PREMCHAND Vs. BOARD OF REVENUE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE circumstances giving rise to this application under article 226 of the Constitution are that two fields belonging to the petitioner were sold for the recovery of certain arrears of taccavi due from him and were purchased by the respondents Nos. 2 and 3. The applicant then preferred before the Sub -Divisional Officer, Burhanpur, objections to the confirmation of sale which were rejected and the sale was confirmed.

(2.) THE main ground on which the sale was attached before the revenue authorities, and which has been repeated before us, is that under section 134 of the Madhya Pradesh land Revenue Code, 1954, read with rule 2 of the rules framed under the Code it was obligatory for the Tahsildar who conducted the sale have issued a notice of demand to the petitioner for the payment of arrears said to be due from him before the issue of any process under section 135 of the Code for the recovery of that amount; that this was not done; and hat, therefore, the sale was illegal and void. This objection was overruled by the revenue authorities taking the view that it was not necessary to issue a notice under section 134 before taking any proceedings under section 135.

(3.) SHRI Sood, learned counsel appearing for the respondents Nos. 2 and 3, however, contended that even if the issue of a notice of demand under section 134 was obligatory, it was not necessary that the notice should be in writing, and that the petitioner was actually present in the Tehsil on the date when his property was being sold. It was said that all that section 134 and rule 2 required was that an intimation of some kind should be given to the defaulter and that the presence of the petitioner at the auction indicated that he was aware of the fact that his property was going to be sold for the recovery on arrears due from him. We are unable to accept this contention. That the notice of demand had to be in writing is clear from rule 2 which laid down that the notice should be issued in duplicate in the prescribed form and should be signed and sealed by the officer issuing it. The object of the notice of demand being to give an opportunity to the defaulter to pay the amount of arrears before his property is actually attached and, should, it cannot be held that if a defaulter happens to be person by chance when his property is being sold, he has had sufficient opportunity of paying up the amount.