KERABAI GOVIND JADHAV Vs. PANDURANG GOPAL PATIL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Writ Petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, in essence, takes exception to the certification granted in favour of the Respondents by the Sub Divisional Officer on August, 31, 1982, certifying that the Respondent being a Public Trust, was exempted under Section 88 B of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') from application of certain provisions referred to therein. The said order came to be passed on an application preferred by the Respondent Nos.1 and 2 claiming to be trustees, sometime in 1979 for exemption certificate under Section 88 B of the Act. It has come on record that the Trust was registered under Certificate No.64343 on April, 19, 1962 by the Charity Commissioner, Kolhapur . It is on that premiss that the Authority proceeded to grant exemption certificate under Section 88 B of the Act.

(2.) MR . Page for Petitioner submits that it was not open to the Authority to grant exemption certificate in the fact situation of the present case. He submits that admittedly, the Trust is registered by the Charity Commissioner, Kolhapur , on April 19, 1962 , which is after the tillers' day. If it is so, the Trust is not entitled to the exemption, having been registered after the tillers' day and this legal position is no more res integra , as can be discerned from the decision of the Division Bench of our High Court reported in AIR 1970 Bombay 23 in the case of Laxminarayan Temple, Kothure , through its Trustees Vs. Laxman Mahadu Ghandore , deceased by his legal representatives and others , in particular, Para 5 thereof. On this argument, learned Counsel submits that the Certificate issued in favour of the Trust, exempting the Trust under Section 88 B of the Act, deserves to be set aside.

(3.) HAVING considered the rival submissions, to my mind, it is not necessary to dwell upon any issues other than the question as to whether exemption certificate under Section 88 B of the Act could be granted in favour of the Trust, which was registered after the tillers' day. That legal position is well settled as can be observed from the decision in Laxminarayan Temple 's case (Supra). In Para 5, this aspect has been considered in extenso by the Division Bench of our High Court. Even in that case, the Trust was created in 1845, but came to be registered only on 28th March, 1958 , which is after the tillers' day. Even in the present case, the registration of the Respondent Trust is after the tillers' day. Accordingly, in view of the exposition in the aforesaid decision, the exemption certificate issued in favour of the Respondent Trust under Section 88 B of the Act, cannot be sustained and the same will have to be set aside.