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2000 (5) TMI 1089

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..... and settled in favour of Satish Chandra Baul was said to have been acquired under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act and compensation was also claimed and paid to the said person. The remaining extent was said to have been sold by the descendants of Satish Chandra Baul to various persons at different points of time during the year 1971-72. The first respondent claimed to have purchased under a registered sale deed dated 12.8.71, 5 kathas of land being a portion of plot No.1217which was also shown as sub plot No.1217/16. She got her name mutated in the office of the Circle Officer, Ranchi, by an order dated 13.3.73 and after obtaining the necessary sanction, raised construction, thereon Subsequently, also for putting up additional construction, revised building plan was got sanctioned and when such construction was going on, the appellant filed an application on 12.12.85 alleging that the first respondent had forcibly with the help of her muscle men started occupying the land belonging to him and despite complaint made before the concerned Police Station, it evoked no response necessitating the appellant to approach the Deputy Commissioner, Ranchi. The Deputy Commissioner .....

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..... n under the first proviso to Section 71A. The first respondent was permitted to amend the Writ Petition to enable her to question the final order as well as the consequential orders passed on 26.5.87, in the very Writ Petition. Learned Single Judge by an order dated 5.3.90 allowed the Writ Petition filed by the first respondent holding: (i) That the claim of forcible dispossession of the appellant will not amount to a transfer within the meaning of Section 71A of the CNT Act. (ii) That the lands were really Chhaparbandi lands as disclosed from the documentary evidence produced in the proceedings and even proceeding on the basis that the lands were raiyati in character inasmuch as the surrender was long before the year 1947 of the raiyati interest in favour of the landholder, the same was permissible in law and nothing in the CNT Act prohibited such a surrender. (iii) Since the CNT (Amendment Act) 1947 amending Sections 46 and 72 was prospective in operation, there was no obligation or necessity to obtain previous sanction of the Deputy Commissioner for effecting surrender in 1942, as per the earlier rulings of the said High Court and, therefore, the surrender could not .....

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..... .61 of 1987 on 17.10.84, the first respondent filed CWJ case No.2996 of 1994 (R) to quash the said proceedings. In the said Writ Petition, issues similar to those raised in the previous Writ Petition filed by Smt. Mira Nayak were raised placing reliance upon the earlier decision and the learned Single Judge by his order dated 13.3.96, applying and following the earlier judgement dated 5.3.90 in CWJ Case No.118 of 1986 (R), upheld the contentions of the first respondent. The learned Single Judge also observed that in view of the decision reported in Smt. Muni Devi and Others Vs Special Officer Scheduled Area Regulation, Ranchi (1990 PLJR 641), even at the stage of issue of notice initiating proceedings under Section 71A of the CNT Act, a challenge could be made by means of a Writ Petition since it involved a question of jurisdiction of the Special Officer and the very applicability of Section 71A to a case of pre- 1947 surrender. When the Writ Petition filed by the first respondent was allowed as above, the appellant filed a Review Petition in Civil Review No.36 of 1995 (R) contending that the earlier judgement was subjudice before this Court by grant of leave to appeal and that an .....

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..... ents in the above appeals have not pursued the matter before the Appellate and Revisional Forums properly and in the absence of any adjudication by the High Court also of this issue the same cannot be urged against the appellant in these proceedings. Finally, it is pointed out that in any event the lands in question are liable to be allotted by the Deputy Commissioner to a tribal only and the first respondents in the appeals who are non tribals could not be allowed to hold or retain the lands in question, any longer. The learned counsel for the first respondents while trying to justify the orders of the High Court vehemently contended that the surrender by the tenant in this case having taken place on 15.1.1942, there was no need for obtaining any previous sanction from the Deputy Commissioner under pre-amended Section 72 and statutory provisions as were in force on that date only applied to the case. Likewise, according to the respondents, Section 71A, newly introduced in 1969, had no application whatsoever to the case and that too at such belated point of time. The two decisions of this Court relied upon for the appellant are said to be distinguishable and not relevant for the .....

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..... ming to light, which are not only grave and serious but also go to the root of the matter, undermining the very basis of his claims and even locus standi or right to agitate before courts in relation to the property in question, cannot be totally ignored to permit perpetuation of grave injustice and abuse of process of Court. Those facts themselves constitute, in our view, sufficient ground to dismiss these appeals. It is by now well settled that even subsequent developments or facts and turn of events coming into existence but found really relevant, genuine and vitally important in effectively deciding the issues raised and necessary to do real, effective and substantial justice or prevent miscarriage of justice not only can but ought to be taken into consideration by courts even at the ppellate stage. Apparently, developing cold feet on this account only an alternate submission has been made that in any event the first respondents being non-tribals cannot be allowed to hold or retain the property and it has necessarily to be allotted to any other tribal only by the Deputy Commissioner. Though we propose to deal with the other issues raised, having regard to the important nature o .....

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..... cifically. Even otherwise, in para 9 of the judgment it is stated, thus - In this case an application under Section 46 (4) (a) has been made. It is, therefore, not at all necessary whether Section 71A incorporated by amendment is applicable in respect of the land in question. Section 46 (4) (a) considered in this decision which envisaged a prior sanction of the Deputy Commissioner before effecting transfer in any of the modes stated therein was introduced only in the year 1947 with effect from 5.1.1948 and no such provision existed during the relevant point of time of surrender made in this case on 15.1.1942. For all these reasons, we are of the view that the two decisions relied upon for the appellant does not either apply to the present cases or support the contentions raised before us. No doubt, the understanding of the High Court about the scope of Section 71A as interpreted by the earlier decisions of that Court noticed therein may not be good or correct in view of the later declaration of law by this Court but, the High Court did not proceed to rest its conclusion to uphold the claims of the contesting respondents who were writ petitioners before the High Court, only on th .....

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