DILIP VISHWANATH DESHPANDE Vs. PARASHARAM VENKOBA PAWAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a landlord's revision petition arising out of an application filed by him under S.14 of the Mysore Land Reforms Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Mysore Act) for resumption of the two lands R.S.Nos.150 and 153 measuring 1 acre 25 guntas and 1 acre 32 guntas respectively of Wadagaon village in Belgaum Taluk, from the respondent who is the protected tenant of the lands. The case of the petitioner is that he bona fide requires the lands for cultivating personally. The Land Tribunal at Belgaum dismissed the application holding that the petitioner has failed to prove that he is the landlord. The order of the Land Tribunal has been affirmed in appeal by the District Court at Belgaum.

(2.) Shri G. D. Shirgurkar, the learned Counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the Courts below committed an error of law in holding that the petitioner is not the landlord. In the application filed by the petitioner, it is stated that the petitioner is the landlord of the two lands held by the respondent as a protected tenant. The respondent did not controvert these averments of the petitioner. The respondent did not, at any stage, state that the petitioner is not the landlord. Hence, no issue arose for consideration on the question whether the petitioner is the landlord of the two lands or not. What is not disputed need not be proved. The Courts below ought to have proceeded on the basis that the petitioner is the landlord of the two lands. The finding of the Courts below that the petititioner has failed to prove that he is the landlord of the two lands is therefore set aside. As the Courts below have not applied their mind to the other conditions governing resumption of the lands, the case has to be remitted back to the Court of first instance for fresh disposal in accordance with law.

(3.) But, Sri W. K. Joshi, the learned Counsel for the respondent, submitted that as it is not clear as to which are all the provisions of law that govern an application for resumption of lands in the Bombay area, the attention of the Court below may be drawn to the provisions of law that govern the application for resumption. As this problem is likely to arise in large number of cases, it is necessary to indicate the provisions that govern applications for resumption of lands in the Bombay area.