K M SENGODA GOUNDAR Vs. STATE OF MADRAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The second respondent filed a writ petition before the High Court of Madras challenging the validity of a notification issued by the State Government under Section 3 of the Madras Inam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1963 (Act 26 of 1963), on the ground that Komarapalayam Agraharam, Tiruchengoda Taluk, Salem District, is not inam and therefore the notification can have no application to that hamlet. He also challenged the constitutional validity of the aforesaid Act During the pendency of the writ petition, the appellants, claiming to be the tenants under the inamdar got themselves impleaded as respondents 2 to 31 to the writ petition. The High Court came to the conclusion that the Act is constitutionally valid but that he hamlet in question is not an inam or part of village inam and, therefore the Act can have no application to it and allowed the writ petition. This appeal, by certificate, is from the judgment of the High Court.

(2.) Komarapalayam Agraharam is comprised in Jadagapady village. The question whether Komarapalayam Agraharam is inam was raised at an earlier stage by some of the tenants of the hamlet and the matter came up before the High Court and the decision of the High Court is reported in Sellappa Goundar v. Bhaskaran, (1960) 2 Mad LJ 363 at page No. 367. There the history of this village as gathered from the inam papers was set put thus:

(3.) We think that the original grant was made in consideration of the payment of the sum by the grantees and the grant was not therefore an inam grant.