Civil Appeal No 2295 of 1968
From the Judgment and order dated 3 2 1967 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Misc
Petition No 26 of 1966
Harbans Singh for the Appellant
Raghunath Singh and Manojswarup for Respondent No1
SK Gambhir for Respondents 3 5 and 7
U P LalitBPMuheshwari and Suresh Sethi for Respondent No 6
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by UNTWALTA J
In this appeal by certificate granted by the Madhya Pradesh High Court the question of law which Lalls for our determination is whether conferral of Bhumiswalnli rights on Shri Khushi Lal respondent No 1 in respect of the lands in question in accordance with Section 190 of the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code 1959 hereinafter referred to as the MP Code of 1959 by the Revenue Authorities is correct and sustainable
Maulana Shamsuddin the sole appellant in this appeal was a Muafidar in the erstwhile State of Bhopal of the disputed lands in accordance with the Bhopal State Land Revenue Act 1932 for brevity the Bhopal Act of 1932 
The first respondent claimed to be a Shikmi of the appellant in respect of the lands in question
His case was that the appellant was the occupant of the lands within the meaning of the Bhopal Act of 1932
On the coming into force of the MP Code of 1959
the appellant became a Bhumiswami under clause c of section 158 and the respondent became an occupancy tenant under section 185 1iivbThus he became entitled to conferment of Bhumiswami rights under Section 490
He applied before the Tahsildar Huzur respondent No 5 for mutation of his name as a Bhumiswami in the Revenue records
The Tahsildar by his order dated the 24th June 1963 directed Khushi Lal to deposit compensation equivalent to 15 times of the land revenue on the payment of which his name was to be recorded as a Bhumiswami of the holdings
It appears his name was so recorded on the deposit of the compensation money
The appellant filed an appeal before the Sub Divisional officers Huzur respondent No 4 from the order of the Tahsildar
His appeal was dismissed by the Sub Divisional officer on the 12th of December 1963
The appellant failed before the Additional Commissioner Bhopal respondent No 3 on the dismissal of his second appeal on the 25th August 1996
He went in revision before the Board of Revenue respondent No 2  
The revision was allowed on the 6th of July 1965
The 584 Board held that the appellant was not an occupant within the meaning of Section 215 of the Bhopal Act of 1932 and consequently the first respondent was not a Shikmi under the said Act
He did not become an occupancy tenant under the MP Code of 1959 and therefore conferral of Bhumiswami rights on him was erroneous in law
The first respondent filed a Writ Petition in the High Court and succeeded there
The High Court held that the Board was not right in its view of the law
The appellant was an occupant and the respondent No 1 was a sub tenant Shikmi under the Bhopal Act of 1932
Conscquently he became an occupancy tenant entitled to conferment of Bhumiswami rights under the MP Code of 1959
The appellant has preferred this appeal in this Court to challenge the decision of the High Court and for restoration of the order of the Board of Revenue
Mr Harbans Singh appearing for the appellant Advanced a very fair and able argument to advocate his cause
He could now and did not dispute that if the appellant was an occupant the first respondent was a Shikmi under the Bhopal Act of l932 and if that be so then the order of the High Court is unassailable
But he vehemently contended that the appellant was not an occupant
Learned counsel for the respondents controverted his argument
Prima facie the argument as presented for the appellant appeared to have substance and force but on a close scrutiny we had no difficulty in rejecting it
Section 2 of the Bhopal Act of 1932 is the definition section and as usual at the outset it uses the phrase in this Act unless there is nothing repugnant in the subject or context
Sub section 5 defines Alienated land to mean land in respect of which pursuant to a grant made by His Highness the Ruler Government has in whole or in part assigned or relinquished its right to receive land revenue and includes such village waste and forest as are mentioned in the sanad of the grant  Thereafter the sub section says If the land revenue is assigned the person to whom such assignment is made is called a Jagirdar
If the land revenue is relinquished the person in whose favour such relinquishment is made is called Muafidar
Subsection  l S provides  occupant means a person who holds land direct from the Government or would do so but for the right of collecting land revenue having been assigned or relinquished
 It would thus be seen that if pursuant to the grant made by His Highness the Ruler of Bhopal Government s right to receive land revenue was assigned to the grantee then he was called a Jagirdar and 585 it was relinquished then the person in whose favour such relinquishment was made was called Muafidar
Under the first part of the definition of occupant given in sub section IS a person who holds land direct from Government would be an occupant and being not a person in whose favour the right to receive land revenue has either been assigned or relinquished will be required to pay to the Government land revenue or rent
We are using both the words revenue  and rent  on the assumption that such an occupant being neither a Jagirdar nor a Muafidar would be required to pay some money to the Government for being in occupation of the land
Under the second part of the definition a Jagirdar or a Muafidar would also be holding land direct from Government but because the right of collecting land revenue has either been assigned or relinquished strictly speaking he does not hold land direct from the Government in the sense of paying any land revenue or rent to it because the Government has parted with the right to collect land revenue from him
We are of the opinion in agreement with the High Court that on a careful analysis of the definition of the term occupant in section 215 it is legitimate to conclude that even a Jagirdar or a Muafidar is an occupant
He holds land under the Government on the resumption of the Jagir or the Muafirights by the Government the land reverts back to it
Payment of land revenue or rent for holding land under the Government was not a sine qua non for making the holder of the land an occupant
Rent is defined in sub section 19 of Section 2 of the Bhopal Act of 1932 to mean whatever is payable to an occupant in money kind or service by a shikmi for the right to use land
 This would show that strictly speaking a person holding the land direct from the Government within the meaning of the first part of the definition in sub section IS is not to pay any money to the Government in the shape of rent but what he will be required to pay would be the land revenue
But a Jagirdar or a Muafidar holding the land under the Government is not required to pay any land revenue
sub section 21 defines Shikmi to mean a person who holds land from an occupant and is or but for a contract would be liable to pay rent for such land to that occupant but does not include a mortgagee or a person holding land directly from Government
 Respondent No 1 was inducted upon the land by the appellant in the year 1958
Since then he had been cultivating the land
He could not but be a Shikmi within the meaning of sub section 21  
Mr Harbans Singh was not right in saying that he was a mere cultivator and was cultivating the land not as a sub tenant or a Shikmi but must be doing so under some special arrangement of cultivating the land as a servant of the appellant or the like
There is no warrant for such a contention
586 Section 46 of the Bhopal Act of 1932 runs thus 
l All land to whatever purpose applied and wherever situate is liable to the payment of revenue to the Government except such land as has been wholly exempted from such liability by a special grant on His Highness the Ruler or by a contract with the Government or under the provisions of any law or rule for the time being in force
2 Such revenue is called Land Revenue and that term includes moneys payable to the Government for land notwithstanding that such moneys may be described as premium rent quit rent or in any other manner in any enactment rule contract or deed This section lends support to the view which we have expressed above that a person holding land directly under the Government and not being a Jagirdar or a Muafidar will be liable to pay land revenue to the Government in whatever name the payment of money may be described such as premium rent quit rent etc
The High Court in its judgment has adverted to some sections contained in Chapter VI of the Bhopal Act of 1932
Section 51 provided for disposal of unoccupied land
Sub section 1 of section 52 says that a person acquiring the right to occupy land under section 51 will be called an occupant of such land and under sub section 2 all persons who prior to the commencement of this Act had been entered in settlement records as responsible for the payment of land revenue to the Government or who but for a special arrangement would have been to responsible would be deemed to be occupants within the meaning of Section 52
In our opinion this special arrangement mentioned in sub section 2 cannot be squarely equated with the assignment or relinquishment of the right to receive land revenue envisaged by the Bhopal Act of 1932
We do not feel inclined to agree with the High Court that the appellant became occupant under section 522 of the Bhopal Act of 1932 because he was a person who was entered into settlementt records prior to the coming into force of that Act
Firstly it is not clear whether the facts so stated in the judgment of the High Court are quite correct and secondly it is admitted on all hands that the appellant was a Muafidar and therefore in our opinion he was an occupant within the meaning of Section 215
Section 54 provided that the rights of an occupant meaning thereby the occupant as mentioned
in Section 52 were to be permanent transferable and heritable
Ordinarily and generally the rights of a Jagirdar 587 or a Muafidar being occupants within the meaning of Section 215 A read with Section 167 were neither transferable nor heritable and in that sense the rights were not permanent
In our opinion therefore the type of occupant who is dealt with in Chapter VI of the Bhopal Act of 1932 is not the type of occupant having the same kind of incidence as defincd in Section 215
As we have already indicated it is a well established principle of law that a particular term defined in the definition section is subject to anything repugnant in the contact of the other provisions of the Statute
The provisions of Chapter VI being at variance with the definition clause cannot make the occupant described in that Chapter the same occupant as defined in Section 215
Our attention was drawn by the learned counsel for the appellant to Section 167 of the Bhopal Act of 1932 dealing With the restriction ill the rights of the Jagirdars and Muafidar to transfer such rights or create encumbrances on them
According to the said Section no Jagirdar or Muafidar could transfer his rights as Jagirdar or muafidar or except for such period as he is in possession of his jagir or muafi create an encumbrance on the income thereof But inducting a person as Shikmi on the land was not prohibited under Section 167
On the other hand Section 194 providel that all occupant could make a lease of his holding and under certain circumstances it could nlt be for a term of more than 12 years
It was then argued that the right of a Muafidar being in the nature of a life grant was valid only for the Life time of the Muafidar
So the Muafidar could not induct a person as Shikmi who ultimately could become an occupancy tenant entitled to conferment of Bhumisavami rights later on
This argument has to be staled merely to be rejected
It may well be that the right of a Shikmi would not have lasted beyond the duration of the right of the Muafidar
But then his rights were enlarged by operation or the welfare legislation enacted by the State Legislature for the benefit of the cultivators of the soil in the year 1959
Section 1851ivb of the MP Code of 1959 says 1 Every person who at the coming into force of this Code holds iv in the Bhopal region b any land as a shikmi from an occupant as defined in the Bhopal State Land Revenue Act 1932 IV of 1932 588 shall be called an occupancy tenant and shall have all the rights and be subject to all the liabilities conferred or imposed upon an occupancy tenant by or under this Code
 As held by us above the appellant was an occupant as defined in the Bhopal Act of 1932 and thus under clause c of Section 158 on the coming into force of the Code he became a Bhumiswami
But his Bhumiswami rights were liable to be conferred under certain conditions on the occupancy tenant under Section 190
As a matter of fact in accordance with the said provision the Bhumiswami rights were conferred on respondent No 1 on payment of compensation being in the amount of 15 times of the land revenue for payment to the appellant
Our attention was drawn to a recital of facts in the Statement of the case of some of the respondents that the appellant had withdrawn the said amount of compensation
But we are not resting our judgment on that ground as in our opinion whether he has withdrawn the amount of compensation or not he cannot challenge the conferment of his Bhumiswami rights on respondent No l which have been validly and legally conferred
We may now briefly deal with a few more short submissions of the appellant
In section 1851iva of the MP Code of 1959 it is provided that if a person who at the time of coming into force of tba said Code was holding any land as a sub tenant as defined in the Bhopal State Sub tenants Protection Act 1952 shall also be called an occupancy tenant
A copy of this Act could not be made available for our perusal
But what we get from the order of the Board of Revenue is that a Sub tenant as defined in the Bhopal Act of 1952 means a person who holds a parcel of khud kasta land from a Jagirdar
Along with this our attention was also drawn to the Bhopal State Sub Tenants of occupants Protection Act
In this Act section 2b runs thus The expression occupant shall have the same meaning as in the Bhopal State Land Revenue Act 1932 IV of 1932 and for the purposes of this Act it should also include a muafidar as defined in Bhopal State Land Revenue Act 1932 IV of 1932
In other sections of the said Act protection against ejectment was given to the Shikmis
The argument was that protection to the sub tenants of Jagirdars was given in the Bhopal Act of 1952 and protection to such persons was given in case of sub tenants of Muafidar under the Bhopal Act of 1954 by including Muafidar in the expression occupant  occurring in the said Act
Counsel therefore submitted that if the 589 term occupant  in the Bhopal Act of 1932 had included a Muafidar then there was no necessity of expressly and separately including a Muafidar in the definition of the said expression
in the Act of 1954
In our opinion this argument has no substance
It may be by way of abundant precaution or for putting the matter beyond any shadow of doubt that the expression occupant  was defined in a comprehensive manner in the Bhopal Act of 1954
Section 3 of the said Act shows that even a Muafidar could sub let a land to a person and induct hi as a Shikmi prior to the coming into force of this Act
Such a Shikmi got the protection against ejectment by operation of law engrafted in the Bhopal Act of 1954
After the passing of this Act he no longer could be said to be a Shikmi only during the life time of the Muafidar but was so even beyond it
The counsel for the appellant called our attention to a decision of this Court in Begum Suriya Rashid and others vs Stale of Andhra Pradeshl
In this case it was held that the muafi grants to the predecessor in interest of the appellants before the Supreme Court were not hereditary or perpetual and the appellants could not claim title as Muafidars even though some contradictory arabic expressions had keen used in the document of grant
This decision does not advance the case of the appellant any further
For the reasons stated above we dismiss this appeal but make no order as to costs
MR Appeal dismissed


Summary:
The appellant was a Muafidar of the disputed land in the erstwhile Bhopal State while the first respondent cultivated the said lands as his tenant
When the M P L R Code 1959 came into force the first respondent claimed that the appellant as the occupant of the lands within the meaning of S2 15 of the Bhopal State Revenue Act 1932 had become a Bhumiswami us 158C of the Code of l959 while he himself had become an occupancy tenant us 1851ivb and as such was entitled to conferment of Bhumiswami rights us 190 of the same Code
He  applied to the Tahsildar Huzur for mutation of his name as a Bhumiswarni in the Revenue records
and was directed to deposit compensation equivalent to 15 times of the land revenue
Thereafter his name was recorded as a Bhumiswami of the holdings on the deposit of the compensation money
The Muafidar appellant s appeal to the sub Divisional officer against the Tahsildar s order and a second appeal to the additional Commissioner
were dismissed but the Board of Revenue allowed his revision application holding that he was not an occupant within the meaning of section 215 of the Bop Act of 932
and that consequently the first respondent was neither a Chime nor did he become an occupancy tenant under the MP Code of 1959 and therefore conferment of Bhumiswami rights on him was erroneous in law
 The first respondent filed a writ petition against the Revenue Board s order which was allowed by the High Court
Dismissing the appeal by certificate the Court  HELD 1
Under section 215 of the Bhopal State Land Revenue Act 1932 a person who holds and direct under the Government would be an  occupant in whatever name the payment of money may be described such as premium rent quit rent etc
On a careful analysis of the definition it is legitimate to conclude that a Jagirdar or Muafidar is an occupant
He holds lands under the Government
On the resumption of the Jagir or the Muafi rights by the Government the land reverts back to it
Payment of land revenue or rent for holding land under the Government was not a sine qua non for making the holder of the land an revenue
585 A D 586 D Begum Suriya Rashid and Ors
vs State of Madhya Pradesh 19691 1 SCR 869 held inapplicable
The rights of Shikmis were enlarged by operation of tile Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code
Under section 185livb a Shikmi became an occupancy tenant while us 190 as an occupancy tenant he became entitled under certain conditions to conferment of Bhumiswami rights of the occupant of he holdings
A B 583