# RAGHUNATH LAXMAN WANI AND ORS v. STATE OF MAHARASIITRA AND ORS

- **Citation:** [1972] 1 S.C.R. 48
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1971-08-06
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 5 of 1967
- **Bench:** J. M. Shelat, A. N. Ray
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/raghunath-laxman-wani-and-ors-v-state-of-maharasiitra-and-ors-5382
- **Pages:** 12

## Headnote

Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings Act) 1961ss. 3, 4, 6-Cei/ing area-Act does not contemplate refixa(ion on account
of increase or decrease in the number of members of family after appointed
day-Additional I /6th in excess of ceiling area for each member of family
in excess of five-Section 6, proviso.
In. proceedings held under s. 14 of the Maharashtra Agricultural
Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961, the Deputy Collector rejected
the appellants' case of partition and determined the surplus land to be
surrendered under the Act. He also held that of the 14 members of the
family, three of them were born after January 26, 1962, that is, the appointed day under the Act, that appellant M had purchased II acres
c
of land separately on March 11, 1960 and therefore they could not be
0
treated as members of the family under s. 6 for the purpose of the additional I /6th of the basic ceiling area. On appeal, the Revenue Tribunal
accepted the findings of the Deputy Collector. But the Tribunal made
a modification in the order of the Deputy Collector in that it held that
·though the property was acquired in the name of M there was nothing
to show that the acquisition was from his separate funds or was to be
held by him separately and, hence he could not be excluded from the
family for the purpose of s. 6. The Tribunal consequently modified the
ceiling area.
E
HELD : (i) The Deputy Collector and the Tribunal have, after
an examination of the materials placed before them, .arrived at the concurrent finding that the appellants' case of severance of status and partition of the family Jani! was noJ acceptable. This Court will not be
F
justified in an appeal under Art. 136 in interfering with such a concurrent finding of fact. [54G]
.,
(ii) The scheme of the Act is to determine the ceiling of each person
including a family with reference to the appointed day. The ceiling area
so fixed would not be liable to fluctuations with the subsequent increase
or decrease in number of the family members, for there is, apart from
G
the explicit language of ss. 3 and 4 no provision in the Act providing for
the redetermination of the ceiling area of a family on variations in the
number of its members. The argument that variations in the number
of the members of a family required a redetermination of the ceiling
area would mean an almost perpetual fixation and re-fixation in the
ceiling area by the revenue authorities, a state of affairs that could not
have been contemplated by the lagislature. [57H;58B-D]
H
State v. Dinkarrao Rarayanrao Deshmukh, (1969) 72 Born L.R.
237 and Murari Rao S. Gube Patil v. State, Spl. C.A. No. 767/68, dt.
I
RAGHUNATH 11· MAHARASHTRA (She/at,/.)
49
A
18-4-1968 referred to; view contra in Civil Application No 1578 of 1969
decided on 16-7-1969 (Bombay) held incorrect.
(iii) Under the proviso to s. 6 for the purpose of increasing the
holding of a family in ·excess of the ceiling area,. if a member thereof
holds any Ian~ separately he cannot be regarded as a member of that
family for such purpose. The proviso is clear, since there was no evidence
B that M or the family had treated the lands purchased in the name of M
on March 11, J960 as the separate property of M, the tribunal was right
in regarding M as a member of the family and consequently holding that
the family would be entitled to an additional I/6th of the ceiling area so
far as M was concerned. [59E-G]
c
D

## Text

48
RAGHUNATH LAXMAN WANI AND ORS.
A
v.
STATE OF MAHARASIITRA AND ORS.
August 6, 1971
[J. M. SHELAT AND A. N. RAY, JJ.J
Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings Act) 1961ss. 3, 4, 6-Cei/ing area-Act does not contemplate refixa(ion on account
of increase or decrease in the number of members of family after appointed
day-Additional I /6th in excess of ceiling area for each member of family
in excess of five-Section 6, proviso.
In. proceedings held under s. 14 of the Maharashtra Agricultural
Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961, the Deputy Collector rejected
the appellants' case of partition and determined the surplus land to be
surrendered under the Act. He also held that of the 14 members of the
family, three of them were born after January 26, 1962, that is, the appointed day under the Act, that appellant M had purchased II acres
c
of land separately on March 11, 1960 and therefore they could not be
0
treated as members of the family under s. 6 for the purpose of the additional I /6th of the basic ceiling area. On appeal, the Revenue Tribunal
accepted the findings of the Deputy Collector. But the Tribunal made
a modification in the order of the Deputy Collector in that it held that
·though the property was acquired in the name of M there was nothing
to show that the acquisition was from his separate funds or was to be
held by him separately and, hence he could not be excluded from the
family for the purpose of s. 6. The Tribunal consequently modified the
ceiling area.
E
HELD : (i) The Deputy Collector and the Tribunal have, after
an examination of the materials placed before them, .arrived at the concurrent finding that the appellants' case of severance of status and partition of the family Jani! was noJ acceptable. This Court will not be
F
justified in an appeal under Art. 136 in interfering with such a concurrent finding of fact. [54G]
.,
(ii) The scheme of the Act is to determine the ceiling of each person
including a family with reference to the appointed day. The ceiling area
so fixed would not be liable to fluctuations with the subsequent increase
or decrease in number of the family members, for there is, apart from
G
the explicit language of ss. 3 and 4 no provision in the Act providing for
the redetermination of the ceiling area of a family on variations in the
number of its members. The argument that variations in the number
of the members of a family required a redetermination of the ceiling
area would mean an almost perpetual fixation and re-fixation in the
ceiling area by the revenue authorities, a state of affairs that could not
have been contemplated by the lagislature. [57H;58B-D]
H
State v. Dinkarrao Rarayanrao Deshmukh, (1969) 72 Born L.R.
237 and Murari Rao S. Gube Patil v. State, Spl. C.A. No. 767/68, dt.
I
RAGHUNATH 11· MAHARASHTRA (She/at,/.)
49
A
18-4-1968 referred to; view contra in Civil Application No 1578 of 1969
decided on 16-7-1969 (Bombay) held incorrect.
(iii) Under the proviso to s. 6 for the purpose of increasing the
holding of a family in ·excess of the ceiling area,. if a member thereof
holds any Ian~ separately he cannot be regarded as a member of that
family for such purpose. The proviso is clear, since there was no evidence
B that M or the family had treated the lands purchased in the name of M
on March 11, J960 as the separate property of M, the tribunal was right
in regarding M as a member of the family and consequently holding that
the family would be entitled to an additional I/6th of the ceiling area so
far as M was concerned. [59E-G]
c
D
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 5 of 1967·
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated
September 2, 1966 of the Maharastra Revenue Tribunal,
Bombay in Appeal No. ALC-A 12 of 1966.
V. M. Tarkundey, V. M. Limaye and S. S. Shukla, for
the appellant:
V. S. Desai, S. B. Wad and S. P. Nayar, for the repondents Nos. 1-and 2.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Shelilt,. J. This appeal by special leave, is against
E the judgment and order passed by the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal, dated September 2, 1966, in proceedings
held by the Deputy Collector under s. 14 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act,
1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) in respect of
lands held by the appellant_s.
F
G
H
The following pedigree explains the relationship between the appellants:
·
Tukaram (dead)
.
.
..
Narayan, d. about 1920=Lax.mibai
Madhav=Maltibai
Alka (minor)
Laxman, d. 5-6- 1954~Warubai
Raghunath = Rukhminiba
Ramesh
Suresh
Shaila
Mukanc
(minor)
(minor)
(minor)
(minor)
50
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
,.
[1972],l S.C.R.
It is not in dispute that, until at any rate 1956, appelA
lant Raghunath and the other members of the family
formed a joint and undivided Hindu family of which
Raghunath, on the death of his father Laxman in June
1954, became the karta and the manager. The family
then held 523.03 acres of lands situate at Ranjangaon,
B
Sangwi, Karajgaon, Shindi and
Odhre villages. In
1956, appellant Raghunath. gave a vardhi (intimation)
to the talathi stating that he and the other members
of his family had entered into a partial partition whereunder Laxmibai, the widow of Narayan, received 41.13
acres of land of Karajgaon, Kashinath, named Madhav c
Narayan after his adoption, 74.20 acres of land in Shindi
village and Warubai, his mother, 64.03 acres of land of
Shindi and Odhre villages. The balance of 343.07 acres
of the· said lands still stood in his name. But his case
was that the members of the family had separated and
ceased to constitute a joint and undivided family, and
D
therefore, held the said balance in equal shares as tenantsin-common. The position thus was that on August 4,
1959 343 ·07 acres of land comprising of 180 ·20 acres of
Rajangaon and 162 ·27 acres of Sangwi villages remained
in his name. It was said that out of these 343 ·07 acres
of land, 75 ·27 acres had come to his share thus leaving
E
267·20 acres of land held by them all as tenants-in-common.
On April, 1, 1960, .Raghunath sent another vardhi
(intimation) to the talathi of Ranjangaon stating that the
partition by metes and bounds, which had remained partial
in 1956, had been completed on that. day. He also intiF
mated that under this partition 75 ·27 acres of land of
Rajangaon village went to Rukhminibai and Ramesh,
his wife and son respectively, 53 ·29 acres of Ranjangaon
village to Madhav and his wife, Maltibai and 8 ·36 acres
of Ranjangaon village to Warubai, his mother,· i.e., the
widow of Laxman.
G
According to the appellants, all the lands, which were
partitioned and allotted in 1956 to Laxmibai, Madhav
and Warubai had been sold away most of them before
August 4, 1959 and the rest in 1960 and 1961.
Likewise
between October, 17, 1960 and May 30, 1962 Raghunath
had sold 150·13 acres out of the remaining lands. The
H
result of the alleged partition and the sales was that Raghunath held only 54 ·22 acres of lands at Rajangaon and
;
'
)
RAGHUNATH v. MAHARASHTRA (She/at, J.)
51
A Sangwi, and that therefore, there was no surplus land
for him to declare, the ceiling for this area under the Act
being 96 acres for an indivdual or a family consisting
cf five members.
In support of their case of partition in 1956 and 1960
B and the sales of lands which had come to the shares through
it of the different members of the family, the appellants
relied on their;: own affidavits, the statements of the various
transferees, the said vardhis by Raghunath, certain market
r.eceipts showing
sales of agricultural produce by the
members of the family, extracts from village forms 7,
C 7 A and 12 showing the different crops grown in the lands
and the names of the different members of the family set
out therein as occupants, and lastly, a consent deed dated
April 11, 1960 executed by Madhav, Laxmibai and Warubai
which recited the said partial partition in 1956, the fact
of their being tenants-in-common in respect of the rest of the
D lands and the authority given by them to Raghunath to
sell the lands for himself and on their behalf and on such
sales having been effected each of them having become
entitled to I/4th share in the sale proceeds.
The Deputy Collector, however, rejected the appellants
E case of partition, firstly in 1956 and then in 1960, and held
that the family at the material time held 343 ·07 acres
of lands. He also held that out of the 14 members of the
family as three of them had been born after January 26,
1962, that being the appointed day under the Act and as
appellant Madhav had purchased 11 ·20 acres of land
F separately on March 11, 1960, they could not be treated
as members of the family under sec. 6 for the purpose of
additional 1 /6th of the basic ceiling area. Thus on the
basis that the family consisted of 10 members only he
allowed 96 acres plus 5/6th thereof, in all 176 acres and
G declared the remaining 167 ·07 acres as
surplus.
On_ an appeal under sec. 33 of the Act, the Revenue
Tribunal accepted the findings of the Deputy Collector
rejecting the appellants' case of partition and held that
the said sales effected by the members of the family were
made to defeat the objects of the Act. The Tribunal,
H however, made one modification in the order of the Deputy
Collector, in that, it held that though Survey No. 81 was
acquired in the name of Madhav on March 11, 1960,
52
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[l 972] l S.C.R.
there was nothing to show that that acquisition was from
A
his separate funds or was to be held by him separately,
and therefore, he could not be excluded from the family
for the purposes of sec. 6. In this view the Tribunal held
that the family held 343 ·07 acres plus l l ·20 acres purchased
in the name of Madhav, i.e., 354 ·27 acres, that the family
B
members being 11 in number, each of them in excess of
five members was entitled to an additional I/6th of the
ceiling area, and that consequently, tile ceiling area for
the family would be 192 acres. The surplus area thus
would be 162 ·27 acres and not 167 ·07 acres as declared
by the Deputy Collector. The present appeal challenges c
the correctness of these conclusions of the Tribunal.
The Act was brought into operation as from
January 26, 1962, which is the appointed day under sec.
2(4). Sec. 3 provides:
''In order to provide for the more equitable
distribution of agricultural land amongst the
peasantry of the State of Maharashtraon the commencement of this Act, the:re
shall be imposed to the extent, and in the
manner hereinafter provided, a maximum
limit (or ceiling) on the holding of agricultural
land throughout the State."
Sec. 4(1) lays down that subject to the provisions of the
Act no person shall hold any excess over the ceiling area,
D
E
as determined "in the manner hereinafter provided".
F
Under sec. 4(2), all land held by a person (which expression
includes a family) in excess of the ceiling area, shall be
deemed to be surplus land. Sec. 5 provides for the ceiling
area, in the several local areas and for each class of land,
fixed having regard to the soil classification,
climate,
rainfall and other factors enumerated therein.
Under
G
sec. 6, if a family consists of members exceedings five in
number, such family is entitled to hold land exceeding
the ceiling area to the extent of one-sixth of the ceiling
area for each member in excess of five, so however that
the total holding is not to exceed twice the ceiling area,
and in such a case, in -relation to the ceiling of that family,
H
such area shall be deemed to be in the ceiling area. The
proviso to sec. 6 runs -as follows.
' -
·-
...
A
B
RAGHUNATH v. MAHARASHTRA (She/at, J.)
"Provided that . for the purpose of increasing
the holding of a family in excess of the ceiling
area as aforesaid, if any member thereof holds
any land separately he shall not be regarded
as a member of that family for such purpose."
53
Sec. 8 provides that no person, who, on or after the
appointed day, holds land in excess of the ceiling area,
shall on or after that day transfer or partition any land
until the land in excess of the ceiling is determined. Sec. 9
prohibits any person at any time, on or after the appointed
C day, from acquiring by transfer or partition any land if
he already has land in excess of the ceiling area or land
which together with any other land already held by him
will exceed in the total the ceiling area. Sec. 10 provides
that if a person after August 4, 1959 but before the appointed day, transfers or partitions any land in anticipation
D .of, or in order to avoid or defeat the objects of this Act,
or if any land is transferred or partitioned in contravention of sec. 8, then, in calculating the ceiling area of such
a person the land so transferred or partitioned shall be
takeri into consideration and the land exceeding the
E ceiling area so calculated shall be deemed to be in excess
of the ceiling area for that
holding
notwithstanding
that the land remaining with hi n is not in fact in excess
of the ceiling area. If by reason of such transfer or partition the holding of that person is less than the area so
calculated to be in excess of the ceiling' area, then all his
F land shall be deemed to be surplus land and out of the land
so transferred or partitioned and in possession of the
transferee land to the extent of such deficiency shall be
deemed to be surplus. Sec. 12 then provides that if any
person (i) has at any time between August 4, 1959 and
January 26, 1962 held, or (ii) on or after January 26, 1962
G acquires, holds or comes into possession any land in excess
of the ceiling area, or (iii) whose land is converted into
any other class of land as a result of the expiry of the
period or the date set out in sec. 2(5), or (iv) whose land
is converted into any other class of land in the circumstances described in sec. 11, e.g., as a result of irrigation
H from a source constructed by Government, thereby causing his holding to exceed the ceiling area, then, he shall
furnish within the respective periods prescribed therein to
5~
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[ 1972] I S.C.R.
the relevant Collector a report containing particulars
A
of all lands held by him. In such cases, the Collector has to
hold an enquiry under sec. 18 in respect of the matters
set out in that section, namely, the area of land held
by such a person on August 4, 1959, whether any acquisition by him between August 4, 1959 and January 26,
8
1962 should be considered in calculating the ceiling area,
the total area held by him on January 26, 1962, whether
any transfer or partition is made by him contrary to sec.
8, whether any land has been acquired or possessed on
or after January 26, 1962 by transfer or partition, whether
there has beeri any acquisition on or after January 26, c
1962 by testamentary disposition, devolution on death or
operation of law, the total area held by him on the date of
enquiry and the area he is entitled to hold etc.
At the
end of such enquiry, the Collector has to make the declaration in terms of sec. 21.
The first question which emerges for determination is
whether there was severance of the joint family and a
partition in respect of some of the lands in 1956 and a
completion of that partition in 1960 as alleged by the appellants. It is true that in support of their case of partition
partly in 1956 and then in 1960, the appellants relied on
E
(1) the two mutation vardhis by Raghunath to the talathis,
(2) sales of lands which came to the shares of and which
were allotted to certain members of the family, (3) market
receipts showing sales by such members of the agricultural
produce of lands, and (4) the affidavits by the members of
the family and their transferees. It is also true that in the
F
vardhi (intimation) to the talathi of Rajangaon on April
l, 1960, appellant Raghunath recited the fact of the partial
partition having been made on May 1, 1956 and the said
affidavits also mentioned the fact of the severance of
status and the fact of the members of the family holding
thereafter the family properties as tenants-in-common.
G
Both the Deputy Collector and the Tribunal, however,
arrived at a concurrent finding for reasons given by both of
them after an examination of the materials placed before
them that the appellants' case of the severance of status
and partition of the family lands partially in 1956 and then H
in 1960 was not acceptable. The question is whether we
would be justified in an appeal under Art. 136 in interfering
with such a concurrent finding of fact.
D
,
i
RAGHUNATH v. MAHARASHTRA (She/at, J.)
55
A
As noted by both the authorities, no partition deed
was admittedly executed by the parties either in 1956 or
in 1960. The only documentary proof adduced in support
of the alleged partition consisted of the vardhis, sales of
lands, the market receipts for sales of agricultural produce
B said to be the produce of the lands allotted to some of the
members of the family unaccompanied, however, with any
proof that the sale proceeds thereof were appropriate!i by
or accounted to those members. The vardhis merely intimated the talathis of a partition having been made and
asked for the consequential mutations. By themselves they
c were not regarded by the authorities as conclusive proof of
the severance of status or a partition by metes and bounds.
It is somewhat strange that thol,lgh the family was
said to have been disrupted and its severance brought about
. and the members thereof were said to hold the rest of the
lands as tenants-in-common. (i) No proof was adduced of
D the division of other properties, such as the houses which
numbered ten, (ii) the shares allotted in 1956 to Laxmibai,
the widow of Narayan, Kashinath alias Madhav and Watubai, the widow of Laxman, were so unequal as to afford
no principle or basis for such distribution. and (iii) even
E
in 1960 when the partition by metes and bounds was said
to have been completed, the inequality in shares was not
sought to be removed, nor was any case of the division of
the other family properties set up. It is true that a consent
document was produced which purported to give Raghunath the authority to sell the lands which were said to have
F
come to the shares of the members of the· family.
But
that document also would be of no avail unless its premise,
of the partition, was acceptable on its own merits. In
considering that premise, it is important to bear in mind
that under the alleged partial partition of 1956 Laxmibai
G
was allotted 41 acres, Madhav, adopted by her in or about
1954, was allotted 74 acres and Warubai, the widow of
Laxman was allotted about 64 acres. The rest of the:
lands continued to stand in the name of Raghunath but
in which all the members of the family were alleged to
have equal shares as tenants-in-common. Yet, when in
1960 the partition was said to have been C?mpleted, the
H
remaining lands were divided between the wife of Raghunath, Madhav and his son and Warubai only, and no further lands were allotted to Laxmibai altb 'ugh in 1956 only
i, 5-Ml 245 SupCl/71
56
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1972] I S.C.R.
'
41 acres were given to her. It is thus difficult to compre A
hend the basis or the prinGiple upon which the lands were
J..
said to have been divided amongst the various members of
the family. But, apart from this ciurcumstance, the question is would Raghunath, who admittedly was the karta of
the family and as such held all the lands in his name, have
B
agreed to give 41 acres of lands to Laxmibai in 1956 ?
Narayan, we were told, had died in or about 1920 leaving
him surviving as his only heir his widow, Laxmibai. As
the Jaw then stood, Laxmibai would not have been entitled
to any share in the joint family properties. Under· the
Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act, XVIII of 1937, a c
widow governed by the Mitakshra school bacame entitled
in a joint family property, to the same interest as her husband, such interest being, however, only a Hindu women's
·estate. But the Act, by reason of s. 4 thereof, applied to the
property of a Hindu dying intestate after the commencement
·Of the Act. There is nothing on record to show and it
appears no effort was ever made to establish that notwithD
cStanding Laxmibai's legal disability there was any agree-
•.
ment between the parties whereunder she was giyen 41 acres
absolutely in her own right over and above 74 acres given
to Madhav, her adopted son.
E
The absence of any document regarding the alleged
:severance of the family and the partial partition in 1956,
the inequality of shares allotted to some of the members
-of the family both in 1956 and in 1960, the absence of any
principle or basis for such alleged distribution, the sale of
the whole of the lands said to have come to them as a
F
result of the alleged partial partition, the emergence for
the first time in 1960 through Raghunath's said vardhis
and the consent deed that each of the four parties were to
.have an equal I/4th share in the properties remaining after
I
the alleged partial partition, the total absence of any
.reference to the other properties such as houses and moveG
ables as subject matter of the partition, the absence of
·evidence showing appropriation of the sale-proceeds by
the members to whose shares the lands sold were said to
:have come, all these factors rendered the appellant's case
·Of partition first in 1956 and then in 1960 doubtful. If in
·consideration of these factors the two authorities conH
.currently declined to accept the case of partition, we
on ourpart would be more than reluc'ant to in'erfere and
A
RAGHUNATH v. MAHARASHTRA (She/at, J.)
57
upset such a finding. The appellants, in our view, accordingly must fail on that count.
As already noticed, sec. 3 provides that there shall
be imposed to the extent and in the manner provided hereB in-after a ceiling on the holding of agricultural land on the
commencement of the Act, i. e. , on and from January 26,
1962. Under sec. 4, no person can hold land in excess of
the ceiling area and all land held in excess of the ceiling
area would be surplus land and would be dealt with in the
manner provided for such surplus land. Sec. 5 provides
.c for the ceiling area in each of the local areas and for each
class of land as set out in the Schedule. Since a family is
included in the definition of 'person', a family which
consists of five persons would be entitled to the ceiling
area as laid down in 'sec. 5. In cases of families having more
than five members, they would be entitled to hold land
D exceeding the ceiling area to the extent of I /6th of such
ceiling area for each member in
excess of five.
T n
such a case, the ceiiing area for such a family would be
the area so calculated.
But the proviso to sec. 6 lays
down that if any member of such a family holds any lands
separately, he is not to be treated as a member of that
E family for the purpose of increasing the holding of that
family to the extent as aforesaid, i. e., I/6th of the basic
ceiling area.
Having provided thus for the fixation of a ceiling
area for every person and having provided that there shall
F
be imposed on every person a ceiling on and from the
appointed day, the Act, by secs. 8 and 9 lays down that
(i) no person who "on or after the appointed day" holds
excess lands shall, on or after that day, transfer or partition any land until the excess land held by him is determined, and (ii) that no person at any time on and after the
G appointed day shall acquire by transfer or partition any
land if he has land in excess of the ceiling area or land which
together with any other land already held by him would
exceed in the total the ceiling area ..
The scheme of the Act seems to be to determine the
ceiling area of each person (including a family) with refeH rence to the appointed day.
The policy of the Act appears
to be that on and after the appointed day no person in the
State should be permitted to hold any land in excess of
58
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1972] 1 S.C.R.
the ceiling area as determined under the Act and that A
ceiling area would be that which is determined as on the
appointed day. Therefore, if there is a family consisting
of persons exceeding five in number on January 26, 1962,
th~ ceiling area for that family would be the basic ceiling
area plus l/6th thereof per member in excess of the number
B.
five.
The ceiling area so fixed would not be liable to
fluctuations with the subsequent increase or decrease in
the number of its members, for, there is, apart from the
,.
explicit language of secs. 3 and 4, no provision in the Act
providing for the redetermination of the ceiling area of a
family on variations in the number of its members. The
argument that every addition or reduction in the number
of the members of a family requires redetermination of
the ceiling area of such a family- would mean an almost
p~rpetual fixation and re-fixation in the ceiling area by the
Revenue authorities, a state of affairs hardly to have been
contemplated by the legislature. The argument would
also mean that where a surplus area is already determined
and allotted to the landless persons such area would have
to be taken back and given to a family, the number of whose
members subsequently has augmented by fresh births.
It is true that sec. 12 does lay down an obligation
on a person to furnish to the Collector a report containing
c
io ,
..
jl
D
I
E
particulars of all lands held by him if he has held at any
,.
time after August 4, 1959 but before the appointed day or
has on or after the appointed day acquired or held or has
come into possession of any land in excess of the ceiling
F
Jo
area as envisaged by sec. 10 (2) or whose lands are converted
into any other class of land as a result of the expiry of the
Jill
period or date specified in sec. 2 (5) or whose land is converted into any other class for the reasons given in sec. 11
and the Collector then has to hold an enquiry and declare
his excess land under sec. 21. But these are the only cases G
contemplated where there would have to be a re-appraisal
of the ceiling area, otherwise the Act, as aforesaid, visualises
the ceiling area of every person with reference to the conditions prevailing on and the land held by him as on the
appointed day.
Such a construction appears to be borne
out by the provisions of secs. 3 and 4 as also of secs. 8 and
H
• .,
9 of the Act. This is also the view taken by the High
Court of Bombay on more than one occasion. (See
;
' ;
A
RAGHUNATH v. MAHARASHTRA (She/at, J.)
5~
State v. Dinkarrao Narayanrao Deshmukh (1), also Maruti
Rao S. Gube Patil v. State (2) and also Special C.A. No. 229
of 1968, dee. on July I I, I 969).
A view contrary to that
taken in the above mentioned cases was adopted in Civil
Application No. 1578 of 1969 decided on July 16, 1969
B by another Division Bench of that High Court. But that
does not appear to be a correct view as the learned Judges
there failed to appreciate that sec. 12 contemplates a
limited number of cases where a ceiling area has to be
refixed by reason· of the intervening events.
Except for
those cases, the scheme of the statute is that a ceiling area
c is to be ascertained with reference to the state of affairs
existing on the appointed day.
In this view, the Revenue
Tribunal was right in not taking into consideration the
three children born in the family after the appointed day
while determining the ceiling area to which the appellants'
D
family was entitled to.
As regards the land purchased in March I 960 in the
name of Madhav, the proviso to sec. 6 is clear.
For the
purpose of increasing the holding of a family in excess of
the ceiling area, if a member thereof holds any land separately he cannot be regarded as a member of that family for
E
such purpose. There would be in such a case two alternatives only.
Either that land is held to be the separate
property of Madhav, in which case he cannot be regarded
as a member of the family for the purpose of sec. 6. or
it is treated as a family property although it might have been
purchased for some reason or the other in Madhav's name.
F
In the latter event, though it would be added to the total
holding of the family, Madhav would be regarded as a
member of the family and the family being one having more
than five members, it would be entitled to an additional
I/6th of the ceiling area so far as Madhav is concerned.
The Tribunal rightly took this view and included the addiG
tional I/6th area, as there was no evidence that Madhav
or the family had treated the said land as a separate property of Madhav.
For the reasons hereinabove contained the appeal
fails.
It is, therefore, dismissed with costs.
H
K.B.N.
Appeal dismissed.
(I) (1969) 72 Bom. LR. 237.
(2) Spl. C.A. 767of1968, dee. on April 18, 1968, (Pot ii and Nain, JJ. (Unrep.)