N SREEDHARAN NAIR Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Judgment of the Full Bench was delivered by THE petitioners in all these writ petitions are the tenants in the properties belonging to the religious institutions, such as temple, mutt, mosque and church. THE lands belonging to such religious institutions had been leased out to the petitioners herein with an option to construct the superstructure at their cost. THE petitioners have put up the construction in such lands.

(2.) IN some cases, the religious institutions filed the suit for recovery of possession of the land and the suits had been decreed and the appeals are pending. IN some cases, either suits are pending or no suit had been laid by the religious institutions for recovery of possession of the lands. IN some cases, after finality of the decree, the proceedings are pending at the execution stage. Whenever the suits or appeals are pending, in most of the cases, the tenants have filed application under Sec.9 of the Madras City Tenants Protection Act, 1921 (hereinafter referred to as Act III of 1922). When such proceedings were pending the said Tamil Nadu Act III of 1922 was amended under the Madras City Tenants Protection (Amendment) Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act (II of 1996) hereinafter referred to as Act II of 1996). (2) Sub-sec.(3) of Sec.1 of Act III of 1922 not only deals with the applicability of the said Act to certain tenancies of land but also deals with the exemption of certain tenancies of land from the purview of the Act. The first proviso to sub-Sec.(3) of Sec.1 exempts from the purview of the Act the tenancies of the land owned by (a) the Corporation of Madras, in the City of Madras; (b) owned by the Municipal Council concerned, in any other Municipal areas: (bb) by the Township Committee concerned, in any Township: (c) by the Panchayat or by the Panchayat Union Council constituted under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1958, the Panchayat constituted under the Tamil Nadu Village Panchayats Act, 1950; (d) by the District Board concerned in case of all areas in a District which are not comprised within the local limits of such Panchayat or Panchayat Union; (e) by the Board of Trustees for the improvement of the City of Madras constituted under the Madras City Improvement Trust Act, 1950 (Madras Act XXXVII of 1950).

(3.) WHILE dealing with Art.14 of the Constitution, it has been held thus: