Appeals Nos 10481050 of 1963
Appeals from the judgment and debreedated September 1958 of the Bombay High Court iii special Civil Applications Nos 1100 1161 and 1162 of 1958
D B Padhya J B Nagar and
AG Ratnaparkhi for the appellants in all the appeals
section G Patwardhan and R H Dhebar for the respondents Nos 2 and 3 in all the three appeals
414 The following Judgments were delivered Sarkar J These three appeals concern compensation payable under the Bombay Personal Inams Abolition Act 1952 to the appellants for abolition of their inams
Some of the appellants held shares in the inam village of Wanz and some in that of Dindoli
The appellants had moved the High Court at Bombay by several petitions under articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution for quashing the decision of the Bombay Revenue Tribunal regarding the compensation
The petitions were disposed of by the High Court by a common judgment
These appeals are against that judgment under a certificate granted by the High Court
The appellants had claimed compensation under several heads based on different grounds but two of them survive
The first is that the appellants are entitled to compensation for loss of assessment payable to them by inferior holders a special class of tenants holding lands from them
The Act does not expressly provide for compensation in respect of such lands
Sub section 1 of section 17 of the Act however provides that if any person is aggrieved by the provisions of the Act abolishing any of his rights to or interest in property and if compensation for such abolition has not been provided for such person may apply to the Collector for compensation
The appellants base their claim on this section
Sub on 5 of this section makes the right under sub section
1 unavailable in a certain case and the question is whether the appellant s claim fell within it
Now the sub section is in these terms section 175 Nothing in this section shall entitle any person to compensation on the ground that any inam village or inam land which has sic wholly or partially exempt from the payment of land revenue has been under the provisions of this Act made subject to the payment of full assessment in accordance with the provisions of the Code
Clearly this sub section applies only to a certain kind of claim for compensation in respect of an inam village exempt from payment of land revenue
The appellants say that their inams were not of this kind and so the subsection does not affect their claim
According to them their inams consisted of a grant of land re
venue only
The nature of an inam depends on the sanad or the terms of the grant
The High Court held on a construction of the sanads that the inams were grants of the villages with exemption from land revenue because the words of the grant conveyed the soil and rights over trees water mines etc
This view is obviously correct
The appellants then said that notwithstanding that the soil had been granted their inams were none the less of land revenue only
Their contention is that before the grants the tenants in 415 occupation paid revenue to the Government and thereafter to the inamdars and the latter being exempt from the liability to pay it over to the Government the net result was that the inamdars retained the land revenue and were therefore the grantees thereof This contention is idle
There is nothing to show that there were tenants holding lands in the villages before the grants which were made in 1794 and 1803 respectively and whether they paid anything and if so what  Furthermore what the tenants paid to the inamdars holders of the inams after the grants was rent and not revenue it was for the inamdars to fix the amount of it or forego it altogether if they so liked
What the tenants paid to the inamdars
was not something which was due to the Government which the inamdars kept to themselves having been exempted from the liability to pay it over to the Government it was rent due to the inamdars
It was next said that whatever might have been the position earlier after the introduction of the survey in the villages in 1900 under the Bombay Land Revenue Code 1879 what a tenant paid to an inamdar was land revenue
There is no justification for this
contention either
No doubt since the introduction of the survey the amounts payable by the tenants to the inamdars were all assessed under the Code
The nature of the assessment payable was not however altered thereby nor did it become land revenue
The survey fixed the amount payable by a tenant to the inamdar and gave him certain rights
It also conferred certain benefits on the inamdar in the matter of the realisation of his dues
The fact that the assessment was made in the same way as land revenue
made no difference
It did not change the right to the assessment
Notwithstanding all this the inamdar remained the grantee of the soil and a person who was not liable to pay revenue in respect of it and likewise the tenant remained liable as before to pay rent to the inamdar
Furthermore the distinction between the two kinds of grants is well recognised and has been maintained by the Act by specifying in section 2 1e that an inam means a grant of a village with exemption from liability to pay land revenue and also a grant of land revenue only
The appellants  contention would in effect wipe out this distinction and cannot therefore be accepted
The appellants then contended that even if their inams were grants of villages exempt from payment of land revenue sub section 5 of section 17 did not bar their claim because they were not claiming compensation on the ground that the inam villages previously exempted from land revenue had under the Act been made subject to it
They say that they have not been made liable to pay land revenue themselves and are only claiming the loss of the money that they used to collect from the inferior holders the right to 416 which collection was abolished by the Act
This contention is based on section 5 of the Act which is set out below section 5
1 All inam villages or inam lands are and shall be liable to the payment of land revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Code and the rules made thereunder and the provisions of the Code and the rules relating to unalienated land shall apply to such lands
2a An inamdar in respect of the inam land in his actual possession or in possession of a person holding from him other than an inferior holder referred to in clauseb below or b an inferior holder holding inam land on payment of annual assessment only shall primarily be liable to the State Government for the payment of land Revenue due in respect of such land held by him and shall be entitled to all the rights and shall be liable to all obligations in respect of such land as an occupant under the Code or the rules made thereunder or any other law for the time being in force
It seems to me that this contention is also without any foundation
The inamdar s right to appropriate to himself the assessment Axed by the survey and collected from the inferior holders existed on because  be was exempt from the liability to pay land revenue
If he was not so exempt then what he collected from the inferior holders would have to be paid over to the Government It would
follow that the loss for  Which the appellants claim compensation was really occasioned by the lands being subjected to revenue by section 52b
The fact that the inamdar has not himself been made liable for the revenue in respect of the lands held by inferior holders makes no difference
The substance of the matter is th the inamdar has been deprived of his right to the assessment from the inferior holders and the inferior holders have been made liable to pay that assessment to the Government
So in actual result the inamdar has been deprived of his right to the assessment because the land has been made subject to payment of land revenue
His claim for the loss of assessment is therefore in reality based on the ground that the lands which were free from revenue have been made subject to it
Sub section 5 of section 17 does provide that the bar mentioned in it operates only when land revenue is made payable the inamdar
It also seems to me that any other interpretation would lead to a result which could not have been intended
It is not in dispute that for the loss
of rights in respect of lands in his own possession excepting those mentioned in section 7 or any lands in possession of persons holding from him other than as inferior holders an inamdar is not entitled to compensation
It is admitted that 417 such compensation could not be allowed in view of section 17 5
It would be difficult to imagine a reason for the legislature to have made a distinction between such lands and lands in the possession of inferior holders
The other part of the claim concerns the right to forfeit the inferior holders  tenancies for nonpayment of rent and the right of reversion in respect of them
These the appellants have no doubt lost
The Collector asked the appellants to produce evidence in support of their claims under this head
They failed to do so
They could not even cite one instance of the exercise of any such right
It would be impossible to value the loss in respect of them as no material for doing so is on the record nor was furnished by the appellants
No compensation can
therefore be assessed or awarded for the loss of these rights
The result is that the appeals fail and they are dismissed
There will be no  order as to costs
Mudholkar J
These appeals are from a judgment of the Bombay High Court dismissing the writ petitions preferred by the appellants before it
The appellants art co sharers either in the former Inam village Wanz or in the former Inam village Dindoli both of which are situate in Surat District
Under the Bombay Personal Inams Abolition
Act 1952 all personal Inams were extinguished and all Inam villages as well as all Inam lands were made liable to the payment of land revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Land Revenue Code
The Act did not provide for compensation to the Inamdars with respect to the loss of their rights to hold their villages or lands free from payment of land revenue
Under section 10 of the Act however compensation to the Inmadars was provided for the extinguishment of certain rights possessed by them in their Inam villages
Those rights vest by virtue of the provisions of section 7 of the Act in the Government Section 171 of the Act provides for payment of compensation to a person aggrieved by the provisions of the Act which abolished extinguished or modified any of his rights or interests in property provided that compensation for such abolition extinguishbment or modification of those rights had not been provided for in any of the provisions of the Act
To this provision the following exception has been made in sub section 5 Nothing in this section shall entitle any person to compensation on the ground that any main village or inam land which has wholly or partially exempt from the payment of land revenue has been under the provisions of this Act made subject to the payment of full assessment in accordance with the provisions of the Code
 418 It is common ground that in both the villages there were holders of land called inferior holders
These were persons claiming through tillers in cultivating possession of different pieces of land in the Inam villages at the time of the grant of the Inams
It is common ground that their rights to continue to be in possession of those lands and cultivate them were left in tact by the Inamdars and the grantees of the Inams were only entitled to claim rents from them
It is common ground that under section 216 of the Bombay Land Revenue Code 1879 settlement was introduced both in Wanz and Dindoli villages though at different points of time
It is also the common case of the parties that after the introduction of the survey land revenue was assessed on the lands held by the inferior holders and in place of their liability to pay such rent as may be fixed from time to time by the Inamdars they thenceforward were rendered liable to pay to the Inamdar only the land revenue assessed at the settlement
So far as the Government was concerned the grantees of the villages Wanz and Dindoli were exempt from paying land revenue not only in respect of lands held by the inferior holders but also in respect of lands held by the Inamdars themselves or held by persons holding through the Inamdars
Now in consequence of the extinguishment of the right of the Inamdars to hold the villages revenue free they have been rendered liable to pay land revenue to the Government in respect of the lands in their possession or in the possession of persons holding through them
No liability is however cast upon them to pay to the Government land revenue in respect of lands in the possession of inferior holders
This follows clearly from section 5 of the Act and is not disputed by either set of parties to the appeal
No compensation is expressely provided for the loss of the right of the Inamdar to recover from the inferior holders land revenue assessed on the lands in their possession
Mr Padhya contends that the appellants would therefore be entitled to claim compensation in respect of this loss under section 171
He points out that the loss of this right to the Inamdars is not occasioned because of the fact that the Ina villages were made liable to pay full assessment but because the inferior holders have now been required to pay land revenue to the Government instead of to the bamdars
It is difficult to accept this argument
The relevant provision of the Act for consideration s5 which runs thus 51 AR inam villages or main lands are and shall be liable to the payment of land revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Code and the rules made thereunder and the provisions of the Code and the rules relating to unalienated land shall apply to such lands
2a An inamdar in respect of the inam land in his actual possession or in possession of a person holding from 419 him other than an inferior holder referred to in clause b below or b an inferior holder holding inam land on payment of annual assessment onlv shall primarily be liable to the State Government for the payment of land revenue due in respect of such land held by him ano shall be entitled to all the rights and shall be liable to all obligations in respect of such land as an occupant under the Code or the rules made thereunder or any other law for the time being in force lm0
It is sub section 1 of this section which creates liability to pay land revenue
Sub section 2 then proceeds to say as to who is made liable to pay land revenue the Inamdar or holder from the Inamdar or an inferior holder
Clause b of sub section
2 which deals with the liability placed on inferior holders has therefore to be read with sub section
1 and when they are so read it would be clear that the loss resulting to the Inamdar is the direct consequence of the operation of these provisions
In other words it is the direct consequence of the provisions of the Act that lands in possession of inferior holders are made liable to pay full assessment in accordance with the provisions of the Code
This in the context means liable to pay full assessment to the Government
It is true that by making this provision the Inamdars have sustained loss of one of their rights in property
it is also true that if section 171 does not apply as in my view it does not applyno compensation is payable to the Inamdars
However as no argument has been raised before us that the aforesaid provision of the Act infringes the guarantee incorporated in article 311 of the Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional the provisions of section 5 of the Act must be held to be fully operative
It was faintly urged by learned counsel that the Inamdar s right of reversion and right of escheat have also been taken away by the Act and no compensation is provided foe it
No provision was however brought to our notice by virtue of which it could be said that these rights of the Inamdars have at all been touched by the Act
Even assuming that these rights have been taken away it seems to me that the grounds given by the High Court for rejecting the appellants claim are cogent and adequate In the result therefore I agree that the appeals be dismissed
I would make no order as to costs
Bachawat J
The appellants were holders of shares in inam villages some held shares in the inam village of Wanz others held shares in the inam village of Dindoli
The inams were abolished by the Bombay Personal Inams Abolition Act 1952
By section 4 of the Act save as expressly provided by or under the Act all rights in the inams were extinguished Sections 10 and 171 provided for payment of compensation
In view of sub section 5 of s17 no compensation can be claimed under sub section
1 of section 17 on the ground that any inam village or inam land which was wholly or partially exempt from payment of land revenue has been under the Act made subject to the payment of full assessment
The appellants filed claims for compensation under sections 10 and 17 1 of the Act before the Collector of Surat
We are now concerned with the following
two claims for compensation
under section 171 of the Act 1 loss for the abolition of the right of the appellants to recover assessment from the inferior holders in respect of the lands in their possession 2 loss for the extinction of the right of reversion and forfeiture in respect of those lands
The Collect or of surat and the Bombay Revenue Tribunal concurrently held that the claim for compensation in respect of the first item was barred by section 175 of the Act and in respect of the claim under the second head the appellants failed to prove that they sustained any loss
The appellants filed applications under articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution before the High Court at Bombay challenging the Correctness of these findings
The High Court dismissed the applications
Section 21e of the Act classifies personal inams into two categories  The appellants Content that their inams were grants of land revenue and therefore personal inams of the second category specified in section 21eii
In respect of the personal inam  of the second category the bar of s 
175 is not attracted
On the other  hand the respondents contend that the inams in question were grants of villages partially exempt from payment of the land revenue and therefore personal inams of the first category specified in s  21ei
In respect of personal inams of the first category the bar of section 175 is attracted
The High Court held and in my opinion rightly that the grants of the villages on their true construction were grants of the soil
The inamdars were not required to pay any land revenue except the quit rent and some small haqs
Consequently the grants were grants of villages with partial exemption from payment of the land revenue and were Personal inams of the first category specified in section l1ei
The survey and settlement of the villages under section 216 of the Land Revenue Code 1879 made no difference in the character of the inams
The introduction of the survey settlement did not confer on the inferior holders the status of occupants nor render them liable to pay land revenue to the Government they continued to be inferior holders under the inamdar and liable to Day the assessments to him
In spite of the survey settlement the villages continued to be alienated villages and the inams continued to be personal inams of the first category referred to in section 21ei of the Act
The High Court rightly held that the appellants are not en titled to claim compensation in respect of the abolition of their 421 421 right to recover assessment from the inferior holders
The inam lands  no longer enjoyed either total or partial exemption from payment of land revenue
By section 51 of the Act all inam lands are now liable to payment of full land revenue
By section 52b in respect of lands held by inferior holders on payment of assessment only the inferior holders now enjoy the status of occupants and are liable to pay the land revenue directly to the State Government
In respect of those lands the inamdars are neither entitled to collect the assessment from the inferior holders nor liable to
pay land revenue to the State Government
Had the appellants  right to recover assessment from the inferior holders not been abolished they would have been entitled to recover the amounts
of assessments from the inferior holders and at the same time would have been liable to pay the identical amounts to the Government on account of land revenue
The loss consequential on the abolition of the right to recover assessment is therefore nil
The claim under this head is really on the ground that the
inam lands which were formerly exempt from payment of land revenue have been subjected by the Act to payment of full assessment
Such a claim is barred by section 175 of the Act
With regard to the claim for compensation under the second head the High Court rightly held that the appellants could not establish any loss under this head
They failed to show that they exercised any right of forfeiture or claimed any right of reversion at any time
I see no reason for disturbing the finding of the High Court and the Tribunals below on this point
The appellants submit that in view of the ephemeral nature of their rights of reversion and forfeiture in respect of the lands held by the inferior holders the grants of villages as far as they relate to those lands are assimilated to grants of land revenue
They submit that the High Court and the Tribunals below while holding that the only right of the appellants in respect of those lands was to recover the assessments from the inferior holders have inconsistently and unjustly held that the grants were grants of inam villages and not of land revenue so as to attract the bar of section 175
This submission is not well founded
A grant of a village or land with total or partial exemption from payment of land revenue is essentially different from a grant of land revenue and the distinction has been preserved by the Act
On the extinction of the grant of land revenue the inamdar loses all rights in respect of the grant and he is therefore entitled to full compensation under section section 171
On the other hand on abolition of the grant of an inam village or land the inamdar is allowed to retain and enjoy various rights and benefits arising out of the grant
Section 52a gives him the rights of an occupant in respect of lands in his actual possession or in possession of persons holding from him other than 422 inferior holders
The grants of inam lands on their true construction may include the right to mines or mineral products see Secretary of State for India vs Shantaram Naravan1 and this right of the inamdar if any is preserved by section 9 of the Act
By section 10 of the Act the inamdar holding inam villages or lands is entitled to compensation in respect of any right or interest in any property referred to in section 7
He is also entitled to compensation under section 171 but this right is subject to the provisions of section 175
It will appear therefore that the Act treats the inams of the two categories very differently
While the holder of the inam of the first category referred to in section 21ei suffers from the disadvantage of the bar of section 17 5 in respect of compensation he enjoys numerous advantages which are denied to the holder of the inam of the second category referred to in section 2ieii
The appeals fail and are dismissed
There will be no order as to costs
Appeals dismissed
1 1925 1


Summary:
The appellants were holders of shares in Inam villages
on the Inams being abolished by Bombay Personal In Abolition ACt 1953 they claimed compensation for their Inam under section 171 of the Act
By a 175
Nothing is this section shall entitle any person to compensation on the ground that any inam village or inam land which has sic wholly or partially exempt from the payment of land revenue has been under the provision of this Act made subject to the payment of full assessment in accordance with the provisions of the Code  section 5 of the Act provide i All inam villages or inam lands are and shall be liable to the Payment of land revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Code and rules made thereunder and the provisions the Code and the rules relating to unalienated land shall apply to such lands
12 a An inamdar in respect of the inam land in his actual Possession or in possession of a person holding from him other than an inferior holder referred to in clause b below or b an inferior holder holding inam land on payment of annual assessment only shall Primarily be liable to the State Government for the payment of land revenue due in respect of such land held by him and shall be entitled to all the rights and shall be liable to all obligations in respect of such land as An ocupant under the Code or the rules made thereunder or any other law for the time being in force
 HELD Per Sarkar J 1
On a construction of the Sanad by which the inams were granted thegrants were of villages and exemption from land revenue as mentioned 14 section 175
Mat the tenants paid to the Inamdars was not something which was due to the Government which the Inamdars kept to themselves but was Tent due to the Inamdars
414 G415 C Even after the survey in the Inam villages in 1900 under the Bombay Land Revenue Code 1879 the Inamdars remained the grantees of the soil exempt from payment of revenue and the tenants remained liable as before to pay rent to the Inamdars
415 E F 2 Section 5 of the Act does not show that the Inamdars were claiming compensation for the loss of money that they used to collect from the inferior holders the right to which collection was abolished by the Act and therefore section 175 did not apply to them
The fact that under a 5 the Inamdar has not himself been made liable for the revenue in respect of the land held by the inferior holders made no differentce
By section 5 an 7 413 Inamdar has been deprived of his right to the assessment from the inferior holders and the inferior holders have been made liable to pay that assesment to the Government
Therefore in actual result the Inamdar has been deprived of his right to the assessment because the land has been made subject to the payment of land revenue and he was therefore covered by section 17 5
416 E G Per Mudholkar J  Section 5 1 of the Bombay Personal Inams Abolition Act 1953 creates liability to pay and revenue to the Government with respect to inam laads in accordance with the provisions of the Bombay Land Revenue Code 1879
Where lands were in possession inferior holders section 52 b places the liability on the inferior holders
The loss resulting to the inamdars is the
direct consequence of the operation of these provisions
Therefore section 175 of the Act bars the claim for compensation for loss of the right of the appellants to recover from the inferior holders land revenue assessed on the lands in their posmsion
419 C E Per Bachawat I The grants of the villages
on the construction of the deeds were grants of villages Partial exetmption from payment of land revenue and were personal of the category specified in section 21 e i
The introduction of the survey settlement made no difference in the character pi the inams
After the Abolition Act the lands no longer enjoyed either total or Spartial exemption from payment of land revenue
By section 5 1 of the Act all inam lands are now liable to payment of full land revenus By section 5 2 b in respect of lands held by inferior holders the inferior holders now enjoy the status of occupants and are liable to pay the land revenue directly to the State Government
The appellants were not entitl ed to claim compensation in respect of the abolition of their right to recover assessment from the inferior hoders because such a claim is really on the ground that the inam lands which were formerly exempt from payment of land I revenue have been subjected by the Act to payment of full assessment
Such a claim is based by section 175
A grant of village or land with total or partial exemption of land revenue is essentially different from a grant of land revenue and the distinction has been Preserved by the Act On the extension of the grant of land revenue the namdar lows all right in respect of the grant and he is therefore entitled to full compensation order section 171
On the other hand on
abolition of the grant of an in village or land the inamdar is allowed to retain and enjoy various rights and benefits but at the 6  Me time the right to compensation under section 171 is subject to the bar of 420 H 421 H