DATTARAYA KESHAV DESHPANDE Vs. LAXUMAN CHIMNAJI RANJANE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff tiled this suit to obtain possession of certain Deshpande Vatan land. The last mala holder was one Narayan Dattatraya who died leaving a widow Yamunabai who alienated the Vatan land by executing certain miras patras (permanent leases) to defendants Nos. 1 to 4. Defendant No. 5 has bought some of the alienated land from the other defendants. Plaintiff himself attested the miras patras. Yamunabai died in 1908 and then the plaintiff made an application to the Collector under Section 11 of the Vatan Act.

(2.) The Collector passed an order which is Exhibit 57. He found that the miras patras were alienations under Section 5 of the Vatan Act without sanction of Government and declared them null and void under the powers given him by Section 11 of the Vatan Act. Section 11 A, which lays down the powers of the Collector after he has held that the alienations are null and void, says : The Collector shall either summarily resume possession of all property to which an order of a Court passed on receipt of his certificate under Section 10, or his own declaration under Section 11 relates, or assess it at the rate prescribel in Clause 2 of Section 9, as he may think fit and the said property shall thenceforward revert to the Vatan.

(3.) Section 9 deals with the alienation of Vatan property before the Act came into force. Clause 2 says:- If such part of a Vatan be land, it shall be lawful for the Collector, instead of transferring the possession of the land, to demand and recover the full rent ordinarily paid by tenants of land of similar description in the same locality, and the amount so recovered shall be considered as the profits. The decision of the Collector as to what is the full rent shall be final.