RAJARAM KEDARI POWAR Vs. SHAMRAO DADOBA NALAWADE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Writ Petition No. 3982 of 2016 challenges an order dated 7th October 1999 of the Designated Member, Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal ("MRT"), Kolhapur dismissing the Petitioner's Revision Application dated 11th November 1998. The Revision Application was directed against an order dated 23rd July 1999 of the Sub- Divisional Officer ("SDO"), Karvir, Kolhapur dismissing the Petitioner's Tenancy Appeal No. 51 of 1992. That appeal in turn, was against an order dated 20th May 1992 of the Additional Tahsildar and Agricultural Lands Tribunal ("ALT") under Section 70(b) of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948 (now the Maharashtra Tenancy & Agricultural Lands Act, 1948; "the MTAL Act"), by which the Tahsildar & ALT allowed an application by the present contesting Respondents and dismissed applications filed by the Petitioner. The accompanying Writ Petition No. 4015 of 2016 challenges an order in Review Application No. 7/C/1999/KB of the MRT passed on 21st December 2015.

(2.) I admitted both the matters together and I have heard them finally together. Evidently, if Writ Petition No. 3982 of 2016, and which I will therefore treat as the principal petition, fails, then the accompanying Writ Petition No. 4015 of 2016 will not survive.

(3.) The dispute pertains to a tract of land, Survey No. 511/16 of about 1 Hectares 21 Are at Kasba Karveer but within Kolhapur Municipal Corporation limits today. Of course, this land was not always within those municipal limits; the city has grown around the land and absorbed it. The writ Petitioner ("Rajaram") claims in essence to be the "deemed tenant" of this land. This claim is in two parts. The first is that he has been a tenant shown to be in possession on the land records for several decades, very possibly as early as 1941. The second claim is that on the date material in view of the provisions of the MTAL Act, 1st April 1957, he was a tenant lawfully cultivating the land and is therefore entitled to all the benefits conferred by Section 32G read with Section 32 of that Act.