VIJAYSINGH N JADHAV Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this petition filed by the surplus land-holder against the appellate decision of the learned Member of the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal, Poona, partly allowing the appeal, the petitioner only challenges the finding regarding the extent of pot kharab land in his holdings.

(2.) The petitioner has been found to be a surplus holder to the extent of 12 Hectors and 51 Ares. It is his case that in his holdings as determined by the Surplus Land Determination Tribunal, land to the extent of 9 Hectors and 25 Ares is pot kharab land and that land ought not to have been included in his total holdings. The learned Member of the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal observed that it was seen from the village records that altogether 9 Hectors and 25 Ares of land was recorded as pot kharab land. The petitioners plea was rejected on the ground that he has not made any claim in that behalf before the Surplus Land Determination Tribunal. In my opinion, the learned Member of the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal has committed an error in not accepting the plea of the petitioner. It is well-settled that pot kharab land is not land as understood by sub-section (16) of section 2 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act. The area to the extent of 9 Hectors and 25 Ares was not, therefore, land under the Act and ought not to have been taken into consideration in the total holdings of the family. That being so, the family unit which held half of the land was entitled to the deduction of 4 Hectors and 62.5 Ares, half of 9 Hectors 25 Ares pot kharab land.

(3.) In the result, the order of the Surplus Land Determination Tribunal as affirmed by the learned Member of the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal is set aside and the case is sent back to the Surplus Land Determination Tribunal for fresh decision according to the law in the light of the observations made above. The rule is made absolute. The petitioner is entitled to the costs of the petition.