200 of 1955
439 Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights
section K Kapoor and Ganpat Rai for the petitioner
G C Kasliwal and D Gupta for the respondents
St 1961
March 17
 J Section 4 of the Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of Jagirs Act 1952 which will be hereafter referred to as the Rajasthan Act enacts 4
All lands liable to pay land revenue
Not withstanding anything contained in any existing jagir law or any other law all jagir lands shall as from the commencement of this Act be liable to payment of land revenue to the Government and as from such commencement the liability of a all Jagirdars to pay tribute to the Government under any existing Jagir Law shall cease and The expression tribute  the liability to pay which was thus extinguished from and after the commencement of the Act was defined in section 2r of that Act in the following terms Tribute  in relation to a jagir includes rekh rakam chatund chakri or other charge of a similar nature and In the absence of the above provision the petitioner would have been under an obligation to pay to the Government hukamnama  under section 190 of the Marwar Land Revenue Act 1949 referred to hereafter as the Marwar Act which codified the earlier law irk that State
The short question that is raised by this petition under article 32 of the Constitution is whether the liability of the petitioner to pay hukamnama the nature of which we shall explain later has been extinguished by the provision of the Rajasthan Act above extracted which as would be seen turns on whether such a payment could be comprehended within the expression tribute 
Relying on section 4a of the Rajasthan Act the petitioner resists the demand of he same made by the respondent State and impugns the legality of the claim
440 It is necessary to set out a few facts and certain provisions of the Marwar Act to appreciate the matter in controversy
Thakur Nathu Singh the Jagirdar of Ras a Scheduled Jagir under the Marwar Act died in July 1946 leaving the petitioner Thakur Bahadur Singh as his next heir
Scheduled Jagirs are under the Marwar Act impartable and their line of devolution was prescribed by section 182 thereof which ran Succession shall be governed in the case of Scheduled Jagirs by the rule of primogeniture
 The succession  however was not automatic but had to be recognised by the Government and a renewal granted in favour of the successor before his title to the jagir was perfected
Sections 183 185 of the Marwar Act which are of relevance in this connection ran section 183
All grants of Scheduled Jagirs are only for the life time of the holder and no person is entitled to succeed to such jagir until his succession is recognized and the grant is renewed in his favour by His Highness
section 184
Subject always to His Highness pleasure the grant of a Scheduled Jagir on the death of the holder shall be renewed in favour of the person entitled to succeed him in accordance with the provisions of this Act
section 1851
A Scheduled Jagir on the death of the holder and until the renewal of the grant in favour of his successor shall be resumed by the Government and taken under direct management
Provided that the claimant to succession shall in the absence of special orders of His Highness be permitted to retain possession pending orders of His Highness regarding the claim if he is a direct lineal descendant in the male line of the last holder
2    3    4   
The title of the petitioner to succeed to the jagir as the next heir of his father was recognised and a renewal granted in his favour by the Government by an 441 order dated March 18 1952
Section 190 of the Marwar Act imposes an obligation on a succeeding heir whose title has been recognised and to whom a renewal of the jagir has been granted to make certain payments
This section runs section 1901
When succession to a Scheduled Jagir is recognised by His Highness and renewal of the grant ordered the person in whose favour the grant is ordered to be renewed shall execute within one month of the communication to him of the orders a Kabuliyat  for payment of Hukamnama and other fees payable in accordance with sub sections 2 and 3
2      3     
The amount payable by the petitioner according to the scale of fees prescribed under the Act came to Rs 30000 and the respondent State demanded this sum
Before however the date of the order according recognition and granting renewal in favour of the petitioner the Rajasthan Act of 1952 had been passed and having received the assent of the President on February 13 1952 came into force on publication in the Gazette on February 16 1952 and under section 4 of this Act whose terms have been set out already the liability on the part of Jagirdars to pay all tribute to Government got extinguished
The question debated in this petition is whether the liability to pay hukamnama  or other fees under section 190 of the Marwar Act is a tribute  from the payment of which the Jagirdars are thus relieved
It is common ground subject to a submission of the learned Advocate General for the respondent State which we shall refer to a little later that if the hukamnama  which the petitioner has been required to pay to the Government was a tribute  within section 4 of the Rajasthan Act it would cease to be exigible and cannot be enforced from and after February 16 1952 because it is not in dispute that the petitioner is a Jagirdar and hukamnama  regarding which the demand has been made on him is a demand which 56 442 is due under an existing Jagir law viz the Marwar Act
The precise question which now arises for our decision came up before the High Court of Rajasthan in 1955 on facts exactly parallel with the case before us and a Bench of that Court held in a case reported as Thakur Narpat Singh vs The State of Rajasthan 1 that hukamnama  and the fees payable under section 190 of the Marwar Act were not within 4a of the Rajasthan Act
Consequently the arguments on either side before us took the form of either supporting the reasoning contained in that judgment or in disputing its correctness
It therefore becomes necessary for us to examine the reasoning upon which the learned Judges of the Rajasthan High Court reached a conclusion adverse to the contention of the petitioner now before us
Before doing so however it is necessary to advert to a point sought to be raised by the learned Advocate General for Rajasthan for the respondent which would cut across all this debate
He sought to urge that section 4 of the Rajasthan Act was not retrospective and that as the recognition of the title of the Petitioner and the renewal of the grant of the jagir in his favour related back to July 1946 when the succession opened the Rajasthan Act could not be invoked to put an end to the obligation which had accrued years before it came into force notwithstanding that the orders of recognition and renewal were passed only in March 1952
In the circumstances of this case however and also regard being had to the point not having been raised in the answer filed by the State to the writ petition we did not consider it proper to permit the Advocate General to pursue the submission
We will now proceed to consider the correctness or otherwise of the conclusion reached by the learned Judges of the Rajasthan High Court in the case just now referred to
Stated briefly the ratio of their decision was as follows Under the law governing jagir grants and the tenure on which they are held in Marwar a hukamnama  is a levy chargeable for recognition of the succession of a person to a Scheduled Jagir 1 ILR 443 of his deceased ancestor
The specific dues Rekh and Chakri enumerated in the definition of section 2r of the Rajasthan Act are those levied in Marwar the former being 8 per cent of the gross rental value of an estate and the second the cash equivalent of the obligation to supply horsemen or camelsowars or foot soldier  by Jagirdars dependent upon the value of the estate
Similar payments are known as Rakam  in the State of Bikaner and Chatund  in the State of Udaipur these States being the components of the State of Rajasthan
All these dues Rekh Rakam Chatund and Chakri were annual and recurring payments made by Jagirdars
When therefore the definition in section 2r concluded with the words other charges of a similar nature  it must necessarily be held that these general words should be confined to charges which were also recurring
The hukamnama  and other dues payable under section 190 of the Marwar Act however were not recurring payments and were in consideration of the ruler exercising his discretion to recognise a succession and grant renewal of the jagir in favour of the next heir
In other words these were payments due to the ruler in recognition of his sovereign right to the ownership of the land which was statutorily embodied in sections 169 170 of the Marwar Act which ran section 169
The ownership of all land vests in His Highness and all jagirs bhoms sansans dolis or similar proprietary interests are held and shall be deemed to be held as grant from His Highness
and section 170
All grants shall be held by the original grantee or his successors during His Highness  pleasure
 The payments under section 190 of the Act therefore were not of the same category as the payments enumerated in section 2 r of the Rajasthan Act and hence could not be comprehended within the meaning of the expression tribute 
The same matter was also put in a slightly different form by saying that whereas the payments enumerated in the definition of tribute  were those made by Jagirdars as such ie after they got into possession a hukamnama  was a payment made not by a 144 Jagirdar but by a person who was merely a claimant to a jagir and as a condition of his title to it being recognised
The correctness of this reasoning was challenged before us by learned Counsel for the petitioner who urged that the learned Judges of the High Court did not accord sufficient consideration to the fact that the definition in section 2r was an inclusive  definition and could therefore include others not falling within the enumerated types
In this connection learned Counsel relied upon the meaning of the word tribute  in Webster s New International Dictionary and in the Oxford English Dictionary Volume IT
In the former one of the meanings given is A tax impost duty rental or the like paid by a subject vassal to his sovereign or lord
and in the latter A tax or impost paid by one prince or state to another in acknowledgement of submission or as the price of peace security and protection
He therefore urged that the expression tribute  in section 2r would include those which fell within the ordinary dictionary meaning of the term  in addition to those specifically enumerated therein
If the word were understood in its ordinary dictionary meaning without any statutory definition learned Counsel added the incidence of recurrence would not be a necessary attribute of the concept of a tribute 
The submission was that the learned Judges of the Rajasthan High court erred in confining the meaning of tribute  to the enumerated payments and other charges of a similar nature without taking into account the fact that this was an inclusive and not an exhaustive or even an illustrative definition
We see force in these submissions and it must also be said that the argument in this form and the construction of section 2r from this aspect has not been considered by the learned Judges of the Rajasthan High Court
We have therefore to examine whether the submission can be sustained
Our task is to discover whether the expression tribute  as it occurs in the Rajasthan Act includes payments of the type now in 445 controversy
Apart from the usual express saving contained in the opening words of section 2 that the definitions set out are to be applied unless the context otherwise requires the meaning of the word tribute  has to be ascertained from a consideration of the various provisions of the Act and not merely from section 4a of the Act read in the light of the definition
It would be seen that in ultimate analysis the question of construction posed for our decision may be thus set out The four specific enumerated dues in the definition in section 2r are recurring annual payments Other charges of a like nature which follows this enumeration would obviously partake of that character and they would also have to be similarly annual
and recurring
This was the basis of the decision of the learned Judges of the Rajasthan High Court and the correctness of this view up to this point cannot be and has not been disputed
The definition however being inclusive and not meaning these it is said it must include something else
It must however be added that the possibility cannot be ignored that the definition was made inclusive out of caution and with a view not to exclude any payment which jagirdars were making or were under an obligation to make to Government seeing that the Act was to apply to an integrated State composed of several States in which there might have been great diversity of nomenclature in designating these payments and so as not to exclude any payment which would squarely fall within the category regarding which provision was made in the operative portion of the enactment
Learned Counsel for the petitioner urges that every payment by a Jagirdar to the Government whatever be the nature of the payment and whatever be the consideration therefore is included in the expression
If the expression tribute  occurred only in section 4a in the operative provisions of the Act there might be much to be said for the view presented by learned Counsel for the petitioner and for invoking its dictionary meaning to ascertain the content of that word
The Act however has used the word tribute  in several other sections and in different contexts and we 446 consider that the precise ambit of this expression of rather indefinite import as contemplated or intended by the framers of this Act has necessarily to be gathered from the entirety of the provisions
The word tribute  was apparently no equivalent in the local languages so that it was obviously used as a convenient and compendious expression to designate certain imposts which were levied by the rulers of the several States which integrated to form the State of Rajasthan
Further this circumstance should obviously induce some caution before the dictionary meaning of the English word tribute  is treated as expressing the intention of the framers of the Rajasthan Act
We shall therefore proceed to set out and consider the other provisions of the enactment in which the word is used to discover the intentions of the framers of the Act as to what they meant by it
Before proceeding further we should add that as under section 4a of the Rajasthan Act the payment of Land Revenue computed under it is to be the substitute for the tribute  previously demandable or paid the manner in which the land revenue under the Act is determined would be relevant as throwing light on for what it is substituted
We have already set out the terms of section 4 of the Rajasthan Act under which in substitution of the payment of tribute  all lands are made liable to the payment of land revenue
The amount of land revenue payable by a Jagirdar is fixed by section 8 and this is based in part on the annual rental income which could be derived from the jagir computed in the manner set out in sections 6 and 7
For our present purpose section 8 is of importance because the amount of tribute  payable forms one of the factors for determining the amount of land revenue payable 
Section 8 enacts section 8
Amount of land revenue payable
The land revenue payable by a Jagirdar in respect of his jagir lands shall be a for the agricultural year 1951 52 an amount equal to the amount of tribute payable by him to the Government for that year b for the agricultural year 1952 53 and each of the six succeeding agricultural years 447 i in the case of jagir lands the annual rental income of which as determined under section 6 or section 7 exceeds five hundred rupees but does not exceed five thousand rupees one sixteenth of such rental income or the amount of the tribute which was payable by the Jagirdar for the agricultural year 195051 whichever is greater ii in the case of jagir lands the rental income of which as determined under section 6 or section 7 exceeds five thousand rupees one eighth of such annual rental income or the amount of the tribute which was payable by the Jagirdar for the agricultural year 1950 51 whichever is greater
Explanation
For the purpose of this clause the amount of tribute payable by a Jagirdar to the Government for the agricultural year 1950 51 shall be deemed to be the amount of such tribute less the amount of any tribute payable to such jagirdar by any person to whom the Jagirdar may have granted any of his jagir lands c for the agricultural year 1959 60 and subsequent years one fourth of the rental income from the jagir lands as determined under sections 6 and 7 Provided that i where no tribute was payable by the Jagirdar before the commencement of the Act or where the whole of the tribute has been paid before such commencement the jagir lands shall be deemed to be exempt from the payment of land revenue for the agricultural year 1951 52 ii where the jagirdar has paid a part of the tribute before the commencement of this Acts the land revenue payable by him for the agricultural year 1951 52 shall be an amount equal to the balance of the tribute which would have been payable by him for that year if this Act had not been passed and iii the Government may direct that for the purposes of clauses b and e of this section the rental income of any jagir land for all or any of the agricultural year mentioned in those clauses shall be 448 determined or redetermined on the basis of the rental income which actually accrued to the jagirdar from the jagir in such year or years as the case may be It will be seen that this section speaks of tribute payable for the year specified 1951 52 or 1950 51and it is obvious that the tribute here referred to could only be the recurring payments like those enumerated in the definition in section 2r to which could be attributed the character of being a payment for a specific year
Besides it will be seen that under section 8b the land revenue payable for the seven agricultural years 1952 53 to 1959 60 is to be either a fraction of the annual rental income or the amount of the tribute which would be payable by the Jagirdar for the year 1950 51 whichever is greater
Surely it would be most unreasonable to hold that if during the year 1950 51 a Jagirdar made a payment of hukamnama  this ad hoe payment should be treated as part of the tribute for that year and the Jagirdar made liable to pay sums including hukamnama  for the seven years 1952 53 to 1959 60
The main object of the Rajasthan Act was to effect resumption of jagir lands by eliminating intermediaries and the tribute  payable by the erstwhile Jagirdars enters into the calculation for computing the compensation payable to them on such resumption
The second schedule to the Act sets out the principles governing the compensation payable to Jagirdars
It may broadly be stated that the compensation payable to Jagirdars is determined on the basis of a multiple of the net income of the basic year as determined under r 1 of the second schedule
The net income is computed by first determining the gross income of the Jagirdars under various heads including the rental income and deducting therefrom certain outgoing which included the tribute  Rule 4 of schedule 2 provides 4
Net income
The net income of a Jagirdar for the basic year shall be calculated by deducting from his gross income therefore i the amount that the Jagirdar would have 449 been liable to pay to the Government as tribute and in the case of grantee from a Jagirdar to the Jagirdar in respect of such grant for the basic year if this Act had not been passed ii any sums of recurring nature due to the Government from the Jagirdar or in the case of grantee from the Jagirdar to the Jagirdar for the basic year on any account other than land revenue and      
It is impossible to conceive that the framers of the Act would have intended that the payment of a hukamnama  in the basic year should have a permanent effect on the quantum of compensation payable to a Jagirdar under the provisions above extracted
In addition to the compensation for the presumption of the jagir under the provisions of the Rajasthan Act the Jagirdars are entitled to be paid a rehabilitation grant under Chapter VIII A of the Act
The method of calculation of this amount is set out in Schedule III of the Act and for this purpose Jagirdars are classified on a graduated scale into various categories depending on the gross income from the estate
This is followed by a proviso in these terms Provided that for the purpose of calculating the rehabilitation grant payable to a Jagirdar falling in this category such marginal adjustments shall be made as will ensure that a Jagirdar having a higher net income does not get an amount by way of rehabilitation grant which is less than that payable to a Jagirdar having a lower net income
Provided further that in comparing Jagirdars with different amounts of income for the purpose of the first proviso to this sub clause i Jagirdars who were riot paying tribute shall be compared only with Jagirdars who were not paying tribute ii Jagirdars who were paying tribute shall be compared only with Jagirdars who were paying  tribute iii Jagirdars who were paying any sums of 57 450 recurring nature referred to in sub clause ii of clause 4 of the Second Schedule shall be compared only with Jagirdars Who were paying such sums and iv in respect of Jagirdars who were paying tribute or any sums of recurring nature referred to in sub
clause ii of clause 4 of the Second Schedule at different scales the Government shall prescribe a percentage of the gross income at which the amount of tribute or such sums in respect of each Jagirdar shall be calculated irrespective of whether the amount of tribute or such sums of recurring nature that were being actually paid by him
 What we have said earlier about the construction of the word tribute  in r 4 of Schedule II would equally apply to the construction of that expression as it occurs in the provision extracted from Schedule III
Notwithstanding therefore that the definition in section 2r of the Rajasthan Act is inclusive  it appears to us from an examination of the meaning of the word as used in the operative provisions of the Act that it could refer only to recurring payments which could be said to be attributable to particular years and not to the type of ad hoc payments of which hukamnamas and patta fees are examples
It might very well be that the words at the end of section 2r other charges of a similar nature might not exhaust all the payments which a tribute  connotes but still if the rest of the Act indicates unmistakably the intention that the word tribute  has been used in a special sense taking into account the law and usage obtaining in the locality these cannot be disregarded in favour of a wider construction based merely upon the dictionary meaning of the expression
We need hardly add that the provision to which we have adverted should suffice to show that the construction put forward by learned Counsel for the petitioner would work to the grave disadvantage of the Jagirdars and would cause them deprivation which could never have been intended
We have thus reached the same conclusion as the learned Judges of the Rajasthan High Court though on a different line of reasoning
451 On the construction which we have adopted of the expression tribute  in section 4 of the Rajasthan Act the petitioner can have no legal or legitimate grievance against the enforcement of the payment made against him
The petition fails and is dismissed
There will st be no order as to costs
Petition dismissed


Summary:
The title of the petitioner to succeed to the jagir as the next heir of his father who died in July 1946 was recognised and a renewal granted in his favour by the Government by an order dated March 8 1952
Section 190 of the Marwar Land Revenue Act imposed an obligation on the succeeding heir to 1949 execute within one month of the communication to him of the order a kabuliyat for payment of hukammama and other fees according to the scale of fees prescribed under the Act and the amount payable by the petitioner thereby which came to Rs 30000 was demanded by the respondent State
In the meantime the Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of jagirs Act 1952 had been passed and came into force on February 16 1952 and section 4a of this Act enacted that the liability of all jagirdars to pay tribute to the Government under any existing jagir Law shall cease while tribute was defined by section 2r in the following terms 
Tribute  in relation to a jagir includes rekh rakam chatund chakri or other charge of a similar nature
The petitioner challenged the legality of the demand on the ground that the liability to pay hukamnama was a tribute within the meaning of that word in section 4a
Held that notwithstanding that the definition of the ex pression tribute in section 2r of the Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of jagirs Act 1952 is inclusive on an examination of the meaning of the word as used in the operative provisions of the Act it could refer only to recurring payments which could be said to be attributable to particular years and not to the type of ad hoc payments of which hukamnama was an example
Accordingly the liability to pay hukamnama is not compre hended within the expression tribute under section 4a and consequently was not extinguished by the provisions of the Rajasthan Act of 1952
Thakur Narpat Sinah vs The State of Rajasthan ILR  referred to