# PUSHPAPRIYADEVI AND ORS v. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANR

- **Citation:** [1978] 3 S.C.R. 578
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1978-04-04
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 2455 of 1968
- **Bench:** R. S. Sarkaria, P. S. Kailasam
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/pushpapriyadevi-and-ors-v-state-of-maharashtra-and-anr-7364
- **Pages:** 8

## Headnote

Madhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated
Lands) Act, 1950, Act I of 1950, Sections 3 and 6-Scope of-Whether the
Forest Contract Er. P. 19 void-Whether there is a novation of contract by
virtue of the letter Ex. P. 17 and th-erefore whether there is estoppel by con ...
duct in claiming the refund.
Before the Madhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals
Alienated) Act, 1950, came into force on 31st March,
1951,
the
plaintiff
4
predecessor of the appellant and who is a brother of the second respondent and
the proprietor of Ahiri estate, took a forest contract Ex. P. 19 on 15th March,
1951 for cutting the standing trees in the forest known as Huchbodi Nendwadi
coupe for a sum of Rs. 50,000/-. The contract provided that a sum of
Rs. 15,000 was to be paid immediately on the date of the execution of the con·
tract and the balance to be paid within six months.
After the dismissal, on
2nd, May, 1952 of the writ petition filed by the second respondent, challenging
the validity of the Act, the departments of the Government refused permission
to the original plaintiff to remove the trees cut. The plaintiff made representation to the State Government and the State Government by its letter dated
12th March, 1953 Ex. P.-17, permitted the plaintiff to remove the trees on condition that be
deposited
Rs.
35,000 /-. Accordingly
the
plaintiff
paid
Rs. 35,000/- on 24th March 1953 and removed the timber. Thereafter, the
plaintiff filed a suit for the return of the said sum of Rs. 35,000/- on the ground
that he had already paid Rs. 35,000/- to his brother on 30th September, 1951,
with interest of Rs. 7,000/- in all Rs. 42,000/- contending that as the Supreme
Court had granted a stay of the operation of the Act, the property did not vest
in the State on 31st March 1951 but only on 2nd May, 1952, when the Supreme
Court dismissed the writ petition and therefore the contract was binding on the
defendant's estate, making his title perfect on the date of the contract before
31st March, 1951 when the estate vested in the State. The trial Court decreed
the suit on 21st November 1959 holding that the transaction was entered into
by the second respondent in the ordinary course of management and that the
transaction was not sham or a bogus one and that the transfer of sale under the
contract of the standing timber was sale of movable property and, therefore.
the transaction did not ·contravene the provisions of s. 6 of the Madhya Pradesh
Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated Lands) Act, 1950.
The High Court of Bombay, (Nagpur Bench) allowed the appeal by the
State, set aside the decree passed by the trial Court and dismissed the suit of the
original plaintiff.
Dismissing the appeal by Certificate, the Court
HELD : 1. While under Section 3 of the Madhya Pradesh Abolition of /
Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated Lands) Act, 1950 the interest of
the proprietor vests in the State Government from the date specified
in
the
Notification i.e. 31st March, 1951 Section 6 provides that the transfer of any
right which is liable to vest in the State under this Act made by the proprietor
at any time after 16th March, 1950 shall be void from the date of vesting.
The
result of the operation of Section 6 would be that the
contract dated
15th
March, 1951 which is a transfer of a right of property which is liable to vest
in the State having been made by the proprietor after 16th March, 1950, shall
become void from the date of vesting i.e. 31st March, 1951. [581 G-H, 582 A]
2. (a) The several clauses of the contract Ex. P. 19 clearly show that the
contract was to commence on 15th March, 1951 and will be in force till
14th
March, 1953 during which period the
contractor agreed
to file
monthly
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PUSHPAPRIYADEVI v. MAHARASHTRA STATE (Kailasam, !.)
579
accounts of falling, logging and extraction by him. As per Cl. 5, the contractor will not remove the· forest produce till logs

## Text

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578
PUSHPAPRIYADEVI AND ORS.
v.
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANR.
April 4, 1978
(R. S. SARKARIA AND P. S. KAILASAM, JJ.]
Madhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated
Lands) Act, 1950, Act I of 1950, Sections 3 and 6-Scope of-Whether the
Forest Contract Er. P. 19 void-Whether there is a novation of contract by
virtue of the letter Ex. P. 17 and th-erefore whether there is estoppel by con ...
duct in claiming the refund.
Before the Madhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals
Alienated) Act, 1950, came into force on 31st March,
1951,
the
plaintiff
4
predecessor of the appellant and who is a brother of the second respondent and
the proprietor of Ahiri estate, took a forest contract Ex. P. 19 on 15th March,
1951 for cutting the standing trees in the forest known as Huchbodi Nendwadi
coupe for a sum of Rs. 50,000/-. The contract provided that a sum of
Rs. 15,000 was to be paid immediately on the date of the execution of the con·
tract and the balance to be paid within six months.
After the dismissal, on
2nd, May, 1952 of the writ petition filed by the second respondent, challenging
the validity of the Act, the departments of the Government refused permission
to the original plaintiff to remove the trees cut. The plaintiff made representation to the State Government and the State Government by its letter dated
12th March, 1953 Ex. P.-17, permitted the plaintiff to remove the trees on condition that be
deposited
Rs.
35,000 /-. Accordingly
the
plaintiff
paid
Rs. 35,000/- on 24th March 1953 and removed the timber. Thereafter, the
plaintiff filed a suit for the return of the said sum of Rs. 35,000/- on the ground
that he had already paid Rs. 35,000/- to his brother on 30th September, 1951,
with interest of Rs. 7,000/- in all Rs. 42,000/- contending that as the Supreme
Court had granted a stay of the operation of the Act, the property did not vest
in the State on 31st March 1951 but only on 2nd May, 1952, when the Supreme
Court dismissed the writ petition and therefore the contract was binding on the
defendant's estate, making his title perfect on the date of the contract before
31st March, 1951 when the estate vested in the State. The trial Court decreed
the suit on 21st November 1959 holding that the transaction was entered into
by the second respondent in the ordinary course of management and that the
transaction was not sham or a bogus one and that the transfer of sale under the
contract of the standing timber was sale of movable property and, therefore.
the transaction did not ·contravene the provisions of s. 6 of the Madhya Pradesh
Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated Lands) Act, 1950.
The High Court of Bombay, (Nagpur Bench) allowed the appeal by the
State, set aside the decree passed by the trial Court and dismissed the suit of the
original plaintiff.
Dismissing the appeal by Certificate, the Court
HELD : 1. While under Section 3 of the Madhya Pradesh Abolition of /
Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated Lands) Act, 1950 the interest of
the proprietor vests in the State Government from the date specified
in
the
Notification i.e. 31st March, 1951 Section 6 provides that the transfer of any
right which is liable to vest in the State under this Act made by the proprietor
at any time after 16th March, 1950 shall be void from the date of vesting.
The
result of the operation of Section 6 would be that the
contract dated
15th
March, 1951 which is a transfer of a right of property which is liable to vest
in the State having been made by the proprietor after 16th March, 1950, shall
become void from the date of vesting i.e. 31st March, 1951. [581 G-H, 582 A]
2. (a) The several clauses of the contract Ex. P. 19 clearly show that the
contract was to commence on 15th March, 1951 and will be in force till
14th
March, 1953 during which period the
contractor agreed
to file
monthly
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PUSHPAPRIYADEVI v. MAHARASHTRA STATE (Kailasam, !.)
579
accounts of falling, logging and extraction by him. As per Cl. 5, the contractor will not remove the· forest produce till logs are checked and passed by the
Estate Forest Officer. The second instalment of Rs. 35,000/- is to be paid on
15th September, 1951. What was contracted for was the sale of forest produce,
which is proprietary right vested in the proprietor in the property which
according to the Act is to vest in the State. The plea that the contract was
only for the Sale of goods i.e. movable property and that as the trees
have
been marked and felled before 31st March 1951, the contract of sale of goods
had been concluded cannot be accepted. The contract was clearly not for sale
of goods but for transfer of right in property. [583 C-E]
(b) In order that the property in the goods passes under the Sale of Goods
Act, it is necessary that the tree should be felled and ascertained before the
relevant date. In the present case, the trees were not felled before 31st March,
1951 and further they were not ascertained as required under the contract for
the sale as logs had to be checked and passed by State Forest staff by affixing
the mark before they can be removed by the appellant. Since the trees were
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not felled and ascertained the title in th~ goods had not passed to the appellant
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before 31st March, 1951, the date on which the estate vested in the State. The
provisions of s. 6(1), therefore, will be attracted and this being a transfer of
right in property which is liable to vest in the State after 16th March, 1950, it
shall be void from the date of vesting.
[584 A, G-H, 585 A]
Badri Prasad v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Anr. [1967] 2 S.C.R.
380;
followed.
3. Taking into account the fact that the appellant and the second respondent
D
are brothers, the imminence of the vesting of the entire estate of the second
respondent with the State, and the absence of any material to show that the
appel1ant was Possessed of the funds, the appellant would not have paid the
amount of Rs. 35,000/- to the second respondent. After the vesting of the
forest in the Government, the Government under s. 6(2) offered to permit the
appellant to remove the trees on payment of Rs. 35,000/-. Having agreed to
the condition and paid Rs. 35,000/- the appellant cannot ask for any refund.
[585 E, F·G]
E
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2455 of 1968.
From the Judgment and Decree dated 12'8-1966 of the Bombay
High Court in F.A. No. 15 of 1960.
M. N. Phadke and A. G. Ratnaparkhi for the Appellant.
R. P. Bhatt, S. P. Nayar and M. N. Shroff for Respondent No. 1.
F
M. R. K. Pillai for Respondent No. 2
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
KAJI,ASAM, J .-This appeal is by the legal representatives of the
plaintiff by a certificate granted by the High Court of Bombay (Nagpur Bench) against its Judgment and decree dated 12th August, 1966 .
. ~e pl~intiff in the suit is the brotper of the ex-proprietor of the
Ahm Zammdar, the second
defendant, second respondent in
this
appeal.
The first defendant is the State of Maharashtra the first
rrspondent in this appeal.
,
The Ma.dhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights
(Estates,
Mahals, Ahenated Lands) Act, 1950, Act I of 1951 received the
;i.ssent of the President on 22nd January, 1951 and was published in
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580
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1978] 3 S.C.R.
A
the Gazette on 26th January, 1951. The State Government published
a notification bringing the Act into force from 31st March, 1951.
Before the Act came into force on 31st March, 1951 the plaintiff
who is a brother of the second respondent, the proprietor of the
estate took a contract on 15th March, 1951, for cutting the standing
trees
0in the forest known as Hachbodi Nendwadi coupe for a sum
of Rs. 50,000. The contract provided that a sum of Rs.
15,000
was to be paid immediately on the date of the execution of tlie contract and the balance to be paid within six months.
The second resB
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pondent filed a writ before the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the Act and also of the notifications and obtained an order
of stay on 27th March, 1951.
The writ petition was ultimately dismised on 2nd May, 1952 and the stay vacated.
After the dismissal
of the writ petition filed by the second respondent, the Departments
of the Government refused permission to the plaintiff to remove the
trees cut.
The plaintiff made a representation to the State Government and the Government by a letter dated 12th March, 1953,
Ex. P-17, permitted the plaintiff to remove the trees on condition
that he deposited Rs. 35,000.
Accordingly, the plaintiff paid Rs.
35,000 on 24th March,. 1953 and removed the timber.
The suit out of which this appeal arises was filed by the plaintiff
for the return of the sum of Rs. 35,00Q on the ground tfiat he had
already paid Rs. 35,000 to his brother by 30th September, 1951 and
that the Government was not entitled to recover another sum of
Rs. 35,000. He claimed for the return of the amount of Rs. 35,000
with interest of Rs. 7,000 in all Rs. 42,000. It was contended in the
plaint that as the Supreme Court had granted a stay of the operation of the Act the property did not vest in the State on 31st March,
1951 according to the notification ·and that i! was only on 2nd May,
1952 when the Supreme Court dismissed the writ petition that the
estate vested in the Government.
On this ground1 it was submitted
that the plaintiff's contract was binding on the defendant's
estate.
Plaintiff also contended that apart from Rs. 15,000 whi\h he paid
to the second respondent on the date of the agreement i.e. on 15th
March, 1951, he paid the balance in two instalinents of Rs. 35,000 on
31st August, 1951 and 30-9-1951.
The plaintiff, it was submitted,
was forced to pay another Rs. 35,000 as the first respondent, the Sfate,
refused to permit him to remove the timber that had already been
cut by him.
In any event, the plaintiff contended that his title became perfect on the date of the contract before 31st March, 1951
when the estate vested in the State. The State denied the claims of
the plaintiff and contended that the property vested in the State on
2nd May, 1952 and denied the allegation that the plaintiff had paid
a sum of Rs. 35,000 to the second respondent.
While admitting tnat
the plaintiff applied for permission to remove the teak cut aiid receipt
of Rs. 35,000 it denied that the amount was
collected under any
duress.
The plea by the State Government was that the contract Ex.
P-19 entered into by the plaintiff with the second respondent was
sltan1 and co!Jnsive transaction without consideration.
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PUSHPAPRIYADEVI V.
0 MAHARASHTRA STATE (Kailasam, J.)
581
· The trial court decreed the suit on 21st November, 1959 holding
tilat ·the transaction was entered into by the second respondent in the
ordinary conrse of management and that the transaction was not sham
or a bogus one. It also found that as a re~ult of the stay order the
property continued to be with the ·second respon.dent and that he
was entitled to receive the balance of the sale pnce under the contract. It also held that the transfer of sale under the contract of
the standing timber was
sale of movabk. property and therefore the
transaction did not contravene the prov1s10ns of
sectron 6 of
the
Madhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals,
Alienated Lands) Act, 1950 .
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1n an appeal by the State before the High Conrt it was conceded
by the plaintiff that the vesting of property in the State could not be
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postponed by reason of the stay order. !he order .of stay pas~ed
by this Court was not produced and the High Court nghtly acceptmg
the concession found that the vesting of the estate was not
postponed because of the order of the stay granted by this Court.
Before examining the contention whether the contract Ex. P-19
was a sham and collusive transaction and whether the plaintiff had
D
paid Rs. 35,000 to his brother, the second respondent, it is necessary
to examine the provisions of the Act for determining the rights of
parties on the date when the contract was entered into.
The Madhya
Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights (Estates, Mahals, Alienated
Lands) Act, 1950, Act I of 1951, received the assent of the President on 22nd January, 1951 and the assent was
published iii the
Madhya Pradesh Gazette on 26th January, 1951.
Section 3 of the
E
Act provides that on and from a date to be specified by notification
by the State Government in this behalf all proprietary rights in an
estate vesting in a proprietor of such estate shall pass from such proprietor and vest in the State for the purposes of the State free of all
encumbrances. By a notification the Act came into force on 26th
March, 1951 and the estate vested in the State on 31st March, 1951.
Section 4 states that when a notification nnder section 3 in respect
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of any area has been published all rights, title and interest vesting
i'.1 the proprietor or any person having interest in such propriefary
nght throngh the proprietor in such area including land ( cnltivable
or barren), grass land, scrub jungle, forest, trees etc. sha11
cease
and be vested in the State for purposes of the State free of all encumbrances.
Section 6 of the Act renders certain transfers void.
It provides that except as provided in sub-section (2), the transfer of
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any right in the property which is liable to vest in the State under
this Act made by the proprietor at any time after the 16th March
1950, shall as from the date of vesting, be void.
While under section 3 the interest of the proprietor vests in the State Government
from the date specified in the notification i.e. 31st March 1951 section 6 provides that the transfer of any right which is li~ble t~ vest
in the State under this Act made by the proprietor at any time after
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the 16th March, 1950 shall be void from the date of vesting.
The
result of the operation of this section would be that the
contract
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582
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1978) 3 S.C.R.
dated 15th March, 1951 which is a transfer of a right of property
which is liable to vest in the State having been. made by the proprietor
after 16th March, 1950 shall become void from the date of the vesting i.e. 31st March, 1951.
The plea on behalf of the plaintiff is
that the transfer would become void only as from 31st March, 1951
but as by that date the sale in favour of the plaintiff had become
complete, section 6 would not have any application.
On behalf of
the State, it was submitted that the plaintiff applied under srib-sccfion
(2) that the transfer was iu good faith and in ordinary course of
business management and therefore may be declared that the transfer
shall not be void after the date of the vesting.
The Collector refused
to accept the plea &ut permitted him to remove the timber that had
been cut on payment of Rs. 35,000 which was not paid to the second
respondent.
The questions that arise for consideration are whether
the transaction of sale was complete before the date of the vesting
of the estate i.e. on 31st March, 1951 and whether the plea of the
plaintiff that he was forced to pay a sum of Rs. 35,000 to the State
even though he had already paid the amount of Rs. 35,000 to the
second respondent as provided for in the contract is made out
To determine the question as to whther the transaction between
the plaintiff and the second respondent was complete before 31st
March, 1951 it is useful to refer to the contract entered into be!Ween
the parties. Ex. P-19 is the contract and is dated 15th March, 1951.
The agreement is desigriated as Forest Contract and provided that the
agreement is for the sale and purchase of forest produce and tha-t it
was agreed between the parties in the following terms :-
1. The Forest Produce sold and purchased under this agreement
is the following : ~
Un-Marked (Teak
&
Miscellaneous)
Standing/cut/wiihfallen
trees, situated in the coupe known as Teak trees coupe in the near
Hachbodi-Nendwadi Forest Range in the Aheri Estate :-
Teak 1000 Teak trees over 4' in girth near Hachbodi-Nendwadi
at Rs. 50/- per tree sanctioned by Z. S. Ahiri on 14-3-1951.
Clause 3 provided that the :contract shall commence on 15th
March, 1951 and will be in force up to 14th March,
1953
after
which date the contractor will have no right to any material not removed from the contract area.
The contractor agreed to remove the
forest produce only during the above
period.
Clause 4 provided
that the consideration payable by the contractor for this contract is
Rs. 50,000 and that the amount will be duly paid by the contractor
by crediting it in the Ahiri Estate Treasury in instalments of Rs. 15,000
on 15th day of April and Rs. 35,000 on
15th day of September.
Clause 5 of the contract is important any may be extracted in full :
"5. ·The contractor will not remove any forest produce from the site of the x (x tom) and until the logs are
checked and passed by the Estate Forest Staff by affixing
x (x tom) be<:! passing hammer.
The contractor will not
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PUSHPAPRIYADEVI v. MAHARASHTRA STATE (Kailasam, J.)
5 83
remove any forest produce between the sunset and sunrise.
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The contractor will make his own arrangements for stacking
x (x torn) outside the contract area."
Clause 7 provided that the contractor will duly coppice the stump5 of
the trees felled by him.
He agreed to carry out all his operations
properly, according to the rules in
force
governing the forest
area and in a workman-like manner and further agreed to abide
B
by any directions and instructions in regard to the working of this
contract that may be issued to him by the Estate Forest Staff and
other estate authorities.
Clause 8 provided that in the event of the
contractor's failure to pay any of the instalments
within the
time
fixed, the estate authorities will be entitled to stop and restrain all
further extraction or other work in the contract area.
Clause 9 provided that the contractor agrees to file every month accounts of the
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felling, logging and extraction done by him.
The clauses above extracted clearly show that the contract was to
commence on 15th March, 1951 and be in force till 14th March, 1953
durin~ which period the contractor agreed to file m61tthly
accounts
of felling, logging and extraction by him.
Clause 5 also
provicfed
that the contractor will not remove any forest produce till the logs
are checked and passed by the State Forest sfaff.
The second instalment of Rs. 35,000 is to be paid on 15th September, 1951. These
clauses make it very clear that what was contracted for was the sale
of forest produce which is a proprie1aty right vested in the proprieTor
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in the property which according to the Act is to vest in the State.
The plea on behalf of the plaintiff that the contract was only for the
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sale of goods i.e. movable property and that as the tree's had been
marked and felled before 31st March the coiilract of sale of goods
had been concluded cannot be accepted.
Apart from the fact that
the contract was clearly not for sale of goods but for transfer of
right in property, the facts also do fiat support the plea of the pfaintiff that the trees were marked and felled before 31st March, 1951.
The evidence of P.W. 1 is that the marking and cutting was done at
the same time simultaneously and that the plaintiff had cut all the trees
in the disputed contract.
According to P.W. 2 the trees were being
cut as they were marked.
The trial court held that the title of the
· plaintiff to the trees was complete 1iefore 31st March, 1951 but the
High Court came to the conclusion that there is no evidence to 'how
that the trees were cut before the date of vesting.
The High Court
may not be quite correct in stating that there is no evidence to show
that the trees were cut before the date of vesting but there can be no
dou~t that the evidence· cannot be accepted for it is impossible to have
cut the trees before 31st March, 1951.
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Even assuming that the trees were cut the property will not pass
to the plaintiff till requirements of clause 5 of the contract are complied with i.e. the logs have been checked and passed by the State
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Forest Officer by affixing marks· and delivered to the plaintiff. This
was admittedly not done.
Before the logs are checked and passed the
goods are not ascertained and the title cannot pass to the P_laintiff.
584
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1978] 3 s.C.R.
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We have no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the trees were
not in fact cut before 31st March, much less the cut trees ascertained
before 31st March, 1951.
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The decision of this Court in Biidri Prasad v. State· of Madhya
Pradesh & Anr. (')' was relied on by both the appellants and the respondents.
The facts are similar and arise out of a forest contract
in Madhya Pradesh and the .case raised similar questions.
The tacts
of the case briefly are that the appellant before this Court entered
into a contract for removing forest produce in
Madhya
Pradesh
After the passing of the Abolition of Proprietary Rights
(Estates,
Mahals, Alienated Lands) Act, 1950, a notification was issued vest"
ing the estate in the State and the appellant was prohibited from cutting timber in exercise of his rights under the contract. Later after
some negotiations the appellant agreed to pay an additional sum of
Rs. 17 ,000 but reserved his right to claim a refund.
The State Government rejected the appellant's right to cut trees.
The
appellant
thereafter lied a suit claiming specific performance of the contract
on the ground that the forest and trees did not vest in the Sfate
under the Act and even if they vested
the standing timber having
been sold to the appellant did not vest in the State and in any event
a new contract was completed in February and the appellant was entitled to specific performance.
This Court negatived all the pleas
and held after considering the earlier decisions that it was too late
in the day to contend that the forest and the trees did not vest in
the State under the Act. Repelling the contention on behalf of the
appellant that under the contract the plaintiff had become owner of
the trees as goods, this Court observed that though -the trees which
were agreed to be served before sale or under !he contract of sale
are goods for the purpose of Sale of Goods Act but before they cease
to be proprietary rights or interest within the meanir!g of section
3 and 4 (a) of the Act, they must be felled under the contract.
On
the facts of the case the Court hefcl that the property in cut timber
would only pass to the appellant under the contract at the earliest
when the trees were felled. It further added that as the contract provided that the appellant was entitled to cut teak trees of more than
12" girth it would have to be ascertained which trees fell within tho
description and till that is ascertained they were not ascertained goods.
Thus in order that the property in the goods passes under the Sale
of Goods Act, it is necessary that the trees should be felled and ascertained before the relevant date. In the present case we agree
with the conclusion arrived at by the High Court that the trees were
not felled before 31st March, 1951 and further they were not ascertained as required under the contract for as pointed out the logs had
to b~ checked and passed by State Forest staff by affixing the mark
before they can be removed by the appellant.
Thus the facts are
similar and the decision in the case applies to the present case. Holding
that the trees were not felled and that the goods were not ascertained, we find that the title in the goods had -not passed to the appellant before 31st March, 1951, the date on which the estate vested
in the State.
(t) [t969J 2 s.c.R. 3so.
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PUSHPAPRIYADEV! v. MAHARASHTRA STATE (Kailasam, J.)
585
When it is found that the title in the goods had not passed to
the appellant, then the provi~ions . of section 6 ( 1) "'.ill .be attracted
and this being a transfer of right m property which 1s liable to vest
in the State after 16th March, 1950, it shall be void from the date
of vesting.
We agree with the finding of the High Court that it is not possible to accept the appellant's case that he paid Rs. 35,000 to the
second respondent.
The appellant is the brother of the Zamindar,
the second respondent.
The appellant has not chosen to
examine
himself as a witness and speak to his payment of Rs. 35,000 to the
second respondent.
On behalf of the appellant his agent was examined as P.W. I. According to him he paid in cash to the respondent a sum of Rs. 35,000 on 30th September, 1951.
The witness was questioned as to whether for making the payment he borrowed the money from second respondent himself.
He denied any
knowledge about such borrowing. It is most unlikely that any payment of Rs. 35,000 was made on behalf of the appellant on 30th
September, 1951.
Without making sure that he would be able to
remove timber contracted without any objection from the State, he
would not have paid Rs. 35,000. As pointed out by the High Court
P.W. 3 does not state that he in fact received Rs. 35,000 in cash.
There is no material to show that the appellant had such an amount
with him. In the correspondence· that passed between the appellant
and the Government, the appellant did not mention that he had already paid Rs. 35,000 to the second respondent.
In fact, when the
Government demanded that he should pay Rs. 35,000 the appellant
paid the amount without any protest.
Taking into account the fact
that the appellant and the second respondent are brothers, the imminence of the vesting of the entire estate of the second respondent
with the State, and the absence of any material to show that the
appellant was possessed of the funds, we have no hesitation in agreeing with the finding of the High Court that the appellant would not
i)ave paid the amount to the second respondent.
Lastly, it was contended that in any event as the Government pcr-
!'litted the appellant to remove the Jogs on payment of Rs. 35,000
1t should be construed as ratification of the contract entered into by
the second respondent and as such the Government is not entitled
A
B
c
D
E
F
. !o collect Rs. 35,000 as if at all anyone was entitled to the amount
!t w1s. only the second respondent.
We have no hesitation in rejectmg thrs argnment for after the vesting of the forest in the GovernG
ment, the Government under section 6(2f offered to permit the
appellant to remo'.'~ the trees. on payment of Rs. 35,000.
Having
agreed to the condition and paid Rs. 35,000 the appellant cannot ask
for any refund.
We find tliat there is no substance in this appeal and dismiss it
with costs of the first respondent.
S.R.
Appeal dismissed.
3-3!5SCl/78
H