9911796707
TMI Blog1962 (2) TMI 91X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to take action thereunder for resuming the jagirs. A number of petitions were thereupon filed in the High Court of Punjab under Art. 226 of the Constitution challenging the validity of the Act and of the proceedings taken by the respondent State thereunder on the ground, firstly, that the Act was ultra vires the powers of the State Legislature and that its provisions were unconstitutional and void ; and, secondly, that even if the -Act was intra vires the jagirs held by the petitioners were not "jagirs" as defined in the Act, and were therefore not liable to be resumed under its provisons. By their judgment dated May 25, 1959, the learned Judges held that the legislation was within the competence of the State, and that it did not contravence any of the constitutional provisions. They further held that the jagirs held by the petitioners fell within the definition of "jagir" under the Act, and were liable to be resumed thereunder, and that accordingly no writ could be issued against the State for proceeding under the provisions of the Act. By their Order dated January 27, 1960, the learned Judges granted leave to appeal to this Court under Art.. 133 (1) (a), and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der of a jagir. Section 2 (5) defines State Government as follows: "State Government" (a) as respects any period before the 1st November 1956, shall mean: (i) the Government of the Patiala and East Punjab State Union or any of the Indian States which formed into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union on the 20th August, 1948 and (ii) the Government of the State of Punjab and all predecessor Governments thereof by whatever name called, the Governor-General or the Governor-General in Council, as the case may be, and the Sikh Rulers, but shall not include the Central Government as defined in the General Clauses Act, 1897, after the period commencing on the 15th August, 1947. (b) as respects any period after the 1st November, 1956 shall mean the Government of the State of Punjab." Section 3 enacts that "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law or usage any grant settlement, sanad or other instrument, or any decree or order of any Court or authority, all jagirs shall, on and from the commencement of this Act, be extinguished and stand resumed in the name of the State Government. It is common ground that the jagirs which are concerned in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rnor and occupied the whole country upto Jumna. "Tradition still describes", says Cunningham in his History of the Sikhs, P. I 10, I 'how the Sikhs dispersed as soon as the battle was won and how riding day and night each horseman would throw his be-It and scabbard, his articles of dress and acooutrement, until he was almost naked into successive villages to mark them as his." when the conquest was over each Chief declared himself the ruler of the territory which he was able to occupy, and constituted himself its sovereign. This state of affairs continued until 1806. By this time, Ranjit Singh the ','Lion of the Punjab", had built up a powerful State across the Sutlej. He had already subdued the petty rulers within that area and was turning his attention to the territories 'south of the Sutlej and had occupied some of them. The Cis-Sutlej rulers became alarmed about their future and appealed for protection to the British, who had, by this time, changed their policy of nonintervention. The appeal was welcome, and met with prompt response. The result was that in 1809 the British entered into a treaty with Ranjit Singh whereby he surrendered his ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ). Pursuant to this declaration, the Chiefs were stripped of all their governmental functions and the final denouement took place in 1852 when the British took over the collection of revenue for the jagir lands. The rules for settlement of revenue were made by them, and the actual settlement and collection of revenue were made under their authority, and out of the collections the jagirdars were paid their share. On these facts, the question is whether it can be said that their was an assignment of the land revenue to the jagirdars. Express grants to them, there were none. The point in debate before us is whether grants of the land revenue could be implied from the facts stated above. A somewhat similar question came up for decision before this Court in Thakar Amar Singhji v. State of Rajasthan (2) with reference to a class of jagirdars in the State of Rajasthan known as Bhomicharas. They were once the rulers of the territories which were claimed to be jagirs, and later on the State of Jodhpur imposed its suzerainty over them and exacted an annual payment called "Foujbal". The Bhomioharas contended that they had come into possession of the territories as rulers and held t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ns, and if the British Government took upon themselves the work of settlement and collection of land revenue, it was on their behalf and under their authority and under an implied arrangement with them. The assumption underlying this argument is that, as the cisSutlej Chiefs ;are-not conqaered by the British, their status must necessarily be that of sovereigns, and that in consequence the payment of land revenue to them could not be as jagirdars holding under an implied grant from the Government. That, however, is not correct. It is settled law that conquest is not the only mode by which one State can acquire sovereignty over the territories belonging to another State, and that the same result can be achieved in any other mode which has the effect of establishing its sovereignty. Thus, discussing what is an ,'act of State", the Judicial Committee observed in Cook v. Sir James Gordon Sprigg (1) : "The taking possession by Her Majesty, whether by cession or by any other means by which sovereignty can be acquired, was an act of State' " To the same effect are the 'following observations of Lord Danedin in Vajesing Jaravarsingji v. Secretary of State for I ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as still one relie of sovereignty left with them and that was the right to receive the land revenue. If this were the true position, the status of the jagirdars would be that of subjects of the British in respect of all matters except as to the right to receive revenue, in respect of which alone they would have to be regarded as sovereigns. This is clearly untenable, because a person cannot be both a sovereign and a subject at the same time. Dealing with this identical contention, this Court observed in Thakur Amar Singhji's case (1) : "The status of a person must be either that of a sovereign or a subject. There is no tertium quid. The law does not recognise an intermediate status of a person being partly a sovereign and partly a subject, and when once it is admitted that the Bhomicharas had ack- nowledged the sovereignty of Jodhpur their status can only be that of a subject. A subject might occupy an exalted position and enjoy special privileges, but he is none the less a subject ; and even if the status of Bhomicharas might be considered superior to that of ordinary jagirdars, they were also subjects." (pp. 336-337) If the status of the Cis-Sutlej jagirdars is in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... November 17, 1346, wherein the proposal for resumption and re-grant was dropped, it was stated that there was no need for it as the same ends could be obtained by adopting certain measures such as the taking over of the police administration and customs and the like. The reason, therefore, for not making a resumption and an express grant is one which would support an inference of implied grant. An argument is also sought to be built on the description given of the Cis-Sutlej jagirdars as "mediatized rulers" in the extract from J. M. Douie's "Punjab Land Administration Manual" already given, that their status is that of sovereigns. This expression was originally used with reference to German Princes in Holy Roman Empire who, having been at one time vassals of the Emperor, were subsequently subjugated by other Princes who were also vassals of the Emperor. The meaning of the word "mediatise" in modern usage is given in The Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. VI, P. 292, as "annex (Principality) to another State, leaving former sovereign his title and (usually) more or less of Ilia rights of Government". It might be 'correct to speak of the C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng fiscal jurisdiction, the British Government considered itself as acting in its sovereign capacity. Then there is Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act,, 1900 (Punjab Act IV of 1900), which introduced in the Punjab Laws Act, 1872, as. 8 to 8C enacting rules of descent "in respect of succession to any assignment of land revenue" and providing for the recognition of successors to the deceased jagirdars by the Provincial Government on certain -conditions specified therein. We have then the Punjab Jagire Act V of 1911 dealing with the same topic. The preamble to the Act states that "it is expedient to consolidate the law governing the assignments of land revenue and other grants hitherto known as jagirs, and to make more precise provisions regarding the manner in which such assignments are to be made or continued in the future." Jagir is defined in s. 2 in torms substantially the same as under the present Act. This Act repeals as. 8 to 80 of the Punjab Laws Act, 1872, which were inserted by the Punjab Descent of Jagirs Act IV of 1900, and reproduces them in as. 7 to 10. Section 7(1)(b) provides for the acceptance by the jagirdars of the rules of descent framed by the Gover ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e decided only on the. terms of s.2(1)(a), we have in s. 2(5) a definition or' State Government which is decisive of the question. According to that definition, "State Government" includes "the Government of the State of Punjab, and all predecessor Gevernments thereof, by what ever name called, the Governor-General or the GovernorGeneralin-Council as the case may be." It is not disputed that these words are wide enough to include the British Government which made the grant, but it is contended that this definition was not in the Act as originally enacted and was inserted by the Punjab Resumption of Jagirs (Amendment) Act, 1959, and that the rights of the parties should be determined in accordance with the law as it stood prior to the amendment. There is no force in this contention, because under s. 1(2) of the Amendment Act, retrospective operation is given to it as from November 14, 1957. But then it is urged that the amendment was not within the legislative competence of the Legislature of the State of Punjab and is null and void. The grounds therefor are thus stated in Petition No. 82 of 1960 : "This is nothing but a colourable legislation. The Sta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... id not in fact reach jagirs granted by the British Government. Then, with a view to clarify the position, and set the controversy at rest,, the legislature intervened and enacted the Amendment Act of 1959, inserting the impugned definition of "State Government". We are unable to see what the lack of vires is under which this amendment suffers. We must reject this contention also. This disposes of all the points raised on the merits in the Writ Petitions and Civil Appeals. In Civil Appeal No. 453 of 1961 preferred by one of the jagirdars, Umrao Singh, his son Satinder Singh intervened, and he asks that suitable directions might be given for protecting his interests in. the compensation amount which is payable to the appellant Under the Act. He states that under the law the Cis-Sutlej jagirdar is not an absolute owner of the jagir, that he has only a right to enjoy it without any power of alienation and that after his life time the next lineal descendant would take it free from all encumbrances created by the previous owner, that the rights of the jagirdar over the compensation amount due on resumption under the Act could only be the same as over the jagir, and that if that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
