MARGHOOBUR RAHMAN Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under Article 226 of the Constitution has been preferred by the petitioner who was the tenure holder within the meaning of that term used in U. P. Imposition of Ceiling on Land Holdings Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the judgment of the 1st Additional District Judge, Bijnor, dated 13th August, 1981, accepting the appeal of the State and directing the Prescribed Authority to determine the surplus area in accordance with the appellate judgment dated 6th October, 1977.

(2.) THE petitioner was a tenure holder having his holding in a number of villages. A notice under Section 10 (2) of the Act as amended by U. P. Act No. 18 of 1976 was served upon the petitioner in the year 1976 regarding his holdings in the villages mentioned above. THE petitioner filed an objection on a a number of grounds under Section 10 (2). THE Prescribed Authority, after considering the evidence, held vide its judgment dated 30th June, 1976 that the petitioner had 46.39 acres of irrigated land as surplus. In the revenue appeal no. 480 of 1976 preferred by the petitioner, the Additional District Judge allowed the same partly and reduced the surplus area of the petitioner to 26.07 acres irrigated land. THE learned Additional District Judge gave the following directions to the Prescribed Authority :-

(3.) UPON the matter coming before the Prescribed Authority for determining the plots to be declared surplus, the petitioner filed objection, inter alia, on the ground that as some land of the petitioner had been acquired by the State of U. P. for the construction of Barrage and possession thereof was also taken, the petitioner was entitled to the exclusion of the land which had been acquired by the State of U. P. from his surplus limit. He also had, however, given a choice with regard to the plots to be declared surplus in case the Authority decided to hold the same. The Prescribed Authority upheld the objection of the petitioner by the judgment dated February 23, 1982 by holding that the land which had been acquired by the State of U. P. for construction of Ganga Barrage was liable to be excluded from determination of the ceiling area. As a result of this order of the Prescribed Authority, the ceiling area which had been initially declared and had become final, was reduced.