Case: Hiralal Agrawal, Etc Vs. Rampadarath Singh &amp; Others

by the municipal board on the found that the tax had not been imposed according to law inasmuch as the proposals and the draft rules had been published by the Board in an Urdu paper whereas according to S. 131 ( 3) read with S. 94 (3) of the U. P. Municipalities Act, 1918 they should have been published in a Hindi paper. The Court held that S. 131 (3) fell into two parts, the first providing that the proposal and draft rules for an intended tax should be published for inviting objections of the public and the second, laying down that such publication must be in the manner laid down in S. 94 (3). It held that considering the object of the provisions for publication, the first part was mandatory while the second was merely directory. What that part required was that the publication should be in Hindi in a local paper and if that was done there was sufficient compliance of S. 94 (3). The publication was made in Hindi in a local paper which had good circulation in Rampur; there was no regularly published local Hindi newspaper. There was in the circumstances substantial compliance with the provisions of S. 94 (3).At p. 975 (of SCR) = (at p. 899 of AIR) this Court observed that the question whether a particular provision of a statute which on the face of it appears mandatory inasmuch as it used the word shall is merely directory cannot be resolved by laying down any general rule and depends upon the acts of each case and for that purpose the object of the statute in making the provision is the determining factor. 15. The object of R. 19 in prescribing that the application under S. 16 (3) must be accompanied by a copy of the registered deed is clearly to enable the Collector before he exercises his power thereunder to ascertain the purchase price, the terms and conditions of the sale, the readiness of the applicant to have the land in question reconveyed to him on the same terms and conditions as in the sale deed and the fact of the applicant having deposited the relevant amount in the treasury. The purpose of prescribing that a copy of the registered deed should accompany the application is that if such a copy is before the Collector there would be no scope for any controversy that the land is transferred to the purchaser, about its area and location, and the terms and conditions of the sale including the sale price. If this information is before the Collector and he is satisfied about it, does it still mean that it would be fatal to the application if the formality of annexing a copy of the registered deed is not complied with. Section 16 lays down that such an application must be made within three months from the date of the registration and if it is not done within that period, it would be time barred. Suppose for a while that an applicant does not know when registration under Ss. 60 and 61 of the Registration Act is completed and annexes to his application a certified copy of the sale deed furnished at his instance by the registering authority or where the registering authority is not able to furnish a copy of the registered deed of sale within time. Does it mean that an applicant is to be deprived of the right of reconveyance conferred by the statute? To hold that if the formality prescribed by R. 19 is not satisfied the application would be bad would be to nullify the object of the statute. That surely cannot be the intention of the draftsmen who framed R. 19 and Form L. C. 13. 16. Rule 19 (3) requires that a copy of the application be sent to the transferee and the transferor by registered post with acknowledgment due, Form L. C. 13 requires, the applicant to state that the is made by a registered deed on the date specified therein. If a copy of the application is delivered to the transferor or the transferee by hand delivery or by registered post but without acknowledgment due or if the applicant is not able to state the date of registration because he does not know it, does it mean that merely because Cl. (3) of R. 19 and the form use the word "shall" the omission to comply with the aforesaid requirements is fatal to the application? Surely these are directory instructions and if there is sufficient compliance thereof the application can be validly entertained by the Collector. 17. In our view, whereas the deposit in the relevant treasury, the applicant being either a co-sharer or a raiyat of the adjoining land, his readiness and willingness to have the land in question reconveyed to him on the same terms and conditions as in the sale deed and the transfer of the land to the transferee are conditions precedent to his acquiring the right of reconveyance and to the Collectors jurisdiction to try such an application, the prescription as to annexing a copy of the registered deed is only directory and is laid down to furnish necessary information to the Collector to enable him to proceed with it. Annexing a certified copy of the sale deed where a copy of the registered deed is not yet available on account of the process of registration not having been completed would, in our view, be sufficient compliance of the directory prescription so long as it furnishes information necessary for the Collector to proceed with the application.The fact that a copy of the registered deed was not furnished along with the application was, therefore, not fatal to the application nor did such omission deprive the Collector of his jurisdiction to entertain it nor did it vitiate the proceedings before him or the order thereon made y him. The Board of Revenue and the High Court were not right in dismissing the appellants application.

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 1

Reasoning from the judgment:
1[ds]8. From the contents of Rr. 18 and 19 and Forms L.C. 12 and 13, it is clear that the object of these rules, firstly, is to enable the registering authority to see that the transferee does not by the transfer acquire land in excess of the ceiling area and, secondly, to enable the Collector to know that a transfer of the land has been made and that such transfer is completed by registration, the price paid for it and that the deposit made by the applicant is of a sum equivalent to the purchase price and 10 per cent thereof. It is manifest that the purpose for requiring the applicant to file a copy of the challan and of the registered deed is to enable the Collector to ascertain therefrom the aforesaid facts and to proceed further on being satisfied about themIt is true that the Board of Revenue has stated at one place that the Collector "admitted" the application on November 28, 1964 and at another place that he "took cognizance of it on that date. If by the words "admitted" and took cognizance of" the Board meant that the Collector took cognizance of the application in its technical sense, the Board would appear to be factually incorrect. The record of the case shows that some one in the Collectors office received the application on November 28, 1964 and made an endorsement thereon that it should be put up before the Collector on November 30, 1964. As already stated, on the said application having been placed before him on November 30, 1964, the Collector passed his interim order under S. 16 (3) (ii) directing the transferee to deliver possession of the land in question to the appellant. Admittedly, registration was also completed on that dateA mere presentation of the application in the sense of the appellant having handed it over to some subordinate in the Collectors office cannot mean its having been entertained by the Collector on that date.There is, therefore, no merit in the contention that the Collector had entertained the application either on the 26th when it was taken by the appellant to the Collectors office or on the 28th when some subordinate in the office made an endorsement on it that it should be placed before the Collector.The endorsement on the contrary shows that the Collector had not even seen it on that day, much less accepted it. The Collector took cognizance of it on November 30, 1964 only when it was placed before him and when on being satisfied that the conditions of S. 16 were satisfied he passed his order under sub-s. (3) (ii) for handing over possession from the transferee to the appellant. On these facts, Mr. Nambiars first contention must failour view, whereas the deposit in the relevant treasury, the applicant being either a co-sharer or a raiyat of the adjoining land, his readiness and willingness to have the land in question reconveyed to him on the same terms and conditions as in the sale deed and the transfer of the land to the transferee are conditions precedent to his acquiring the right of reconveyance and to the Collectors jurisdiction to try such an application, the prescription as to annexing a copy of the registered deed is only directory and is laid down to furnish necessary information to the Collector to enable him to proceed with it. Annexing a certified copy of the sale deed where a copy of the registered deed is not yet available on account of the process of registration not having been completed would, in our view, be sufficient compliance of the directory prescription so long as it furnishes information necessary for the Collector to proceed with the application.The fact that a copy of the registered deed was not furnished along with the application was, therefore, not fatal to the application nor did such omission deprive the Collector of his jurisdiction to entertain it nor did it vitiate the proceedings before him or the order thereon made y him. The Board of Revenue and the High Court were not right in dismissing the appellants application.