AMRit BHIKAJI KALE & ORS. v. KASHINATH JANARDHAN TRADE & ANR.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by .

DESAI, J. Land bearing Survey No. 1052 adme~suring 16 acres situated within the revenue limits of Village Sonai Taluka Nawasa Distt. Ahniendnagar, belonged to Tarachand Chopra. Janardhan, the father of the respondent was admittedly the tenant of this land on April I, 1957. Sec ..32 of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands A:ct, 1948 as amended from time to time provided that on the 1st day of April, 1957 styled as the tillers' day every tenant shall subject to other provisions of the section and the provisions of the next succeeding sections be deemed to have purchased from his landlord, free from all encumbrances subsisting thereon on the same· date the land held by him as a tenant if other conditions of the section +·

, are satisfied. Thus by operation of law, Janardhan, who was the tenant of the land on the tillers' day became the deemed purchaser thereof.. Landlord Tarachand died on August 12, 1959. Before his death, landlord Tarachand had executed a will and bequeathed the suit land to Ashoklal Gugale who was petitioner No. 5 before the f[i~h Court Acting upon tlie will of Tarac)lap.\I, Ashoklal ·e;ct bis

AMRJT BHUvvl v. KASHINATH (Desai, J.) 241

name mutated in the revenue record in respect of suit land in his - favour as owner. On the date of mutation, Ashoklal was a minor. A Sec. 32-G imposes a statutory duty on the Agricultural l ands Tribunal ('Tribunal' for short) to commence enquiry for determining· the price of the land which is the subject matter of compulsory purchase. The Tribunal -is required to issue notice to (a) all tenants who u/s 32 are deemed to have purchased the lands (b) all landlords of such lands and (c) all other persons interested therein to appear B before it on the date specified in the notice. Pursuant to such .notice when the parties appeared before the Tribunal it was claimed on behalf of landlord that Ashoklal, the recorded owner was a minor and therefore the sale was postponed u/s 32-F. The Tribunal failed to exercise jurisdiction in not noticing the obvious fact that the relevant c date on which compulsory sale takes place is April I, 1957 and on that date Tarachand Chopra the landlord was· the recorded owner and he was under no disability as envisaged by. sec. 32-F and there- fore the sale had become effective and could not be postponed u/s 32-F. However, the Tribunal failed to exercise its jurisdiction by mis-stating an obvious irrelevant fact that as recorded owner was a D minor, compulsory sale was postponed as envisaged by sec. 32-F. It appears that the Tribunal again commenced proceedings in, the year J967 u/s 32-G and concluded the proceedings_ by its order dated July 13, 1967 repeating the jurisdictional errors and thereby failed to exercise jurisdiction vested in it.· In the meantime, minor landlord E through his next friend co_mmenced proceedings in Case No. 36 of 1967 in the court of Tenancy Aval Karkoon having Jurisdiction in the area for recovery of possession from tenant Janardhan who bad become a deemed purchaser, u/s 14 read with sec. 29 of the Tenancy Act. Sec. 14 enables the landlord to recover possession if tenant commits default in payment of rent for certain number of years. The Tenancy F Aval Karkoon entertained the petition which it had no jurisdiction because there wa~ no subsisting relationship of . landlord and tenant between Ashoklal and Janardhan as Janardhan had already become deemed purc'haser on April I, 1957. However, the Tenancy Aval Karkoon taking note of the earlier decisions of the Tribunal holding G that the date of compulsory sale was postponed directed possession to be handed over to the landlord h6lding that the tenant had committed defa ult in payment of rent.

H Mr. Lalit, learned counsel for the appellant at this stage pointed out that in the proceeding u/s 14 read with sec. 29 of the Tenancy Act, thQ te11ant Janard;m had !lla<;ie a statement on October 5, 1967

24:2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1983] 3 s.c.R.

·that he had no nbjection to handing over possession of- the land to A the land to the landlord as he was old and could not cultivate the land personally. On the same day, surprisingly the Tenancy A~al Karkoon also recorded the statement of present respondent that in the lifetime of his father Janardhan, he had no title to the- land Involved in the dispute .. It appears that the Tenancy Aval Karkoon B mad.e the order dated Oct. 6, 1967 evicting Janardhan from the land ori the footing that he was a tenant liable to pay rent and had com- mitted defaults. This wholly null and void order enabled the· rinor Iai:tdlord to sell the land by a registered deed on Nov. 13, 1967 to the petitioner No. I and one Haribhav and the latter in t11rn transferred his interest in favour of other petitioners. · c Misled by the two orders of the Tribunal holding that the sale was postponed Janardhan served a notice on Oct. 6, 1971 as envisaged by sec. 32-F that as the landlord has attained majority ho is entitled to. purchase the land and that the price of land be deter• mined. Presumably, pursuant to this notice, the Tribunal commenced proceedings under sections 32-G and 32-F of the Tenancy Act for determining the purchase price. It was contended on. behalf of the petitioners transferees from Ashoklal before the Tribunal that as Janardhan has already handed over possetsion to Ashoklal he had no subsisting interest in the land and . therefore he had no right to purchase the land u/s 32-F and that the proceedings be dropped. This contention found.favour with the Tribunal which overlooked the · legal position that Janardhan had become the deemed pur,chaser on April I, 1957. Janardhan died on November 29, 1976 leaving respondent his son as the sole heir. After the death of Janardhan an enquiry was commenced to ascertain whether Janardhan the d1iceased tenant had already become the deemed purchaser on April I, 1957 and that- all the subsequent proceedings 'were abinitio void. There were some proceedings in between u/s 84 which are - hardly relevant. The Tribunal went into the matter in depth, examined all provious orders and finally reached an affirmative· conclusion that on April G I 1957 Tarachand was the recorded landlord and being under no ' ' disability and Janardhan being tenant ?f the land, by operation of law Janardhan become the deemed purchaser and all subsequent pro~eedings were null, void and non est, The Tribunal accordingly . H determined the purchase price: The present petitioners after unsuccessfully appealing to .the Assistant "Collector al)d the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal u/s 76 of the Tenancy Act, rn~ched 11/t High Court und~r Article 227,

Ai.IRIT BHIKAJI v. KASHINATH'(Desai, J.)

A parallel proceeding was initiated by the respondent u/s 84 of the Tenancy Act for recovery of possession which was illegally 'taken from him. The Assistant Collector held that occupation of the suit land by the petitioners was contrary to the provisions of 1aw as Janardhan had already become the deemed purchaser and no title could be acquired by the petitioners from the sale , by Ashoklal and . therefore the respondent is entitled to_ recover possession. The direction was issued to hand over possession to the respondent. This order was confirmed by the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal in Revision as per its judgment dated July 16, 1973. Two petitions were moved by transferee-petitioners in the High 'Court of Bombay against two orders one ·or the Maharashtra Revenue· Tribunal, in a proceeding u/s 32-G and another in a proceeding u/s 84 against the• c present respondent. The learned Single Judge of the High Court by a common judgment dismissed both the petitions of the petitioners holding that as Janardhan bad become the deemed purchaser. on the tillers' day i. e. April I, 1957 all subsequent ·proceedings u/s 32-F- were a]? initio void and without jurisdiction and nullity in the eyes of law. The High Court also held that the petitioners acquired no title D under the purported sale by Ashoklal because Ashoklal had no title to the land save receiving the purchase price from Janardhan cir his heir as determined.u/s 32-G. The High Court accordingly dismissed both the petitions with costs. Hence these two appeals by special leave.

Mr. U.R. Lalit, learned counsel appearing for the appeliants strenuously urged that the orders made by the Tribunal u/s :i2-F and by the Tenancy Aval Karkoon in a proceeding u/s 14 read with sec. 29 of the Tenancy Act and the statement of ianardhan and the F respondent would clearly show that these orders were ai best erroneous but not void and cannot be ignored as nullity in subsequent proceedings.

The Tenancy Act was comprehensively amended by Amending G Act 15of1957. The amendment brought in a revoluti9nary measure of agrarian reforms making tiller of the soil the owner of the land. This was done to achieve the object of removing all intermediaries between tillers of the soil and the State. Sec. 32 provides that by . mere operation of law, every tenant of agricultural land situated in ·H the area to which the Act applies shall become by the operation of law, the owner thereof. He is declared to be a deemed purchaser Without anythinll more on bis part. A Constitution Benc)l of t!iii

244 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1983) 3 s.t.I\,

Court in Sri Ram Ram Narain Medhi v. The State of Bombay(l) held that:

"the title of the landlord to the land. passes · immediately to the tenant on the tillers' day and tht:re is 'a completed purchase or sale thereof as between the landlord and the tenant. The title of the land which was vested originally in the landlord passes to the tenant on the tillers' day and this title is defeasible only in the event of the tenant failing to appear or making a statement that he is not willing to purchase the land or committ default in payment of the price thereto as determined by the c . Tribunal."

Therefore, it is unquestionably established that on the tillers' day, the landlord's interest in the land gets extinguished and simultane- ously by a statutory sale without anything more by the parties, the . extinguished title of the landlord is kindled or created in the tenant. D That very moment landlord-tenant relationship as under;tood in common law or Transfer of Property Act· comes to an end. · The link and chain is broken. The absent non-cultivating landlord ceases to ,have that ownership element of the land and the cultivating tenant, the tiller of the soil becomes the owner thereof. This is unquestionabl. E The landlord from the date of statutory sale is only entitled to receive the purchase price as determined by the Tribunal u/s 32-G. In other words, the landlord ceases to be· landlord and the tenant becomes the owner of the land and comes.in direct cqntact with the State. Without. auy act of transfer inter vivos the title of the landlord , is extinguished and is created simultaneously in the tenant making the F tenant the deemed purchaser. It is an admitted position that on April I, 1957 Tarachand was the landlord and Janardhan was the tenant. Tarachand landlord · was under no disability as envisaged by sec. 32-F . Therefore, on April I, 1957 Janardhan became deemed purchaser. and Mr. Lalit could not controvert this position. G If Janardhan became the deemed purchaser on tillers' day, the relationship of landlord and tenani between Tarachand and Janardhan rame to be extingui,hed and no right could be claimed either by Taracband or anyone claiming through him such as H . Ashoklal or t4e present purchasers on the footing that they are the

\I) (1959] Suppl. I SCR489 at 518.

AMRIT BHIKAn v. kASiUNATH (Desai, J.) 245 owners of the land on or after April I, I 957. This basic fact is incontrovertible. A

It may be mentioned that sec. 32-F [has no applicatfon to the facts of this case. Section 32-F postponed the date of com- pulsory purchase by the tenant where the landlord is a minor or a widow or a person subject to mental or physical disabiiity on B the tillers' day •. Sec. 32-F has an overriding effect over s. 32 as it opens with a i\on-obstante clause. The combined effect of sec. 32-F · and 32 would show that where. the landlord is under no disability as envisaged by sec. 32-F the tenant of such landlord by operation of Jaw would become the deemed purchaser but where the landlord is of a class or. category as set out in sec. 32-F such as a minor, a c widow or a person subject to any mental or physical disability, the date of compulsory sale would be postponed as therein provided.. Now, if Tarachand, the landlord was under no disability and he was alive on April l, 1957 and he was the owner, his tenant Janardhan became the deemed purchaser. 'This conclusion, in our opinion, is unassailable.

If Janardhan became the owner on April 1, 1957 all subsequent proceedings in which the Tribunal held that the date of purchase was postponed because the recorded owner Ashoklal was a minor were without jurisdiction. The Tribunal had absolutely no jurisdiction to proceed on the footing that the date of sale was postponed. It is neither ~n incorrect order nor an erroneous order 'as was sought to be made out but Tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to proceed u/s. 32-F because when the proceedings u/s. 32-F were commenced, Janardhan had long since become the deemed purchaser. Therefore all sub- sequent proceedings were ab initio void and without jurisdiction and the High Court was right in holding that orders passed therein were nullity. •

The attempt to overcome this position by urging that the order was 6froneous was rightly repelled by the High Court holding that . G the orders were nnll and void, proceeding on an erroneous assump• tion of jurisdictional fact that the recorded owner was a minor on the tillers day. When a Tribunal of limited jurisdicti~n clutches at _.., a jurisdiction by ignoring a statlltory provision and its consequences in law on the status of parties or by a decision wholly unwarranted H with regard to the jurisdictional fact, its decision is a nullity and can be set up in collateral proceeding. The Tribunal clutched at a jurisdiction not vested in it and in such a siiuation it cannot be .

246 Sul>REME COURT REPORTS tl983j 3 s.c.i\. disputed that the Tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain any A. proceeding purporting to be between landlord and tenant on the erroneous assumption that tenant was still a tenant though he had long since .become the d.eemed purc~aser. The tenant has ceased to be a tenant much prior to the !Hders passe.d by the Tribunal on April 24, 1961 and July 13, 1967 holding that the date of compulsory purchase,was postponed. The compulsory purchase by the operation B of law had taken place as early as April I, 1957 and that legal position cannot be wished away. Mr. Lalit, however, contended that the statement of Janardhan in the proceeding u/s 14 read with sec. 29 of the Tenancy Act stating that he had become old arid was unable to cultivate the land and he c is willing to hand over possession would estop the respond•,nt from contending to the contrary. It was further urged that respondent himself was present on the date on which ,Janardhan gave his state- ment on October 5, 1967 and he concurred with the statement of Janardhan. We are not unaware of the landed gentry exercising such influence over the tenants that in the absence of legal literacy D, they may make any statement contrary to their legally protected interest. A measure 'of agrarian reform cannot be permitted to be defeated by such devious means of the landlords. However apart from ignorance of his position assuming that Janardhan relinquished his right as .tenant, landlord Ashoklal was nontheless not entitled to recover possession because, when Janardhan, the deemed purchaser agreed to hand over possession subject to the provision of sec. 15, the land would be ·at the disposal of Collector under sec'. 32 P. Landlord even in such a situation is not entitled to be restored to possession without bringing his case under sec. 15 which appears not to be the case of landlord. And look at the.bona fides of th~ landlord. Ashoklal, as soon as he managed to obtain wholly void order for possession, managed to transfer the. lands to the petitioners within a span of less than 2 weeks. It would thus appear that even Ashoklal and his next friend must be presum- ably aware of the void character of the order and therefore posthaste with a view to thwarting any further legal proceeding and confuse Janardhan, Ashoklal through his next friend managed to transfer the land to the petitioners and iet the pet;tioners fightthe deemed purchaser. A measure whereby tenant was to be made the owner of, the land cannot be permitted to be defeated by such jugglery of H --0rders by low-level revenue officers who hardly knew what they were doing. Look at the lack of knowledge of law of the TribunaL While overlooking: the relevant date, and it took into account the subse- quent date which was wholly irrelevant and impermissible. Though

AMR!T BH!KAJ(v. KASHINATH (Desai, 1.) . 24,

landlord Tarachand had died much after 1.4.1957 in proceeding 'u/s 32-G minor Ashoklal whose name was mutated on death of A Tarachand, the authority declared the sale having been postponed even though statute had already operated and sale taken place. Can a statutory Tribunal charged with a duty tO implement the law betray such total lack-of knowledge so as tff be counter-productive? Same is the case with the decision of Tenancy Aval Karkoon. A pro- B' ceeding u/s 14 read with sec. 29 of the Tenancy Act, started on the footing that the relationship of landlord and tenant subsisted should have been thrown out at the threshold because a decade back the then tenant Janardhan had become the deemed purchaser. There- fore these orders were wholly. null and void and hence non est and cannot thwart subsequent proceedings. The nullity can be-set up c in subsequent proceedings. ·

Janardhan was deprived of his possession by an order which had no legal sanction. He was d<;prived of possession on the footing that he was a tenant ignoring and overlooking the statutory event that he had become the owner. Even when the Legislature passed such a revolutionary measure its knowledge was not transmitted to the persons for whose benefit the measure was enacted and there was no awakening to one's right. Undoubtedly, a communication gap and for want of legal literacy Janardhan was taken on a joy ride and was illegally made to part with possession. Subsequently every- one realised the blunder committed by them and therefore when the proceedings started on the notice given by Janardhan, the Tribunal determined the price. Appeal of the petitioners to Assistant Collector failed, revision petition to. the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal at the instance of the petitioner& failed so also the writ F ; petition u/s 227 of the petitioners failed. AU authorities concur- rently held that Janardhan had become the owner and the Tribunal was right in determining the price.

The authority u/s 84 held that petitioners were not entitled to G retain possession as their occupation was contrary to the provisions of the Tenancy Act and they had acquired no title to the land by the purported sale by Ashoklal. The direction for restoring possession to Janardhan was rightly given. A revision petition and H a writ petition to the High Court at the instance.of the petitioners failed. ·

248 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (\983} 3 s.c.R. We find that the High Court was right in rejecting both the A petitions. These were all the contentions in this appeal and as we. find no merit in it, the appeal fails and is dismissed with costs.

When this Court issued notice, appellants were directed,,to deposit Rs. 1500 for costs of respondent. Respondent came here in rags and urged that he was too poor to engage a counsel. We B therefore direct that the amount of Rs. 1500 deposited in this Court by appellants be paid to respondent.

We record our appreciation of assistance to the Court by Mr. Jitendra Shanna who appeared amicus curie at the reques1t made c by the Court while granting special leave. He should withdraw .the amount and take all steps to pay the same to the respondent.

S.R. Appeal dismissed.