Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : This appeal by special leave against the judgment of the Bombay High Court raises a question of the interpretation of S. 34 (2-A) of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act. No. LXVII of 1948 (hereinafter called the Act). The brief facts necessary for present purposes are these : The appellant is the landlord and the respondent a protected tenant. The appellant gave notice of termination of tenancy to the respondent on December 31, 1951, under S. 34(1) of the Act. The notice was for one year as required by S. 34(1) and the tenancy was to terminate from after March 31, 1953. The landlord, therefore, made an application on April, 7, 1953, under S. 29(2) of the Act for obtaining possession of the land to the Mamlatdar. In the meantime, an amendment was made to the Act by the insertion of sub-s. (2-A) to S. 34 by the Amending Act No. XXXIII of 1952, which came into force on January 12, 1953. By this amendment certain further restrictions were placed on the right of the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a protected tenant. The relevant part of sub-s. (2-A) is in these terms :-

"If the landlord bona fide requires the land for any of the purposes specified in sub-section (1) then his right to terminate the tenancy shall be subject to the following conditions, namely -

1. The land held by the protected tenant on lease stands in the record of rights in the name of the landlord on the first day of January, 1952, as the superior holder.

2. If the land held by the landlord is in area equal to the agricultural holding or less, the landlord shall be entitled to terminate the tenancy of the protected tenant, in respect of the entire area of such land.

3. If the land held by the landlord is more than the agricultural holding in area, the right of the landlord to terminate the tenancy of the protected tenant shall be limited to an area which shall, after such termination, leave with the tenant half the area of the land leased.

4. The tenancy in respect of the land left with the protected tenant after termination under this section shall not at any time be liable to be terminated on the ground that the landlord bona fide requires the said land for any of the purposes specified in sub-section (1).

Explanation. - The "agricultural holding" shall mean sixteen acres of jirayat land or four acres of irrigated or paddy or rice land, or lands greater or less in area than the aforesaid areas in the same proportion :

* * * * * * *

The restriction contained in sub-s. (2-A) is in addition to the restrictions in sub-s. (2) which lays down that the landlord shall have no right to terminate the tenancy of a protected tenant, if the landlord at the date on which the notice is given or at the date on which the notice expires has been cultivating personally other land fifty acres or more in area, provided that if the land which is being cultivated personally is less than fifty acres, the right of the landlord to terminate the tenancy of the protected tenant and to take possession of the land leased to him shall be limited to such area as will be sufficient to make the area of the land which he has been cultivating to the extent of fifty acres.

2. When, therefore, the landlord applied for possession of the land under S. 29(2) of the Act, the tenant objected and claimed the benefit of the third clause of sub-s. (2-A), and the question that arose for determination was, whether the tenant was entitled to the protection contained in this clause. The Mamlatdar to whom the application under S. 29(2) was made allowed the application. The respondent thereupon appealed but his appeal was dismissed. He then went in revision to the Revenue Tribunal, which was rejected. The tenant then filed an application under Art. 227 of the Constitution before the High Court and contended that the provision of S. 34(2-A) should have been taken into consideration by the Revenue Courts in deciding the application of the landlord under S. 29(2) and that the revenue co