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2019 Supreme(Bom) 2608
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY (AURANGABAD BENCH)
V.K. Jadhav, J.
Udhav Ramchandra Purandare - Appellant
Vs.
Vithal Govind Randhave and Ors. - Respondent
Writ Petition No. 466 of 1992
Decided On: 17-12-2019
For the Appellant :V.J. Dixit, Senior Advocate i/by S.V. Dixit
For the Respondent: Ajinkya Deshmukh h/f A.V. Hon
Headnote:
Bombay Tenancy Act, 1948 - Section 32G - Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 - Possession of suit land – Tenants - Death - Petitioners are challenging judgment and order - Dispute relates to land bearing survey which is converted into gat ad-measuring Acres situated at village District - Suit land is a land - Original landlord of suit land was one after his demise name of son of deceased landlord was entered as owner of suit land - Petitioners 1-A to 1-E are legal heirs of said was karta of joint family was cultivating suit land - He died on leaving behind his sons who were residing together and were members of joint Hindu family- After death of suit land was entered in name of said joint family and was shown as karta of joint family died in year and respondent are his sons and legal representatives – Held, In Court view this contention is based on a complete misconception of provisions of Tenancy Act - Foundation of argument on behalf of petitioner is section 88(1)(a) of Tenancy Act which makes inapplicable provisions of Tenancy Act to certain kind of lands section 88(1)(a) provides that save as otherwise provided in sub-section (2) nothing in foregoing provisions of Tenancy Act shall apply to lands belonging to or held on lease from Government- Court are not concerned with sub-section (2) of section 88(1)(a)- Relying on these provisions an argument is advanced that though land is granted as to petitioner land belonged to Government and therefore provisions of Tenancy Act could not apply till date on which Abolition Act came into force because prior to that land belonged to Government According to petitioner even thereafter till when order of regnant was made land continued to belong to Government - Writ Petition is hereby dismissed
ORDER :
V.K. Jadhav, J.
1. By way of this Writ Petition, the petitioners are challenging the judgment and order darted 26.09.1991 passed the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal, Bombay (M.R.T.) in revision application bearing No. MRT.AH.I/3/90(Tnc.B.9/90) Pune, by which the M.R.T. dismissed the said revision application filed by the petitioners and confirmed the judgment and order passed by the authorities below.
2. Brief facts giving rise to the present Writ Petition are as follows:
a. The dispute relates to the land bearing survey No. 79 which is converted into gat No. 238/1 ad-measuring 19 Acres 31 Guntha situated at village Godhegaon, Taluka Kopargaon, District Ahmednagar (hereinafter referred to as "the suit land"). The suit land is a Deshpande Watan Inam land. The original landlord of the suit land was one Ramchandra Kacheshwar Deshpande and after his demise, the name of Udhav Ramchandra Purandare, son of deceased landlord was entered as the owner of the suit land. The petitioners 1-A to 1-E are the legal heirs of said Udhav Ramchandra Purandare. Udhav Ramchandra Purandare was the karta of the joint family. One Shri. Govind Yesu Randhave was cultivating the suit land. He died on 02.08.1958 leaving behind his sons Vitthal, Shankar, Raghu and Asaram, who were residing together and were members of the joint Hindu family. After death of Govind Yesu Randhave, the suit land was entered in the name of the said joint family and Vitthal Govind Randhave was shown as the karta of the joint family. Vitthal Govind Randhave died in the year 1989 and respondent Nos. 1-A to 1-F are his sons and legal representatives.
b. Name of Ramchandra Kacheshwar Deshpande was entered under the order of Mamlatdar dated 10.08.1952 and Mutation Entry No. 668 came to be entered in terms of the said order. It appears that the suit land was re-granted as a new tenure to Ramchandra Kacheshwar Deshpande and Mutation Entry No. 943 was certified to that effect. Ramchandra Kacheshwar Deshpande died on 25.12.1974 leaving behind his sons Udhav, Purushottam and Anant. It is specific case of the petitioners that the suit land was Deshpande Inam land and it was re-granted as a new tenure to Ramchandra Deshpande.
c. Said Udhav Ramchandra Purandare had filed an application before Agricultural Lands Tribunal (A.L.T.), Kopargaon for possession of the suit land from the above tenants under the provisions of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (for short, 'Bombay Tenancy Act, 1948'). It is the case of the petitioners that on 01.04.1957, i.e. the Tillers' Day, Vitthal Govind, Shankar Govind, Raghu Govind and Asaram Govind were holding the land 62 Acres 23 Guntha exceeding the ceiling limit. The petitioners therefore claim that the suit land is Deshpande Watan Inam land and it is not a service Inam land. After the enactment of the Bombay Pargana and Kulkarni Watans (Abolition) Act, 1950 (for short, 'the Abolition Act, 1950'), all the watans covered under the said Act came to be abolished and all the rights to hold the office and liabilities of rendering services to the said watans were extinguished. It is the case of the petitioners that in terms of the provisions of Section 8 of the Abolition Act, 1950, the provisions of the Bombay Tenancy Act, 1948 are made applicable. In view of the provisions of sub-section (6) of Section 32G of the Bombay Tenancy Act, 1948, the rights of the tenants to purchase the land remained unaffected even if the land is re-granted to the original holder on condition that it was not transferable. According to the petitioners, even if the land is re-granted on new tenure or old tenure, the right of the tenant under Section 32G of the Bombay Tenancy Act, 1948 is unaffected. Said Udhav Ramchandra Purandare had approached the A.L.T., Kopargaon for recovery of possession of the suit land against the tenants. It is the case of the petitioners that there is no question of postponement of the Tillers' Day even if the land is re-granted on old tenure o
