DASARATHI PUROHIT Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner challenges the orders made by the Revenue Officer (opposite party No. 4), the appellate authority (opposite party No. 3) and the revisional authority (opposite party No. 2) holding that the petitioner, his wife and his five children constitute one family and entitled to a ceiling area of 14 standard acres in terms of Section 37-A of the Orissa Land Reforms Act.

(2.) There is no dispute that the family of the petitioner consisted of himself, his wife and four sons and a daughter. Petitioner and his brother Bhagirathi and their father Balaram were separated under a registered deed dated 27-1-1966, Under the deed, petitioner got 33.35 acres which taking into account the classification of land worked out to 16.91 standard acres. The Revenue Officer in a ceiling proceeding under the Act came to hold that the petitioner, his wife and the five children constituted one family and this family was entitled to 14 standard acres in terms of Section 37-A of the Act. That order has been upheld in appeal and revision.

(3.) Petitioner's stand has been that he, his wife and the children got divided under a deed of partition dated 11th of March, 1970 and in terms of the definition of 'family' given in Section 37 (b), these divided members could not be treated any longer as belonging to one family.