Judgment :-

K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. We are, in this case, called upon to decide the question as to whether the transfer of land from a member of Scheduled Caste to a juristic person, other than Scheduled Caste, is void, in view of the provisions of Section 42(b) of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 (for short ‘the Act’).

3. The High Court of Rajasthan has answered the above question in several cases holding that such a transfer would not be hit by the above mentioned provision, since the expression ‘person’ would not take in a ‘juristic person’ and that juristic person does not have a caste and, therefore, any transfer made by a Scheduled Caste person would not be hit by Section 42(b) of the Act.

4. In the impugned judgment, reliance has been placed on an earlier judgment of the High Court of Rajasthan in State of Rajasthan v. Indian Oil Corporation 2004 (5) WLC (Raj.) 703, which held as follows: “6. It goes without saying that though the Indian Oil Corporation is a juristic person but it does not have a caste. Thus the sale in favour of Indian Oil Corporation by a member of Scheduled Caste is not covered by the provisions of section 42 of the Rajasthan Tenancy A