Wanchoo, C. J. - (1.) THIS is an application by Udailal under Art. 226 of the Constitution against the State of Rajasthan and its officers in connection with assessment of rent made upon him under sec. 10 of the Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of Jagirs Act, ly52 (Act No. VI of 1952), hereinafter called the Act.
(2.) THE applicant is co-sharer in a Muafi Jagir in village Punchdevla. This Jagir was resumed on the 23rd of August 1954. THEre were certain Khudkasht lands in the possession of the applicant within this Jagir. Steps were taken to assess this Khudkasht land under sec. 10 of the Act after the resumption. THE applicant contends that the State cannot assess Khudkasht under sec. 10 and that he is only liable to pay land revenue under sec. 8 of the Act. The application has been opposed on behalf of the State and their contention is that Jagirdars, who had Khudkasht land, become khatedar under sec. 10 on the resumption of their Jagirs and that thereafter, they are liable to be assessed under sec. 10. We have given the matter our careful consideration and are of opinion that there is no force in this application and that the contention raised on behalf of the State is correct. The Act provides for resumption and Jagirs and sec. 21 deals with resumption. Sec. 23, however, makes certain exemptions and one of the exceptions is Khudkasht land of a Jagirdar. It is provided in sec. 23 (1) that notwithstanding anything contained in the last preceding section, Khudkasht lands of a Jagirdar and certain other Properties, with which we are not concerned in this case, shall continue to belong to or be held by such Jagir-dar or other person. Sec. 4 of the Act provided for assessment of all lands for purposes of paying land revenue and sec. 6 and 7 provide for the method of determining rental income. Sec. 8 provides for the amount of land revenue payable after rental income has been settled under secs. 6 and 7 of the Act. There is a scale provided in sec. 8, beginning with one-sixteenth of the rental income for the year 1952-53 and ending with one-fourth for the year 1957-58. Then comes sec. 10 which is as follows - "as from the date of resumption of any Jagir land, and Khudkasht land of a Jagirdar shall be deemed to be held by the Jagirdar as a Khatedar tenant and shall be assessed at the village rate. " Lastly, there is sec. 22 (1) (i) which may be referred to in this connection. Sec. 22 provides for consequences of resumption and one of the consec-quences which appears in clause (1) of sub-sec. (1) is that the Jagirdar ceases to be liable to pay and shall not be required to pay to the Government in respect of any Jagir land resumed under this Act, any tribute or land revenue payable by him under any existing Jagir law or under this Act. A consideration of these relevant sections makes it quite clear that fixing of land revenue under sec. 8 is for the purpose of collection during the period before the resumption and incidentally lor determining the compensation to be paid under the Act. The land revenue determined under sec. 8 ceases to be payable, as is provided in sec. 22 (1) (i) as soon as the Jagir is resumed. This stands to reason, for, a person cannot be expected to pay land revenue for a Jagir which has been taken away from him. Therefore, it is futile for the applicant to contend that after the resumption of Jagir, he can only be asked to pay land revenue for his Khudkasht land under sec. 8. We are of opinion that as soon as the Jagir is resumed, land revenue stops in view of sec. 22 (1) (i ). Whether the applicant has to pay something else will depend on other provisions of the Act. The other provision in this case is sec. 10 read with sec. 23. Sec. 23, as we have already pointed out, exempts Khudkasht land of a Jagirdar from being taken over by Government. The rights of a Jagirdar in the Khudkasht land, which he continues to enjoy after the Jagir has been resumed, have been defined under sec. 10 as Khatedari rights. Therefore, after the resumption of the Jagir, the Jagirdars remain in possession of what was their Khudkasht land but they only hold them as Khatedars under sec. 10 The argument on behalf of the applicant is that sec. 23 contemplates that Khudkasht land of a Jagirdar shall continue to belong to him and, therefore, the Jagirdar still continues to be a Jagirdar of that land and it can only be liable to land revenue under sec. 8. It is enough to say that this is a misconception. Sec. 23 (1) exempts a number of properties of Jagirdars, including Khudkasht lands. After enumerating the properties in clauses (a) to (d), sec. 23 (1) goes on as follows : "shall continue to belong to or be held by such Jagirdar or other person. " Thus, the exempted properties may either belong to the Jagirdars or be held by them. Whether a particular property out of the exempted list can be said to belong to a Jagirdar or held by him depends upon the facts of each case and on the other provisions of the law contained in the Act. So far as Khudkasht land is concerned, it is, in our opinion, perfectly clear that Khudkasht land can only be held by the Jagirdar as a Khatedar under sec. 10. Therefore, so far as Khudkasht lands are concerned, sec. 23 (1) must be read as providing that notwithstanding anything contained in the last preceding section, Khudkasht lands of a Jagirdar shall continue to be held by him. Thus read, there is no question of a Jagirdar remaining the owner of Khudkasht lands and, therefore, claiming that he can only be assessed to land revenue. He becomes the Khatedar of Khudkasht lands under sec. 10 and under sec. 23 (1), these lands are exempted in the sense that that the Jagirdar continues to hold them. It is, therefore, open to the State to assess the Jagirdar under sec. 10, at the village rate. The assessment is obviously for the purpose of collecting the assessed amount which is nothing more or less than rent. What the State, therefore, is doing in this case is in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the applicant cannot claim that he should be assessed under sec. 8. There is no force in this application and it is hereby dismissed with costs. . ;