ROBERT DSILVA Vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MADIKERI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard the learned counsel on both sides.

(2.) An interesting aspect of law has arisen in this petition which concerns the deeming provision contained in Section 95(4) of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964. The statutory provision prescribes that in the event of non-action on the part of the authorities to whom an application for conversion has been submitted, that the permission is deemed to have been granted on the expiry of four months from the date on which the application has been submitted. Briefly stated, the legislative intent was to the effect that the authority must either grant or reject the permission within an outer limit of four months from the date on which it was submitted. It was quite obvious to the framers of the law that in matters relating to permission for conversion, that there is a degree of expediency involved and that therefore, a specific embargo must be embodied on to the Section which enjoins the authority to decide the matter within the time frame of four months. If this is not done, the law prescribes that the permission shall be deemed to be granted and the intention is not far to seek, for the simple reason that when a citizen applies for such conversion, it is presumed that unless there is valid reason for rejecting that application, that the permission ought to be granted and this is precisely the end-result that has been provided for.

(3.) In the present case, the petitioner applied for conversion on 21-6-1991 and the four month period expired on 21-10-1991. The authorities proceeded with certain enquiries, etc., including calling upon the petitioner to produce some documents and to comply with some other requirements and ultimately, as late as on 9-11-1993, an order was passed that since the petitioner had not complied with what he had been asked to do, that his application for conversion stands rejected. It is this order that has been called into question in the present petition, but the reliefs asked for are slightly different, insofar as the petitioner has asked for a declaration that deemed permission has accrued to him with all consequential benefits.