KANHAIYA PRASAD SAB Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This application raises a question with regard to the effect of a consent decree in a suit where the petitioners were not the parties.

(2.) The fact of the matter lies within a very narrow compass. Lakshmi Prasad Sah was the original owner of the property. He died on 29-3-1964 leaving behined three sons and four daughters. The petitioners No. 1. and 3 to 8 are heirs and legal representatives of the three deceased daughters of Lakhmi Prasad Sah and the petitioner No. 2 is one of his daughters. A land ceiling proceeding was initiated as against Jagdish Prasad Sah, who is the son of Late Lakshmi Prasad Sah, and his two brothers. A draft statement under Section 10 (2) of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') was published. After the draft publication was made, the petitioners filed objection claiming exclusion of lands to the extent of their shares which, according to them, devolved upon them in terms of the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.

(3.) The respondent No. 4, by an order dated 4-5-1984, rejected the claim of the petitioners, inter alia, on the ground that they had not claimed exclusion of specific plots. The respondent No. 4 further held that as their ancestor died 20 years back, they ought to have got their shares demarcated. It was further held that as the sons of the aforementioned Lakshmi Prasad Sah got the lands partitioned in the year 1969 in Title Partition Suit No. 116/69 wherein the petitioners had not been given any share, their claim cannot be entertained.