9911796707
TMI Blog1971 (8) TMI 229X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a joint and undivided Hindu family of which Raghunath, on the death of his father Laxman in June 1954, became the karta and the manager. The family then held 523.03 acres of lands situate at Ranjangaon, Sangwi, Karajgaon, Shindi and Odhre villages. In 1956, appellant Raghunath gave a vardhi (intimation) to the talathi stating that he and the other members of his family had entered into a partial partition whereunder Laxmibai, the widow of Narayan, received 41.13 acres of land of Karajgaon, Kashinath, named Madhav Narayan after his adoption, 74.20 acres of land in Shindi village and Warubai, his mother, 64.03 acres of land of Shindi and Odhre villages. The balance of 343.07 acres of the said lands still stood in his name. But his case was that the members of the family had separated and ceased to constitute a joint and undivided family, and therefore, held the said balance in equal shares as tenants-in-common. The position thus was that on August 4, 1959 343-07 acres of land comprising of 180-20 acres of Rajangaon and 162-27 acres of Sangwi villages remained in his name. It was said that out of these 343 -07 acres of land, 75 -27 acres had come to his share thus leaving 267-20 acre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ee of them had been- born after January 26, 1962, that being the appointed day under the Act and as appellant Madhav had purchased 11 -20 acres of land separately on March 11, 1960, they Could not be treated as members of the family under sec. 6 for the purpose of additional 1/6th of the basic ceiling area. Thus on the basis that the family consisted of 10 members only he allowed 96 acres plus 5/6th thereof, in all 176 acres and declared the remaining 167 -07 acres as surplus. On an appeal under sec. 33 of the Act, the Revenue Tribunal accepted the findings of the Deputy Collector rejecting the appellants' case of partition and held that the said sales effected by the members of the family were made to defeat the objects of the Act. The Tribunal, however, made one modification in the order of the Deputy Collector, in that, it held that though Survey No. 81 was acquired in the name of Madhav on March 11, 1960, there was nothing to show that that acquisition was from his separate funds or was to be held by him separately, and therefore, he could not be excluded from the family for the purposes of sec. 6. In this view the Tribunal held that the family held 343 07 acres plus II -20 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e appointed day, from acquiring by transfer or partition any land if he already has land in excess of the ceiling area or land which together with any other land already held by him will exceed in the total the ceiling area. Sec. 10 provides that if a person after August 4, 1959 but before the appointed day, transfers or partitions any land in anticipation of, or in order to avoid or defeat the objects of this Act, or if any land is transferred or partitioned in contravention of sec. 8, then, in calculating the ceiling area of such a person the land so transferred or partitioned shall be taken into consideration and the land exceeding the ceiling area so calculated shall be deemed to be in excess of the ceiling area for that holding notwithstanding that the land remaining with him is not in fact in excess of the ceiling area. If by reason of such transfer or partition the holding of that person is less than the area so calculated to be in excess of the ceiling area, then all his land shall be deemed to be surplus land and out of the land so transferred or partitioned and in possession of the transferee land to the extent of such deficiency shall be deemed to be surplus. Sec. 12 the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f the partial partition having been made on May 1, 1956 and the said affidavits also mentioned the fact of the severance of status and the fact of the members of the family holding thereafter the family properties as tenants- in-common. Both the Deputy Collector and the Tribunal, however, arrived at a concurrent finding for reasons given by both of them after an examination of the materials placed before them that the appellants' case of the severance of status and partition of the family lands partially in 1956 and then in 1960 was not acceptable. The question is whether we would be justified in an appeal under Art. 136 in interfering with such a concurrent finding of fact. As noted by both the authorities, no partition deed was admittedly executed by the parties either in 1956 or in 1960. The only documentary proof adduced in support of the alleged partition consisted of the vardhis, sales of lands, the market receipts for sales of agricultural produce said to be the produce of the lands allotted to some of the members of the family unaccompanied, however, with any proof that the sale proceeds thereof were appropriated by or accounted to those members. The vardhis merely i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... about 1920 leaving him surviving as his only heir his widow, Laxmibai. As the law then stood, Laxmibai would not have been entitled to any share in the joint family properties. Under the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act, XVIII of 1937, a widow governed by the Mitakshra school became entitled in a joint family property, to the same interest as her husband, such interest being, however, only a Hindu women's estate. But the Act, by reason of S. 4 thereof, applied to the property of a Hindu dying intestate after the commencement ,of the Act. There is nothing on record to show and it appears no effort was ever made to establish that notwithstanding Laxmibai's legal disability there was any agreement between the parties whereunder she was given 41 acres ;Absolutely in her own right over and above 74 acres given to Madhav, her adopted son. The absence of any document regarding the alleged severance of the family and the partial partition in 1956, the inequality of shares allotted to some of the members ,of the family both in 1956 and in 1960, the absence of any principle or basis for such alleged distribution, the sale of the whole of the lands said to have come to the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lays down that (i) no person who on or after the appointed day holds excess lands shall, on or after that day, transfer or partition any land until the excess land held by him is determined, and (ii) that no person at any time on and after the appointed day shall acquire by transfer or partition any land if the has land in excess of the ceiling area or land which together with any other land already held by him would exceed in the total the ceiling area. The scheme of the Act seems to be to determine the ceiling area of each person (including a family) with reference to the appointed day. The policy of the Act appears to be that on and after the appointed day no person in the State should be permitted to hold any land in excess of the ceiling area as determined under the Act and that ceiling area would be that which is determined as on the appointed day. Therefore, if there is a family consisting of persons exceeding five in number on January 26, 1962, the ceiling area for that family would be the basic ceiling area plus 1/6th thereof per member in excess of the number five. The ceiling area so fixed would not be liable to fluctuations with the subsequent increase or decrease ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t does not appear to be a correct view as the learned Judges there failed to appreciate that sec. 12 contemplates a limited number of cases where a ceiling area has to be refixed by reason of the intervening events. Except for those cases, the scheme of the statute is that a ceiling area is to be ascertained with reference to the state of affairs existing on the appointed day. In this view, the Revenue Tribunal was right in not taking into consideration the three children born in the family after the appointed day while determining the ceiling area to which the appellants' family was entitled to. As regards the land purchased in March 1960 in the name of Madhav, the proviso to sec. 6 is clear. For the purpose of increasing the holding of a family in excess of the ceiling area, if a member thereof holds any land separately he cannot be regarded as a member of that family for such purpose. There would be in such a case two alternatives only. Either that land is held to be the separate property of Madhav, in which case he cannot be regarded as a member of the family for the purpose of sec. 6. or it is treated as a family property although it might have been purchased for some r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
