1. - Heard the learned counsel for the parties.

2. To find the real issue between the parties, it shall be necessary to go through the various orders passed at different stages by the authorities under the Rajasthan Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the Act, 1973) and to appreciate the preliminary objection raised by the respondents as well as the right claimed by the petitioners.

3. The ceiling proceedings in respect of agricultural holdings held by one Chandan Singh, since deceased, whose legal representatives are respondents No. 4/1 to 4/5 under the Act of 1973 took place and by order dated 26.7.1975, the competent officer under the Act of 1973 found that said Chandan Singh held 790 bighas and one biswa of land, consisting of many parcels of land of varying measurement and of varying nature. He further arrived at a finding that the lands held by said Chandan Singh had been converted into 70.06 standard acres of land. The further findings after considering the transfers made by him to members of his family was that he is entitled to hold 30 standard acres of land and he held 35.62 standard acres of surplus land, to be resumable by the Government. With these findings, he invited option of the holder of the land which he wants to surrender.

4. This order records that since he has not submitted his option within the time allowed, 361 bighas and 4 biswa of land converted into 35.88 standards acres of land on the basis of conversion of the lands in different categories from bighas to standard acres was to be resumed. As per this order since no single piece of land ad-measuring 0.54 standard acres is available, it is left from acquisition.

5. However, it has further been found on record that said Chandan Singh submitted his option for surrendering the various lands which included 177 bighas and 50 biswas of Chahi land and 188 bighas 10 biswas other lands, both had 7 parcels of land. It was further stated that after surrender of the aforesaid 34 standard acres of land if some land is still required to be surrendered, the same may be taken from the North East side of Khasra No. 473, ad-measuring 146 bighas 2 biswa.

6. The aforesaid option was accepted by the competent officer vide order dated 4.10.1975 except to the extent it related to Khasra Nos. 351, 99, 100 and 414, which were found to be encumbered and instead other lands were acquired.

7. The order dated 4.10.1975, making variance in the acceptance of the option submitted by the holder Chandan Singh for surrendering the surplus land was subjected to appeal by the said Chandan Singh. The appeal was filed somewhere in 1979 with an application for condoning the delay in filing the appeal.

8. The said appeal was decided by the Revenue Appellate Authority vide his order dated 20.9.1979, by which he partly accepted the appeal and the matter was remanded to competent officer to reconsider the acquisition of land falling in Khasra Nos. 351, 468/545, 99 and 14 in accordance with law after affording opportunity to holder, which was not offered to Chandan Singh. It was further directed that until the aforesaid matter is decided, no part of land situated in Khasra No. 473 be acquired.

9. This order was further subjected to revision by the State before the Board of Revenue. The Revision was rejected by the Board as not maintainable by order dated 21.1.1988.

10. The proceedings up to that stage reveals that there was no dispute about the determination of holdings in the hands of Chandan Singh, the determination of land within the ceiling area which Chandan Singh could hold and the determination of surplus land which was required to be surrendered by said Chandan Singh. The only dispute which survived after determination of ceiling area and the surplus area was relating to the surrender of surplus land vis-a-vis option submitted by the holder in the context of encumbrances, if any, on the lands opted to be surrendered by the assessee.

11. It may be apposit