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TMI Blog1945 (8) TMI 14X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... were covered by casuarina trees and, rejecting the appellant's claim to their assessment as agricultural land, were assessed under Section 81(3). An appeal was carried without success to the municipal council, and eventually a suit was filed in the District Munsiff's Court. The plaintiff was unsuccessful in the suit and also in the lower appellate Court. As already stated, the only point taken is that for purposes of Section 81 of the District Municipalities Act the word ' agriculture ' must be construed in its widest sense so as to include not only the cultivation of food crops but also the cultivation of garden crops, trees, bushes and flowers. 3. The two decisions of this Court which first require notice are Pavadai P ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... neya Subramaniam (1944) 1 M.L.J. 361, the meaning of the words agricultural land was discussed at some length in relation to the provisions of the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act, 1937. Patanjali Sastri, J., before examining the various decisions made this observation: It is somewhat remarkable that a word in such common use as ' agriculture ' should have given rise to a great divergence of judicial opinion in regard to its interpretation. 6. Reference was made to the decision of the Privy Council in Kesho Prasad Singh v. Sheo Pargash Ojha AIR1922Mad351 , in which it was held that land granted by a zamindar for the purpose of planting a grove the grantee agreeing to deliver one half of the fruit to the zamindar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es of the capital value of such lands or at such rates with reference to the extent of such lands as it may fix. 9. Clause 4(a), under which the plaintiff (appellant) claims to be assessed, is in these words: The municipal council may, in the case of lands used exclusively for agricultural purposes, levy those taxes at such proportion as it may fix of the annual value of such lands as calculated in accordance with the provisions of Section 79 of the Madras Local Boards Act, 1920, 10. Section 82(1) reads thus; Every building shall be assessed together with its site and other adjacent premises occupied as an appurtenance thereto unless the owner of the building is a different person from the owner of such site or premises. 11. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cording to laws passed by Provincial Legislatures, while those used for growing another kind should pass according to laws made by the Central Legislature, or that 'the circumstances in which the cultivation is carried on' (per Reilly, J., in Chandrq-sekhara Bharathi Swamigal v. Duraiswami Naidu AIR1931Mad659 ), should determine the law which governs the devolution of the land. Nor could it have been intended that succession to such lands should depend on the degree of tillage or preparation of the soil or of the skill and labour expended in rearing and maintaining the plants. We are of opinion that for the purposes of the relevant entries in Lists II and III. of Schedule VII, the expression ' agricultural lands' must be tak ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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