KAMALA Vs. AUTHORISED OFFICER LAND REFORMS COIMBATORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a civil revision petition filed by the landlady, Kamala Ganapathy Subramaniam, under S.83 of the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act (LVIII of 1961) as amended by the Act 37 of 1972, hereinafter referred to as the Act, against the judgment D/-25-2-1980 in L.T.A. No. 149 of 1979 on the file of the Land Tribunal (Principal Subordinate Judge), Coimbatore. The Land Tribunal while entertaining the appeal against the order of the Authorised Officer, Land Reforms, Coimbatore in file No. 6K/MRII/L D/-23-12-1978, held on the point whether the order of the Authorised Officer declaring surplus land in respect of the three charities is correct, that so far as Ayyarval Choutry, Palani is concerned, the Authorised Officer has committed an error in converting the actual extent into standard acres, that he has to arrive at the standard acres under S.3(40) of the Act taking the basic assessment as the rate at which the land is assessed to land revenue and declare the surplus and so far as Arudra Rathotsavam is concerned, he held that it is a public trust of a charitable nature, concurring with the conclusion of the Authorised Officer. Under the head 'Arudra Rathotsavam' 'Charity, the Land Tribunal also held that since the land in this case is dry, the Authorised Officer has to allow one ordinary acre besides the permissible limit of five standard acres in calculating the surplus land held by this trust. Since the actual extent is Ac. 10-55 he has to exclude one acre and convert the remaining Ac. 9-55 into standard acres and declare the surplus in excess of five standard acres. So far as the findings in respect of Ayyarval Choultry, Palani and Arudra Rathotsavam Charities are concerned, the conclusion arrived at by the Land Tribunal is not now questioned by the revision petitioner herein. On the other hand, the nature of the charity for teaching of Sanskrit and Vedas in the National High School, Tiruchirapalli and for the free boarding of Brahmin students studying vedas and Sanskrit in the National High School, Tiruchirapalli alone is the only question before us in this civil revision petition.

(2.) Mr. K. Srinivasan, learned counsel for the revision petitioner contends that the conclusion arrived at by the Appellate Authority that the trust cannot be construed as a hostel entitled to an exemption limit of 25 standard acres is not correct, because, the trust squarely comes within the definition of S.2 of the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms Act, 1961. This section was substituted by the Act 37 of 1972. The said S.2 reads as follows : -

(3.) According to the learned counsel for the revision petitioner, neither on the ground of only Rs. 1200/- being utilised for free boarding every year nor on the ground that the institution viz., the National High School, Tiruchirapalli was not either founded or run by the author of the trust or his descendants, it can be held that the trust does not come under the definition of a religious trust of a public nature. These grounds were taken as the basis for their decision both by the Authorised Officer and the Appellate Authority in rejecting the contention of the revision petitioner herein that the fifty acres of land in question comes within the purview of the definition contemplated under S.2 of the Act, in that the land belonged to the religious trust of a public nature.