- (1.) JUDGEMENT The petitioner is a tenure-holder in a number of villages of Tehsil Kannauj, in the district of Farrukhabad. In proceedings under the U. P. Imposition of Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1960, for the determination of surplus land a notice under section 10 was served upon the petitioner enclosing a statement which inter alia specified the plots proposed to be declared as surplus land. The family of the petitioner was shown as consisting of two persons, only, namely the petitioner and his wife. The petitioner filed an objection claiming that his family consisted of sixteen members living as members of a joint Hindu family. They included himself, his wife, four sons, four daughters-in-law, three sons sons and three unmarried sons daughters. The petitioner admitted that however, a number of plots consisted of ancestral tenancy land which upon a family settlement had been given to the petitioners sons. The names of the three sons were entered separately over the land as tenure-holders under the said family settlement.
(2.) THE prescribed Authority, by its order of March 13, 1962, rejected the objection and held that the petitioners family consisted of himself and his wife only and determined the surplus land accordingly. An appeal filed by the petitioner was partly allowed by the learned Additional Civil Judge, Farrukhabad. He held that while the petitioners sons sons were entitled to be treated as members of the petitioners family his sons wives and sons daughters could not be treated as such members. Holding that the petitioners family consisted of five persons, and that, therefore, they were entitled to forty acres of Fair Quality Land only, which had already been allowed to the petitioner, the learned Additional Civil Judge dismissed the appeal. The petitioner prays for certiorari against that order.
(3.) THE U. P. Imposition of Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1960 provides for the acquisition of surplus land. The surplus land is determined on certain principles laid down under the Act and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Act. "Surplus land" has been defined in section 3 (k) as land held by a tenure-holder in excess of the ceiling area applicable to him. Ceiling area is defined by Section 3 (a) as meaning the area of land, not being land exempted under the Act, determined as such in accordance with the provisions of S. 4. Section 4 provides: "4 (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the ceiling area applicable to a tenure-holder shall be calculated after taking into account all the land in any holding in the State held by him, in his own right, whether in his own name or ostensibly in the name of any other person. (2) (a) The ceiling area of a tenure-holder shall be forty acres of Fair Quality Land. (b) Where the tenure-holder has, or consists of, a family having more than five members the ceiling area of such tenure-holder shall be the area mentioned in clause (a) together with eight acres of Fair Quality Land for every additional member of the family, subject to a maximum of twenty-four such acres: Provided that, if at any time the family comes to consist of not more than five members, all land held by the tenure-holder in excess of the ceiling area under clause (a) shall become liable to be treated as surplus land". It is clear that the ceiling area of a tenure-holder is forty acres of fair Quality Land but if the tenure-holder has or consists of a family having more than five members the ceiling area is greater. The petitioner says that the ceiling area in his case should be more than forty acres because his family consists not merely of himself, his wife and his three sons sons but also his sons wives and sons daughters. After careful consideration, I am of opinion that the claim of the petitioner is without substance. ;