FAQUIR CHAND Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals have come up before us on the basis of a reference made by one of us (V. K Mehrotra, J.) for determination of a question relating to the interpretation of some provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972 (briefly, the Act). We have heard Shri H. K. Bhardwaj and Mrs Pratima Malhotra as well as the learned Asstt. Advocate General Shri M. S, Chandel at some length and proceed to decide the legal aspect of the matter alone.

(2.) The appellants in both these appeals claim to be tenants of some land which has been declared to be surplus by the landowners concerned under the provisions of the Act. The appellants approached the civil court for relief at a stage when, according to them, they were faced with the prospect of their dispossession at the hands of the Collector who had not given any hearing to them before directing their dispossession.

(3.) The Act, as is clear from its preamble, was enacted " to consolidate and amend the laws relating to ceiling on land holdings in the State of Himachal Pradesh". The enactment of the Act was, in terms of section 2, for "giving effect to the policy of the State towards securing the principles specified in clauses (b) and (c) of Article 39 of the Constitution of India" Under section 6, no person shall be entitled to hold whether as a landowner or a tenant or a mortgagee with possession or partly in one capacity and partly in another land within the State of Himachal Pradesh exceeding the permissible area on or after the appointed day.