ANANDIBEN JAMABHAI PATEL Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Present Second Appeal under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure has been preferred by the appellant herein "original plaintiff to quash and set aside the impugned Judgment and order dtd.20/9/2007 passed by the learned Additional District Judge, Banaskantha-Deesa in Regular Civil Appeal No. 77 of 1999, by which the learned appellate court has dismissed the said appeal confirming the Judgment and decree dtd.30/9/1999 passed by the learned 4th Joint Civil Judge (SD), Palanpur in Regular Civil Suit No. 59 of 1986, by which the learned trial court has dismissed the said suit.

(2.) At the outset, it is required to be noted that the present Second Appeal is nothing but abuse of process of Court and Court proceedings by the appellant and last attempt on the part of the appellant to avoid the order passed by the authority under the provisions of Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act and to avoid handing over the possession of the lands which had been declared excess/surplus under the provisions of the Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act as far as back in the year 1985.

(3.) The disputed lands in question were of the ownership of the father of the appellant herein "original plaintiff and thereafter on the death of her father, it was in the name of her brother Ravjibhai. It is to be noted that the father of the appellant died in the year 1967 and on his death, the lands were mutated in the name of her brother Ravjibhai in the year 1969 vide mutation entry No. 68. It is to be noted and it is an admitted position that at the relevant time the statement of the very appellant" original plaintiff was recorded by the revenue authorities relinquishing her right in the lands in question by the appellants in favour of her brother and thereafter the aforesaid lands in question came to be continued in the name of her brother Ravjibhai and her brother was in exclusive ownership and possession of the disputed lands in question till he died in the year 1974 and thereafter by his heirs i.e. widows and minor. That the lands in question were subjected to the provisions of the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act and widow of Ravjibhai filled in necessary Forms as required under Section 10 of the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act declaring herself to be the absolute owner of the lands in question. That the Mamlatdar and ALT processed the declaration/form submitted by the widow of Ravjibhai and declared 38 Acres and 33 Gunthas of land from the land bearing Survey No. 90 as excess surplus land under the provisions of the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act. That against the order passed by the Mamlatdar declaring the aforesaid land as excess land under the provisions of the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act, the declarant - widow of Ravjibhai preferred Appeal No. 13 of 1982 before the Dy. Collector, Tharad and the Dy. Collector, Tharad dismissed the said appeal, against which the widow of Ravjibhai i.e. Punjiben "original defendant No. 3 preferred Revision Application before the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal and the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal by the Judgment and order dtd.8/4/1985 remanded the matter to the Mamlatdar only for the purpose of giving choice to the declarant i.e. Punjiben with respect to which portion of land she wants to retain and which portion of the land she wants to handover and the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal confirmed the order passed by the Mamlatdar and ALT declaring the aforesaid land as excess vacant land under the provisions of the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act. Only thereafter when the declarant" original owner lost upto the Gujarat Revenue Tribunal, at that stage the appellant herein "original plaintiff instituted Regular Civil Suit 59 of 1986 in the court of learned Civil Judge (SD), Palanpur for declaration and permanent injunction declaring that the plaintiff is the owner of the land admeasuring 46 Acres and 16.1/2 Gunthas of land and to declare that the order passed by the Mamlatdar and ALT declaring 38 Acres and 33 Gunthas of land as excess under the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act is not binding to her and consequently the Mamlatdar and ALT be restrained permanently from taking the possession of the land admeasuring 38 Acres and 33 Gunthas of land which is declared as excess vacant land under provisions of the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act. In the said suit the plaintiff joined widow of Ravjibhai i.e. heir of his brother Ravjibhai as well as Mamlatdar and ALT (Ceiling) Vav. That the learned trial court framed necessary issues at Ex.19 and on appreciation of evidence and after giving an opportunity to the learned advocates appearing on behalf of the respective parties, the learned trial court held that the plaintiff has no right, title and interest in the lands in question and that the suit has been filed with malafide intention only to avoid handing over possession of the land in question, which is declared as excess vacant land under the provisions of the Gujarat Agricultural Lands (Ceiling) Act and that even otherwise the suit is barred by Section 47. Being aggrieved by the Judgment and decree dtd.30/9/1999 passed by the learned 4th Joint Civil Judge (SD), Palanpur in Regular Civil Suit No. 59 of 1986 dismissing the suit, the appellant herein" original plaintiff preferred Regular Civil Appeal No. 77 of 1999 before the learned District Court, Palanpur which came to be dismissed by the learned Additional District Judge, Banaskantha-Deesa by the impugned Judgment and order dtd.20/9/2007 confirming the Judgment and decree passed by the learned trial court dismissing the suit. Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the Judgment and decree passed by both the courts below, the appellant herein "original plaintiff has preferred the present Second Appeal under Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure.