Board’s standing order regarding assignment of land.

The petitioners are the widow and the son of one late Seshadrinatha Iyer, an Amin, who served in the First World War in the year 1941, this Seshadrinatha Iyer obtained assignment of a portion of the land in S. No. 326/1, a poramboke in Therkukadayam Village. According to the petitioners, there was an assignment, but the order of grant is not forthcoming. At the time of the grant, the land was waste cultivable land which Seshadrinatha Iyer is said to have brought under cultivation after spending a consideable amount In 1944, under the Grow More Food Campaign, permission was granted to convert the land to wet. Wet cultivation had been going on on this land since then. Seshadrinatha Iyer died in 1952. It appears that in 1955, the Board of Revenue treated this as an encroachment. This survey number is part of the water spread of a tank . Proceedings in eviction were undertaken. The Board declined to accept the contention of the petitioners that the cultivation of the land was unobjectionable. The Board however instructed the Collector to take steps to assign some odder unobjectionable land to the petitioners, as, in the opinion of the Board, an extent of 92 cents in the occupation of the petitioners could not be permitted to be used for purposes of cultivation. This proceeding led to the filing of a writ petition before this Court. During the pendency of that writ petition, attempts were made by the petitioners to move the Board of Revenue to examine the matter afresh. It appears that the Board was agreeable to do so and in those circumstancs the writ petition before this Court was not pressed and it was accordingly dismissed. A further petition was presented to the Board of Revenue, but finally, the Board declined to interfere on behalf of the petitioners. The petitioners complain that having regard to the circumstances under which the occupation of the land by Seshadrinatha Iyer and subsequently by them had been permitted, the order of the Board, which was made without giving an adequate opportunity to the petitioners, is arbitrary, unjust and opposed to natural justice

It is pointed out that several Government Orders, have been issued with regard to the cultivation of tank-bed lands and Government have laid it down as a policy that even lands so assigned to landless poor persons should not be taken away from them. These Orders of the Government have been ignored by the Board and in that view the Board’s order is also attacked as illegal.

In the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the Board of Revenue, it is stated that an application for assignment made by Seshadrinatha Iyer in 1941 in S.No. 326/1 was rejected, but subsequently, the applicant was granted permission to cultivate the land temporarily under the Grow More Food Rules. It is claimed that on complaints from ayacutdars in Fasli 1362, the matter was enquired into and the Collector held the occupation to be objectionable. This was in 1954. These eviction proceedings led to W.P. No. 83 of 1958 before this Court which was not however pressed. On further representation made by the petitioners, the Board directed re-examination by the Collector. It finally found that the eviction’ proceedings could not be interfered with. It is alleged on behalf of the respondent that the matter was considered carefully and that these are administrative orders which cannot be challenged in a writ proceeding. There is, however no specific case with regard to the various Government Orders to which the petition refers, according to which the petitioners claim that the occupation of this land by the landless poor persons should not be disturbed.

A reply affidavit has been filed by the petitioners. It is denied by the petitioners that the land was permitted to be occupied under the Grow More Food campaign. Long before this Grow More Food campaign, Seshadrinatha Iyer was granted permission by an order of the Collector dated 31st August, 1942, to occupy the land under certain conditions. At t