TMI Blog2015 (11) TMI 1610X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t petition preferred by the respondents was allowed and the orders passed by the Revenue Authorities were quashed, holding that every landowner of the family of one Dev Raj was entitled for a separate unit. 2. The facts in nutshell are that Dev Raj, predecessor-in-interest of the respondents herein, was holding land measuring 2400 kanals 9 marlas in village Kalroohi and Mubarikpur as owner. He was issued notice in form C-V in which area measuring 1767 Kanals 9 Marlas was proposed to be declared as surplus under the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972. Instead of filing objection, the landowner filed a writ petition in which High Court directed that the determination of surplus area be made by the Collector. On 22.7.1976, the Collector, Una District passed an order holding that the land owned by wife of late Dev Raj namely, Smt. Kala Devi, and Yash Pal, Dharam Pal, Ram Pal sons of Dev Raj be excluded from the holding of landowner Dev Raj and all the members of the family holding land continue to enjoy rights therein to the extent of the determined permissible area. Thereafter, while deciding reference in revision, the Financial Commissioner, Himachal Pradesh reman ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... their holding individually together with the land held by all of them shall be taken into account for the purposes of calculating the permissible area. 6. The Division Bench of the High Court allowed the writ petition and quashed the orders passed by the Revenue Authorities directing the Collector Land Ceiling, Una to determine the permissible area of original writ petitioners nos.1 to 5 individually in the light of the observations made in the impugned judgment. The High Court observed thus: 23. In Annexure P-11 it has come that petitioner No.1 Dev Raj has four sons who are all major and reside separately from their father. As against this evidence, the respondents have not proved that the petitioners No.2 to 5 have acquired any land through petitioner No.1 before the appointed date 24.1.1971. The simple case of the respondents is that since petitioners No.2 to 5 are family members of petitioner No.1, therefore, their individual holding is to be counted for determination of permissible area of all family members as a unit and, therefore, all of them collectively are entitled to only two units. This argument of the respondents has no force; firstly, petitioner No.2 is the wi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Raj Kumar Rajinder Singh s case, the Court has recorded a finding in paragraph 19 of the judgment when as a matter of fact that was the submission made by the counsels in that case. Mr. Satyanarayan further submitted that it is an admitted case of both the parties that on 24th January 1971 the landowner Dev Raj was having a family comprising of his wife, one adult son and 3 minor sons. By correctly interpreting the provisions of the Act, it cannot be held that all the members of the family shall hold land separately and their holdings cannot be counted for determining the permissible area. 9. Per contra, Mr. Anil Sachthey, learned counsel for the respondent, fully relied on the decision of the Full Bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in Raj Kumar Rajinder s case (AIR 1976 HP 82(FB). Learned counsel submitted that the Full Bench considered the provisions of the Act and held that additional area is added on the fiction that so much more land out of the land holding is required as a provision in the hands of the land holder in respect of an adult son. 10. Mr. Sachthey, then submitted that in any event it is a settled proposition of law that where a decision is allowed to s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d he shall be entitled to the land upto the extent permissible to a family under sub-sections (1) and (2) subject to the condition that the aggregate land of the family and that of the separate units put together shall not exceed twice the area permissible under the said sub-sections: Provided that where the separate unit owns any land, the same shall be taken into account for calculating the permissible area for that unit. (5) If a person holds land of two or more categories described in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (1) and sub-section (2) of this section then the permissible area shall be determined on the following basis:- (i) in the areas mentioned in sub-section (2) of this section, one acre of land mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall count as one and a half acres of land mentioned in clause (b) of sub-section (1) and seven acres of land mentioned in clause (c) of sub-section (1); (ii) in the areas other than the areas mentioned in sub-section (2) of this section, one acre of land mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall count as one and a half acres of land mentioned in clause (b) of sub-section (1), and three acres of land mentione ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t son of a person. In that case such adult son will be treated as a separate unit and he is entitled to have separate unit of permissible area up to the extent of the permissible area of a family subject to the condition that the aggregate land of the family and that of a separate unit put together shall not exceed twice the area permissible. If we read sub-section (4) minutely, it comes out that in the first part the legislature used the word separate unit but in the later part the legislatures have used the word separate units as plural. The opening words of sub-section (4) of Section 4, starts with every adult son of a person meaning thereby even if a person has more than one adult son, all will be treated as separate unit individually but subject to the condition that aggregate land of the family and that of the separate units put together shall not exceed twice the area permissible under the said sub-section. 15. Section 6 of the Act reads as under:- 6. Ceiling of land: - Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, custom, usage or agreement, no person shall be entitled to hold whether as a landowner or a tenant or a mortgagee with possession or ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... before determining the surplus area, give to all the members of the family an opportunity of being heard. 17. The aforesaid provision makes it clear that when any person/landowner acquires or succeeds land which is in excess of permissible area after the commencement of the Act, such land holder has to file separate return to the Collector as per Rule 16 of the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Rules, 1972. 18. The High Court passed the impugned order based on the decision of the Full Bench of the High Court in Rajkumar Rajindra Singh vs. Union of India, ILR 1976 HP 453. The Division Bench of the High Court quoted some of the paragraphs of Full Bench decision. In order to appreciate the impugned order, we shall quote paragraphs nos. 17, 18 and 19 of the impugned judgment as under:- 17. In Rajkumar Rajinder Singh s case (supra), Full Bench of this Court in Paragraph-8 has held as under:- .It is the permissible area in the case of a person or a family. And it is the permissible area in respect of the landholding of such person or family. It is the landholding of such person or family alone which forms the subject-matter of Section 4, and the several sub-sec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the meaning of a statute is ambiguous and capable of more interpretations than one . 21. This Court in Indra Sawhney and others vs. Union of India and others, etc. AIR (1993) SC 477, in paragraph 26-A of the Judgment, considered the principle of stare decisis and observed that in the law certainty, consistency and continuity are highly desirable features. Where a decision has stood the test of time and has never been doubted, we have respected it unless, of course, there are compelling and strong reasons to depart from it. 22. We make it clear that to maintain certainty in the judicial decision, we have to restrain from interfering with the decision of the High Court which has stood for a long period on the principle of stare decisis. However, the said principle will be applicable where the meaning of the Statute is ambiguous and capable of more interpretation than one. In the instant case, the provision of the Act/Statute is very clear and, therefore, principle of stare decisis is of no help to the respondents. 23. Apart from that it appears that the instant case arose out of certain proceedings initiated as far back as in 1974, and travelled up to this Court. The Full Be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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