YELINENI VENKAYYA Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a revision petition filed under section 21 of the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 to revise the order of ;he Land Reforms Appellate Tribunal, Krishna, confirming the order of the Land Reforms Tribunal Nuzvid holding that the petitioner was liable to surrender an extent of 0. 1541 standard holding under section 10 (1) of the Act. In the declaration the petitioner had shown Ac. 53.51 cents as belonging to himself and the members of his family consisting of 28 members. The family, included his wife, 9 major sons, one minor son, two major and two minor daughters. In the statement recorded by the Special Deputy Tahsildar, the declarant stated that Ac. 16.24 cents were his ancestral lands and that he purchased Ac. 37.27 cents. He further stated that all the aforesaid lands were in the possession of the joint family and that apart from the aforesaid properties, he was not possessed of any other properties The Karanam of Koduru Village also stated that the aforesaid lands were in possession of the family of the declarant and thai they had no other lands. In his report the verifying Officer treated the ancestial lands of Ac. 16-24 cents as joint family property and the other extent of Ac. 37-27 cents as the self-acquired property of the father. But no grounds or reasons have been given as to why the said property was treated as the self-acquired property of the father. The declarant had clearly stated before him that all the aforesaid properties were his joint family properties The Land Reforms Tribunal Nuzvid merely adopted the report of the verifying Officer and treated only the ancestral land as joint family property and the rest as self-acquired property and computed the holding of the family unit as 1.1541 standard holding and ordered that 0.1541 standard holding, which was in excess of the ceiling area should be surrendered. The Appellate Tribunal also confirmed this order of the Tribunal.

(2.) IN this revision petition, it is contended by Sri Krovvidi Narasimham that there is absolutely no evidence to rebut the statement of the declarant that all the lands are his joint family properties in which his sons have a right by birth and that there is no material on which the verifying Officer or the Tribunal could have come to the conclusion that only the an cestral property was the joint family property and the rest of the property was the self-acquired property of the declarant. I think, this submission is well-founded. On a perusal of the declaration and the Verifying Officer's report and the statement of the declarant and the karanam before the Verifying Officer, it appears that the declarant had stated that Ac. 16.24 cents were his ancestral property which undoubtedly is joint family property. He also stated that he subsequently purchased Ac.37.27 cents. It is nobody's case that the declarant was possessed of any property other than the ances- tra property from out of which he could have subsequently purchased other properties, Where the joint family is shown to be possessed of property which is capable of fetching sufficient income, the presumption is that the subsequent acquisitions were made by the family members from out of the joint family income and that they constitute joint family properties. Both the Tribunals below have failed to apply this presumption. There is also no material on record for the Tribunal's finding that Ac.37.27 cents were not joint family properties. If all the properties are held to be joint family property, admittedly there will not be any surplus over the ceiling limit to be surrendered by the declarant. IN this view, this revision petition is allowed; the orders of both the Tribunals below are set aside and it is held that the declarant is not liable to surrender any land as being in excess over the ceiling area. The petitioner will have his costs both here and in the Tribunal below. Advocate,s fee Rs. 100/-.