The right of appeal and revision vested in a party under the Mutation Manual cannot be taken away by the repeal of Sec. 17 of the Act, as the Act created new rights and obligations and provided a different forum for redressal of grievances.

S.B.Sinha, J.

1. This application is directed against an order dated 26-5-1992 passed by the Commissioner, Saran Division Chapra in Case No. 87/1991-92 whereby dismissed the revision application filed by the petitioner on the ground that after coming into force of the Bihar Tenants Holding(Maintenance of Records) Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) he had no jurisdiction to entertain a second revision application.

2. The subject-matter of the present writ application is 4 kathas 6 dhurs of land in Khesra No. 1011 appertaining to Khata No. 145 of village Matihania in the district of Gopalganj.

3. The petitioner claims himself to be landlord of the recorded tenant of the said land. It has been contended that at the time of revisional survey one Shyam Narayan Pandey and Vidya Nand Pandey were in actual possession on a cash rental of Re. 1 and their names had been also found place in the revisional survey settlement records of right as Shikimidars.

4. The petitioner has contended that however the original raiyat obtain ed possession from the Shikmidar and thus had been cultivating the land himself.

5. It has further been contended that the name of the petitioner was also noted in Register II of the State and a Jamabandi was created in his name at the time of vesting of these estates in the State of Bihar under the Bihar Land Reforms Act.

6. The petitioner has contended that he had all along been paying rent to the State of Bihar and had also entered into several transactions in relation thereto.

7. The Respondent No. 7 however filed an application before the Circle Officer under Sec. 48(D) of the Bihar Tenancy Act. In the said application inter alia, a prayer was made that necessary corrections in the records of right be made after taking deposit of 24 times of the cash rental of the disputed land. Thereupon a case being Jamabandi Correction Case No 1 of 1988-89 was started.

8. According to the petitioner in the said proceeding a forgery was committed and an application purported to bear his signature was filed therein. Thereafter a case records were sent to the Land Reforms Deputy Collector, Chapra for opening of Jamabandi in the name of Respondent No. 7 upon cancellation of the Jamabandi standing in the name of the petitioners.

9. The Sub-divisional Officer who was at that time Incharge of the Office of the Land Reforms Deputy Collector passed an order to the said effect which is contained in Annexure 5 to the writ application.

10. The petitioner thereafter filed a revision application before the Additional Collector, Gopalganj being Jamabandi Revision No. 2 of 1990 which was transferred to the Court of Collector, Gopalganj on the basis of an application filed by the respondent No. 7. By an order dated 28-11-1991 the said revision application was dismissed. The petitioner preferred a second revision application which has been dismissed by the Commissioner Saran Division Chapra by an order dated 26-5-1992 as contained in Annexure-7 to the writ application.

11. The question which now arises for consideration is as to whether the second revision before the Commissioner was maintainable?

12. Admittedly, the proceeding in this case was initiated on 5-1-1988 i.e. prior to coming to force of the said Act as the said Act came into force with effect fram 2-10-1990 by reason of a notification published in Official Gazette on 18-1-1991.

13. The learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 7, however, submitted that repeal of Sec. 17 of the Act by reason of the Amending Act of 1983 amounts to change in procedural law and thus the same will have a retrospective effect.

14. Prior to coming into force of the said Act, the matters relating to mutation were governed apart from the relevant Tenancy Acts applicable to specified areas, under the Mutation Manual.

15. Clause 10 of the Mutation Manual reads thus:

appeals--An appeal should be filed against the order of the Anchal Adhikari within a period of 30 days