GOVINDAN NAIK Vs. SECRETARY COCHIN DEVASWOM BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) S. 113 (2) of the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious institutions Act, 1950, reads as follows: "the provisions of the Devaswom Proclamation dated the 29th day o! Makarom 1085 corresponding to the 11th day of February 1910 and the rules issued thereunder in respect of the procedure to be adopted and the mode of recovery of pattern, michavarom, renewal fees and other dues shall apply mutatis mutandis to the procedure and mode of recovery of pattern, michavarom, renewal fees and other dues relating to incorporated and unincorporated Devaswoms and to the institutions whose management has been assumed under the provisions of the Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, I of 1081, or la assumed under the provisions of Part II of this Act". and the contention before us in these two petitions is that the said sub-section in so far as they relate to Devaswoms "assumed" under Act I of 1081 is ultra vires of Art. 14 of the constitution which provides that: "the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India ".

(2.) IT is common ground that the Devaswom concerned - the thayankavu Devaswom - was "assumed" on grounds of mismanagement some time after 1100 under the provisions of Act I of 1081. Para. 5 of both the petitions reads as follows: "the Thayankavu Devaswom originally belonged to one chiratamen Moosad of Olessa Desom, Ammanum Pakuthy of Kottayam District. He was the sole owner uralan. Subsequently in 1100 due to some act of mismanagement of the original owner uralan the Cochin Government placed it under a Trustee. Afterwards the Devaswom Department itself assumed management".

(3.) THE rules made under the Devaswom Proclamation of 1085 in respect of the procedure to be adopted and the mode of recovery of pattom, michavarom, renewal fees and other dues appear in Appendix VI-A of the Cochin devaswom Manual. R. 6 of the said rules provides how arrears are to be recovered: "arrears of rent, together with interest, if any, may be recovered by the Devaswam Superintendent, or any officer empowered by him in that behalf, by the sale of the defaulter's movable property or by the placing of lands on Nadupattam or Sthirapattam". THE expression "placing a land on Nadupattam" and "placing a land on Sthirapattam" are defined in R. 1 (f) and (g)as follows: " (f) 'placing a land on Nadupattam' means taking possession by the Sirkar of such land from a defaulter and handing it over for a fixed number of years to a third party who shall be called the Nadupattamdar. (g) 'placing a land on Sthirapattam' means taking possession by the Sirkar of such land* from a defaulter and handing it over permanently to a third party, 01 if the land is one already placed on nadupattam, making the Nadupattamdar's possession of such land permanent". Rules 7 to 25 deal with the attachment and sale of movable property, R. 26 to 34 with the procedure relating to Nadupattam and sthirapattam and R. 35 to 38 with the genera] provisions regarding the recovery of arrears of interest. Of these rules, R. 35 specifically provides for suits by persons aggrieved by proceedings under the rules: "nothing contained in these rules shall be held to prevent parties deeming themselves aggrieved by any proceedings under these rules, from applying to the Civil Court for redress, provided that no Civil court shall take cognisance of any suit brought against any public servant by any person deeming himself aggrieved by any proceedings under these rules, unless such suit shall be instituted within six months from the time at which the cause of action arose". THEse provisions are the same as those embodied in the rules framed under Act 1 of 1081 (Appendix VI B of the Cochin Devaswom Manual), the Act under which the Devaswom was "assumed", and it follows that the tenants of the Devaswoms whose management was assumed by the Government were liable to the arrears being recovered by a similar process ever since the framing of the rules on the 9th March 1910.