( 1 ) THIS Full Bench has been constituted to decide this petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution for quashing the order of the Board of Revenue, holding that no second appeal, or revision under Section 50 of the M. P. Land revenue Code, 1959, (hereinafter called "the Code" or "the Revenue Code") lies from an order passed under the M. P. Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings Act, 1960 (hereinafter called "the Act" or "the Ceiling Act" ).

( 2 ) THE Division Bench, which referred to the larger Bench this case for decision, found conflicting views expressed by earlier Division Benches.

( 3 ) THE questions arising for our decision, which have to be determined on a true construction of Sections 41 and 42 of the Ceiling Act and Sections 44 and 50 of the revenue Code, are:--

(1) Whether a second appeal lies under Section 44 (2) of the M. P. Land revenue Code, 1959, from an order passed in an appeal under Section 41 of the M. P. Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings Act, 1960. (2) Whether the powers of revision under Section 50 of the Revenue code can be invoked and exercised against an order passed under the ceiling Act.

( 4 ) THE Ceiling Act provides for the Imposition of ceiling on agricultural holdings, acquisitions and disposal of surplus land and matters ancillary thereto. Section 7 of that Act prescribes the maximum extent of land to be held by a person, Section 3 exempts certain lands from the provisions of the Act. Section 4 deals with the effect of transfers or partitions made after the publication of the M. P. Ceiling on agricultural Holdings Bill, 1959, but before the commencement of the Act. Section 5 enacts restrictions on transfers or sub-divisions of land the consequences of the contravention thereof. Section 9 casts a duty on a person holding land in excess of ceiling to submit a return to the competent authority containing the prescribed information. Section, 10 empowers the competent authority to collect information. Section 11 provides for preparation of statement of land held in excess of the ceiling area, for hearing objections and for declaring the surplus land held by each holder. First a draft statement is prepared and then, after decision of the objections and declaration of the surplus land, a final statement is published. Under Section 12, the surplus land vests in the State. Section 13 enacts the consequences of vesting. Sections 16 to 21 deal with payment of compensation and Sections 22 to 34 with encumbrances on surplus land, while Sections 35 to 37 provide for the disposal of surplus land. Section 39 empowers the Tahsildar to take possession of the land which vests in the State and empowers the Collector to manage it until it is disposed of.

( 5 ) THE Ceiling Act constitutes a special authority, called "competent authority" and defined as follows in Section 2 (e) of that Act:-"' competent authority' means -

(i) in respect of a holder whose entire land is situate within a sub-division, the Sub-Divisional Officer; (ii) in respect of a holder whose entire land is situate in more than one Sub-Division of the same district, the Collector and (iii) in respect of a holder whose land is situate in more than one district, such authority as may be appointed by the State government. " it will be seen from this definition that there are three categories of competent authorities, varying according to the three categories of holders of land. Thus a competent authority is to be determined in respect of every particular holder, (1) The Sub-Divisional Officer is the competent authority in respect of a particular holder whose entire land is situate within one and the same subdivision. (2) The Collector is the competent authority in respect of a particular holder whose entire land is situate in more than one sub-division, but in one and the same district. (3) A competent authority has to be appointed by the State Government in respect of a particular holder whose land is situate in more than one distric