SHRIKRUSHNA NILKANTHA NAIK SINCE DECEASED BY LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES CHANDRAKALABAI W/O NILKANTH NAIK AND OTHERS Vs. MANGO SHIOJI LENDE AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE ambit of power of the Deputy Collector in the matter of modification of entry or insertion of any new entry in Wajib -ul -arz under section 165(4) of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 (the Maharashtra Code) falls for determination in this writ petition against the following backdrop.

(2.) FIRST the facts :

(3.) NOW , custom means practice which is practiced over a considerably long period. It creates itself and is not created by outside agency like law or order which of course may prohibit or extinguish the practice of a custom. Wajib -ul -arz being merely a record of existing customs, cannot be used for creation of new rights or liabilities. Even under the C.P. Act (Sections 46, 78 and 79) record was initially prepared after due enquiry which includes ransacking of previous history. Sanctity was, therefore, attached to the record which could be modified either on the basis of consent of parties interested or by adjudication of rights in a civil suit. Spirit of the same scheme was incorporated first in the M. P. Code and then in the Maharashtra Code. Section 165 thus will have to be read in the context of the above historical legislative background.