Case: Sahodara Devi &amp; Ors Vs. Government Of India &amp; Anr

the holder, grant, with the approval of the Central Government or such other authority as the Central Government may appoint for this purpose, a lease of the said land in the form set out in Schedule VII." In this Rule, thus, the power to grant a lease for regularisation of old grants has been given to the Military Estates officer by using the word "may", and the power is further subject to the approval of the Central Government or such other authority as the Central Government may appoint for the purpose. In view of this language used, we think that the High Court was quite right in holding that this rule does not envisage a mandatory direction to the Military Estates Officer to grant a lease in all cases where the question of regularisation of old grants arises. Normally, the word "may" is used to grant a discretion and not to indicate a mandatory direction. Had the intention been that the Military Estates Officer must grant a lease in all cases, the word used would have been "shall" instead of "may". It is true that the word "may", in some context, has been interpreted as containing a mandatory direction and the authority given the power has to exercise that power unless there be special reasons. Such a case came before this Court in Sardar Govindrao v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (1965) 1SCR 678 = (AIR 1965 SC 1222 ). That was a case where a rule relating to grant of money or pension was sought to be enforced. This Court held:-"This is an instance where, on the existence of the condition precedent, the grant of money or pension becomes obligatory on the Government notwithstanding that in Section 5 (2) the Government has been given the power to pass such orders as it deems fit and in sub-section (3) the word "may" is used. The word "may" is often read as "shall" or "must" when there is something in the nature of the thing to be done which makes it the duty of the person on whom the power is conferred to exercise the power. Section 5 (2) is discretionary because it takes into account all cases which may be brought before the Government of persons claiming to be adversely affected by the provisions of Section 3 of the Act. Many such persons may have no claims at all although they may in a general way be said to have been adversely affected by Section 3. If the power was to be discretionary in every case there was no need to enact further than sub-section (2). The reason why two sub-sections were enacted is not far to seek. That Government may have to select some for consideration under sub-section (3) and some under Section 7 and may have to dismiss the claims of some others requires the conferment of a discretion and sub-section (2) does no more than to give that discretion to Government and the word "may" in that sub-section bears its ordinary meaning. The word "may" in sub-section (3) has, however, a different purport. Under that subsection, Government must, if it is satisfied that an institution or service must be continued or that there is a descendant of a former ruling chief, grant money or pension to the institution or service or to the descendant of the former ruling chief, as the case may be. Of course, it need not make a grant if the person claiming is not a descendant of a former ruling chief or there is other reasonable ground not to grant money or pension. But, except in those cases where there are good grounds for not granting the pension. Government is bound to make a grant to those who fulfil the required condition and the word "may" in the third sub-section though apparently discretionary has to be read as "must"It may be noticed that in that case, the word "may" as used in the general sub-section (2) was not held to indicate a mandatory direction. It was only in sub-s. (3), because of the special context, that the Court held that the word "may" was equivalent to "shall" or "must". In the case before us, rule 27 only confers a power in general on the Military Estates Officer to grant leases and, by using the word "may", it clearly gives him discretion to grant it in suitable cases. There is further the circumstance that the exercise of the power by the Military Estates Officer has been made subject to the approval of the Central Government or such other authority as the Central Government may appoint for that purpose. If the power had to be exercised by the Military Estates Officer in all cases, its being made subject to the approval of another authority would be meaningless. When a rule envisages approval of the processed action of the Military Estates officer, it also implies that his action can be disapproved. This approval or disapproval will necessarily be at the discretion of the Central Government or the authority appointed by it for that purpose. The power of the Military Estates Officer being subject to such discretionary approval or disapproval of another authority cannot possibly be held to be required to be exercised in all cases without any discretion. The Division Bench was, therefore, perfectly correct in holding that the power under R. 27 is a discretionary power, and both the Military Estates Officer as well as the Central Government or the other authority appointed by it for that purpose in exercising their power have the discretion in suitable cases not to proceed under this rule. The High Court in directing a reconsideration of the casein accordance with law, was, therefore, quite correct, so that the application of the appellants must be decided afresh, after keeping in view the principle that the power to grant a lease under rule 27 is discretionary; but the refusal should only be in suitable cases where sufficient reasons exist for that purpose.

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

Explanation:
0[ds]In this Rule, thus, the power to grant a lease for regularisation of old grants has been given to the Military Estates officer by using the word "may", and the power is further subject to the approval of the Central Government or such other authority as the Central Government may appoint for the purpose. In view of this language used, we think that the High Court was quite right in holding that this rule does not envisage a mandatory direction to the Military Estates Officer to grant a lease in all cases where the question of regularisation of old grants arises. Normally, the word "may" is used to grant a discretion and not to indicate a mandatory direction. Had the intention been that the Military Estates Officer must grant a lease in all cases, the word used would have been "shall" instead of "may". It is true that the word "may", in some context, has been interpreted as containing a mandatory direction and the authority given the power has to exercise that power unless there be specialreason why two sub-sections were enacted is not far to seek. That Government may have to select some for consideration under sub-section (3) and some under Section 7 and may have to dismiss the claims of some others requires the conferment of a discretion and sub-section (2) does no more than to give that discretion to Government and the word "may" in that sub-section bears its ordinary meaning. The word "may" in sub-section (3) has, however, a different purport. Under that subsection, Government must, if it is satisfied that an institution or service must be continued or that there is a descendant of a former ruling chief, grant money or pension to the institution or service or to the descendant of the former ruling chief, as the case may be. Of course, it need not make a grant if the person claiming is not a descendant of a former ruling chief or there is other reasonable ground not to grant money or pension. But, except in those cases where there are good grounds for not granting the pension. Government is bound to make a grant to those who fulfil the required condition and the word "may" in the third sub-section though apparently discretionary has to be read asmay be noticed that in that case, the word "may" as used in the general sub-section (2) was not held to indicate a mandatory direction. It was only in sub-s. (3), because of the special context, that the Court held that the word "may" was equivalent to "shall" or "must". In the case before us, rule 27 only confers a power in general on the Military Estates Officer to grant leases and, by using the word "may", it clearly gives him discretion to grant it in suitable cases. There is further the circumstance that the exercise of the power by the Military Estates Officer has been made subject to the approval of the Central Government or such other authority as the Central Government may appoint for that purpose. If the power had to be exercised by the Military Estates Officer in all cases, its being made subject to the approval of another authority would be meaningless. When a rule envisages approval of the processed action of the Military Estates officer, it also implies that his action can be disapproved. This approval or disapproval will necessarily be at the discretion of the Central Government or the authority appointed by it for that purpose. The power of the Military Estates Officer being subject to such discretionary approval or disapproval of another authority cannot possibly be held to be required to be exercised in all cases without any discretion. The Division Bench was, therefore, perfectly correct in holding that the power under R. 27 is a discretionary power, and both the Military Estates Officer as well as the Central Government or the other authority appointed by it for that purpose in exercising their power have the discretion in suitable cases not to proceed under this rule. The High Court in directing a reconsideration of the casein accordance with law, was, therefore, quite correct, so that the application of the appellants must be decided afresh, after keeping in view the principle that the power to grant a lease under rule 27 is discretionary; but the refusal should only be in suitable cases where sufficient reasons exist for that purpose.