HARISH TANDON, J.

A vital and interesting question has cropped up before us in the instant tribunal application as to the competence of the Land Reforms Tenancy Tribunal constituted under West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal Act (hereinafter referred to as the Tenancy Tribunal Act) under Article 323(B) of the Constitution of India to deal, entertain and/or set aside the orders, decrees and judgments passed by the “Civil Judge having jurisdiction” in respect of the subject matter under the “Specified Act” as defined under section 2(r) of the West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal Act 1997.

Initially when the said Tenancy Tribunal Act was promulgated it was made applicable in respect of five Acts. Those are the West Bengal Estate Acquisition Act 1953, the West Bengal Land Reforms Act 1955, the West Bengal Acquisition of Homestead Land for Agricultural Labourers, Artisans and Fisherman Act 1975 and the West Bengal Land Holding Revenue Act 1979. By an amendment Act, the said West Bengal Land Holding Revenue Act 1979 was omitted and/or deleted from the definition of the said “Specified Act”. By another amendment the West Bengal Restoration of Alienated Land Act 1973, the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act 1977 and the West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and Regulation) Act 2001 was inserted. Thus the said Tenancy Tribunal Act within its contour assumes powers in respect of the subject matter relating to the “Specified Act” as defined under section 2(r) of the said Tenancy Tribunal Act.

There was no difficulty while the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act 1956 was operative and in vogue. The said Act of 1956 postulates that the matters relating to the eviction shall be dealt by a court within the meaning of the Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act 1887. Section 3 of Bengal, Agra and Assam Civil Courts Act 1887 defines the classes of Civil Court namely the Court of the District Judge, the Court of the Additional Judge, the Court of the Civil Judge (Senior Division) and the Court of the Civil Judge (Junior Division). The said Act also provides the court empowered to entertain the appeal from the judgment and decree and/or order of the court inferior to it.

A radical change was made by enacting the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act 1997 which repealed the said West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act 1956. The object and purpose for which such Act of 1997 was enacted to give a speedy disposal of the pending litigations and also conferring all the powers upon the Rent Controller or Additional Rent Controller to deal with the matter including the matter relating to the eviction of a tenant by a landlord, fixation of the fair rent, revision of the fair rent, restoration of the essential services. The appeal against orders passed by the Rent Controller or the Additional Rent Controller, as the case may be, was conferred upon the Tenancy Tribunal Act 1997 so as to minimize the burden of the Civil Court and to achieve the speedy disposal of the litigations. The legislature thereafter by a notification appointed the judge of a Civil Court as Controller and/or Additional Controller not by virtue of their office but as persona designata i.e. by name. By further amendment brought in by West Bengal Act of 2002 the word ‘controller’ appearing in section 6 and 7 of the said Act of 1997 was deleted and was replaced and/or substituted by the word “Civil Judge having jurisdiction”. However, section 43 of the said Act of 1997 whereby a conferment is made upon the Tenancy Tribunal as an Appellate Tribunal was unamended and still reads thus :

“43. Appeal, revision and review. – (1) an appeal shall lie from a final order of the Controller to such Tribunal as the State Legislature may, by law, provide: Provided that until a Tribunal is so provided, an appeal from the final order of he Controller shall lie to the high court.

(2) An appeal shall be final within 30 days from the date of order of the Controller.

(3) The Controller or the