# STATE OF KERALA AND ORS v. " PHILOMINA, ETC ETC. & ORS

- **Citation:** [1977] 1 S.C.R. 273
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1974-06-11
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/state-of-kerala-and-ors-v-philomina-etc-etc-ors-6915
- **Pages:** 7

## Headnote

273
STATE OF KERALA AND ORS.
v.
"
PHILOMINA, ETC .. ETC. & ORS.
-~.
Au1<ust 20, 1976
TA. N. RAY, C.J., M. H. BEG AND P. N. SHINGHAL, JJ.J
Kera/a Land Reforms Act, 1963- S. 84-Scope of-Interpretation-When a .
stature could be read retrospeotiv.ely.
Section 84 of Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 declares that all voluntary
transfers of land effected after the publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bili
en September 15, 1963, shall be null and void.
Clause (ii) of this section
which provided ·an exemption in respect of transfers made on account
of
"natural love and affection" was omitted in 1972 with retrospective effect from
August 16, 1968. Section 81(1)(1) exempts kayal padasakharams of J(uttanad
area from the restrictions on ownership prescribed by Chapter Ill of the Act.
By an amendment of 1969, this exemption was witlidrawn; but the amending
section was not brought into force until January l, 1970.
There were two sets of petitions before the High Court. Jn one set the
High Court held that ( 1) voluntary transfers of kayal lands effected between
September 15, 1963 and January 1, 1970, were lawful and valid, and in the
other (2) that certain transfers by way of gift were invalid.
Jn the first set of appeals to this Court tire State contended that the 196!1
amendment should bel given retrospective effect from April 1, 1964 i.e., the
date on which s. 84 was brought into force and in the second set the done~
·contended that the transfers were saved because they were effected on account
-<if natural love.· and affection.
Dismissin0 all the appeals,
HELD : (1 )(a) Even though by virtue of s. 84 all voiuhtaty
transfers
·effected after September 15, 1963 were invalid, transfers made in respect of
kayal lands could not be held to be invalid because they were· exempt from the
provisions of Chapter III. Though that exemption was withdrawn in 1969',
that amendment was not brought into force until January 1, 1970.
VoJuhtary transfers made between September 15, 1963 and January l, 19'70
were
therefore valid. [278 B-C]
(b) The 1969 amendment was neither curative nor declaratory of the pre-
·vious Jaw. It merely omitted cl. (1) from s. 81.
A statute is not to be
read retrospectively except of necessity. There is ho such necessitv in the
·instant cases, for the legislature decided to exempt kayal ]ands from the operation of the restrictions, and the 1969-amendment withdrawing the exemption
was not brought into force until January J, 1970. [278 E-F]
Pritam Singh Chahil v. State of Punjab and others. [1967]
2 S.C.R.
536
and Channan Singh and another v. Jai Kaur [1970] 1 S.C.R. 803 held inapplicable.
(2) In the other set of cases the impugned transfers were in favour of the
doo0r's grand children by his daughter. who was alive and were effected between January 1, 1970 and November 2, 19'72. It was held that it was futile
to contend that s. 84 would not be attracted to the transfers on the ground
that they were effected on account of natural love and affectioh within the
·meaning of the .exemption provided by s. 84, because the exemption was taken
away by Act 17 of 19,72 which specifically· stated that, that clause "9hal! be,
and shall be deemed to have been omitted with effect from the 16th August,
1968" and they could not be said to falJ within the exempted cateQ;ory b~cause
of the amehdment made in s. 84 in 19721 restricting the exemption to gifts made
1n favour of a donor's· son or daughter or the son of a daughter of his pre-
·d~ceased son or daughter. [279 A-CJ
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274
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1977] 1 S.C.R.
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## Text

273
STATE OF KERALA AND ORS.
v.
"
PHILOMINA, ETC .. ETC. & ORS.
-~.
Au1<ust 20, 1976
TA. N. RAY, C.J., M. H. BEG AND P. N. SHINGHAL, JJ.J
Kera/a Land Reforms Act, 1963- S. 84-Scope of-Interpretation-When a .
stature could be read retrospeotiv.ely.
Section 84 of Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 declares that all voluntary
transfers of land effected after the publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bili
en September 15, 1963, shall be null and void.
Clause (ii) of this section
which provided ·an exemption in respect of transfers made on account
of
"natural love and affection" was omitted in 1972 with retrospective effect from
August 16, 1968. Section 81(1)(1) exempts kayal padasakharams of J(uttanad
area from the restrictions on ownership prescribed by Chapter Ill of the Act.
By an amendment of 1969, this exemption was witlidrawn; but the amending
section was not brought into force until January l, 1970.
There were two sets of petitions before the High Court. Jn one set the
High Court held that ( 1) voluntary transfers of kayal lands effected between
September 15, 1963 and January 1, 1970, were lawful and valid, and in the
other (2) that certain transfers by way of gift were invalid.
Jn the first set of appeals to this Court tire State contended that the 196!1
amendment should bel given retrospective effect from April 1, 1964 i.e., the
date on which s. 84 was brought into force and in the second set the done~
·contended that the transfers were saved because they were effected on account
-<if natural love.· and affection.
Dismissin0 all the appeals,
HELD : (1 )(a) Even though by virtue of s. 84 all voiuhtaty
transfers
·effected after September 15, 1963 were invalid, transfers made in respect of
kayal lands could not be held to be invalid because they were· exempt from the
provisions of Chapter III. Though that exemption was withdrawn in 1969',
that amendment was not brought into force until January 1, 1970.
VoJuhtary transfers made between September 15, 1963 and January l, 19'70
were
therefore valid. [278 B-C]
(b) The 1969 amendment was neither curative nor declaratory of the pre-
·vious Jaw. It merely omitted cl. (1) from s. 81.
A statute is not to be
read retrospectively except of necessity. There is ho such necessitv in the
·instant cases, for the legislature decided to exempt kayal ]ands from the operation of the restrictions, and the 1969-amendment withdrawing the exemption
was not brought into force until January J, 1970. [278 E-F]
Pritam Singh Chahil v. State of Punjab and others. [1967]
2 S.C.R.
536
and Channan Singh and another v. Jai Kaur [1970] 1 S.C.R. 803 held inapplicable.
(2) In the other set of cases the impugned transfers were in favour of the
doo0r's grand children by his daughter. who was alive and were effected between January 1, 1970 and November 2, 19'72. It was held that it was futile
to contend that s. 84 would not be attracted to the transfers on the ground
that they were effected on account of natural love and affectioh within the
·meaning of the .exemption provided by s. 84, because the exemption was taken
away by Act 17 of 19,72 which specifically· stated that, that clause "9hal! be,
and shall be deemed to have been omitted with effect from the 16th August,
1968" and they could not be said to falJ within the exempted cateQ;ory b~cause
of the amehdment made in s. 84 in 19721 restricting the exemption to gifts made
1n favour of a donor's· son or daughter or the son of a daughter of his pre-
·d~ceased son or daughter. [279 A-CJ
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274
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1977] 1 S.C.R.
A
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeals Nos. 907-909/74_
B
Appeals by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated
27-3 .. 73 of the Kerala High Court in O.P. Nos. 375-377 /73 respectively.
CIVIL APPEAL No. 1354/75
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated
9-7-75 of the Kerala High Court in C.R.P. No. 949/74.
CIVIL APPEAL No. 1355/75
Appeal by Sepecial Leave from the Judgment and Order
dated·
19-6-75 of the Kerala High Court in C.R.P. No. 611/74.
M. M. Abdul, Advocate General for the State of Kerala, and K. M.
C
K. Nair for the Appellants in CAs. 907-909 /74 for rr. in CAs. 1854D
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1855/75.
.'hliJ!:l i
T. S. Krishnamoorthy Iyer and P. K. Pillai; for the Appellants in
CAs. 1354-1355/75.
.
Miss Lily Thomas for the Respondents in CAs. 908-909/74.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
SHINGHAL, J.-:-Civil Appeals Nos. 907, 908 and 909 of 1974 are
by the State of Kerala and the Land Board, Trivandrum. They arc
directed against a common judgment of the Kcrala High Court dated
July 27, J 973. Civil Appeals Nos. 1354 and 1355 of 1975 are by
petitioners who had applied for revision of the orders of the Taluk
Land Board, Alathur, dated June 11, 1974 and April 27, 1974. The
High Court dismissed the revision petitions by two separate judgments
dated July 9, 1975 and June 18, 1975. All the appeals are by
special leave.
We have heard them together at the instance of the
learned- counsel for the parties, and will examine them in a common
judgment.
The controversy in all the cases relates to the application of certain
provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms. Act, 1963, hereinafter referred
to as the Act, to the impugned voluntary transfers of Kaya! lands.
The State of Kerala feels aggrieved because the High Court has taken
the view that the transfers made between September 15, 1963
and
January 1, 1970 had to be "recognised and Kaya! lands comprised
1J1erein excluded in reckoning the ceiling area and the excess lands
to be surrendered after January 1,, 1970."
The grievance of theother
two appellants is that their revision petitions
were dismissed even
though the gift deeds in their favour were valid and
did not fall
within the mischief, of section 84(1) of the Act.
We shall examine
these points of controversy but, before doing so, it may be mentioned
that the validity of certain provisions of the Act was also challenged
in the Hid1 Court, in the three petitions which were disposed of by
the common judgment dated July 27, 1973, but the High Court
upheld them.
There is no such controversy before .us a~ the
~ct,
and the Acts which have amended it, have been specified m the Nmth
Schedule tc the Constitution.
It may also be mentioned that we have
not had the advantage of hearing any one on behalf of the respondents
STATE OF KERALA v. PHILOMINA (Shinghal, J.)
275
in Civil Appeals Nos. 907 to 909 of 1974 as Miss Lily Thomas,, who
represented the respondents in Civil Appeals Nos. 908 and 909,
informed the Court, at the commencement of the arguments, that they
were not interested in the controversy.
While examining the petitions which are the subject
matter
of
appeals Nos. 907 to 909 of, 1974, the ,High Court thought it sufficient
to refer only to the facts of original petition No. 283 of 1973. That
case is not before us, but that would not matter as the appeals can
be disposed of without reference to the details of that case. It will
be sufiicient to say that the petitioner in that case Was M.T.J. Joseph,
and the controversy centred round a settlement deed (Ex. P 8 made
by him in favour of his children on June 15, 1957.
The appellants
in the three appeals (Nos. 907-909) are M.T.J.
Joseph's children.
As has been stated, the High Court examined the constitutional
validity of the provisions of the Act and
upheld them.
It next
examined the question whether lands in excess of the ceiling area were
in the fawful or permissive occupation of the petitioners (in the petition
before the High Court),, with reference to the argument that in view
of the terms of Ex. RI, by which some of the excess lands were
assigned to the holder, the occupation commenced with an implied
permission on payment of the state dues.
The High Court did not
however think it proper to express its final views on that aspect of
the matter as it found that certain proceedings were pending before the
authorities concerned. It therefore left the matter after giving the
direction that the Land Board will not pursue the proceedings in
respect of those lands until the matter was finally decided
in the
pending proceedings.
So also, the I:Iigh
Court left the question
regarding the ownership of the lands which had been conveyedi by the
settlement deed of 1957, for investigation and decision by the Land
Board.
The High Court however proceeded to examine the
validity of
certain transfers of lands between September 15, 1963 and January
1, 1970; \Yith reference to the relevant provisions of the Act and held
as follows :-
"Broadly stated,. the effect of section 84, is to invalidate
transfers effected by a person owning or holding land in
excess of the ceiling area, after the date of publication of
the Land Reforms Bill (15-9-1963).
That being the object
of the section, .in order to determine whether the transfer
was in excess of the· ceiling area, what is makrial is the law
relating to ceiling area on the date of the transfer, and not
the law regarding ceiling area on the date of the acquisition
or any date subsequent to the transfer."
It therefore held that there was no justification for treating the alienations effected after September 15, 1963 and before January 1, 1970 as
having been invalidated by reason of the subsequent amendments in
the law, when they were lawful and valid under the "law relating to
ceiling area at the time when they were mflde."
The High Court also
examined the questions relating to the grant of compensation
and
improvements, bu! they do not arise for consideration before us.
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276
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1977] 1 S.C.R.
The only question which has been pressed for :our consideration by
the Advocate General, on behalf of the appellants is that relating to
the validity of the transfers of Kayal lands between September 15, 1963
and January 1, 1970.. The writ petitioners in the High Court urged
that they were exempt under section 81 (1) (1) of the Act and could
not be held to be invalid with effect from January 1, 1970 because of
the subsequent amendment to the Act, and included in their ceiling
area.
The term "ceiling area" has been defined in section 2 ( 3) of the
Act to mean "the extent of land specified in section 82 as the ceiling
· area", and there is no controversy about its extent or content. Section
83 of the Act prohibits the holding of lands in excess of the ceiling
area with effect from January 1, 1970. which .had been notified by the
government in the gazette as the date from which the prohibition was
to be effective.
Section 84 declares certain voluntary transfers to be
null and void.
The section as it stood before the amendments read as
follows.-
Section 84. Certain voluntary transfers to be null and
void.-"Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for
the time being in force, all voluntary transfers effected ,after
the date of publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill,
1963, in the Gazette, otherwise than-
(i) by way of partition; or
(ii) on account of natural Jove and affection; or
(iii) in favour of a person who was a tenant of the holding
before the 27th foly, 1960, and continued to be so till
the date of transfer; or
(iv) i11 favour of a religious, charitable or educational
institution of a public nature solely for the purposes of
the institution,
by a family or any member thereof or by an adult unmarried
person owning or holding land in excess of the ceiling area,
shall be deemed to be transfers calculated to defeat the provisions of this Act and shall be invalid : "
There is a proviso to the section with which we are not concerned.
The validity of the transfers had therefore to be examined with reference to September 15, 1963 which was the date of publication of the
Kerala Land Reforms Bill, 1963, in the gazette.
The section was
amended by Act 35 of 1969 by which the existing section was renumbered as sub-section ( 1) and a sub-section was added as subsection (2) which dealt with voluntary transfers effected by any person "other than" a family or any member thereof or by an adult unmarried person owning or holding land in excess of the ceiling area.
The amendment could not therefore be said to have any bearing on
the present controversy.
The section was h?wever. again amend~.d by
section 15 of Act 17 of 1972. It, in~er alia, omitted clause (11) of
)
i
'"\TATE OF KERALA v. PHILOMINA (Shinghal, !.)
277
sub-section ( 1) and provided that the omission shall be deemed to
have been made with effect from the 16th day of August, 1968.
This
had the effect of taking away the exception in favour of voluntary
transfers on account of natural love and affection.
But it is
not the
case of any one before us that there was any such transfer in respect
of Civil Appea:ls Nos. 907 to 909, so that amendment also could
not be said to have any material bearing on the controversy relating
to these appeals.
The fact there~ore remains that by virtue of section 84 of the Act,
all voluntary transfers of land effected after September 15, 1963 (date
of publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill, 1963 in the gazette)
were invalid as they were to be deemed to be transfers calculated to
defeat the provisions of the Act. So evert if a transfer was found to
have been made after September 15, 1963 but before January, 1, 1970
(date notified under section 83 prohibiting the \owning or holding or
to possessing under a mortgage lands in the aggregate in excess of the
ceiling area) the ceiling area for purposes of section 83 and bringing
about the surrender of the excess land under section 85 had to be
determined with reference to the position as on January 1, 1970 as
that was the date notified under section 83.
The reason is that the
prohibition of section 83 applied with reference·. to that <Iate and that,
in turn, required a surrender of the excess land as on that date.
Section 85 is therefore an important section. It was amended by
Act 35 of 1969, Act 25 of 1971 and Act 17 of 1972, but there was
no change in its basic provision that when a person owned or held land
in excess of the ceiling area "on the date notified under section 83",
namely, January 1, 1970, he had to surrender it in accordance with
the other prov·isions of the section.
Th.e crucial date for determining
and surrendering the surplus land was therefore 1,January 1, 1970,
and not any earlier date, but the validity of any voluntary transfer
effected after September 15, 1963 which was the date of publication
of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill, 1963, had still to be examined with
reference to September 15, 1963 in view of the clear requirement of
section 84.
This was the scheme of the Act.
We have made a reference to section 84 which clearly provides that
all voluntary transfers of land effected after September 15, 19'63 shall
be deemed to be transfers calculated to defeat the provisions of the
Act and "shall be void". It has not been urged that the impugned
transfers fell under any of the exceptions provided by section 84.
There can be no doubt that any transfer made after September 15,
1963 and before January 1, 1970 would be invalid unless it could be
shown to have been saved by any other provision of the Act.
In this
connection section 81 of the Act is important for it prescribes the
exemptions to the provisions of Chapter III.
Clause ( 1) of subsection (I) of sectitm 81 specifically provides that the provisions of
the Chapter shall not apply to,-,-
" (I) kayal padasakharams '.of:K'utfanad area specified
in Schedule· IV, so' !Ong as Stich· padasakharamas are used ·
for the cultivation of paddy or such other li'lrops as. , the ...
Government may, by notification in the Gazet~, ·specify~''. - ·.
1
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27 8
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1977] 1 S.C.R.
It is not in controversy that the Kayal lands which are the subject
matter of these appeals are of the category mentioned in clause (1) of
sub-section (1) of section 81.
They were therefore exempt
from
the restriction on ownership prescribed by the various sections
of
Chapter III referred to above.
So even though by virtue of section
84 of the Act all voluntary transfers effected after September 15, 1963
(date of publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill, 1963 in the
Gazette) were invalid, the transfers made in respect of Kayal padasakharams in appeals Nos. 907-909 could not be held to be invalid
for the simple reason that they were exempt from the provisions of
Chapter III.
That exemption was no doubt withdrawn by section 65
of Act 35 of 1969 which amended the Act, but it is not disputed
before us that the section was not brought into force until January 1,
1970.
The voluntary transfers made between September 15, 1963
and January l, 1970 were therefore valid, and there is no force in
the argument of the Advocate General that the amendment brought
about by section 65 of Act 35 of 1969 should be given retrospective
effect from April 1, 1964 as sections 82 and 84 of the Act were
9rought into force from that date.
There is also no force in
the
other argument of the Advocate General that section 84
had
the
effect of invalidating the transfers effected after September 15, 1963
for that was the date of publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill
in the 'gazette.
The argument overlooks the fact that, as has been
mentioned, Kaya! lands were exempt from the provisions of Chapter
III until as late as January l, 1970. In this view of the matter
Pritam Singh Chahil v. State of Punjab and others(!) cannot avail the
appellants.
The amendment cannot also be said to be curative or
merely declaratory of the previous law.
The facts of Chanan Singh
and another v. Jai Kaur,( 2 ) cited by the Advocate General, were
quite different inasmuch as in the appeals before us the amendment
which was made by section 65 of Act 35
of 1969 was
neither
curative nor merely declaratory.
As has been stated, it,
inter alia,
omitted, clause (1) of section 81 of the Act which exempted the
Kayal padasakharams which are the subject matter of the
present
controversy from the application of the provisions of Chapter III of
the Act.
It is well settled that a 'statute is not to be read retrospectively except of necessity.
There is no such necessity in the cases
before us, for the Legislature decided to exempt the 'aforesaid Kayal
lands from the operation of the restrictions and even though amending Act 35 of 1969 was
promulgated · on December 17, 1969,
section 65 thereof, which withdrew the exemption, was not brought
into force until January 1. 1970.
Thus there is no force in Appeals Nos. 907, 908 and 909 and
they are dismissed.
This leaves Civil Appeals Nos. 1354 and 1355 for consideration.
The transfers of lands in these cases were admittedly made during
the period January 1, 1970 to November 2, 1972.
As such
they
were not exempt from the restrictions of the provisions of Chapter
(1) [1967} 2 S.C.R. 536.
(2) [1970} 1 S.C.R. 803.
STATE OF KERALA v. PHILOMINA (Shinghal, !.)
2 79
III of the Act.
Section 84 of the Act 'would ;be attracted to these
A
transfers, and it is futile to contend that this would not be so because
the transfers were affected "on account of natural love and affection"
within the meaning of clause (ii) of the exceptions
provided by
section 84 because the exemption to that effect was taken away by
Act 17 of 1972.
Section 15 of tliat Act specifically stated that
clause "shall be, and shall. be deemed tq have been omitted with
effect from the 16th day· of August, 1968.'" Moreover, as the High
Court has pointed out, the impugned transfers were in favour of the
donor's grand cliildren by his daughter who was alive,
and
could
B
not be said to fall within the exempted category because of the other
amendment made in section 84 of the Act.by section 15 ·of Act 17
of 1972 with effect from the 16th day of· August,
1968
which
restricted the· exemption to gifts made in favour of the donor's son
or daughter or the son of daughter of his predeceased son or daughter.
There is thus no force· in !hese two· appeals also; and ·they are
dismissed.
· ·
· ·
In yiew of tl;ie facts and circ,umstances. of the cases,
we .leave
the partie,s to. pay and bear their own costs·. · . · ..
P.B.R.
. Appe.al dismissed,
2-1104 S.C.I./76
c