Adjoining land owners have a right of pre-emption under Section 8 of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955, as amended.

1. This is an application under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.

2. The petitioners herein filed an application before learned Civil Judge (Junior Division), Bishnupur, praying for pre-emption of the case properties against the opposite parties. The learned Trial Court on contested hearing has been pleased to allow the said case being No. J. Misc. Case 9 of 1996.

3. The opposite parties preferred an appeal challenging the said order and judgement before the learned Lower Appellate Court which was registered as Misc. Appeal No. 26 of 2010.

4. The said Misc. Appeal was disposed of by the learned Additional District Judge, 3rd Court, Bankura. Learned Lower Appellate Court has pleased to allow the appeal on merit, ex parte against the respondents/petitioners.

5. The learned Lower Appellate Court by the judgement impugned dated December 22nd, 2011 has been pleased to set aside the judgement dated February 26th, 2010 passed by the learned Civil Judge (Junior Division, Bishnupur in J. Misc. Case No. 9 of 1996.

6. The respondents/petitioners being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the said order and judgement passed by the learned Lower Appellate Court in Misc. Appeal No. 26 of 2010 has preferred the present revisional application on the grounds that the learned Lower Appellate Court erred in law by holding that the petitioners are not co-sharers and set aside the order of the learned Trial Court. Further that learned Lower Appellate Court failed to consider that even an adjoining owner has a right of pre-emption.

7. The case of the petitioners in short is that they purchased 0.3 decimals of land on June 22, 1994 from one Tapan Kumar Ghosh and Karick Chandra Ghosh who owned land measuring an area of 8 decimals. They owned 5½ decimals in plot No. 76 and 2½ decimals in plot 72. Both the plots of lands are in Mouza Majdea. The sale deed of the petitioners has been registered on June 23rd, 1994. It is the further case of the petitioners that on the eastern adjacent side of the plot No. 72, plot No. 64 is situated comprising of 2.06 acres of land. Co-sharers of the said land amicably partitioned. One Pashupati Shit got 0.6 decimals of land in plot No. 64. The said 0.6 decimals of land was sold out to the petitioners by executing a sale deed which is duly registered on December 14th, 1992. So, petitioners owned and possessed an area of 0.6 decimals in plot No. 64 and 0.3 decimals in plot No. 72 and 76 in Mouza-Majdea.

8. One Paresh Nath Mondal, Biswanath Mondal and Santosh Mondal owned and possessed 10½ decimals of land by way of purchase. A portion of which was subsequently sold to the opposite parties of the present revisional applications by executing a sale deed registered on November 29th, 1995. No notice was displayed intimating sale of the land measuring about 0.6 decimals of plot No. 72 and 76 in Mouza Majdea at the time of execution of sale deed in favour of the opposite parties. It is also the case of the petitioners that they are cosharers in respect of the land in plot No. 72 and 76 in Mouza Majdea measuring about 10½ decimals of land. Therefore, a registered sale deed by Paresh Nath Mondal, Biswanath Mondal and Santosh Mondal in favour of the opposite parties of the present application is subject to pre-emption by the petitioners being co-sharers of the said land.

9. Mr. Debabrata Acharaya with Mr. Sital Samanta and Mr. Prabir Adhayya appears on behalf of the petitioners.

10. Mr. Acharaya submits that learned Appellate Court wrongly held that the petitioners are not co-sharers and set aside the order of learned Trial Court. Mr. Acharaya after drawing my attention to the relevant provision under section 8 of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act submits that Raiyat in a plot of land means “a person, other than Raiyat who has an undemarcated interest in the plot of land along with the Raiyat”. It is also submitted that the right to preempt is not only to co-sharers but also to the co-sharers by purchase in addition to the a