JUDGEMENT
K.KANNAN,J. -
(1.) THE application in CM No. 13598 of 2010 has been filed by the writ
petitioners for review of the order that was rendered by this Court on
12.05.2010. The judgment had been rendered on merits in the presence of the respondent, although there was no representation on behalf of the
petitioners. The application for review was made principally on the
ground that the judgment suffers from a patent error in observing that by
virtue of the provisions of the Pepsu Occupancy Tenants (Vesting of
Proprietary Rights) Act, 1954 (hereinafter called 'the 1954 Act'), the
property became vested in the private respondents who claimed vesting of
the property under the Act, without taking note of Farman-i-Shahi, dated
11th March, 1947, that accorded to the owner 1/3rd share. On the day when the the 1954 Act came into being, there existed no relationship of
landlord and tenant with reference to 1/3rd share that had been granted
to the petitioner. The Act that provided for vesting required the
continuation of landlord tenant relationship till the date when the Act
was passed in order that such vesting took place.
(2.) NOTICES had been sent to all the private parties, who had been contending as owners, who were the erstwhile tenants and who claimed the
benefit of the the 1954 Act and invited parties to argue on the point of
effect of Farmain-i-shai on the vesting rights guaranteed under the 1954
Act.
The petitioners placed reliance on the Farman-i-Shahi, dated 11th March, 1947, that declared "the relationship of landlords & occupancy
tenant must come to an end. The lands now held in occupancy rights in the
State will be apportioned as follows :-
i) in the case of occupancy rights under Section 5 of the Tenancy Act one third to the landlords and two thirds to the tenants." (italics supplied) It appears that there had been a subsequent civil suit at the instance of some of the tenants seeking for a right to 1/3rd share in the property as well, claiming that 1/3rd had been vested in them by adverse possession. Their contention was that the 1954 Act made them the owners and the landlord's 1/3rd share had become also the property of the tenants. The suit was dismissed in Civil Suit No. 289 of 1979 vide decree dated 22.03.1982.
(3.) THE learned Senior Counsel, Shri Pawan Kumar refers to a judgment of this Court in Atma Singh and others v. Financial Commissioner, Punjab and
others- 1965 Revenue Rulings XLIV 77, to say that reading the Pepsu
Abolition of Biswedari Ordinance, Farman-i-Shahi No. 6 and Pepsu
Occupancy Tenants (Vesting of Proprietary Rights) Act, together would
show that any proceedings which had been concluded and became final under
the Farman-i-Shahi or the Ordinance could not be interfered with under
the Act. The moment the apportionment was done under the Farman-i-Shahi,
the relationship between the landlord and the tenant had completely
ceased to exist. It was not necessary to complete the partition under the
Farman-i-Shahi and that actual possession should have passed to the
erstwhile landlord.;
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