HAJIA AIYSHA NACHIAR KALVI ARAKKATTALAI BY ITS TRUSTEE HAJIA S.M.I. AYISHA NACHIAR Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU REPRESENTED BY COLLECTOR OF THANJAVUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE revision petitioner is Hajia Ayisha Nachiar Kalvi Arakkattalai, Nagore, by its Trustee Hajia S.M.I. Ayisha Nachiar, Nagore. Proceedings under the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, Act LVIII of 1961, hereinafter referred to as the Act, were initiated by the Authorised Officer (Land Reforms), Nagapattinam, against Tmt. Hajia S.M.I. Ayisha Nachiar. It has been found that she gave away an extent of 10.50 standard acres of lands to the petitioner Trust. Since this Trust by itself could come within the definition of 'person' under Section 3(34) of the Act, the holdings of the Trustees themselves were subject to separate assessment under the provisions of the Act. The Authorised Officer countenanced an exclusion under Section 3(22) of the Act of an extent of Order 67 standard acres and held that the net holdings of the Trust came to 9.83 standard acres. The trustee put forth a contention that the Trust is of a nature which would come within the definition of a religious trust of public nature within the meaning of Section 2(1)(ii) of the Act and hence the previsions of the Act would not apply to the lauds held by the petitioner Trust. The Authorised Officer, on a consideration of the deed of trust marked in the case as Exhibit P -1 dated 31st December, 1969 and the evidence of one A.H. Shaik Mohammed, who is the son of the Trustee's sister examined as P.W. 1, came to the conclusion that the Trust is a public trust of a charitable nature within the meaning of Section 5(1)(d)(i) of the Act and held that the petitioner Trust is eligible to retain only 5 standard acres and the balance of 4.83 standard acres was declared as surplus. The petitioner Trust preferred an appeal, C.M.A. (L.T.) No. 35 of 1976, which was heard and disposed of by the Land Tribunal at Nagapattinam, and the Land Tribunal also, on an analysis of the recitals in the deed of trust, came to the conclusion that there is nothing religious in the Trust in question and it could only be held to be a public trust of a charitable nature and in this view, confirmed the order of the Authorised Officer. The present revision is directed against the Orders of the Land Tribunal.

(2.) MR . R.G. Rajan, learned Counsel for the petitioner, would urge that there is a misconception in the minds of the forums below with regard to the proper construction of the recitals in the deed of trust. According to the learned Counsel, a proper construction of the recitals in the deed of trust in the light of certain principles of the Mohammedan Law would compel the Court to uphold the contention of the revision petitioner that the Trust in question is a 'religious trust of a public nature' within the meaning of Section 2(1)(ii) of the Act. To appreciate the contention of the learned Counsel for the petitioner, it is necessary to extract hereunder the relevant recitals in the deed of trust.

(3.) THE above decisions have been followed by Ramanujani, J., in A.K. Vavalewai Maricair Dharmam v. The State of Tamil Nadu C.R.P. No. 1628 of 1976, dated 1st November 1978. The learned Judge was concerned with a case where the object of the trust was to run a madarasa wherein Muslim girls and boys re given religious lectures and lessons in Koran and the learned Judge held that the recitals indicate that religious instructions and lessons in Koran and also lectures on principles of Islamic religion are given in the madarasa f o the benefit of Muslim girls and boys and it would come within the purview of Section 2(1)(ii) of the Act so as to claim total exemption from the provisions of the Act. In State of Tamil Nadu v. Annachatram Trust Thanjavur C.R.P. No. 3139 of 1977, dated 1st March, 1978 Ismail, J., found on the facts of the case that the intention of the author of the trust was to perform charities on certain occasions and days considered to be sacred or beneficial religiously and hence, the trust in question in that case comes within the meaning of a 'religious trust of a public nature.'