Case: Union Of India Vs. Jubbi And Dunia, Etc

declaring the tenant to be the landowner in respect of the land specified in the certificate. Sub-section (6) provides that on and from the date of the grant of the certificate the tenant shall become the owner of the land comprised in the tenancy and the right title and interest of the landowner in the said land shall determine. Sections 12 and 13 deal, as aforesaid, with compensation payable by the tenant. Section 14 provides that a tenant holding a tenancy exceeding 12 acres of land can surrender 1/4th of such land to the landowner whereupon the tenant would become the owner of the rest of the land of his tenancy. 7. There is nothing in these Sections which would indicate that they or any of them impliedly exempt the State or its lands from their operation. Sections 11 to 14 thus contain provisions whereunder the tenant as a result of their operation acquires the right, title and interest in the land by him as a tenant on his paying compensation to the landowner as fixed by the Compensation Officer. 8. Under Sections 15 to 24, notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 11 to 14, the State Government is empowered on a declaration made by it to acquire the right, title and interest of the landowners in the lands of any tenancy held under him by a tenant in respect of such area or at such time as may be specified by it in a notification. They also provide that upon such declaration the right, title and interest of such landowner vests in the Government. Such a landowner is entitled to compensation as provided in Section 16 and onwards on his rights vesting in the Government. In such cases the tenant becomes the tenant of the Government and has to pay rent directly to the Government and the landowner becomes henceforth exempt from payment of land revenue. Section 27 then provides that notwithstanding anything contained in Section 11 and onwards a landowner who holds land, the annual land revenue of which exceeds Rs. 125/-, the right, title and interest of such landowner in such land except such land which is under his personal cultivation shall be deemed to have been transferred and vested in the State Government. Such a landowner also is entitled to compensation determined having regard to Sections 17 and 18 in accordance with the provision of Sch. II. Sub-section (4) of Section 27 provides that the right, title and interest of the landowner conferred on the Government by sub-ss. (1) and (2) shall be transferred by the State Government on payment of compensation in accordance with Sch. I to such tenant who cultivates such land. Sub-section (5) provides for rehabilitation grant payable to such small landowners whose right, title and interest have been extinguished and who do not have any other means of livelihood. 9. A reading of Sections 11 to 27 reveals that they lay down three parts of the scheme of abolition of proprietary rights of landowners; (1) under Section 11 there would be a direct transfer to and vesting of the right, title and interest of the landowner in the occupancy tenant on his paying compensation as assessed by the Compensation Officer; (2) under Section 15 in respect of lands situate in an area specified by Government, there would be a transfer and vesting of ownership of such lands in the State Government and the tenants of such land becoming the tenants of the Government and (3) under Section 27 where the holding is large enough to have an annual assessment of over Rs. 125/-, the ownership in such lands would be first transferred and vested in the State Government and thereafter by the State Government in favour of the tenant. 10. The contention, however, was that these three ways of abolishing the landowners interest and transferring in two out of these three methods of the proprietary rights to the tenants suggest that the Act was not intended to affect the land owned or held by the Union or the State Government. This contention cannot be accepted, for, there is nothing in these provisions suggestive of their being not applicable to the State or of any distinction between the lands owned and held by citizens and lands owned and held by the State. There can therefore be no room for any assumption that the legislature had in mind any such discrimination between the State and the citizens. 11. Mr. Ganapathy Iyer drew our attention to Sections 48 and 54 (1) (g) also but we fail to see how they can be relevant for finding out whether the State is by implication exempted from the operation of the Act. 12. It is clear that the object of the Act was to abolish big landed estates and alleviate the conditions of occupancy tenants by abolishing the proprietary rights of the landowners in them and vesting such rights in the tenants. That being the paramount object of the legislature it is hardly likely that it would make any discrimination between the State and the citizen in the matter of the application of the Act. This is especially so because if such a discrimination were to be brought about through a construction suggested by the State it would result in an anomaly in the sense that whereas occupancy tenants of lands owned by citizens would have the benefit of such a beneficent legislation occupancy tenants of lands owned and held by the State would not got such benefit. An intention to briny about such a discrimination against the latter class of tenants cannot be attributed to the legislature whose avowed object was to do away in the interest of social and economic justice landlordism in the State. In view of the decision in 1967-2 SCR 170 : (AIR 1967 SC 997 ) (supra) the State cannot also claim exemption on the ground only that the Act does not expressly or by necessary implication make it binding on the State.

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

Explanation:
1[ds]ut before we do that it would be expedient to clear the ground regarding the question of the applicability of statutes on the State and its immunity, if any, from such statutes10. The contention, however, was that these three ways of abolishing the landowners interest and transferring in two out of these three methods of the proprietary rights to the tenants suggest that the Act was not intended to affect the land owned or held by the Union or the State Government. This contention cannot be accepted, for, there is nothing in these provisions suggestive of their being not applicable to the State or of any distinction between the lands owned and held by citizens and lands owned and held by the State. There can therefore be no room for any assumption that the legislature had in mind any such discrimination between the State and the citizens11. Mr. Ganapathy Iyer drew our attention to Sections 48 and 54 (1) (g) also but we fail to see how they can be relevant for finding out whether the State is by implication exempted from the operation of the Act12. It is clear that the object of the Act was to abolish big landed estates and alleviate the conditions of occupancy tenants by abolishing the proprietary rights of the landowners in them and vesting such rights in the tenants. That being the paramount object of the legislature it is hardly likely that it would make any discrimination between the State and the citizen in the matter of the application of the Act. This is especially so because if such a discrimination were to be brought about through a construction suggested by the State it would result in an anomaly in the sense that whereas occupancy tenants of lands owned by citizens would have the benefit of such a beneficent legislation occupancy tenants of lands owned and held by the State would not got such benefit. An intention to briny about such a discrimination against the latter class of tenants cannot be attributed to the legislature whose avowed object was to do away in the interest of social and economic justice landlordism in the State. In view of the decision in 1967-2 SCR 170  : (AIR 1967 SC 997  ) (supra) the State cannot also claim exemption on the ground only that the Act does not expressly or by necessary implication make it binding on the StateTherefore, the normal construction, that an enactment applies to citizens as well as to the State unless it expressly or by necessary implication exempted the State from its operation, steered clear of all the anomalies and was consistent with the philosophy of equality enshrined in the Constitution.The position now therefore is that a statute applies to State as much it does to a citizen unless it expressly or by necessary implication exempts the State from its operation5. It is conceded that neither S. 11 nor any other provision in the Act contains any express exemption. Broadly stated, if the legislature intended to exclude the applicability of the Act to the State it could have easily stated in Section 11 itself or by a separate provision that the Act is not to be applied to the Union or to lands held by it. In the absence of such a provision, in a constitutional set up as the one we have in this country, and of which the overriding basis is the broad concept of equality, free from any arbitrary discrimination, the presumption would be that a law of which the avowed object is to free the tenant of landlordism and to ensure to him security of tenure would bind all landlords irrespective of whether such a landlord is an ordinary individual or the Union7. There is nothing in these Sections which would indicate that they or any of them impliedly exempt the State or its lands from their operation. Sections 11 to 14 thus contain provisions whereunder the tenant as a result of their operation acquires the right, title and interest in the land by him as a tenant on his paying compensation to the landowner as fixed by the Compensation Officer9. A reading of Sections 11 to 27 reveals that they lay down three parts of the scheme of abolition of proprietary rights of landowners; (1) under Section 11 there would be a direct transfer to and vesting of the right, title and interest of the landowner in the occupancy tenant on his paying compensation as assessed by the Compensation Officer; (2) under Section 15 in respect of lands situate in an area specified by Government, there would be a transfer and vesting of ownership of such lands in the State Government and the tenants of such land becoming the tenants of the Government and (3) under Section 27 where the holding is large enough to have an annual assessment of over Rs., the ownership in such lands would be first transferred and vested in the State Government and thereafter by the State Government in favour of the tenant.