THAKUR KESARI SINGH Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant was the Jagirdar of Thikana Rakhi in the Marwar (Jodhpur) area of the State of Rajasthan. Within Thikana Rakhi was the village of Khakharki. The appellant had a number of tenants under him in the village who paid rent on the basis of a certain share of the produce of the land held.

(2.) There was an Act in force in the Marwar area called the Marwar Tenancy Act of 1949, hereafter referred to as the Tenancy Act, which had been passed by His Highness the Maharaja of Jodhpur before the integration of the State of Jodhpur in the State of Rajasthan. That Act now stands repealed but we are concerned with a period when it was in force. Section 78 of that Act provides that when rent is payable by a division of the produce or is based on an estimate or appraisement of the standing crop, the landlord or the tenant may apply to the Tahsildar for making the division, estimate or appraisement, when this could not be done amicably. Section 79 of the Tenancy Act lays down the procedure to be followed at the hearing of such an application and provides that any amount found due as rent by the Tahsildar on that application shall have the effect of a decree for arrears of rent.

(3.) On October 31, 1950, the appellant who had some difficulty in realising the rent from his tenants in village Khakharki, made an application under S. 78 of the Tenancy Act to the Tahsildar, Merta, within which the village Khakharki was situate. Before this application was finally disposed of the Government of Rajasthan issued a Notification under S. 85 of the Tenancy Act which is set out below :