Case: Balkrishna Somnath Vs. Sada Devram Koli and Another

stand on her or his own disabled legs and so the Proviso to s. 32F (1) (a) was brought in by amendment to give them protection for the period of the disability and a little longer. But every ruse to save the lands is used by landlords and so, once it was in the air that minors and widows may be exempted, a spate of partitions perhaps ensued. Joint living is the dear, traditional Hindu way of life but jettisoning jointness to salvage , land is dearer still. Blood is thicker than water, it has been said; but in this mundane world, property is thicker than blood: So partition deeds, conveniently confined to land, became a popular art of extrication. And the Legislature, anxious to inhibit such abuse, while willing to exempt genuine, total separations, conditioned the Proviso under consideration by insisting that the separation should be from the whole joint family assets and not a tell-tale transaction where agricultural lands alone are divided and secondly, even where there is a total partition, only a fair proportion of the lands is allotted to the disabled person.In this light, we may read the Proviso. To steer clear of possible confusion we may agree that partial partition may be legally permissible and the Hindu law does not require investigation into the motives or motivelessness behind the partition. We also accept that division in status is good enough to end commensality or jointness under the p ersonal law. But we are now in the jurisdiction of land reform legislation and the Legislature, with a view to fulfil its objectives, may prescribe special requirements. The Court has to give effect to them, in the spirit of agrarian reform and not read down the wide words on judicial suppositions. 8. Here the Proviso can rescue the widow or the minor only if the prerequisites are fairly and fully fulfilled. Section 32 states that the tenants shall be deemed to have purchased the tenanted land on the Tillers Day. The Tribunal suo motu takes action to determine the purchase price. But all this is kept in abeyance if the landlord belongs to the disabled category and qualifies under s. 32F (1). The crucial issue is whether the Proviso applies even if the separation of the widow or minor is restricted to agricultural lands. Shri Wad and, Shri Tarkunde vehemently urge that it is none of the concern of the agrarian law what happens to the other assets of the joint family, so long as the lands are divided in fair proportion. Shri Datar presses what the High Court has laconically reasoned, viz., that it is possible to defeat the scheme by division of the lands alone. Fox one thing, in most such partial partitions, inspired by the desire to avoid the land reforms in the offing, the Legislature can, as a policy decision, insist on a whole partition, to reduce the evasion. Moreover, there will be a sudden fancy for allotting all the good lands to the share of widows and minors, depriving the tenants of their legitimate expectations. And, if lands and other assets are to be divided, then less lands will go to the disabled persons or even none. For instance the house may be allotted to the widow and the lands taken over by adult males. The ornaments may all go to the woman, the agriculture to the men. We need not speculate, but may content ourselves with stating that the Legislature has, for some reasons, decided to lay down conditions and the words of the text must be assigned full effect.The Proviso clearly states that the disabled persons share in the joint family must have been separated by metes and bounds. Separation from the joint family means separation from all the joint family assets. Otherwise the sharer remains partly joint and, to that extent, is not separated from the joint family. Notional division or division in status also may not be enough because the Act insists on separation by metes and bounds. Ordinarily metes and bounds are appropriate to real property, meaning, as the phrase does, the boundary lines of land, with their terminal points and angles. In the context, the thrust of the expression is that the division must be more than notional but actual, concrete, clearly demarcated. The ineptness and involved structure and some ambiguity notwithstanding, the sense of the sentence is clear. The share of a person in the joint family, plainly understood, means his share in all the joint family properties and not merely in the real estate part. What is more, the section uses the expressions the share of such person in the joint family, the share of such person in the land, the share of that person in the entire joint family property. Thus it is reasonable to hold that when the expression used is the share of such person in the point family., it is not confined to the share in the land only. It really means his share in the entire joint family property. Moreover, the statutory exercise expected of the Mamlatdar by the Proviso involves an enquiry into the share of the disabled person in the land, and its value, the share of that person in the entire joint family property, the proportion that the allotment of the land bears to his share in the entire joint family property with a view to see that there is no unfair manouvre to defeat the scheme of the Act. The necessary postulate is that there is a division in the entire joint family property. Therefore, the imperative condition for the operation of the Proviso is that there should be a total separation and so far as a disabled member is concerned it must cover all the joint family properties. 9. We are therefore in agreement with the interpretation adopted by the High Court. In the cases under appeal there is no division of all the joint family properties. Only the landed properties have been separated.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]The broad idea is to vest full ownership in the tenantry. A compassionate exception is made in favour of handicapped landlords who cannot prove their need to recover their land on approved grounds. These disabled categories include infants and widows. But if the lands belong to joint families of which they are members, the raison detre for such protection does not exist because the manager of this joint family takes care of its collective interests. Where, however, there has bee n a partition of the joint family, then the widow or minor has to stand on her or his own disabled legs and so the Proviso to s. 32F (1) (a) was brought in by amendment to give them protection for the period of the disability and a little longer. But every ruse to save the lands is used by landlords and so, once it was in the air that minors and widows may be exempted, a spate of partitions perhaps ensued. Joint living is the dear, traditional Hindu way of life but jettisoning jointness to salvage , land is dearer still. Blood is thicker than water, it has been said; but in this mundane world, property is thicker than blood: So partition deeds, conveniently confined to land, became a popular art of extrication. And the Legislature, anxious to inhibit such abuse, while willing to exempt genuine, total separations, conditioned the Proviso under consideration by insisting that the separation should be from the whole joint family assets and not a tell-tale transaction where agricultural lands alone are divided and secondly, even where there is a total partition, only a fair proportion of the lands is allotted to the disabled person.In this light, we may read the Proviso. To steer clear of possible confusion we may agree that partial partition may be legally permissible and the Hindu law does not require investigation into the motives or motivelessness behind the partition. We also accept that division in status is good enough to end commensality or jointness under the p ersonal law. But we are now in the jurisdiction of land reform legislation and the Legislature, with a view to fulfil its objectives, may prescribe special requirements. The Court has to give effect to them, in the spirit of agrarian reform and not read down the wide words on judicial suppositionsHere the Proviso can rescue the widow or the minor only if the prerequisites are fairly and fully fulfilled. Section 32 states that the tenants shall be deemed to have purchased the tenanted land on the Tillers Day. The Tribunal suo motu takes action to determine the purchase price. But all this is kept in abeyance if the landlord belongs to the disabled category and qualifies under s. 32F (1). The crucial issue is whether the Proviso applies even if the separation of the widow or minor is restricted to agricultural lands. Shri Wad and, Shri Tarkunde vehemently urge that it is none of the concern of the agrarian law what happens to the other assets of the joint family, so long as the lands are divided in fair proportion. Shri Datar presses what the High Court has laconically reasoned, viz., that it is possible to defeat the scheme by division of the lands alone. Fox one thing, in most such partial partitions, inspired by the desire to avoid the land reforms in the offing, the Legislature can, as a policy decision, insist on a whole partition, to reduce the evasion. Moreover, there will be a sudden fancy for allotting all the good lands to the share of widows and minors, depriving the tenants of their legitimate expectations. And, if lands and other assets are to be divided, then less lands will go to the disabled persons or even none. For instance the house may be allotted to the widow and the lands taken over by adult males. The ornaments may all go to the woman, the agriculture to the men. We need not speculate, but may content ourselves with stating that the Legislature has, for some reasons, decided to lay down conditions and the words of the text must be assigned full effect.The Proviso clearly states that the disabled persons share in the joint family must have been separated by metes and bounds. Separation from the joint family means separation from all the joint family assets. Otherwise the sharer remains partly joint and, to that extent, is not separated from the joint family. Notional division or division in status also may not be enough because the Act insists on separation by metes and bounds. Ordinarily metes and bounds are appropriate to real property,, as the phrase does, the boundary lines of land, with their terminal points and angles. In the context, the thrust of the expression is that the division must be more than notional but actual, concrete, clearly demarcated. The ineptness and involved structure and some ambiguity notwithstanding, the sense of the sentence is clear. The share of a person in the joint family, plainly understood, means his share in all the joint family properties and not merely in the real estate part. What is more, the section uses the expressions the share of such person in the joint family, the share of such person in the land, the share of that person in the entire joint family property. Thus it is reasonable to hold that when the expression used is the share of such person in the point family., it is not confined to the share in the land only. It really means his share in the entire joint family property. Moreover, the statutory exercise expected of the Mamlatdar by the Proviso involves an enquiry into the share of the disabled person in the land, and its value, the share of that person in the entire joint family property, the proportion that the allotment of the land bears to his share in the entire joint family property with a view to see that there is no unfair manouvre to defeat the scheme of the Act. The necessary postulate is that there is a division in the entire joint family property. Therefore, the imperative condition for the operation of the Proviso is that there should be a total separation and so far as a disabled member is concerned it must cover all the joint familye are therefore in agreement with the interpretation adopted by the High Court. In the cases under appeal there is no division of all the joint family properties. Only the landed properties have been separated.