1987 Supreme(Raj) 238
Rajasthan High Court, Jaipur Bench
D.L. Mehta, J.
Babulal - Appellant
Versus
Matadeen - Respondents
S.B. Civil Revision Petition No. 565 of 1986
Decided On : August 05, 1987
R.M. Lodha, for Petitioner; S.M. Mehta, for Non petitioners
Headnote:(a) Rajasthan Pre-emption Act. 1966—Sec. 6—Right of pre-emption—Rajasasthan law of pre-emption is a codified law—Customary right of pre-emption cannot be equated with a right of pre-emption which is based on the codified law. (Para 3)(b) Rajasthan Pre-emption Act, 1966—Sec. 18—Survival of right of suit on death of plaintiff—Under Rajasthan Act it is not a personal right on the part of the pre-empt or—The statutory right of pre-emption is a heritable right and a decree for pre-emption can be passed in favour of the legal representatives of the deceased pre-emptor—If in a pre-emption suit the plaintiff dies at any time before the decree has become final, the suit will not abate. (Paras 5 & 8)(c) Rajasthan Pre-emption Act, 1966—Sec. 13—The decree shall specify a date on or before which the purchase money or the amount to be paid to the mortagee shall be paid—Possession is a consequential relief which can be granted by the court below after the execution of the sale-deed. (Paras 11 & 12)
2. Mr. Lodha has first of all submitted that Banshidhar died during the pendency of the appeal and the court was not justified in bringing the legal representatives of the deceased Banshidhar on record. Mr. Lodha has relied on the case of Nan Devi V. Kamal Chand (1).
3. It will not be out of place here to mention that in Rajasthan Law of Pre-emption is a codified law. Rajasthan Pre-emption Act came into force in the year 1966 It will not be out of place here to mention that the case cited by Mr. Lodha is not applicable in the instant case as the right of pre-emption is not based on customary law. On the contrary the right of pre-emption is based on codified law of pre-emption. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court in the case of Hazari v. Neki (dead) by his legal representatives (2). Their Lordships held as under :-
"It is not correct to say that the right of pre-emption is a personal right on the part of the pre-emptor to get the re-transfer of the property from the vandee who has already become the owner of the same. It is true that the right of pre-emption becomes enforceable only when there is a sale but the right exists antecedently to the sale, the foundation of the right being the avoidance of the inconveniences and disturbances which would arise from the introduction of a stranger into the land. The correct legal position is that the statutory law of pre-emption imposes a limitation or disability upon the ownership of a property to the extent that it restricts the owners right of sale and compels him to sell the property to the person entitled to pre-emption under the statute. In other words, the statutory right of pre-emption though not amounting to an interest in the land is a right which attaches to the land and which can be enforced against a purchaser by the person entitled to pre-empt".
4. The statutory right of pre-emption under S. 15(1) (a) of the Punjab Act is a heritable right and a decree for pre-emption can be passed in favour of the legal representatives of the deceased pre-emptor when the representatives are properly brought on record under the provisions of O. 22. R. 1 read with O. 22 R.10 C.P.C. If is true that the right of pre-emption under S. 15 (1) fa) of the Punjab Act of 1913 is a personal right in the sense that the claim of the pre-emptor depends upon the nature of his relationship with the vendor. But where the condition of S. 14 exists and an involuntary transfer takes place by inheritance, the successor to the land takes the whole bundle of the rights which go with the land including the right of pre-emption. In view of S. 306 of the Succession Act the right of pre-emption under S. 15 (l)(a) does not abate with the death of the pre-emptor."
5. I am fortified in taking the view by the decision of the Supreme Court that the customary right of pre-emption cannot be equated with a right of pre-emption which is based on the codified law, namely, the Rajasthan Pre-