JUDGMENT

Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, J.:- Unsuccessful appellant in the Writ Appeal before the Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore is the appellant before us. This appeal is directed against the common judgment in W.A. Nos. 1936/2005 (LR) along with W.A. Nos. 1941/2005, 1946/2005 and 2202 of 2005(LR). The appellant is a religious Mutt called ‘Kannada Mutt’. Land of 197 acres was granted as Jagir to the Mutt in Survey Nos. 9, 10, 12 and 13 of Bettegeri village, Ammathy Hobli, Virajpet Taluk, Coorg District in the year 1809 by the then Ruler of Kodagu, Sri Veerarajendra Wodeyar. By a mortgage deed dated 1.3.1955, the predecessor of present Mathadhipathi stated to have mortgaged possession of 175.60 acres out of 197 acres of lands in favour of the predecessor-in-title of the present contesting respondents. By yet another mortgage deed dated 5.4.1967, a second mortgage deed in favour of the very same parties in respect of 17 acres of land was stated to have been made. The mortgages were made for a period of 99 years.

2. Be that as it may, on 18.5.1978, Karnataka Certain Inams Abolition Act, 1977 (hereinafter called as the “1977 Act”) came into force and the effective date was 01.03.1974. By virtue of Section 4(2)(b) of the 1977 Act all Inams that were existing on that date stood abolished with effect from 01.03.1974, namely, the effective date. After the coming into force of the 1977 Act, the Mutt filed an application on 25.6.1987 for grant of occupancy rights in respect of the entire lands. By order dated 11.02.1993, the appellant’s application was allowed by the Land Tribunal. The respondents, based on the rights flowing from the mortgage deeds, also claimed occupancy rights on the ground that they were the tenants of the land in question. Their application was rejected. There was a challenge at the instance of the respondents to the grant of occupancy rights in favour of the appellant, as well as, the rejection of their rights in W.P.No.6379/1993. The Writ petition was allowed by the learned Single Judge and the grant of occupancy rights in favour of the appellant was set aside. The appellant filed Writ Appeal No. 5689/1997 and the respondent also challenged the very same order by filing Writ Appeal No. 5816/1997.

3. The appeal filed by the appellant was allowed and the order of the Learned Single Judge was set aside and the order of the learned Tribunal granting occupancy rights in favour of the appellant was restored. The respondents’ Writ Appeal was dismissed. It is relevant to note that the said order of the Division Bench was not challenged further by the respondents and, thereby, grant of occupancy rights in favour of the appellant was confirmed. Subsequently, Form No.2 - Certificate was also issued in favour of the appellant on 15.4.2000 representing the Mutt.

4. By virtue of Section 3(2) of the 1977 Act, the words and expressions used, but not defined in the 1977 Act, shall have the meaning assigned to them under the Act or the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961. Under Section 11, the procedure for registration as an occupant has been set out, which states that every person entitled to be registered as an occupant under the 1977 Act, should make an application to the Tribunal constituted under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 on or before 31st day of March, 1991 and that the said application should be disposed of by the Tribunal as if it is an application made under that Act. Under Section 41(2) of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, the procedure has been prescribed as to how a landlord should obtain the possession of any land, dwelling house or site held by a tenant, except under the order of the Tehsildar by making application under the prescribed format. Under Section 126 of the 1961 Act, it is specified that for the removal of doubts, it was declared that provisions of the 1961 Act, insofar as they confer any rights or impose obligations on tenants and landlords, shall be applicable