Gaurav Aseem Avtej vs U.P.State Sugar Corporation Ltd.

3. Suit No.212 of 1981 was filed before the learned Munsif, Bijnor by Sh. Vinod Chandra Gupta and his mother Smt. Prakashwati seeking eviction of the Defendant-Corporation and for recovery of 1 the arrears of rent. The learned Munsif refused to decree the suit for eviction. However, the Defendant-Corporation was directed to pay Rs.1700/- towards arrears of rent for the period 1979-81. Both the Plaintiffs and the Defendant-Corporation filed appeals against the judgment of the Trial Court. The First Appellate Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Defendant-Corporation and allowed the Plaintiff’s appeal. Consequently, the suit was decreed in favour of the Plaintiffs and eviction was ordered. The second appeals filed by the Defendant-Corporation before the High Court challenging the judgment of the First Appellate Court were allowed. The High Court reversed the judgment of the First Appellate Court and dismissed the suit. Aggrieved by the said judgment, the present appeals are filed.

4. In the plaint it was averred that the first Plaintiff along with his father, Sh.Ram Narain Gupta, were bhumidars of an area admeasuring 4 bighas 3 biswas in Mauza Rashidpur, Garhi Pargana, Bijnor. According to them, the land was grove land. 3 bighas 8 biswas from the said land which is adjacent to M/s Shiv Prasad Banarasi Das Sugar Mills, Bijnor was given on lease for being used to park vehicles. It was averred that the lease was in existence for a considerably long period. As the period of the earlier lease expired in 1976, another lease deed was executed by the father of plaintiff No.1 on 25.06.1976 for a period of five 2 years. It was stated in the plaint that the lease was determined by a notice dated 10.07.1979 and that the Defendant-Corporation was also in arrears of rent for the period 1979-1980. On the basis of the said pleadings, relief of eviction and recovery of arrears of rent was sought. The Defendant-Corporation filed a written statement in which it was stated that the Plaintiffs have lost all rights in respect of the land as they could not have leased out agricultural land. It was also urged that the Plaintiffs cannot derive any benefit from the declaration made by the competent authority under Section 143 of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 (the 1950 Act) that the land was used for non agricultural purposes. The Defendant-Corporation submitted in the written statement that the land in dispute vested with the State Government by virtue of the Uttar Pradesh Sugar Undertakings (Acquisition) Act, 1971 (the 1971 Act) and Defendant No.1 became the title holder of the property after the scheduled undertaking was transferred to it. The Defendants further pleaded that they have made permanent construction on the land which was being used for the purpose of the factory and they had become permanent lessees. The Trial Court relied upon the order passed by the S.D.O. Bijnor under Section 143 of the 1950 Act on 20.01.1972 declaring that the land in dispute was not agricultural land. On the basis of the said 3 order, the Trial Court held that the land was not agricultural land and the Plaintiffs had the right to lease out the land. The Trial Court found that the land did not vest in the State Government under the 1971 Act as, according to the Trial Court, only the leasehold interest in the land vested with the State Government. The Trial Court refused to grant a decree of eviction on the ground that the notice dated 10.12.1979 was not proved to have been served on the concerned person. The Plaintiffs were held to be entitled for recovery of arrears of rent for the years 1979-1981.

5. The Appellate Court affirmed the findings of the Trial Court regarding interpretation of the 1971 Act and held that it was only the leasehold interest in the land that stood vested in the Government. The First Appellate Court recorded a finding that Section 111 of the Transfer of Property Act would apply to the instant case as the lease was for a fixed period between 1976-1980 and the lease stood determined automatically on 30.06.1980. The First Appellate Court decreed the suit by allowing the appeal filed by the Plaintiffs. The appeal filed by the Defendant-Corporation was dismissed.

6. The High Court allowed the appeals filed by the Defendants and dismissed the suit by holding that the land stood vested in the State Government under the 1950 Act as the lease executed by 4 the Plaintiffs in favour of the Defendants was in violation of Section 156 of the 1950 Act. The High Court also relied upon Section 167 of the 1950 Act to hold that the Plaintiffs lost their rights over the land and as a consequence of void transfer, the land stood vested with the State Government free from all encumbrances. The High Court further observed that by virtue of Section 3 of the 1971 Act the land which was occupied for the purposes of the factory stood vested in the State Government free from all encumbrances.

15. If the intention of the Legislature was to exclude leasehold lands it could have expressed the same by adding lands held on lease along with agricultural and grove lands. As per Section 2(h) (vi) all lands other than lands held or occupied for purpose of cultivation and grove lands are part of scheduled undertaking. In view of above, we are of the opinion that the land in dispute stood vested in the State Government on the appointed day i.e. 03.07.1971.

19. For the aforesaid reasons, the appeal are dismissed.