The main legal point established in the judgment is that a 'varamdar' defined in the latter part of S.2(60) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 is a 'cultivating tenant' entitled to file an application for fixation of fair rent under S.31 of the Act.

Headnote:
varamdar - Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 - S.2, sub-section (60), S.31, S.27, S.33 - The court discussed the rights of a varamdar to file an application for the determination of 'fair rent' under S.31 of the Act. It held that a 'varamdar' defined in the latter part of S.2(60) is a 'cultivating tenant' entitled to file an application for fixation of fair rent under S.31 of the Act.
Fact of the Case:

The court considered whether a varamdar has the right to file an application for the determination of 'fair rent' under S.31 of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963. The Subordinate Judge took the view that the cultivating tenant has no such right, while the Land Tribunal conceded the right to the 'varamdar'. The court discussed the nature and extent of the rights of a varamdar under the provisions of the Act and the legal incidents of a varam transaction.
Finding of the Court:

The court found that a 'varamdar' defined in the latter part of S.2(60) is a 'cultivating tenant' entitled to file an application for fixation of fair rent under S.31 of the Act. It held that all the benefits conferred on a tenant are given to the varamdar as well, and that a varamdar is entitled to fixity under S.13 (1) of the Act.
Issues: The main issue was whether a varamdar has the right to file an application for the determination of 'fair rent' under S.31 of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963.
Ratio Decidendi: The court interpreted the provisions of the Act, including S.2, S.8, S.10, S.13, S.27, S.33, and S.53, to establish that a 'varamdar' is a 'cultivating tenant' entitled to file an application for fixation of fair rent under S.31 of the Act. It also discussed the legal fiction created by the Act to include a varamdar in the definition of 'tenant'.
Final Decision: The court allowed C. R. Ps. 675 to 678 of 1966 and remanded L. T. As. Nos. 6 to 9 of 1965 for disposal on the merits. It dismissed C. R. Ps. 1174 and 1175 of 1966 and set aside the orders dismissing Land Tribunal Appeals 33 and 34 of 1966, directing the Subordinate Judge to take back the appeals to his file and dispose of the same on the merits and in accordance with law.

Judgment :-

1. The common question that arises in all the cases is whether a varamdar defined in the latter portion of S.2, sub-section (60) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (Act 1 of 1964) has got the right to file an application for the determination of 'fair rent' under S.31 of the said Act. S. S.2 (13) of Act I of 1964 defines 'fair rent' as meaning 'the rent payable by a cultivating tenant under S.27 or S.33 of the Act.

2. In the orders which are the subject-matter of C. R. Ps. 675 to 678 of 1966 the Subordinate Judge took the view that the cultivating tenant has no such right. Though the same question is raised in C. R Ps. 1174 and 1175 of 1966 the point was not raised before the appellate judge. In the original petitions which challenge the orders of the Land Tribunal, Moovattupuzha, the Land Tribunal conceded the right to the 'varamdar'.

3. The latter portion of S.2(60) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (Act I of 1964), hereinafter referred to as the Act, defines 'varamdar' as meaning, 'the person who undertakes cultivation under a varam arrangement and according to the earlier part of the same provision 'varam' means 'an arrangement for the cultivation of nilam with paddy and sharing the produce, made between the owner or other person in lawful possession of the nilam and the person who undertakes cultivation under such arrangement, and includes the arrangements known as pathivaram, pankuvaram and pankupattom'. According to S.2(38) of the Act, nilam means'land adapted for the cultivation of paddy.'

4. S.31(1) of the Act enabling the cultivating tenant or any landlord to apply for determining the fair rent in respect of a holding reads:

"The cultivating tenant or any landlord may apply, in such form as may be prescribed, to the Land Tribunal for determining the fair rent in respect of a holding."

S.31(2) of the Act prescribes the procedure for dealing with the application. The determination of fair rent has to be in terms of Ss.27 and 33 of the Act. The said provisions before their amendment by Act 9 of 1967 are in these terms:

S.27 "Fair rent. (1) The fair rent in respect of a holding shall be the rent payable by the cultivating tenant to his landlord and it shall be the rent calculated at the rates specified in Schedule III applicable to the class of lands comprised in the holding or the contract rent whichever is less.

Explanation' Where the fair rent in respect of a holding has been determined under any law in force immediately before the 21st January, 1961, the fair rent so determined shall be deemed to be the contract rent for the purposes of this sub-section.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the fair rent in respect of a holding, where the cultivating tenant or an intermediary is holding under a smallholder, shall, at the option of the smallholder, be

(a) the rent calculated at the rates specified in Schedule inapplicable to the class of lands comprised in the holding; or

(b) where the fair rent in respect of the holding has been determined under any law in force immediately before the 21st January, 1961, such fair rent, or, where fair rent has not been so determined, 75 per cent of the contract rent:

Provided that the fair rent payable by a cultivating kanamdar or a cultivating customary verumpattamdar shall not exceed the michavaram payable by such kanamdar or the rent payable by such customary verumpattamdar as the case may be."

S. 33. "Agreement as to fair rent. Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sections, it shall be competent for the landlord and the tenant to agree as to what shall be the fair rent payable in respect of the holding and, where such an agreement signed by the land lord and the tenant is filed with the Land Tribunal the Land Tribunal shall pass orders determining such agreed rent as the fair rent in respect of the holding:

Provided that the agreed rent shall not exceed the fair rent under S.27, in respect of the holding:

Provided further that where there a

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1968 Supreme(Ker) 69

The main legal point established in the judgment is that a 'varamdar' defined in the latter part of S.2(60) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 is a 'cultivating tenant' entitled to file an application for fixation of fair rent under S.31 of the Act.

Cases Referred (1)