision is
0
also made for the adjudication of various types of disputes arising after
an estate is notified, by specially constituted Tribunals.
On general
;irinciples, the special Tribunals constituted by the Act must necessarily
be held to have exclusive jurisdiction to decide disputes entrusted by
the statute to them for their adjudication.
E
F
G
Shri Vepa P. Sarathi's submission was that Section 56(1) (c) did
not enable the Settlement Officer to decide the question as to who was
the lawful ryot of a holding every time such question arose and for all
purposes but only when such qnestion arose in connection with the
mr.tters dealt with by Section 5 5 and Section 5 6 ( 1) (a) and (b) . In
other words the argument was that Section 56(1) (c) was controlled
by Section 55 and Section 56(1) (a) and (b) and that an enquiry into
the question as to who was the lawful ryot of a holding under Section
56(1) (c) was permissible only for the purpose of identifying the per-·
son liable to pay the arrear of rent which had accrued in respect of
the holding before the taking over of the estate. The submission of
Shri Vepa P. Sarathi is supported by the decision of the Full Bench
of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Cherukuru Muthayya v. Gadde
Gopnlakrishnayya & Ors. (supra). We are, however, unable to see any
jus~ification for restricting the scope of Section 56(1) (c) in the
manner suggested by Shri Sarathi. We will briefly indica•e our rearnns
for holding that the scope of Section 56(l)(c) is not to be restricted
as was done by the Full Bench of Andhra Pradesh High Court in
Cherukuru Muthayya v. Gadde Gopalakrishnayya & Ors. (supra). We
H
•
•
•
•
•
,
M. CHAYANA v. K. NARAYANA (Chinnappa Reddy, J.)
205
are fortunately relieved of the necessity of considering the matter more
elaborately in view of the fact that the decision in Cherukuru Muthayya
v. Gad de Gopalakrishnayya & Ors. on this part of the case has since
beeu over-ruled by a Full Bench of five Judges of the High Court of
Andhra Pradesh in I. Munuswami Naidu (died) & Ors. v. R. Venkata
Reddy & Ors.(!) after a thorough and exhaustive consideration of the
question. We may also add here that until the decision in Cherukuru
Muthayya v. Gadde Gopalakrishnayya & Ors., for several years it was
understood that Section 56(1) (c) conferred complete and exclusive
• __.l_. jurisdiction on the Settlement Officer to decide rival claims of ryots for
,,
the grant of ryotwari patta and Section 55 or 56(1) (a) and (b) were
;
never understood as controlling Section 56(1)(c).
A brief resume of the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh ( Andhra
Area) Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act relevant
for onr present purpose is permissible here. As stated in the preamble
A
B
c
the Act was enacted to provide for the repeal of the Permanent Settlement, the acquisition of the Rights of land-holders in permanently
D
Eetlled and certain other estates and the introduction of the ryotwari
settlement in such estates. Section 1 ( 4) provides for the notification
of estates and Section 3 enumerates the consequences of notifying an
estate under Section l ( 4) of the Act. In particular Section 3 (b) provides that the entire estate shall stand transferred to the Government
and vest in them free of all encumbrances Section 3 ( c) provides that
all rights and interests created in/or over the estate by the land-holder
shall cease and determine as against the Government. Section 3(d)
empowers the Government to take possession of the estate but saves
from dispossession any person who the Government considers is prirna
·.
_ facie entitled to a ryotwari patta until the question whether he is actually
_.,J•·r entitled to snch patta is decided by the Settlement Officer in the case
of a ryot or by the Settlement Officer and the Tribunal on appeal in the
ca''" of a land-holder.
Section 3 (f) provides that the relationship of
•
1 be landholder and ryot shall, as between them,
be extinguished .
Section 3 (g) provides that ryots in the estate shall, as against the
Government be entitled only to such rights and privileges as are recognised or conferred on them by or under the Act. Section 11 confers
on every ryot in an estate the right to obtain a ryotwari patta in respect
of ryoti land which was included or ought to have been included in the
holding on the notified date. Sections 12, 13 and 14 confer on the
land-holder the right to obtain a ryotwari patra in respect of private
land in a Zamindari, Inam and Under-tenure estate respectively. Section 15(1) provides for enquiry by the Settlement Officer into claims
(I) A. I. R. 1978 A. P. 200.
E
F
G
H
A
B!
C.
D
206
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1979] 3 S.C.R.
by a land-holder for a ryotwari patta, Under Sections 12, 13 and 14.
Seciion 15 (2) provides for an appeal to the Tribnnal from the decision
of the Settlement Officer and it declares that the decision of the Tribunal shall be final and not liable to be questioned in any Court of law.
Section 16 imposes on every person, whether a land-holder or a ryot
who becomes entitled to a ryotwari patta under the Act in respect of
any land, the liability to pay to the Government the assessment that
may be lawfully imposed on the land. Section 21 to 23 provide for
the survey of estates, the manner of affecting ryotwari settlement and
the determination of the land-revenue. Sections 55 to 68 occur under
the heading "Miscellaneous". Section 55 provides for the collection of
ren: which had accrued before the notified date. Section 56 provides
for the decision of certain disputes arising after an estate is notified.
It provides for the decision of a dispute as to (a) whether any rent due
fron• a ryot for any fasli year is in arrear or (b) what amount of rent
is in arrear or (c) who the lawful ryot in respect of any holding is. The
dispute is required to be decided by the Settlement Officer. Against the
decision of the Settlement Officer, an appeal is provided to the Tribunal
and the decision of the Tribunal is declared final and not liable to be
questioned in any Court of law.
Now the Act broadly confers on every tenant in an estate the right
to obtain a ryotwari patta in respect of ryoti lands which were inc:uded
F.
or ought to have been included in his holding before the notified date and
on the land-holder the right to obtain a ryotwari patta in respect of lands
which belonged to him before the notified date as his private lands. The
Act makes express provision for the determination of claims by landholders for the grant of ryotwari patta in respect of the alleged private
F
G
lands.
If there is provision for the determination of the claims of a
landholder for the grant of ryotwari patta in respect of his alleged private
lands, surely, in an Act aimed at the abolition of intermediaries and the
introduction of ryotwari settlement, there must be a provision for the
determination of the claims of ryots for the grant of ryotwari patta. Section 56(1) is clearly snch a provision. But in
Cherukuru Muthayya
v. Gadde Gopalakrishnayya & Ors (supra) it was held that an enquiry
as to who was the lawful ryot was permissible under Section 56(1) (c)
for the limited purpose of fastening the liability to pay arrear of rent
which had accrued before a notified date and for no other purpose.
The conclusion of the Full Bench was based entirely on the supposed
context in which the provision occurs. The learned Judges held ihat
Section 56(1) (c) occurred so closely on the heels of Section 55 and
Section 56(1) (a) and (b), that the applicability of Section 56(1)(c)
musl be
held to be
"intimately
and
integrally
connected"
•
•
M. CHAYANA v. K. NARAYANA (Chinnappa Reddy, !.)
207
with those provisions.
We think that the approach of the Full Bench
was wrong.
Apart from the fact that Section 55 and 56(1) (a), (b)
and (c) occur under the heading "Miscellaneous", and, therefore, a contextual interpretation may not be quite appropriate, the Full Bench overlooked the serious anomaly created by its conclusion.
The anomaly is
that while express provision is found in Section 15 of the Act for the
adjudication of claims by land-holders for the grant of ryotwari pattas.,
there is, if the Full Bench is correct, no provision for the adjudication of
claim's by ryots for the grant of ryotwari pattas.
It would indeed be
_J.. anomalous and ludicrous and reduce the Act to an oddity, if the Act
,...
avowedly aimed at reform by the conferment of ryotwari pattas on ryots
and the abolition of intermediaries, is to be held not to contain any provision for the determination of the vital question as to who was the lawful ryot of a holding.
The object of the Act is to protect ryots and not
to leave them in the wilderness.
When the Act provides a machinery
in Section 56(1) (c) to discover who the lawful ryot of a holding was,
it is not for the Court to denudi' the Act of all meaning by confining the
provision to the bounds of Section 55 and 56(1) (a) and (b) on
the
ground of "contextual interpretation".
Interpretation of a statute, con.
textural or otherwise must further and not frustrate the object of the statute.
We are, therefore, of the view that Cherukuru Muthayya v. Gadde
Gopalakrishnayya· & Ors. (supra) was wrongly decided in so far as it
held that ambit of Section 56(1)(c) was controlled by Section 55 and
Sec.tion 56('l)(a) and (b).
We do not think it necessary to consider
the matter in further detail in view of the elaborate consideration which
has been given to the case by the later Full Bench of five Judges
of
the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in T. Muniswami Naidu (died)
&
Ors v. R. Venkata Reddi & Ors. (supra) except to add that to adopt
T
Y .. the reasoning of the Full Bench of three Judges in Cherukuru Muthayya
~
v. Gadde Gopalakrishnayya & Ors. would lead to contlict of jurisdiction and the implementation of the Act would be thrown into disarray.
In this connection we' may quote the observations of Subba Rao,
Chief Justice, who said as follows in Appanna v. Sriramamurry(I)
"Where a special tribunal, out of the ordinary course is
appointed by an Act to determine questions as to rights which
are the creation of that Act, then except so far as is otherwiSe
expressly provided or necessarily implied, that tribunal's jurisdiction to determine those questions is exclusive.
Unde.r the
---··--
(1) (1958) I And. W. R. 420.
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
B
208
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1979] 3 s.c.R.
S.R.
Act, old rights were abolished and new rights were created. A
lawful ryot is entitled to a patta, when a question arises whether a person is a lawful ryot or not, that question falls to be
decided by the special Tribunal created by the Act".
In view of the above discussion the appeal is dismissed.
Appeal dismissed.
•
'