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TMI Blog1983 (11) TMI 335X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... eforms passed for the purpose of building an egalitarian society and bringing about marked improvement in the condition of the poor suffering tillers by the various Acts passed by the States, the landlords left no stone unturned and were always on the look out for an opportunity to seize the lands from the tenants on one pretext or the other through manpower, muscle-power or money-power. Nevertheless, the constitutional validity of most of the Acts came up for decision in the High Courts and in this Court and by and large each one of them was held to be constitutionally valid, thus setting at naught the attempts of the landlords to take back possession of the lands which should have been given to the tillers" of the soil long before. The landlords were thus unable to get hold of any opportunity to pounce upon the land which went and should have gone to the actual tillers of the soil. 2. Thereafter, some of the bigger landlords tried through their dexterous methods and legal ingenuity to defeat the laudable social endeavour of the Government by making a show of the so-called complete destruction of their assets and properties reducing them to starvation. This case is yet anoth ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... raised by the landlords against the reforms introduced by the 1955 Act and the 1972 and 1977 Amendment Acts. Unfortunately, however, there appears to be some small lacuna in the above judgment which was unhesitatingly exploited by the petitioners so as to attempt to destroy the progressive amendments of 1972 and 1977 particularly taking advantage of certain observations made in that case to which we shall come later. 6. To begin with, in the 1953 Act which was enforced with effect from 12th February, 1954, Section 4 introduced a more or less radical reforms for the benefit of the actual tillers by abolishing the rights of the intermediary (ex-landlords). By virtue of this section all estates and the rights of every intermediary was to vest in the State free from all encumbrances from a date mentioned in a notification issued by the Government. In order, however, to be just and fair to the erstwhile landlords they were conferred the status of raiyats or tenants. By virtue of Section 6 they were entitled to retain categories of lands like lands comprised in homesteads or appertaining to buildings and structures, etc., or non-agricultural land in khas possession. Section 6(d) expres ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iyat, who is the sole surviving member of a family, 2.50 standard hectares; (c) in the case of a raiyat having a family consisting of two or more but not more than five members, 5.00 standard hectares; (d) in the case of a raiyat having a family consisting of more than five members, 5.00 standard hectares, plus 0.50 standard hectare for each member in excess of five, so, however, that the aggregate of the ceiling area for such raiyat shall not, in any case, exceed 7.00 Standard hectares; (e) in the case of any other raiyat, 7.00 standard hectares; (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in Sub-section (1), where, in the family of a raiyat, there are more raiyats than one, the ceiling area for the raiyat, together with the ceiling area of all the other raiyats in the family shall not, in any case, exceed: (a) where the number of members of such family does not exceed five, 5.00 standard hectares; (b) where such number exceeds five, 5.00 standard hectares, plus 0.50 standard hectare for each member in excess of five, so, however, that the aggregate of the ceiling area shall not, in any case, exceed 7.00 standard hectares. (3) For the purpose of Sub-section (2), all the lands o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... upra) where this Court after dealing with the various provisions observed thus: In the instant case, it is clear that the 1955 Act as also the Amendment Act of 1972 were added to the Ninth Schedule, being entry Nos. 60 and 81, prior to April 24, 1973. In these circumstances, it is manifest that the aforesaid Acts are completely immune from challenge on the ground that they are violative of any of the rights enshrined in Part III of the Constitution. The learned Counsel for the petitioner, therefore, was fully justified in making the concession before us. 13. This error is undoubtedly there but neither the counsel for the petitioners nor the counsel for the respondent drew our attention to this omission. Even if the Acts were not included in the Ninth Schedule their constitutional validity could not be questioned because this Court has clearly held in Sri Sri Kalimata Thakurani's case that the provisions are otherwise reasonable and give full effect to the pragmatic and socialistic approach, where the following observations were made: It would be seen that Section 17 permits the cultivator to terminate the cultivation of the land by a bargardar and resume possession under his ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... J., speaking for the Court, made the following observations: In order, therefore, to reconcile the fundamental rights of the community as a whole with the individual rights of the more fortunate section of the community, it was fundamentally necessary to make the impugned legislation to secure to a certain extent the rights of that part of the community which is denied its legitimate share in the means of livelihood. The broad objectives or any legislation relating to agrarian reforms are materially four, viz., (1) to maximise the agricultural output and productivity, (2) a fair and equitable distribution of agricultural income, (3) increase in employment opportunities, and (4) a social or ethical order. Though the abolition of the zamindari system in the State of West Bengal was an important step forward, the feudal structure remained so far as the peasants were concerned. These objectives have been achieved through progressive legislation. 16. These observations put the petitioners completely out of court and demolish the contentions advanced before us. The four objectives mentioned by Sen, J. in the passage extracted above are clearly brought out and implemented by virtue of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he courts should interpret a constitutional provision in order to suppress the mischief and advance the object of the Act. The doctrine of nexus cannot be extended to such an extreme limit that the very purpose of Article 39(b)&(c) is defeated.... If the nexus is present in the law then the protection of Art, 31C becomes complete and irrevocable. 19. It was also argued that by virtue of the various amendments made by the 1972 and 1977 Amendment Acts no process of distribution is involved. This argument cannot be accepted in view of the observations of this Court by Krishna Iyer, J. in State of Karnataka v. Ranganatha Reddy and Anr. etc. [1978]1SCR641 where the learned Judge observed as follows: The next question is whether nationalisation can have nexus with distribution.... To 'Distribute'; even in its simple dictionary; meaning, is to allot, to divide into classes or into groups' and 'distribution' embraces arrangement, classification, placement, disposition, apportionment, the way in which items, a quantity, or the like, is divided or apportioned; the system of dispersing goods throughout a community. 20. The above observations were followed and amplified ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h and arbitrary. This argument does not hold any water for two reasons: (1) that when once it is found that the Act is meant to promote and effectuate the objectives contained in Article 39(b), which is no doubt the case here, no other ground of challenge would survive because by virtue of Article 31C any Act which seems to secure the objects of Article 39(b) cannot be challenged being violative of Article 14, 19 or 31. (2) Secondly, the provision that the land-owner should reside in the village is both salutary and beneficial, the object being that if raiyat wants to cultivate his own land he must give his whole- hearted attention to the said land instead of leaving the village and carrying on other avocations of life. 24. One of us, (Fazal Ali, J.) had clearly adverted to this aspect of the matter in Sri Sri Kalimata Thakurani's case (supra) and observed as follows: The dominant object of the proviso is to abolish the age-old institutions of absentee land-holder by insisting that the cultivator to whom land is allotted must give full and complete attention to the soil and as result of which there will be a maximum utilisation of the agricultural resources which would incr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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