- (1.)This is an appeal on a certificate granted by the Judicial Commissioner of Vindhya Pradesh. The brief facts necessary for present purposes are these : The appellant filed a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution praying that the order of the Deputy Commissioner, Panna, issued on December 29, 1953, to the effect that the appellant's rights in certain villages would be resumed from January 1, 1954, in pursuance of the notification of the Government of Vindhya Pradesh dated December 20, 1953, under S. 5 of the Vindhya Pradesh Abolition of Jagirs and Land Reforms Act, No. XI of 1952 (hereinafter called the Act) resuming all jagirs with a gross annual income of Rs. 1,000/- or above, be quashed. The appellant's case was that she was granted as a special case a Lambardari lease in certain villages by His Highness the Maharaja of Panna on December 7, 1945, for a period of thirty years and had been in possession thereof in accordance with the terms of the lease. The appellant contended that she was not a jagirdar within the meaning of the Act and thus the said notification did not apply to her lands and the order issued by the Deputy Commissioner under the said notification was therefore without the authority of law and liable to be quashed. She contended further that she was not a jagirdar under any law, rules, regulations or orders governing jagirdars in force in any part of the State, and therefore her lands could not be resumed in the manner in which the resumption had been made.
(2.)The petition was opposed on behalf of the State and it was contended that the appellant was a jagirdar within the meaning of that term in the Act. The learned Judicial Commissioner held that the appellant was an Ijaredar and therefore a jagirdar within the meaning of S. 2(1)(c) of the Act. In consequence he dismissed the petition. An application was then made for a certificate to appeal to this Court, which was granted and that is how the appeal has come up before us.
(3.)The only question that falls for our decision is whether the appellant can be said to be an Ijaredar within the meaning of S. 2(1) (c) of the Act. A "jagirdar" is defined in S. 2(1)(c) as meaning "any person recognised as a Jagirdar under any law , rules, regulations or orders governing Jagirdars in force in any part of the State and includes an Ilakedar, a Pawaidar, a sub-Pawaidar (in direct relation with the Government or other wise), an Ijaredar, an Ubaridar, a Zamindar, a Muafidar and a Grantee of Jagir land from a Jagirdar" "Jagir land" is defined in S. 2(1)(d) as meaning "any land in which or in relation to which any jagirdar has rights as such in respect of land revenue or any other kind of revenue." Under S. 5 of the Act it is provided that "as soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a date for the resumption of any class of jagir lands and different dates may be appointed for different classes of jagir-lands. It was under this provision that the notification resuming jagir-lands with a gross annual income of Rs. 1,000/- or above was issued.