PETITIONER:
STATE OF KERALA AND ORS.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
PHILOMINA, ETC. ETC. & ORS.
DATE OF JUDGMENT20/08/1976
BENCH:
SHINGAL, P.N.
RAY, A.N. (CJ)
BEG, M. HAMEEDULLAH
CITATION:
1976 AIR 2363 1977 SCR (1) 273
1976 SCC (4) 314
ACT
Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963-- S. 84--Scope of--Inter-
pretation--When a statue could be read retrospectively.
HEADNOTE
Section 84 of Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 declares
that all voluntary transfers of land effected after the
publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill on September 15,
1963, shall be null and void. Clause (ii) of this section
while provided an exemption in respect of transfers made on
account of "natural love and affection" was omitted in 1972
with retrospective effect from August 16, 19’68. Section
81(1)(1) exempts kayal padasakharams of Kuttanad area from
the restrictions on ownership prescribed.by Chapter III of
the Act. By an amendment of 1969, this exemption was with-
drawn; but the amending section was not brought into force
until January 1, 1970.
There were two sets of petitions before the High Court.
In one set the High Court held that (1) voluntary transfers
of kayal lands effected between September 15, 1963 and
January 1, 1970, were lawful and valid, and in the other (2)
that certain transfers by way of gift were invalid.
In the first set of appeals to this Court the State
contended that the 1969 amendment should be given retrospec-
tive effect from April 1, 1964 i.e., the date on which s. 84
was brought into force and in the second set the donees
contended that the transfers were saved because they were
effected on account of natural love and affection.
Dismissing all the appeals,
HELD: (1)(a) Even though by virtue of s. 84 all volun-
tary transfers -effected after September 15, 1963 were
invalid, transfers made in respect of kayal lands could
not be held to be invalid because they were exempt from the
provisions of Chapter Iii. Though that exemption was with-
drawn in 1969, that amendment was not brought into force
until January 1, 1970, Voluntary transfers made between
September 15, 1963 and January 1, 1970 were therefore
valid. [278 B-C]
(b) The 1969 amendment was neither curative nor declara-
tory of the previous law. It merely omitted cl. (1) from s.
81. A statute is not to be read retrospectively except of
necessity. There; is no such necessity in the instant
cases, for the legislature decided to exempt kayal lands
from the operation of the restrictions, and the 1969-amend-
ment withdrawing the exemption was not brought into force
until January 1, 1970.. [278 E-F]
Pritam Singh Chahil v. State of Punjab and others,
[1967] 2 S.C.R. 536 and Channan Singh and another v. Jai
Kaur [1970] 1 S.C.R. 803 held inapplicable.
(2) In the other set of cases the impugned transfers
were in favour of the donor’s grand children by his daugh-
ter, who was alive and were effected between January 1, 1970
and November 2, 1972. It was held that it was futile to
contend that s. 84 would not be attracted to the transfers
on the ground that they were effected on account of natural
love and affection within the meaning of the exemption
provided by s. 84, because the exemption was taken away by
Act 17 of 1972 which specifically stated that, that clause
shall be, and shall be deemed to have been omitted with
effect from the 16th August, 1968" and they could not be
said to fall within the exempted category because of the
amendment made in s. 84 in 1972 restricting the exemption to
gifts made in favour of a donor’s son or daughter or the son
of a daughter of his predeceased son or daughter. [279 A-C]
274
JUDGMENT
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeals Nos. 907-909/74.
Appeals by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order
dated 27-3-73 of the Kerala High Court in O.P. Nos. 375-
377/73 respectively.
CIVIL APPEAL No. 1354/75
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order
dated 9-7-75 of the Kerala High Court in C.R.P. No. 949/74.
CIVIL APPEAL No. 1355/75
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order
dated 19-6-75 of the Kerala High Court in C.R.P’. No.
611/74.
M.M. Abdul, Advocate Genera1 for the State of Kerala,
and K.M. K. Nair for the Appellants in CAs. 907-909/74 for
rr. in CAs. 18541855/’75.
T.S. Krishnamoorthy lyer and P.K. Pillai; for the Appel-
lants in. CAs. 1354-1355/75.
Miss Lily Thomas for the Respondents in CAs. 908-909/74.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
SHINGHAL, J.--Civil Appeals Nos. 907, 908 and 909 of
1974 are by the State of Kerala and the Land Board, Trivan-
drum. They are directed against a common judgment of the
Kerala High Court dated July 27, 1973. Civil Appeals Nos.
1354 and 1355 of-1975 are by petitioners who had. applied
for revision of the orders of the Taluk Land Board, Ala-
thur, dated June 11, 1974 and April 27, 1974. The. High
Court dismissed the revision petitions by two separate
judgments dated July 9, 1975 and June 18, 1975. All the
appeals are by special leave. We have heard them together
at the instance. of the learned counsel for the parties, and
will examine them in a common judgment.
The controversy in all the cases relates to the. appli-
cation of certain provisions of the KeraIa Land Reforms Act,
1963, hereinafter referred to as the Act, to the impugned
voluntary transfers of Kayal lands. The State of Kerala
feels aggrieved because the High Court has taken the view
that the transfers made between September 15, 1963 and
January 1, 1970 had to be "recognised and Kayal lands
comprised therein excluded in reckoning the ceiling area and
the excess lands to be surrendered after January 1;, 1970."
The grievance of the other two appellants is that their
revision petitions were dismissed even though the gift
deeds in their favour were valid and did not fall within
the mischief of section 84(11) of the Act. We shall examine
these. points of controversy but, before doing. so, it may
be mentioned that the validity of certain provisions. of the
Act was also challenged’ in the High Court, in the three
petitions which were disposed of by the common judgment
dated July 27, 1973, but the High Court upheld them.
There is no such controversy before us as the Act, and the
Acts which have amended it, have: been specified in the
Ninth Schedule to the Constitution. It may also be men-
tioned that we have’ not had the advantage; of hearing any
one on behalf of the respondents
275
in Civil Appeals Nos. 907 to. 909 of 1974 as Miss Lily
Thomas,, who represented the respondents in Civil Appeals
Nos. 908 and 909, informed the Court, at the commencement of
the arguments, that they were not interested in the contro-
versy.
While examining the petitions which are the subject
matter of appeals Nos. 907 to 909 of 1974, the High Court
thought it sufficient to refer only to the facts of original
petition No. 283 of 1973. That case is not before us, but
that would not matter as the appeals can be disposed of
without reference to the details of that case. It will be
sufficient to say that the petitioner in that case was
M.T.J. Joseph, and the controversy centered round a settle-
ment deed (Ex. P 8 made by him in favour of his children on
June 15, 1957. The appellants in the three appeals (Nos.
90.7-909) are M.T.J. Joseph’s children.
As has been stated, the High Court examined the consti-
tutional validity of the provisions of the Act and upheld
them. It next examined the question whether lands in
excess of the ceiling area were in the lawful or permissive
occupation of the petitioners (in the petition before the
High Court), with reference to the argument that in view of
the terms of Ex. RI, by which some of the excess lands
were assigned to the holder, the occupation commenced with
an implied permission on payment of the state dues. The
High Court did not however think it proper to. express its
final views on that aspect of the matter as it found that
certain proceedings were pending before the authorities
concerned. It therefore left the matter after giving the
direction that the Land Board will no.t pursue the pro-
ceedings in respect of those lands until the matter was
finally decided in the pending proceedings. So also,
the High Court left the question regarding the ownership
of the lands which had been conveyed by the settlement deed
of 1957, for investigation and decision by the Land Board.
The High Court however proceeded to examine the valid-
ity of certain transfers of lands between September 15,
1963 and January 1, 1970 with reference to the relevant
provisions of the Act and held as follows :-
"Broadly stated;, the effect of section 84,
is to invalidate transfers effected by a person
owning or holding land in excess of the ceiling
area, after the date of publication of the Land
Reforms Bill (15-9-1963). That being the object of
the section, in order to determine whether the
transfer was in excess of the ceiling area, what is
material is the law relating to ceiling area on the
date of the transfer, and not the law regarding
celling area on the date of the acquisition or any
date subsequent to the transfer."
It therefore held that there was no justification
for treating the alienations effected after Septem-
ber 15, 1963 and before January 1, 1970 as having
been invalidated by reason of the subsequent amend-
ments in the law, when they were lawful and valid
under the "law relating to ceiling area at the time
when they were made." The High Court also examined
the questions relating to the grant of compensa-
tion and improvements, but they do not arise for
consideration before us.
276
The only question which has been pressed for our consid-
eration by the Advocate General, on behalf of the appel-
lants, is that relating to the validity of the transfers of
Kayal lands between September 15, 1963 and January 1, 1970.
The writ petitioners in the High Court urged that they were
exempt under section 81 (1 )(1) of the Act and could not be
held to be invalid with effect from January 1, 1970 because
of the subsequent amendment to the Act, and included in
their ceiling area.
The term "ceiling area" has been defined in section 2(3)
of the Act to mean "the extent of land specified in section
82 as the ceiling area", and there is no controversy about
its extent or content. Section 83 of the Act prohibits the
holding of lands in excess of the ceiling area with effect
from January 1, 1970. which had been notified by the govern-
ment in the gazette as the date from which the prohibition
was to be effective. Section 84 declares certain voluntary
transfers to be null and void. The section as it stood
before the amendments road as follows.--
Section 84. Certain voluntary transfers to
be null and void."Notwithstanding anything con-
tained in any law for the time being in force, all
voluntary transfers effected after the date of
publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill,
1963, in the Gazette, otherwise than--
(i) by way of partition; or
(ii) on account of natural love and affection; or
(iii) in favour of a person who was a tenant of
the holding before the 27th July, 1960, and contin-
ued to be so till the date of transfer: or
(iv) in favour of a religious, charitable or
educational institution of a public nature solely
for the purposes of the institution,
by a family or any member thereof or by an adult
unmarried person owning or holding land in excess
of the ceiling area, shall be deemed to be trans-
fers calculated to defeat the provisions of this
Act and shall be invalid :"
There is a proviso to the section with which we are not
concerned. The validity of the transfers had therefore to be
examined with reference to September 15, 1963 which was the
date of publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill, 1963,
in the gazette. The section was amended by Act 35 of 1969
by which the existing section was renumbered as sub-section
(1) and a sub-section was added as subsection (2) which
dealt with voluntary transfers effected by any person "other
than" a family or any member thereof or by an adult unmar-
ried person owning or holding land in excess of the ceiling
area. The amendment could not therefore be said to have any
bearing on the present controversy. The section was however
again amended by section 15 of Act 17 of 1972. It, inter
alia, omitted clause (ii) of
277
sub-section (1) and provided that the omission shah be
deemed to have been made with effect from the 16th day of
August, 1968. This had the effect of taking away the excep-
tion in favour of voluntary transfers on account of natural
love and affection. But it is not the case of any one
before us that there was any such transfer in respect of
Civil Appeals Nos. 907 to 909, so that amendment also could
not be said to have any material bearing on the controversy
relating to these appeals.
The fact therefore remains that by virtue of section 84
of the Act, all voluntary transfers of land effected after
September 15, 1963 (date of publication of the Kerala Land
Reforms Bill, 1963 in the gazette) were invalid as they were
to be deemed to be transfers calculated to defeat the provi-
sions of the Act. So even if a transfer was found to have
been made after September 15, 1963 but before January 1,
1970 (date notified under section 83 prohibiting the owning
or holding or to possessing under a mortgage lands in the
aggregate in excess of the ceiling area) the ceiling area
for purposes ’of section 83 and bringing about the surrender
of the excess land under section 85 had to be determined
with reference to the position as on January 1, 1970 as that
was the date notified under section 83. The reason is ,that
the prohibition of section 83 applied with reference, to
that date and that, in turn, required a surrender of the
excess land as on that date.
Section 85 is therefore an important section. It was
amended by Act 35 of 1969, Act 25 of 1971 and Act 17 of
1972, but there was no change in its basic provision that
when a person owned or held land in excess of the ceiling
area "on the date notified under section 83" namely, January
1, 1970, he had to surrender it in ,accordance with the
other provisions of the section. The crucial date for
determining and surrendering the surplus land was therefore
January 1, 1970, and not any earlier date, but the validity
of any voluntary transfer effected after September 15, 1963
which was the date of publication of the Kerala Land Reforms
Bill, 1963, had still to be examined with reference to
September 15, 1963 in view of the clear requirement of
section 84. This was the scheme of the Act.
We have made a reference to section 84 which clearly pro-
vides that all voluntary transfers of land effected after
September 15, 1963 shall be deemed to be transfers calculat-
ed to defeat the provisions of the Act and "shah be void".
It has not been urged that the impugned transfers fell under
any of the exceptions provided by section 84. There can be
no doubt that any transfer made after September 15, 1963 and
before January 1, 1970 would be invalid unless it could be
shown to have been saved by any other provision of the Act.
In this connection section 81 of the Act is important for it
prescribes the exemptions to the provisions of Chapter III.
Clause (1) of subsection (1) of section 81 specifically
provides that the provisions of the Chapter shall not apply
to,-
"(1) kayal padasakharams of Kuttanad area
specified "in Schedule IV, so long as such padasak-
haramas are used for the cultivation of paddy or
such other crops as the Government may, by notifi-
cation in the Gazette, specify."
278
It is not in controversy that the Kayal lands
which are the subject matter of these appeals are
of the category mentioned in clause (1) of sub-
section (1) of section 81. They were therefore
exempt from the restriction on ownership pre-
scribed by the various sections of Chapter III
referred to above. So even though by virtue of
section 84 of the Act all voluntary transfers
effected after September 15, 1963 (date of publica-
tion of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill, 1963 in the
Gazette) were invalid, the transfers made in re-
spect of Kayal padasakharams in appeals Nos. 907-
909 could not be held to be invalid for the simple
reason that they were exempt from the provisions of
Chapter III. That exemption was no doubt withdrawn
by section 65 of Act 35 of 1969 which amended the
Act, but it is not disputed before us that the
section was not brought into force until January 1,
1970. The voluntary transfers made between Septem-
ber 15, 1963 and January 1, 1970 were therefore
valid, and there is no force in the argument of the
Advocate General that the amendment brought about
by section 65 of Act 35 of 1969 should be given
retrospective effect from April 1, 1964 as sections
82 and 84 of the Act were brought into force from
that date. There is also no force in the other
argument of the Advocate General that section 84
had the effect of invalidating the transfers
effected after September 15, 1963 for that was the
date of publication of the Kerala Land Reforms Bill
in the gazette. The argument overlooks the fact
that, as has been mentioned, Kayal lands were
exempt from the provisions of Chapter III until as
late as January 1, 1970. In this view of the
matter Pritam Singh Chahil v. State of Punjab and
others(1) cannot avail the appellants. The amend-
ment cannot also be said to be curative or merely
declaratory of the previous law. The facts of
Chanan Singh and another v. Jai Kaur,(2) cited by
the Advocate General, were quite different inasmuch
as in the appeals before us the amendment which was
made by section 65 of Act 35 of 1969 was nei-
ther curative nor merely declaratory. As has been
stated, it, inter alia, omitted, clause (1) of
section 81 of the Act which exempted the Kayal
padasakharams which are the subject matter of the
present controversy from the application of the
provisions ’of Chapter III of the Act. It is well
settled that a statute is not to be read retrospec-
tively except of necessity. There is no such
necessity in the cases before us, for the Legisla-
ture decided to exempt the .aforesaid Kayal lands
from the operation of the restrictions and even
though amending Act 35 of 1969 was promulgated’on
December 17, 1969, section 65 thereof, which
withdrew the exemption, was not brought into force
until January 1, 1970.
Thus there is no force in Appeals Nos. 907, 908 and 909
and they are dismissed.
This leaves Civil Appeals Nos. 1354 and 1355 for consid-
eration. The transfers of lands in these cases were admit-
tedly made during the period January 1, 1970 to November 2,
1972. As such they were not exempt from the restrictions
of the provisions of Chapter
(1) [1967] 2 S.C.R. 536.
(2) [1970] 1 S.C.R. 803.
279
III of the Act. Section 84 of the Act would be attracted to
these transfers, and it is futile to contend that this would
not be so because the transfers were affected "on account of
natural love and affection" within the meaning of clause
(ii) of the exceptions provided by section 84 because the
exemption to that effect was taken away by Act 17 of 1972.
Section 15 of that Act specifically stated that clause
"shall be, and shall be deemed to have been omitted with
effect from the 16th day of August, 1968." Moreover, as the
High Court has pointed out, the impugned transfers were in
favour of the donor’s grand children by his daughter who was
alive, and could not be said to fall within the exempted
category because of the other amendment made in section 84
of the Act by section 15 of Act 17 of 1972 with effect from
the 16th day of August, 1968 which restricted the exemp-
tion to gifts made in favour of the donor’s son or daughter
or the son of daughter of his predeceased son or daughter.
There is thus no ’force in these two appeals also, and they
are dismissed.
In view of the facts and circumstances of the cases, we
leave the parties to pay and bear their own costs.
P.B.R. Appeal
dismissed.
280