- (1.) The order under challenge at the instance of the Union and the State is passed by the Financial Commissioner on 16.9.1985 affirming the right of the first respondent Remeti as an occupancy tenant entitled to obtain the proprietary rights in terms of the Punjab Occupancy Tenancy (Vesting to Proprietary Rights Act, 1953. The case required a proof of entitlement to property based on the provisions of the Act, 1953 and the amended provisions, of the year 1958, apart from the provisions of vesting in an 'evacuee property' with the State in terms of the provisions of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950.
(2.) It was an admitted case that the first respondent claimed tenancy rights in respect of 520 K 6 M as an occupancy tenant under the original owner who had fled to Pakistan after the partition. The petitioner claimed the right of tenant by succession from his predecessor and contended that she was entitled to have the right recognized under the State Act of 1953. The contention by the Union was that in terms of the Administration of Evacuee Act of 1950 all the rights of an evacuee stood vested in the Custodian and by virtue of Section 9 of the Central Act of 1950 the Custodian had a right to take all the evacuee property vested in him. Section 10 of the 1950 Act that dealienate the powers and duties of the Custodian allows for taking such measures as he considers necessary or expediting for the purpose of administering, preserving and managing the property. The vesting which the law admits is the vesting in the manner that the property could vest in the evacuee. I could give the State a larger interest than what the evacuee himself owned. Consequently, if the evacuee had been an absentee landlord who had allowed the property to be vested in the hands of a cultivating tenant the rights of the landlord must still be governed by whatever rights which law allows for a cultivating tenant to have in respect of such property. It is to the provisions of the State Act of 1953 that we have to turn to examine the extent of right which an occupancy tenant would have.
(3.) The provisions which allow for obtaining proprietary rights under the State Act of 1953 provides under Section 9 that the Act giving occupancy tenant a proprietary right will not apply to evacuee property. Section 9, however, contains a significant exception to when an occupancy tenant who was an evacuee cannot have an application of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act. The section is reproduced insofar as it requires in 1953 Act. Section 9 (1), (2), (a) and (b) are reproduced hereunder. (1) Nothing in this Act shall apply to evacuee property as defined in the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 (31 of 1950). (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the provisions of this Act shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), apply to (a) a person who, after the commencement of this Act, obtains a right of occupancy from the Central Government under the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954 (44 of 1954); and (b) an occupancy tenant of a landlord who is an evacuee as defined in clause (d) of section 2 of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 (31 of 1950).;