Judgment

SHELAT, J.: This appeal, by special leave, is against 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 appellants.

2. The following pedigree explains the relationship between the appellants:

3. It is not in dispute that, untill at any rate 1956, appellant 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, 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 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 therefore held the said balance in equal shares as tenants-in-common. The position thus was that on August 4, 1959, 343.07 acres of land comprising of 180.20 acres of Ranjangaon and 162.27 acres of Sangwi villages remained in his name. It was said that out of these 343.07. acres of lands 75.27 acres had come to his share thus leaving 267.20 acres of land held by them all as tenants-in-common.

4. 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 intimated: that under this partition 75.27 acres of land of Ranjangaon 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.

5. 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 result of the alleged partition and the sales was that Raghunath held only 54.22 acres of lands at Ranjangaon and 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 individual or a family consisting of five members.

6. In support of their case of partition in 1956 and 1960 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 receipts showing sales of agricultural produce by the members of the family, extracts from village forms 7, 7A 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 lands and the authority given by them to Raghunah to sell the lands for himself and on their behalf and on such sales having been effected each of them having become entitled to 1/4th share in the sale proceeds.

7. The Deputy Collector, however, rejected the appellants case of partition, firstly in 1956