ASURAM Vs. TEHSILDAR SANCHORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since all these four writ petitions raise common question of law and facts and, therefore, they were heard together and are being disposed of by a common order.

(2.) In these writ petitions, a prayer has been made to declare sub-section (4) of S. 14 of the Rajasthan Agricultural Credit Operations (Removal of Difficulties) Act, 1974 (for short 'the Act') ultra vires of sub-section (1) of S. 14 of the Act, which restricts the sphere of transfer of land acquired by the Creditor Bank from the Debtors who are members of SC/ST, to the members of SC/ST only. The question regarding jurisdiction of review Court to interfere with the interim order passed by the Prescribed Authority under S. 13 of the Act has also been raised. The controversy as arisen in the context is that the Bank in question has after obtaining an order under S. 13 of the Act either auctioned the land in question or transferred the same after acquisition under S. 14 of the Act to a buyer who is not a member of SC/ST. The petitioners in these writ petitions are such buyers of the land from the Bank and in all these cases, the Tehsildar who has earlier made the order as Prescribed Authority has proposed that such a transfer is not permissible in view of the provisions of S. 14(4) of the Act read with the provisions of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 in this regard and to initiate proceedings for setting aside the sales made in favour of the petitioners.

(3.) We do not find any force in the contention as to the validity of the provisions of sub-section (4) of S. 14 of the Act. It has been urged by the learned counsel for the petitioners that there is a mark distinction between the sales carried out under S. 13 and under S. 14 of the Act, which comes within the ambit of hostile discrimination in the matter of disposal of same land on the basis of the methodology adopted by the Bank. While there is no provision like sub-section (4) of S. 14 in S. 13 of the Act, there is no prohibition in the sphere of transfer of property under S. 13 of the Act. Here, it would be useful to quote the relevant provisions of Ss. 13 and 14 of the Act in extenso :