ORDER : The petitioner is said to be a karnavan of a very ancient and premier Namboodiri family in the erstwhile State of Cochin. This State was integrated with the erstwhile State of Travancore; and the United State of Travancore and Cochin was formed with effect from the first day of July, 1949 as per a covenant entered into between the Ruler of these two States. Subsequently this integrated State came to be known as the State of Travancore-Cochin, and became one of the States in Part B of the I Schedule to the Constitution. As result of the States Re-organisation Act, 1056, the State of Travancore-Cochin ceased to exist; and the State of Kerala was formed consisting of a major

part of the State of Travancore-Cochin and what was known as the Malabar District of the former State of Madras. Kerala State was formed with effect from 1-11-1956.

The petitioner claims that the members of his Mana are traditionally erudite Scholars in the Rig Veda, and were the hereditary high priests of the community, and that in recognition of these qualities and in consideration of the services rendered by them to the then State of Cochin, the Maharaja granted certain lands to the petitioner's Mana free of land tax. It is said that the petitioner's Mana owns two Devaswoms, and for the support and maintenance of these Devaswoms and their temples, the Maharaja also gave similar grants of land free of tax. While the petitioner's Mana was enjoying these lands pursuant to the aforesaid grants, the Maharaja of Cochin issued the Settlement Proclamation of 1905. The purport of this proclamation was to conduct a revenue settlement of all the lands in the State in accordance with the principles laid down therein.

Section 14 of this Proclamation deals, among another things, with Pandaravaka lands held on concessional tenures, as well as lands held tax-free conditionally or absolutely. This Section also provides that the Diwan would frame such rules as he deemed necessary prescribing the terms on which such grants would be confirmed and laying down the procedure to be followed in their disposal and for the issue of title deeds. Accordingly, the Diwan of Cochin framed Rules in this respect of 14th March 1905; and these rules are contained from page 464 of Volume I of the Rules and Notifications under the enactments of Cochin. Rules 4 to 20 of these Rules (Pages 467 to 471) are the Rules relating to service and personal grants; and the contain the procedure for the issue of title deeds in respect of lands held under such grants.

Ext. P-1 dated 27th June, 1908 is a title deed issued by the Diwan of Cochin to the petitioner's Mana in accordance with the above Proclamation and the Rules made thereunder for certain lands held by the Mana under a tax-free grant from the Maharaja of Cochin. The Mana was also given similar title deeds for the remaining lands held on tax-tree grants from the Maharaja. Exts. P-3 series and P-4 series are said to be the copies of these title deeds. They were issued by the Diwan in 1908. Before the formation of the United State of Travancore and Cochin, and thereafter until the passing of the Travancore-Cochin Land Tax Act, 1955, the levy and collection of tax on lands in the area, which comprised the erstwhile State of Cochin, were governed by the Settlement Proclamation of 1905.

The Land Tax Act of 1955 repealed the aforesaid Proclamation and provided for the levy of a low and uniform rate of tax on all the lands throughout the State of Travancore-Cochin. The Land Tax Act, 1955 was, however, struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in K.T. Moopil Nair v. State of Kerala, AIR 1961 SC 552. As a result of this, the Kerala Legislature enacted the Kerala Land Tax Act, 1961. The lands held by the petitioner's Mana under Exts. P-1, P-3 series and P-4 series were not subject to any levy either under the Settlement Proclamation of 1905 or under the Land Tax Act of 1955. Purporting to act under the Land Tax Act of 1961, the Deputy Tahsild

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