RAM JANKI JEE Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A draft statement was prepared in relation to the land held by Shri Surya Narayan Das. He filed an objection. In that he stated that a part of the land shown in the draft statement has been dealt with by him much prior to the appointed date mentioned in the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961, a part thereof belongs to him and the remaining belongs to two Maths of the idol Shri Ram Janki Jee. It was also stated that the lands in question are neither class I land, nor class III and that he had no source of irrigation as on the appointed date either from the rest of the holders or from private resources. For the purpose of dealing with the objection a local enquiry was made and on the basis thereof it was held that the objector shall be entitled to land to the extent he is entitled to hold, as well as the lands for two of the Maths of the deity Shri Ram Janki Jee and that the land should be treated class IV land. After this objection was disposed of, the draft statement was finally published under sub -section 1 of Sec.11 of the Act. Thereupon the State Government refused to publish the notification under sub - section 1 of Sec.15 of the Act, instead it used its power u/s 45B of the Act and thereby directed reopening of the case and to dispose of the same afresh in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

(2.) SUBSEQUENT thereto a draft statement was prepared, but without complying with the provisions contained in sections 6, 8 and 9 of the Act. The draft statement was prepared on the basis of informations collected u/s 7 of the Act. Once again Surya Narayan Das filed an objection to the said draft statement. In the objection he represented himself to be the land holder. He however once again held out that a part of the land included in the draft statement has been dealt by him much prior to 1959 and, accordingly, those lands cannot be taken into account in the draft statement. He also held out that a part of the land mentioned in the draft statement is held by him in his personal capacity and the remaining are held by two Maths of Shri Ram Janki Jee. It was stated that his previous objection be treated as part of the objection so filed. While considering the objection, entire land was not treated as class IV land as was -canvassed by the objector, Surya Narayan Das, but a part thereof was treated as class IV land and the remaining as class I and class II land. The objector was treated as the land holder and, accordingly, was permitted to retain such land as was permissible for one family. It was decided that there is no difference in between the petitioner and the Maths or the two idols. The objector preferred an appeal which having been dismissed he filed a revision application. The revisional authority accepted the contention of the objector that an idol is a separate juridical entity and, accordingly, should be treated as one unit in addition to the unit retained personally by the objector. Accordingly, the revision was allowed in part. The writ petition filed by the objector challenging the said orders did not succeed and hence, this L.RA. has been preferred against the order of the writ court dismissing the writ petition.

(3.) IT was the contention of the objector that inasmuch as there are two Maths of Shri Ram Janki Jee situated at two different places and inasmuch as two separate idols adorn those two Maths, they should be treated as separate juridical entities and as their sole Shebait the objector was entitled to two units on account of those two idols. Learned counsel for the appellant has drawn our attention to a decision of the Hon ble Supreme Court in the case of Sri Ram Janki Jee deities vs. The State of Bihar, reported in AIR 1999 SC 2131 to suggest that upon a deity being consecrated and endowed with landed properties, it is entitled to hold land of its own right in terms of the provisions of the said Act and, accordingly, it is entitled to be treated as a family separate from the family of Shebaits/Managers.