Judgment

D.P. Wadhwa, J.-This is the second round of litigation. Earlier, it was the Taluk Land Board and the State of Kerala which had come to this Court in appeal (CA No. 227/78 decided in batch of appeals in Chettian Veetil Ammad & Anr. v. Taluk Land Board & Ors.1) on the question of exclusion of ‘fuel area’ and ‘rested area’ from the plan­tation which is otherwise exempt from the limitation of “ceiling area” under the provisions of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (for short ‘the Act’). Present appellant had purchased the estate mainly of tea plantation from South India Tea Estate Company Ltd. which was the respondent in the earlier appeal in this Court. (CA 227/78)

2. The Act came into force on April 1, 1964. The Kerala Land Reforms (ceiling) Rules, 1970 (for short ‘the Rules’) have been framed under the Act, which prescribed the Form in which the return/statement is required to be filed by a person having land in excess of the “ceiling area” fixed under the Act or claiming exemption of any land as not falling within the “ceiling area” at all.

3. Predecessor-in-title of the appellant (South India Tea Estate Company Ltd.) filed return on March 28, 1970 before the Land