JUDGEMENT_918_TLP&H0_2008 Vs. FINANCIAL COMMISSIONER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) LAW envisages three simple steps to take land from a landowner under land reform legislation for fulfilment of the socialistic objective of distributing it to tenants/landless persons. First, the entire land holding is identified and taken into account. Thereafter, the landowner makes a reservation of the area that he wishes to reserve for himself. Lastly, he surrenders the surplus area and gives it up altogether. The process sounds simple but to say that the legal procedure is also simple would be an understatement.

(2.) IN 1953/1955 law permitted landowners to keep only 30 acres. In 1972 the permissible area came down to 7 hectares for the landowner and his family. Many other changes were also enacted. It would have been easy if the landowner was an eccentric die-hard socialist. Such a landowner would have willingly given up surplus land without demur but such individuals were a rare breed. By and large landowners tenaciously hung on to every piece of their holding and did not surrender even a fraction of an acre, without a legal fight right up to the Supreme Court. Therefore, the question which arises in the mind is; which is that precise moment when the landowner well and truly gets divested of his surplus land.

(3.) THE various stages through which a surplus area case must travel, from start to finish, can be demarcated as declaration of holding, separation of permissible from surplus area and finally handing over of the surplus area to the landless tenant. But as the legal process is never smooth, the journey from start to furnish could take years and sometimes even decades. The factors which impact on the calculation of the permissible area are many. Some of the main factors are the quality of land, whether it is under assured irrigation, whether it is under an orchard having fruit bearing trees, the composition of the family etc. During the intervening period many landowners may die, laying open the question of inheritance by his heirs. Which is that moment of divestiture of land because until that moment arrives the land would continue to stand in the name of the landowners. Reference to Full Bench