TMI Blog1959 (3) TMI 71X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by the petitioner to Punjiram Prajapati has been declared by the Mamlatdar to have been forfeited to the Govt. and the price received by the petitioner is also declared to have been forfeited to the Governmen. The Mamlatdar's order having been ultimately affirmed by the Prant Officer in appeal and by the Bombay revenue Tribunal in revision, the petitioner seeks to have all those orders quashed under article 227 of the Constitution. By way of precaution the petitioner is invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 also and that is why he has made two applications. The petitioner in the other petitions is a purchaser of another field of te petitions is a purchase of another field of the same village from the occupant thereof ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he occupant of the land is concerned the provisions of section 64 lay down a number of restrictions on him. Sub-section (2) of section 64 says that a ale held in contravention of the provisions of that section wold be invalid. It would, therefore, follow that the Legislature has prohibited the owner of a land from alienatig it except in compliance with certain provisions of law. Then by section 84C it has been provided that where an occupant of a land has effected a sale of his land without emplying with the provisions of law or in contravention of the provisions of law and the sale declared invalid by the Mamlatdar, the land shall be forfeited to the government. Where a sale has been rendered invalid by law, the immediate result would be t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... therein prohibiting the purchaser from purchasing such land. It is no doubt true that under Article 31(1) of the Constitution the Legislaturecan make a law imposing a penalty but the law in order to be complete and effective must also provide for the circumstances under which thepenalty will be leviable against an individual. Now, a penalty is a frm of punishment. A person will be liable to punishment only if he as contravened a provision of law. Therefore, the law must first enact a prohibition, then specify the person or persons who will be subject to that prohibition and therafter provide for the penalty and specify the person or persons who will be liable to suffer it. Here, so far as the purchaser is concerned the law is very much shor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... chase price belonging to the purchaser either from him or from the seller. (5) Mr. Kotwal points out that in the first two petitions the state Government is trying to recover the purchase money in the hands of the seller as an arrear of land revenue. In view of our finding that the purchase money cannot be forfeited to the Government, it cannot be recovered as an arrear of land revenue. (6) These petitions must, accordingly, succeed partrially. For this reason we make the rule absolute in so far as the prayers 10 (d) and (e) as set out in Special Civil Application No. 2879 of 1958 are concerned and quash the orders of the Mamlatdar, the Prant Officer and the Bombay Revenue Tribunal as prayed for in Special Civil Application No. 2878 o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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