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Karnataka High Court
H.ESWARAPPA - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF KARNATAKA - Respondent
Decided On : 06-28-79
W.P. : 2292 of 1977
Land Tribunal - Land Reforms Act - 1955, 1961 - The judgment discusses the applicability of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, and the Mysore (now Karnataka) (Religious and Charitable) Inams Abolition Act, 1955, in determining the rights of the parties in possession of the lands and the jurisdiction of the Tribunal in considering the claims of the petitioners.
Fact of the Case:
The writ petitioners filed applications claiming occupancy rights in lands, contested by opponents stating that the lands were Patel Umbli lands and not yet regranted under the Act of 1961. The Tribunal upheld the opponents' contentions and disposed of the applications.
Finding of the Court:
The impugned orders of the Tribunal were passed without examining all aspects of the questions involved, making them unsustainable. The matters are required to be reheard by the Tribunal.
Issues: The main issue was the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to consider the claims of the petitioners under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, and the Mysore (now Karnataka) (Religious and Charitable) Inams Abolition Act, 1955.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the Tribunal should have examined all aspects of the questions involved and determined the jurisdictional issue of whether the lands were religious inam or service inam, as it would impact the applicability of the Acts. The Tribunal's failure to do so rendered the impugned orders unsustainable.
Final Decision: The petitions were allowed, the rules issued were made absolute, and the orders impugned in each of these cases were quashed. The matters were remitted to the Tribunal for fresh enquiries according to law and in the light of the observations made above. No costs.
( 2 ) THE lands involved in these cases are situated in a village called Kommanal, shimoga Taluk. The writ petitioners filed applications before the Tribunal separately in form No. 7 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, (the Act) claiming occupancy rights in respect of the lands mentioned in their applications. Gangamma, Nanjundappa, and Parameshwarappa who had been arrayed as opponents before the Tribunal Contested the claims of these petitioners stating that the lands in question were Patel Umbli lands; they were the real hakdars ; that the lands have not been regranted to them under the Karnataka Village offices Abolition Act, 1961, (the Act of 1961); and that therefore, the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to consider the claims of the applicants. They wanted the (petitioners) applications to be dismissed. The tribunal, by its impugned orders, upheld the contentions of the opponents and disposed off the applications filed in form No. 7 stating that, since the lands involved being Patel Umbli lands and having not yet been regranted in favour of the holders of the village office or authorised holders as provided under the Act of 1961, it had no jurisdiction to consider the claims
( 3 ) IT was argued on behalf of the petitioners that the lands in dispute were devadaya inam lands and not service inam lands. It was their case that the tribunal had jurisdiction to consider their claims.
( 4 ) ON the other hand, according to the Counsel for the contesting respondents, the lands were service inam lands governed by the provisions of the Act of 1961, that the same have not been regranted to them as yet, and the question as to whether any tenancies in respect of those lands had been created or not can only be considered after final orders are passed under the provisions of the Act of 1961.
( 5 ) I have perused the impugned orders and also the relevant papers placed before me.
( 6 ) A copy of the register of inams pertaining to this village (Ex. A) is placed in the records. It is corrected upto December. 1929. The entire village is described as a Devadaya inam endowed toj Sree Lakshminarayanaswami Temple, shimoga. The copies of the composite forms of records of rights and pahanies pertaining to the lands and relating to the years 1969-70 to 1975-76 (Exhibits J to q) show the lands being Patel inam. There is nothing irreconcilable in these entries. It is possible that the entire village is an alienated holding endowed to the aforesaid temple. If some of the lands in that village had been granted to a family or person in lieu of the services rendered or to be rendered as Village patels, it would be an alienated holding in an alienated village and thereby would be a minor inam.
( 7 ) HOWEVER, an investigation into all these aspects would be beyond the scope of this writ proceeding.
( 8 ) WE may broadly indicate the line of action that may have to be pursued in cases like these. Now assuming that Kommanal village is an aliented religious inam village and that the lands in question constitute a minor inam, how should the claim of these petitioners for conferment of occupancy rights under the provisions of the Act be proceeded with by the Tribunal ?
( 9 ) THE Mysore (now Karnataka) (Religious and Charitable) Inams Abolition act, 1955 (the Act of 1955) came into force on 1-1-1970. The Act of 1961 came into force on 1-2-1963. Though the Karnataka Land Reforms Act came into force with effect from 2-10-1965. the relevant date for purposes of investigating into the claims of the petitioners would be 1-3-1974, the date on which that Act came to be
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