STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. IBRAHIM AKBARALI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals arise under the following circumstances. The plaintiff in First Appeal No. 459 of 1964 is a forest contractor here in after referred to as the Contractor. One Arvindkumar Ambalal Purohit was the Dumaldar of Kosum and Chimli villages in the former Chhota Udepur State. He will be referred to hereinafter in this judgment as the Jagirdar. He held those villages as his proprietory Jagir. On 10th June 1948 Chhota Udepur State merged with the Province of Bombay. After merger the Government of Bombay recognized the Jagirdars rights to his Jagir. On 11th June 1954 the Jagirdar agreed to sell all the trees of Kosum and Chimli villages to the contractor. On 1st August 1954 the Bombay Merged Territories and Areas (Jagirs Abolition) Act 1953 (hereinafter referred to as the Jagir Abolition Act for the sake of brevity) came into force as a result of which the Jagirdars Jagir was abolished. On 28th August 1961 the Jagirdar executed in favour of the contractor a document by which he ratified the earlier agreement of 11th June 1954. It is the contractors contention that upon the abolition of the Jagirdars Jagir the latter became the occupant of all lands in his possession in his former Jagir villages and that he continued to be the owner of all the trees in those villages. Tenants in possession of the Jagirdars lands became occupants of those lands. The contractor further contended that his right to cut the trees and to remove the cut wood under the agreement of 11th June 1954 was recognized by the Jagir Abolition Officer appointed under the Jagir Abolition Act.

(2.) On 3rd March 1955 the Government of Bombay issued Notification No. F. L. D. 2555/134/3 E under sec. 4 of the Indian Forest Act 1927 (hereinafter referred to as the Forest Act for the sake of brevity) constituting S. Nos. 14 194 210 and 225 of Kosum village and S. No. 110 of Chimli village along with various other lands as reserved forests. It is this notification which is challenged by the contractor on the ground that the aforesaid survey numbers of Kosum and Chimli villages have been the private forests of the Jagirdar and that the said notification (hereinafter referred to as the impugned notification) is ultra vires secs. 3 and 4 of the Forest Act.

(3.) Under the Saurashtra Felling of Trees Act the contractor applied to the Mamlatdar for a permit to cut all trees except teak sandlewood and blackwood trees. The Mamlatdar in his turn referred the matter to the Forest authorities. Meanwhile the contractor started cutting trees in reSpect of which the Mamlatdar had already granted him permission. How. ever the contractor was sometime thereafter stopped by the Forest authorities from cutting any trees. It is further alleged by the contractor in his plaint that the Divisional Forest Officer had invited tenders to sell the material cut by him even though the State Government had not been in possession thereof. The contractor therefore filed Special Suit No. 44 of 1962 in the Court of the Civil Judge Senior Division at Baroda against the State of Gujarat and Divisional Forest Officer Chhota Udepur for a declaration that he is the owner of all the trees including teak blackwood and sandlewood trees standing in the Jagirdars former Jagir villages Kosum and Chimli and also of the cut material fire wood timber charcoal and other things left there and for a consequential injunction restraining the defendants from interfering with his rights and his possession of the trees and for a further mandatory injunction directing the defendants to issue authorisation passes and transport permits to him for removing the cut material.