BABU MARUTI DUKARE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these writ petitions may be disposed off by the common judgment as they arise out of the same facts and circumstances.

(2.) To state in brief, Saswad Mali sugar Factory Limited, Malinagar, Taluka: malshiras, District Solapur was registered under the Companies Act sometimes in 1932-33. All the shares of the company were held by its founders, namely, Narayanrao Sopanrao borawake, Bhagwan Maruti Jadhav and haribhau Balwantrao Girme and their close relatives. Haribhau Balwantrao Girme was the managing Director of the company from 1958 onwards. The company was registered with an object to start a factory for the manufacture of sugar. The company purchased about 1500 to 1600 acres of perennially irrigated land at akluj, Bijwadi, Tambave and Mahalung villages in Malshiras Taluka. During the period from 1932 to 1940, the company also took on lease under registered lease deeds about 5000 acres of land from the owners in the aforesaid four villages. This was also perennially irrigated land and it was owned by about 200 to 250 farmers. After purchasing and taking lands on lease as stated above, the company created 125 subleases either in favour of the directors or shareholders of the company. The board of Directors used to decide about the creation of such subleases year to year but for a period of 11 months only. Every year the decisions were communicated to the concerned talathis and names of the sub-lessees were recorded in the relevant records. Each of the sub-lessees was holding the land between 50 to 500 acres of irrigated land. The existence of 125 sub-lessees with their respective holdings continued till 26. 1. 1962.

(3.) The Maharashtra Agricultural lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961 was enacted and came into force with effect from 26-1-1962. Under this Act, certain limit was put on the agricultural holdings of individuals as well as families. The agricultural land held by any individual or family more than the ceiling limit was to be declared as a surplus and was to be distributed as per the scheme under the said Act. Under Section 12, a person or a family unit holding land in excess of the ceiling area was required to submit returns. The cut off date was 4th August, 1959 for the purpose of determining as to whether a person was holding any land in excess of the ceiling. The directors and shareholders of the said company were holding huge area of agricultural land while the ceiling was only 18 acres in the case of irrigated land. In view of this if the true returns would have been submitted by the said company and 125 sub-lessees of the company, huge land would have been declared as a surplus land and it would be either restored back to the original land holders or would be distributed among the landless people as per the scheme of the Act. However, to avoid declaration of such surplus land, the directors and shareholders and office bearers of the company and its employees and some talathis working in the Revenue Department prepared false records by forging and manipulating records with an intention to show that besides the company, there were in all 384 lessees and sub-lessees. These persons included 125 persons who were sub-lessees. For the long term as per the practice, Lavan Chithhis (Cultivation Chits/slips) were prepared every year and its record was maintained in the register of the company and also entries of such sub-lessees or lavanchitthis were taken in the records maintained by the Revenue department. However, lavanchitthis and lavanchitthis registers for the years 1959-60, 1960-61 and 1961-62 were destroyed. False and bogus lavanchitthis were prepared to show that there were 384 sub-lessees. Accordingly, the false lavanchitthi registers were prepared. Entries in the revenue records were also manipulated and forged to support this. The intention was that the land in possession of 125 sub-lessees should not be declared as a surplus land and was not required to be surrendered to the Government under the Act. Having prepared fraudulent, bogus and fabricated records, the returns were submitted.