D N CHOWDARY Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Three petitioners have filed this petition in which they seek a writ of mandamus directing respondents 1, 2 and 3 not to implement the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the "Ceiling Act' for the sake of brevity) till the survey and settlement of their lands is done. In other words the petitioners seek a declaration that the Ceiling Act is not applicable to un-surveyed and unsettled villages. Secondly they seek a declaration that while determining the extent of the agricultural holding, communal lands and such other lands cannot be taken into account.

(2.) Now admittedly the lands in Kambrigam village are unsurveyed and unsettled. This petition pertains to this village. The Ceiling Act came into force on lt January 1975. On llth February 1976 the Tahsildar issued notice to iix the Tarams and rates in respect of the lands in question. The petitioners filed objections on 21st February 1976 and contended that the lands in the village are unsurveyed and unsettled and that therefore the Ceiling Act has no application to them. They also contended that he had no jurisdiction to issue the notice becau se the Ceiling Act is not applicable to the lands in question.

(3.) The first question which has been raised is whether the Ceiling Act is applicable to unsurveyed and unsettled lands. Section 4 of the Ceiling Act prescribes the ceiling area for varying sizes of family units. Sub-section (1) provides that a family unit consisting of not more than five members shall be entitled to hold an extent of land equal to one standard holding. Sub-section (2) provides for the ceiling area in case of a family unit consisting of more than five persons. Sub-section (3) provdes for a ceiling area in case of an individual who is not a member of any family-Unit. Section 5 deals with the question of standard holding. It inter-alia provides that for the purpose of the Ceiling Act land shall be classified as set out in the First Schedule. Next it provides that the extent of land which shall constitute a standard holding for the class of lands specified in column(1) of the Table given in section 5 shall be as specified against it in column 2 thereof. There is a proviso to sub-section (1) which is not material for the purpose of deciding the contention which has been raised before me. There is First Schedule to the Ceiling Act to which reference has been made in section (5). It lays down classifications of lands. It states that wet lands bearing the Tarams or Bhagannas in each of the settlement tracts or groups, as the case may be, shall be classified into respective classes A, B, C, D, E and F as shown in the Table given in the Schedule. Column 2 is headed as "settlement tract or group". Columns 3 to 8 have a common heading called "Tarams or Bhagannas which fall under class ' Then classes A to F are shown. It has been contended by Mr. Kodandaramaiah and Mr. Kanyaka Prasad that when Sectien 5 is read in the light of First Schedule it becomes clear that it applies to those lands which have been surveyed and settled firstly because the Schedule in terms referred to settlement tracts and secondly because it refers to 'Tarams' or 'Bhagannas' According to them, 'Taram' or 'Bhaganna' cannot be determined unless the land has been surveyed and settled. The argument which Mr. Kodanda Ramaiah has raised appeared at the first flush to be quite a good argument. But it appears that the Legislature was conscious of the difficulty which has been raised by Mr. Kodandaramaiah. Under ..Section 27 of the Act Rules have been made in order to carry out all or any of the purposes of the Act. Rule 19 tries to solve the difficulty which has been raised by Mr. Kodandaramaiah. Rule 19 provides as follows: - "(1) For fixing the Taram or Bhaganna in respect of a land for which no taram or bhaganna is recorded in the revenue or settlement records of the Government, or which bears a taram or bhaganna not shown in the Table under Clause-1 or clause 2 of the First Schedule to the Act, the Tahsildar shall, subject to conformation by the Tribunal and after issue of notice to the party affected, provisionally determine the taram or bhaganna having due regard to the taram or bhaganna of a sini.lar land in the vicinity for which a taram or bhaganna has been specified in the said Table.