# ' RAM GOPAL REDDY v. ADDITIONAL ClJ~'TODIAN EVACUEE PROPERTY, HYDERABAD

- **Citation:** [1966] 3 S.C.R. 214
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1966-01-06
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 885 of 1963
- **Bench:** P. B. Gajendragadkar, K. N. Wanchoo, M. Hidayatullah, V. Ramaswami, P. SATYANARAYANA Ruu
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/ram-gopal-reddy-v-additional-clj-todian-evacuee-property-hyderabad-3697
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

A
B
Administration of Evacuee Propmi
Act (31 of 1950) s. 46,
and
Transfer of Propeiy Act (4 of 18.~2) ,. ;.1 A- Lund purchused in l94f>--
Vendor declared evacuee in 1949 c~1d lt1nd ch·c/c.red evacuee propertyC
suit b1 purchaser for declara:ion oj owntisl11p n:h~.-her lies.
The appellant purchased certilin land from one A in 1946.
Allbough
the land was valued at more lhan R-,. 100 no reghtcred deed of sale was
cxecu~ed. In 1949, A was de";ared an evacuee and the appellant wa~ given
notice by the Deputy Custodian of Evacuee Property to sltow cause why
the land should not be declared evacuee property.
No appearance was
put ;n by the appellant in answer to the notice and the land was declared
D
evacuee property.
The appellant represented to the departmental authorities that he had become ,,.,vncr of the kind before the Evacuee Propcny
law came into force. ·rhe Cu::.1odian did not accept the plea and obscrv~
ed that if the appellant was aggrieved by the dc..-cision he could obtain
a declaration of his rights from a compztent court.
The appellant ther.:·
fore filed a suit which was con1ested by the de'!1artment on the ground
that s. 46 of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act was a bar. The
subordinate Judge held that the court had jurisdiction because of s. 53A
E
of Transfer of Properry Act.
In appeal by the Custodian the High Court
disagreed with the Subo,dinate Judge and reversed his decision.
The
appellant then came to this Court by special leave.
HELD : The ,.chcme of the Evacuee Property Act clearly IS that when
the property admittedly belongs to the evacuee any person claim:ng the
property or any interest or ri!_~ht t~rein has, on receip: of a notice under
s. 7(1), to appear before the authorities cnti1led to deal w:th the maltcr
•.
under the Act.
Any person aggrieved by an order of such an au1hority
made under s. 7 has the right to appeal under s. 24 arul if necessary to go
in revision under s. 27.
The Act thus provides a complete machinery for
a person interested in any properly to put forward his claims before the
competent authorities.
Having provided this machinery the Act by s. 46
bars the jurisdiction of c'vil ;ind revenue coun-; to entertain or adjud:cate
upon any question whether any property or any right or interest in any
property is or is not evacuee property.
Any transfe~ec from an evacuee
G
claiming the property or any right or interc~t therein has to avail of the
remedies under the Act and cannot go to a civil court. The fa<:t that in
the present C..!SC the Custodk1n in his order said that the. appellant could
go to a competent court couht not confer jurisdiction on 1he Court.
Nor could it be said on the facts found that the appellant had become
the owner of the proper:y before 1947, for, admittedly the property was
worth more than R~. 100 and \\'ithout a registered sale deed it \\·as not
II
poasible for the title to paSi.
It may be that ':! A tried to get
back the property s.
53-A of the
Transfer of Property Act would come to the aid of the appellant in de-
•
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1--,.
\
A
B
RAM GOPAL v. CUSTODIAN (Wanchoo, !.)
215
fence
But the present suit had been filed to establish tho right of the
appeliant as owner of the property and in such a suit the appellant could
not take the benefit of s. 53-A. [217 B-218 BJ

## Text

'
RAM GOPAL REDDY
v.
ADDITIONAL ClJ~'TODIAN EVACUEE PROPERTY,
HYDERABAD
January 6, 1966
[P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, C.J., K. N. WANCHOO,
M. HIDAYATULLAH, V. RAMASWAMI, AND
P. SATYANARAYANA Ruu, JJ.]
A
B
Administration of Evacuee Propmi
Act (31 of 1950) s. 46,
and
Transfer of Propeiy Act (4 of 18.~2) ,. ;.1 A- Lund purchused in l94f>--
Vendor declared evacuee in 1949 c~1d lt1nd ch·c/c.red evacuee propertyC
suit b1 purchaser for declara:ion oj owntisl11p n:h~.-her lies.
The appellant purchased certilin land from one A in 1946.
Allbough
the land was valued at more lhan R-,. 100 no reghtcred deed of sale was
cxecu~ed. In 1949, A was de";ared an evacuee and the appellant wa~ given
notice by the Deputy Custodian of Evacuee Property to sltow cause why
the land should not be declared evacuee property.
No appearance was
put ;n by the appellant in answer to the notice and the land was declared
D
evacuee property.
The appellant represented to the departmental authorities that he had become ,,.,vncr of the kind before the Evacuee Propcny
law came into force. ·rhe Cu::.1odian did not accept the plea and obscrv~
ed that if the appellant was aggrieved by the dc..-cision he could obtain
a declaration of his rights from a compztent court.
The appellant ther.:·
fore filed a suit which was con1ested by the de'!1artment on the ground
that s. 46 of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act was a bar. The
subordinate Judge held that the court had jurisdiction because of s. 53A
E
of Transfer of Properry Act.
In appeal by the Custodian the High Court
disagreed with the Subo,dinate Judge and reversed his decision.
The
appellant then came to this Court by special leave.
HELD : The ,.chcme of the Evacuee Property Act clearly IS that when
the property admittedly belongs to the evacuee any person claim:ng the
property or any interest or ri!_~ht t~rein has, on receip: of a notice under
s. 7(1), to appear before the authorities cnti1led to deal w:th the maltcr
•.
under the Act.
Any person aggrieved by an order of such an au1hority
made under s. 7 has the right to appeal under s. 24 arul if necessary to go
in revision under s. 27.
The Act thus provides a complete machinery for
a person interested in any properly to put forward his claims before the
competent authorities.
Having provided this machinery the Act by s. 46
bars the jurisdiction of c'vil ;ind revenue coun-; to entertain or adjud:cate
upon any question whether any property or any right or interest in any
property is or is not evacuee property.
Any transfe~ec from an evacuee
G
claiming the property or any right or interc~t therein has to avail of the
remedies under the Act and cannot go to a civil court. The fa<:t that in
the present C..!SC the Custodk1n in his order said that the. appellant could
go to a competent court couht not confer jurisdiction on 1he Court.
Nor could it be said on the facts found that the appellant had become
the owner of the proper:y before 1947, for, admittedly the property was
worth more than R~. 100 and \\'ithout a registered sale deed it \\·as not
II
poasible for the title to paSi.
It may be that ':! A tried to get
back the property s.
53-A of the
Transfer of Property Act would come to the aid of the appellant in de-
•
•
•
,.
I
)
.I
'
' •
1--,.
\
A
B
RAM GOPAL v. CUSTODIAN (Wanchoo, !.)
215
fence
But the present suit had been filed to establish tho right of the
appeliant as owner of the property and in such a suit the appellant could
not take the benefit of s. 53-A. [217 B-218 BJ
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 885 of
1963.
Appeal from the judgment and decree, dated April 8, 1960
of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Appeal No. 21/1of1956.
T. V. R. Tatacharl, for the appellant.
N. S. Bindra and R. N. Sachthey, for the respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
c
Wanchoo, J.
The only question raised in this appeal on a
D
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certificate granted by the Andhra Pradesh High Court is whether
the suit brought by the appellant is barred under s. 46 of the
Administration of Evacuee Property Act, No.
31
of
1950,
(hereinafter referred to as the Act).
The facts are not in dispute and may be briefly narrated.
On November 15, 1946, the appellant claimed to have purchased certain patta lands from one Abdul Aziz Khan and paid
him Rs. 6,127 /8/- in Osmania Sicca. The appellant got possession of the land and thereafter in June 1949 Abdul Aziz Khan
applied in the Tahsil office for the transfer of the patta in the
name of the appellant. Before, however, any transfer was made,
Abdul Aziz Khan seemed to have migrated to Pakistan.
Consequently, the Deputy Custodian took steps to declare Abdul Aziz
Khan an evacuee.
In that connection the appellant received
notice from the Deputy Custodian in December 1950 under s. 7
of the Act asking him to sl.iow cause why the land should not be
declared evacuee property. Though the appellant's
case
was
that he engaged a counsel to appear on his behalf before the
Deputy Custodian, no one seems to have appeared on his behalf,
and in consequence, the Deputy Custodian declared the property
to be evacuee property.
Thereafter the appellant was given a
notice requiring him to surrender possession. of the land to the
Tahsildar.
The appellant then made representation before the
Deputy Custodian that he had purchased the property from Abdul
Aziz Khan in 1946 and was the owner thereof from before the
Evacuee Property Law came into force.
The Deputy Custodian
called upon him to produce evidence and thereafter recommended
to the Custodian that the property might be declared not to be
H
evacuee property.
The Custodian did not accept this recommendation on· the ground that there was no registered sale deed
duly executed by Abdul Aziz Khan in favour of the appellant and
216
SUPREME COURT
REPORTS
(1966) 3 S.C.R.
no transfer of property could therefore be said to have taken
place in 1946, and ordered that the declaration of the property
as evacuee property should stand and further said that if the
appellant was aggrieved by this decision he could obtain a declaration of his rights from a competent court.
In consequence, the
appellant filed the suit out of which the present appeal has arisen
in the court of the Subordinate Judge, Nizamabad and prayed
that a declaration be made that he was the owner of the property
and in possession thereof and that the Custodian be ordered to
execute and register a sale deed thereof in his favour.
The suit
was resisted by the Custodian and the main contention raised on
his behalf was that the suit was barred under s. 46 of the Act.
The Subordinate Judge however held that the
appellant
was
entitled to the benefit of s. 53-A of the Transfer of Property Act
(No. 4 of 1882) and that the civil court had jurisdiction inasmuch
as the sale had taken place before 1947.
The Custodian then went in appeal to the High Court, and
the only question raised there was that the suit was barred under
s. 46 of the Act.
The High Court reversed the decision of the
Subordinate Judge and held that the appellant had been given
notice under s. 7 of the Act in December 1950 and did not appear
before the Deputy Custodian with the result that the property was
declared as evacuee property. The High Court further held that
after this declaration the appellant's remedy was to proceed by
way of appeal or revision under the Act and that a suit was
barred in view of s. 46 thereof.
The appellant's contention that
as he was a third party he was entitled to maintain the suit was
negatived by the High Court.
In consequence the High Court
dismissed the suit but directed the parties to bear their own costs.
The appellant then obtained a certificate from the High Court to
appeal to this Court, and that is how the matter has come up
before us.
We are of opinion that there is no force in this appeal.
It is
unnecessary to consider the cases cited at the bar on behalf of the
appellant for whatever may be the position of law where the title
of the evacuee himself is in dispute, as to which we express no
opinion, there can be no doubt that where the property admittedly
belonged to the evacuee and the person filing the suit claims to
be a transferee from the evacuee, the suit would certainly be
barred in view of s. 46 of the Act.
Section 46 inter a/ia lays
down that "save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no
civil or revenue court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or adjudicate upon any question whether any property or any right to or
A
B
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RAM C.vPAL v. CUSTODIAN (Wanchoo, l.)
217
A interest in any property is or is not evacuee property." It is
admitted that the appellant had received notice from the Deputy
Custodian under s. 7 ( 1) of thC' Act but had neglected to appear
before him and it was in those circumstances that the· Deputy
Custodian declared the property to be evacuee property.
That
B
c
D
order of the Deputy Custodian could be taken in appeal under
s. 24 by the appellant to the authorities provided under the Act,
and if necessary the appellant could also go in revision to the
Custodian General under s. 27.
The scheme of the Act clearly
is that where the property admittedly belongs to the evacuee any
person claiming the property or any interest or right therein
has on receipt of a notice under s. 7 ( 1) to appear before the
authorities entitled to deal with the matter under the Act.
Any
person aggrieved by an order of such an authority made under
s. 7 has the right to appeal under s. 24 and if necessary to go in
revision under s. 27. 'f]le Act thus provides a complete machinery
for a person interested in any property to put forward his claims
before the authorities competent to deal with the question and to
go in appeal and in revision if the person interested feels aggrieved .
Having provided this complete machinery for adjudication of all
claims with respect to evacuee property, the Act, by s. 46, bars
the jurisdiction of civil or revenue courts to entertain or adjudicate
upon any question whether any property or any right to or interest
E in any property is or is not evacuee property. Where therefore
the property or any right to or interest in any property undoubtedly
belonged to the evacuee and any transferee from the evacuee
claims the property or any right to or interest therein he has to
avail of the remedies provided under the Act. If he fails to do
F
so he cannot file a suit in the civil or revenue court to have the
question whether any property or any right to or any interest
therein is or is not evacuee property decided in view of the clear
provision of s. 46 (a) of the Act.
The fact that the Custodian
in his order said that the appellant could go and establish his
right in a competent court is of no assistance to the appellant, for
if the law bars the jurisdiction of civil and revenue courts the
G Custodian's observation that the party before him could go to a
competent court to establish his right will not confer jurisdiction
on a civil or revenue court.
Nor can it be said on the facts
found in the present case that the appellant had become tho owner
of the property before 194 7, for, admittedly the property was worth
H
more than Rs. 100 and it is not disputed that a registered sale
deed was necessary to pass title from Abdul Aziz Khan to the
appellant. No registered sale deed was executed in this case
and therefore the property did not pass from Abdul Aziz Khan to