9911796707
TMI Blog2008 (2) TMI 939X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... precisely on 6th of July, 1976, an agreement to sell was executed by the legal heirs of the original grantee who, in the meantime, had expired. Under this agreement for sale, the vendors, namely, the legal heirs of the original grantee had agreed to sell the scheduled land to the father of the appellant. Subsequent to the agreement for sale and the commencement of the Act, more precisely on 13th of October, 1986, a deed of sale was executed and registered by the vendors in respect of the scheduled land. After the registration of the sale deed, the authority under the Act initiated a proceeding for resumption of the scheduled land as, according to the authorities, the sale was in violation of the provisions of the Act. This is because the sale was effected after the commencement of the Act without previous permission of the government. An order was passed by the Assistant Commissioner who had the authority to direct resumption of the land holding that the sale having taken place on 13th of October, 1986, when the Act had already come into force, the sale deed dated 13th of October, 1986 must be found to be null and void in view of the prohibition contained in Section 4 of the Act. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ant Rules and the provisions for cancellation of grants where the land is alienated in contravention of the above said provision are found not sufficient to help the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes grantees whose ignorance and poverty have been exploited by persons belonging to the affluent and powerful sections to obtain sales or mortgages either for a nominal consideration or for no consideration at all and they have become the victims of circumstances. To fulfill the purposes of the grant, the land even if it has been alienated, should be restored to the original grantee or his heirs. The Government of India has also been urging the State Government for enacting a legislation to prevent alienation of lands granted to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by Government on the lines of the model legislation prepared by it and circulated to the State Government. A plain reading of the statement of objects and reasons, for which the legislature has introduced this Act, would show that the non- alienation clause contained in the existing land grant rules and the provisions for cancellation of grants where the land was alienated in contravention of the above said provision ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... force relating to agrarian reforms or land ceilings or abolition of imams, other than that relating to hereditary offices or rights and the word granted shall be construed accordingly. 6. Next is the definition of Transfer under Section 3(e) of the Act. Transfer means a sale, gift, exchange, mortgage with or without possession, lease or any other transaction not being a partition among members of a family or a testamentary disposition and includes the creation of a charge or an agreement to sell, exchange, mortgage or lease or enter into any other transaction. A bare reading of the definition of Transfer as defined in Section 3(e) of the Act would show that an agreement for sale of any granted land is included within the meaning of Transfer . That being the position, the word Transfer as defined under the Act is an inclusive definition. That is to say, it includes sale as well as agreement for sale , although an agreement for sale under the Transfer of Property Act is not a transfer and the right, title or interest in the land does not pass until the sale deed is executed and registered. Sale has been defined in Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or on information given in writing by any person or even suo moto. 9. Section 6 of the Act prohibits registration of transfer of granted lands. It says that notwithstanding anything in the Registration Act, 1908, on or after the commencement of this Act, no registering officer shall accept for registration any document relating to the transfer of, or to the creation of any interest in, any granted land included in a list of granted lands furnished to the registering officer except where such transfer is in accordance with this Act or the terms of the grant of such land or the law providing for such grant. From a bare reading of this provision, it is clear that an embargo has been placed on the registering officer to accept any document for registration relating to the transfer of, or to the creation of any interest in, any granted land except where the transfer is in accordance with the grounds mentioned in the said section. 10. The only other relevant provision to be considered for the purpose of this appeal is Section 11 of the Act, which reads as under: The provision of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other la ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the commencement of the act in view of the agreement for sale, still since the sale deed was executed and registered after the commencement of the act, the same must be hit by Section 4 of the Act and therefore, no right, title or interest in such granted land shall be conveyed or be deemed ever to have conveyed by such transfer and that being the position, no interference could be made with the impugned judgment as well as with the orders of the authorities. 12. Having heard the learned Counsel for the parties and after examining the objects and reasons and the relevant provisions of the Act, as noted herein earlier, in depth and in detail, we have no hesitation to hold that the submissions of the learned Counsel for the appellant cannot at all be accepted. It is true that the agreement for sale in respect of the granted land was executed before the commencement of the Act. It is also an admitted position that Transfer under the Act includes an agreement to sell as well. Keeping this fact in mind, let us now see whether in view of Section 4 of the Act, the transfer of the land, in respect of which the agreement for sale was executed before the commencement of the act but whi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for the purposes of this act, Transfer has been defined to include an agreement for sale although under the general law, an agreement for sale will not by itself transfer the granted land automatically to the purchaser/appellant. From an overall consideration of the objects and reasons for which this act was introduced viz., to protect the right and interest of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in respect of the granted lands and the relevant provisions of the Act, it is pellucid that the definition of Transfer under Section 3(e) of the Act includes an agreement for sale also and Transfer has been so defined to protect the right, title and interest of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes so that possession of the lands could be restored to them even if they had entered into an agreement for sale. It would be necessary for us at this stage to examine Section 4 of the Act in depth and in detail. As noted herein earlier, Section 4 deals with prohibition of transfer of granted lands. Sub-section (1) of Section 4 starts with the non-obstante clause and provides that any transfer of granted land, either before or after the commencement of the Act in contravention ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... far as the facts of the present case are concerned, admittedly, the transfer was effected after the commencement of the Act by a deed of sale dated 13th of October, 1986 without the previous permission of the Government. That being the position, we have no hesitation to hold that such transfer must be held to be null and void and no right, title or interest in such land shall be conveyed or be deemed ever to have conveyed by such transfer. 16. As argued and noted herein earlier, the learned Counsel for the appellant submitted that in view of the admitted fact that the agreement for sale, which is also a transfer within the meaning of Section 3(e) of the Act, was made before the commencement of the Act, it cannot be held that such transfer was null and void and that no right, title or interest shall be conveyed by such transfer. We are unable to agree with this submission of the learned Counsel for the appellant. As noted herein earlier, it is true that by virtue of Section 3(e) of the Act, Transfer includes an agreement for sale. We have to keep in mind that in order to protect the right, title and interest of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, this Act was promulgated ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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