STATE OF KERALA Vs. VALLAPPALLY PLANTATIONS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision petition under S.103 of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (Act 1 of 1964) (the Act for short) is filed by the State against the order of the Taluk Land Board, Kanjirappally dropping the proceedings initiated against the respondent under S.85(9) of the Act. The majority of the Taluk Land Board held that it had no authority or jurisdiction to reopen the ceiling case of the respondent under S.85(9). We shall state the facts leading to this order and how it is challenged by the State;

(2.) The respondent which is a private limited company filed statement of its holdings under S.85A for purposes of the ceiling provisions in the Act. They owned a total extent of 130.47 acres, 125 acres of which was claimed to be exempted as a rubber plantation as on January 1, 1970. But the Taluk Land Board did not accept the respondent's claim for exemption, inasmuch as the 125 acres in question was "other dry land" as on April 1, 1964, and was converted into rubber plantation only thereafter, and therefore the land had to be treated only as "other dry land" and not as rubber plantation in the computation of the extent of holdings under the ceiling provisions of the Act, because of the direction contained in S.82(4) to ignore such conversion. The Taluk Land Board accordingly passed order on February 24, 1976 holding that the respondent was liable to surrender 115.17 acres of land. This order was challenged in revision C.R.P.No.2274 of 1976 in this court which was disposed of by Bhaskaran, J. on February, 28, 1977. The learned Judge took the view that the ceiling provisions were made applicable to companies (like the respondent) only by the introduction of S.82(1)(d) by Act 35 of 1969 which came into force on January 1, 1970, that the respondent was therefore quite unconcerned with "the state of affairs of the land" prior to January 1, 1970, and therefore S.82(4) was not attracted to the case of the respondent.

(3.) The Taluk Land Board passed consequential order on May 18, 1979 implementing the order of this court holding that 125 acres was rubber plantation as on January 1, 1970 and that therefore the respondent was not holding any land in excess of the ceiling limits. The proceedings were dropped.