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Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : ALLADI KUPPUSWAMI, RAMA RAO
Nellore Bujjanna - Appellant
Versus
State OF A.P. - Respondent
Decided On : 03-04-82
ANDHRA PRADESH (ANDHRA AREA) INAMS (ABOLITION AND CONVERSION INTO RYOTWARI) ACT, 1956 - SECTION 2-A - VALIDITY - AGRARIAN REFORMS - ARTICLE 31-A OF THE CONSTITUTION - APPLICABILITY - INTERPRETATION.
Fact of the Case:
The Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1956, was enacted to abolish all minor inams including charitable and religious service inams. The Act provided for the conversion of inam lands into ryotwari lands and for the grant of pattas to the tenants, Inamdars, or Zamindars, as the case may be. In 1975, Section 2-A was introduced to the Act, which vested all communal lands, porambokes, grazing lands, waste lands, forest lands, mines and quarries, tanks beds and irrigation works, streams and river, fisheries and ferries in the inam lands in the Government. Several writ petitions were filed challenging the validity of Section 2-A, contending that it was ultra vires the Constitution, as no compensation was provided in respect of the lands mentioned in the said section which vested in the Government.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that Section 2-A of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1956, was valid and protected by Article 31-A of the Constitution. The Court found that the Act was a law relating to agrarian reforms and that the vesting of all communal lands, porambokes, grazing lands, waste lands, forest lands, mines and quarries, tanks beds and irrigation works, streams and river, fisheries and ferries in the inam lands in the Government was a necessary step in the implementation of the agrarian reforms contemplated by the Act.
Issues: 1. Whether Section 2-A of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1956, is ultra vires the Constitution? 2. Whether the Act is a law relating to agrarian reforms? 3. Whether the vesting of all communal lands, porambokes, grazing lands, waste lands, forest lands, mines and quarries, tanks beds and irrigation works, streams and river, fisheries and ferries in the inam lands in the Government is a necessary step in the implementation of the agrarian reforms contemplated by the Act?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court held that Section 2-A of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1956, was not ultra vires the Constitution, as it was a law relating to agrarian reforms and the vesting of all communal lands, porambokes, grazing lands, waste lands, forest lands, mines and quarries, tanks beds and irrigation works, streams and river, fisheries and ferries in the inam lands in the Government was a necessary step in the implementation of the agrarian reforms contemplated by the Act. 2. The Court observed that the main object of introducing the Estates Abolition Act and the Inams Abolition Act of 1956 was to abolish all intermediary tenures and to assimilate all lands in the State to the ryotwari tenure. The Court found that the scheme of the original Act was to convert inam lands into ryotwari lands and to grant pattas either in whole or in part to the Zamindar, Inamdar or to the tenant, as the case may be. The Court also noted that it was provided that in the case where Inamdar is entitled to patta for only one-third of the land, the one-third share of the inam land must be deemed to be the compensation payable to the Inamdars in lieu of the extinguishment of his right in the two -thirds of the land. The Court held that in order to implement the agrarian reforms contemplated under the main Act, it was also necessary to vest all communal lands, porambokes , forest lands, grazing lands, etc. , in the inams also in the State. The Court found that this would also partake the character of agrarian reform.
Final Decision: The writ petitions challenging the validity of Section 2-A of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Inams (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1956, were dismissed.
( 1 ) THE se writ petitions are posted before this Bench on receipt of the opinion of a Full bench consisting of five Judges reported in N. Bujjanna V. Thansildar, Rapur, 1980 I Andh WR 235: AIR 1980 Andh pra 118.
( 2 ) THE relevant facts are stated in the Judgment dated 7-7-1978 of the Full Bench, referring it to a Fuller Bench and they are also in the judgment of the Fuller Bench and it is unnecessary to repeat them in detail. However, a few facts may briefly be stated.
( 3 ) THE Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area ) Inams ( Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act (Act No. XXXVII of 1956) for short, the Act) was amended by the introduction of S. 2- A in the following terms:-"notwithstanding anything contained in this Act all Communal lands and porambokes, grazing lands, waste lands, forest lands, mines and ferries in the inam lands shall stand transferred to the Government and vest in them free of all encumbrances"
( 4 ) NOTICES were issued to several inamdars by the concerned officers of the Government that various categories of lands held by the inamdars which were enumerated in Section 2-A of the Act, vested in the Government and they were therefore asked to surrender possession of those lands. The petitioners who are some of the inamdars filed the write petitions questioning the validity of the notices directing them to surrender possession.
( 5 ) APART from other contentions peculiar to each of the cases, the common contention raised in these writ petitions was that Section 2 - A which vests in the State, all the categories of lands referred to there in without providing for any compensation , is ultra vires the Constitution. It was also contended that S. 2-A of the Act applies only to communal lands, porambokes etc. in inam lands, but, there were no such inam lands in existence as on the date of coming into force of the inams Abolition Act and all the lands became converted into ryotwari tenure and vested in the inamdars except to the extent provided in S. 4 of the Act, by which in regard to inam lands in Inam villages,. the tenants were entitled to ryotwari pattas in respect of a portion of the land. Hence Sec. 2-A has no application at all to the lands held by the inamdars for which they were entitled to get a ryotwari patta under the provisions of the Act.
( 6 ) IT was contended on behalf of the State that S. 2- A of the Act, was a step in the implementation of the agrarian reforms and hence it was protected by Art , 31 - A of the Constitution. In regard to the second contention, it was argued on behalf of the State that until and unless a ryotwari patta was granted under the provisions of the Act all the lands continue to inam lands and hence S. 2-A would apply to all the lands held by the petitioners. For this proposition, reliance was placed on the decision of a Full Bench of this Court in Y. Veeramma v. R. Surdudamma, AIR 1972 Andh Pra 161, where it was held that the Abolition Act does not affect the effacement of the Inam tenure from the date of the passing of the Act and the conversion from inam tenure to ryotwari tenure takes place only from the date of the grant of the ryotwari patta. When these writ petitions came up before a Bench consisting of Kodaiah, J. (as he then was ) and Raghuvir, J. , they felt that this decision requires reconsideration by a Full Bench> Accordingly, the writ petitions were heard by Full Bench consisting of Kuppuswami, J. (as he then was), Lakshmaiah and P. A. Chowdary, JJ. The full Bench was of the view that the writ petitions should be posted before a larger Full Bench consisting of five judges in order to decide whether the decision in Y. Veeramma V. R. Surdudamma (supra) is correct or not in so far as it decided that the Act does not affect the Effacement of the Inam tenure from the date of passing of the Act, and conversion into ryotwari tenure takes place from the date of grant of ryotwari patta. But, as the petitioners have raised several other questions peculiar t
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