Land transaction in favour of Scheduled Caste resident which is in breach of Section 13 of Rajasthan Colonization Act & Section 42 of Rajasthan Tenancy Act, is void: Apex Court

Read Judgment: Bhadar Ram (d) Thr. Lrs V. Jassa Ram & Ors. 

Pankaj Bajpai

New Delhi, January 6, 2022: The Supreme Court has opined that a Scheduled Caste belonging to State of Punjab and being an ordinarily and permanent resident of the State of Punjab cannot claim the benefit of a Scheduled Caste in the State of Rajasthan for purpose of purchase of land belonging to a Scheduled Caste person of State of Rajasthan, which was given to original allottee as Scheduled Caste landless person. 

A Division Bench of Justice M.R. Shah and Justice A.S. Bopanna therefore observed that the land transaction in favour of Bhadar Ram (Appellant), in breach of Section 13 of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, 1954 and Section 42 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955, is rightly held to be void by the High Court.

Going by the background of the case, the dispute is with respect to the land situated at Ganganagar District, Rajasthan, which was allotted to one Chunilal as Scheduled Caste landless person and father of Jassa Ram (Respondent). As per the case of Respondent, in the year 1972, Chunilal borrowed a sum of Rs.5000/- from one Puran Singh and under the guise of documentation, the said Puran Singh belonging to Jat High Caste fraudulently made Chunilal sign the sale deed in favour of Appellant, who was a resident of Punjab.

Chunilal then filed a suit for ejectment against Puran Singh and Bhadar Ram on the ground that he was the allottee of the land and the sale deed was void and ineffective and the same was in violation of Section 42 of Rajasthan Tenancy Act, and Section 13 of Rajasthan Colonization Act. The said suit came to be decreed by the Trial Court holding that the land was in possession of Puran Singh who was not a Scheduled Caste person and that the sale deed was in violation of Section 13 of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, 1954 as well as in breach of Section 42 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 and therefore, Puran Singh is liable to be evicted. 

The matter then reached the Board of Revenue, where the Appellant was granted relief by giving benefit of compounding upon payment of compounding fees u/s 13 of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, 1954. On Writ, the High Court held that the appellant being the resident and Scheduled Caste belonging to the State of Punjab, he could not have taken the benefit of his being Scheduled Caste in the State of Rajasthan. 

After considering the submissions, the Apex Court observed that merely because his grandfather and father had purchased the agricultural lands in the State of Rajasthan, the appellant cannot be said to be an ordinarily resident of Rajasthan, when as per bainama mutation record, the address of Appellant was shown as that of Punjab.

As per Section 42 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955, there is a restriction on sale, gift or bequest by a member of Scheduled Caste in favour of a person, who is not a member of Scheduled Caste, added the Court. 

Therefore, looking at the object and purpose of such a provision, Justice Shah observed that the said provision is to protect a member of the Scheduled Caste belonging to the very State he belongs i.e., in the present case the State of Rajasthan. 

Being a Scheduled Caste in the State of Punjab whether the sale transaction in favour of the appellant original defendant could have been saved from the bar u/s 42 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 is now not res integra, added the Bench. 

Justice Shah noted that the Board of Revenue granted the benefit of provisions of Section 13A of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, 1954 in favour of the appellant and the Board permitted the appellant to pay compounding fees and regularized the transaction. 

However, when the Board of Revenue granted the benefit of compounding u/s 13A(2), an order of ejection of the appellant was already passed against him and Puran Singh, and the possession was already handed over to the respondent from Puran Singh, who was found to be in actual physical possession of the land, added the Bench. 

“Section 13(A)(2) of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, 1954 would be applicable only in a case where an order of ejectment has been passed, but a person against whom an order of ejectment has been passed has not actually been ejected from the land transferred. In that view of the matter, no order of compounding in favour of the appellant and /or even Puran Singh could have been passed by the Board of Revenue in exercise of power u/s 13(A)(2) of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, 1954”, observed the Top Court. 

Hence, the Apex Court dismissed the appeal concluding that the land transaction in question is hit by Section 13 of the Rajasthan Colonization Act, 1954.