R.S. Narula, J. - (1.) AS the same two questions of law arise in these thirteen connected writ petitions (Civil Writs 868 to 880 of 1968), I propose to dispose them all of by this common judgment. The facts relating to the case of Ram Partap and others (Civil Writ 868 of 1968) may first be surveyed. It is agreed by all the counsel that it Would be unnecessary to take notice of the facts of other connected cases for disposing of the matters in issue in these petitions.
(2.) TWELVE landlords and eleven tenants formed a co -operative society in 1952. Before the society could be registered, an official inspection into their scheme was made. A copy of the report of the Inspector of Co -operative Societies, Fazilka, dated April 10, 1952 (in Urdu), is Annexure 'A' to the writ petition. Annexure 'A/1' is a translation of the same into English. The report reveals that at the time of inspection 3138 Bighas of land were in the cultivation of the owners themselves, and 1414 Bighas were in the cultivating possession of tenants -at -will. According to the inspection report, Petitioner No. 9 society was to undertake joint cultivation of about 1000 Bighas of land in village Alamgarh and about 725 Bighas in village Sayadwala in Ferozepore District. The society was stated to have commenced its work with effect from Kharif, 1952. Petitioner No. 9 society was duly registered under the Co -operative Societies Act on June 16, 1952. The Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act (10 of 1953) (hereinafter called the Act) did not at that time (i.e. on 15th April, 1953), apply to co -operative societies because Section 1(4)(ii) of the Act stated: Save as elsewhere expressly provided in this Act nothing contained therein shall apply to land held by co -operative farming societies during the period of their continuance, subject to their fulfilling the conditions prescribed under this Act. The relevant conditions were prescribed under Rule 12 of the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Rules, 1953, in the following terms: For the purposes of Clause (ii) of Sub -section (4) of Section 1 of the Act, a co -operative farming society shall fulfil the conditions of a registered society governed by bye -laws for a Co -operative Better Farming Society Limited, and the rules made under the Co -operative Societies Act, 1912. It is the common case of the parties that Petitioner No. 9, society fulfilled all the requirements of Rule 12, and was, therefore, exempt from the operation of the 1953 Act so long as Section 1(4)(ii) thereof existed in its original terms. The said provision (Sub -section (4) of Section 1) was, however, amended by Section 2 of the Punjab Security of Land Tenures (Amendment) Act, 1955, and for the original provision the following was substituted: Save as elsewhere expressly provided in this Act nothing contained therein shall apply to co -operative garden colonies which were registered before the coming into force of this Act. The result was that the exemption granted by the original provision in favour of co -operative societies covered by Rule 12 of the 1953 Rules was taken away, except for co -operative garden colonies in which category Petitioner No. 9 does not fall. The only other amendment to the principal Act which is relevant for our purpose is the one brought about by the introduction of Sections 19 -A and 19 -B by Section 4 of the Punjab Security of Land Tenures (Amendment) Act No. 4 of 1959. Section 19 -A(1) provides that no person, whether as land -owner or tenant, shall acquire or possess by transfer, exchange, lease, agreement or settlement any land, which exceeds his permissible area. "Permissible area" has been defined for all practical purposes to mean thirty standard acres. Proviso to Sub -section (1) of Section 19 -A states that nothing contained in that sub -section would apply to lands belonging to registered co -operative societies formed for purposes of co -operative farming "if the land owned by an individual member of the society does not exceed the permissible area."
(3.) THEREAFTER , the Special Collector concerned took up proceedings for determining the surplus area of the various landowners who had jointly formed the co -operative society. By his order, dated February 28, 1961, the Collector declared the surplus area of the respective land -owners. The Petitioners, i.e., the landowners as well as most of the tenants preferred separate appeals against the order of the Special Collector on August 7, 1961. All these appeals were disposed of by the order of Shri Damodar Dass, Additional Commissioner, Jullundur/Ambala Division, dated May 8, 1963 (Annexure 'C'). The learned Additional Commissioner observed that while determining cases of surplus holdings, the Collector had not taken into account the existence of the co -operative societies and though the Collector had left thirty standard acres with each of the land -owners, no area had been left by him for the tenants on the ground that their continuous tenancy had not been proved according to the revenue records. He held that the entire area of owners and tenants should be treated as one unit, and since an area of thirty standard acres is allowed to each owner, and a tenant the permissible limit should be generally determined taking into account the number of land -owners and tenants, allowing each of them thirty standard acres for self cultivation. He allowed this relief to seven land -owners (who had preferred the appeals) and eleven tenants who had originally constituted the co -operative society prior to the enforcement of the 1953 Act, and ignored the claims of those members who had joined the society after the coming into force of the Act. As a result, he allowed 210 standard acres to the seven land -owners and 330 standard acres to the eleven tenants, and declared their remaining area of 1,083 standard acres and 13| Units as surplus.;