Tenant has to deposit time barred arrears.

The petitioner/temple is the owner of the land in which the respondents have been doing cultivation in the respective lands. Admittedly, the tenants have to pay the rent for a number of Fasilis. Taking advantage of the Act 38 of 1990, the respondents filed Applications before the Revenue Court to get benefits under the provisions of the said Act. According to the tenants, they are liable to pay the instalments as contemplated under the said Act only with respect to the rent due, which is not time barred. According to the landlord, while calculating the instalment amounts, the Revenue court should take into consideration, the entire arrears of rent, irrespective of the fact whether it is time-barred or not.

2. But the Revenue Court in all these cases quantified the arrears of rent, excluding the amounts payable by the tenants, which cannot be recovered, as they had been time-barred. Aggrieved against the same, the landlord has filed the above revisions, against the orders of the Revenue Court, Thanjavur.

3. These civil revision petitioners raise an important question as to whether the Revenue Court is correct in directing the cultivating tenant to deposit the arrears of rent only with respect to the amount which can be recovered by the landlord.

4. The Tamil Nadu Cultivating Tenants Arrears of Rent (Relief) Act, Act 38 of 1990, was enacted with a view to give relief to the cultivating tenants by discharging them from payment of all arrears of rent payable to the landlord or public trust for the fasli year ending with the 30th June, 1989 and for any previous fasli year and outstanding on the date of the publication of the proposed Act, if he pays the rent due for the current fasli year, i.e., the 1st July, 1989 to the 30th June, 1990, in full and one fourth of the total amount of arrears of rent (without interest) which accrued due to the landlord or public trust for the period ending with the 30th June, 1989 on or before the 31st March, 1991; or if he pays the current rent in full on or before the 31st March, 1991 and one third of the total amount of arrears of rent (without interest) which accrued due to the landlord or public trust for the period ending with the 30th June, 1989 in five equal annual instalments and the first instalment shall be paid on or before the 31st March, 1991.

5. Sec.4 of the Act gives option to the cultivating tenant for payment of rent which reads as follows:

"Option for payment of arrears of rent: (1) Any cultivating tenant who is in arrears of rent payable to the landlord for the fasli year ending with the 30th day of June, 1989 and for any previous fasli year (hereinafter referred to as the said years) and out standing on the date of the publication of this Act shall, within two months from the date of such publication, intimate his option in writing to the competent authority:

.(i) to pay the current rent and the one fourth of the said arrears of rent in the manner specified in part II; or

.(ii) to pay the current rent and the one-third of the said arrears of rent in the manner specified in part III;

.(2) The option given under Sub-sec.(l) shall be final"

6. Sec.5(1) of the Act deals with the relief to be given to the tenant on such deposit, which runs as follows:

"Relief for payment of arrears of rent: (1) All arrears of rent payable by a cultivating tenant to the landlord for the said years and outstanding on the date of the publication of this Act, shall be deemed to be discharged, whether or not a decree or order has been obtained therefor, if such cultivating tenant pays to the landlord or deposits in the court or before the competent authority, to the account of the landlord in the manner specified in Sub-secs.(2) and (3), (a) the current rent; and (b) the one-fourth of the total amount of arrears of rent for the said years without interest (hereinafter referred to as the one-fourth of the arrears of rent).

7. Sec.7(l) and (2) of the said Act deals with the payment of instal