VISHWA NATH Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE facts which give rise to this appeal are as follows : THE piece of land measuring 14-1/2 biswas situated in Killa No. 1, Sq. 57 of the Chak No. 13-0 in village Karanpura Distt. Ganganagar belonged to M/s Harikishan Singh Rajendra Singh. THEy applied to the District Magistrate for no objection certificate for installation of petrol pump on the said piece of land. THE District Magistrate issued no objection certificate but for certain reasons they could not install the petrol pump over the said land.

(2.) M/s. Vishwanath & Co. , purchased this piece of land from M/s Harikishan Singh Rajendra Singh and simultaneously applied for the transfer of no objection certificate. The Additional District Magistrate sanctioned the no objection certificate in favour of M/s Vishwanath & Go. Construction was started over the said piece of land. One Shri Dalel Singh put in an application to the District Magistrate, Ganganagar on 24-8-62 that M/s Viswanath & Co. have converted the agricultural land into abadi land without proper sanction. The learned District Magistrate issued an interim injunction restraining M/s Vishwanath & Co. , the appellant from constructing any building over the said land. The appellant submitted an elaborate reply along with a site plan. The learned Collector and District Magistrate inspected the site on 16-6-62 and observed that the land is recorded as agricultural land. He also observed that there are certain other buildings like petrol pumps and ginning and pressing factories over the agricultural land. He therefore made his interim order absolute, and restrained M/s Vishwanath & Co. , from further construction over the land and directed them to file an application under rules for the conversion of agricultural land into abadi land. The Collector further asked the Tehsildar to make enquiries against the persons who had unauthorisedly constructed buildings over the agricultural land in the vicinity of the said piece of land.

(3.) SHRI M. M. Tewari, counsel for the appellants, has urged that since the District Magistrate had permitted the installation of a petrol pump on the land on 19-2-1959 the character of the land had changed, and that it was not land held for an agricultural purpose. This argument taken by itself has no force. Sec. 90-A of the Land Revenue Act was introduced on 27-12-1958, and if on a date subsequent thereto the District Magistrate granted a "no objection" certificate under the Petroleum Act on the installation of a Petrol Pump, this does not tantamount to the grant of sanction by the State Government under sec. 90-A of the Land Revenue Act to the conversion of the land in dispute to a non-agricultural purpose as laid down in sec. 90-A of the Act. SHRI Tiwari has gone on to argue that the land in question has actually not been used for agricultural purpose, and that therefore the provisions of sec. 90-A are not attracted. He has relied on a number of rulings. Before discussing these rulings, it would be helpful to recall sec. 5 (24) of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955, which defines "land" as land which is let or held for agricultural purposes or for purposes subservient thereto or as grove land or for pasturage. The expression "agricultural land" has not been defined as such in the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, but sec. 5 (2) of the Act says that "agriculture" shall include horticulture. Sec. 3 of the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, which is an enactment later than the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, says that words and expressions defined in the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, shall, wherever used in the Land Revenue Act, be construed to have the meanings assigned to them by the Tenancy Act.