Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961

The State of Maharashtra appealed a High Court order that had set aside a revenue tribunal's decision adding 51.08 acres of land to the holding of Gulab Rao, a surplus land holder. The land had been conveyed by unregistered sale agreements dated 1‑April‑1968, before the cut‑off date of 26 September 1970. The issue was …

The case concerned a partition deed dated 31‑January‑1970 in which a Hindu undivided family allotted agricultural land to two minor daughters of Vithaldas Jagannath Khatri. The State of Maharashtra challenged the exclusion of that land from the surplus‑land calculation under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling …

Bhupendra Singh purchased land from a tribal (Kisana) in 1958. The Maharashtra Restoration of Lands to Scheduled Tribes Act, 1974, later restored that land to the tribal's heirs in 1976‑77. The Surplus Land Determination Tribunal, applying the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961, treated the …

The appellants purchased about 7 acres of agricultural land in Moria village, Gujarat, without obtaining the prior permission required under Section 63 of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948. The Mamlatdar initiated ejectment proceedings, and the Gujarat High Court dismissed the appellants' special civi…

The appellant, Godavari Sugar Mills Ltd., owned large tracts of sugarcane land that were declared surplus under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961 and were taken over by the State. After filing a claim for compensation, the State awarded Rs.88,77,538 with interest at 3% per annum for the…

Tej Singh Rao, a descendant of a Maratha general, held 294.61 acres in the former Nagpur State and claimed that the land was covered by a sovereign grant made by the ruler Raghoji II in 1793, which he argued was a legislative act protected by Article 372 of the Constitution and therefore exempt from the Maharashtra Agr…

The Supreme Court examined whether a wife and mother who inherited a share in a joint Hindu family property under Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act ceased to be members of the family for purposes of the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961. The Court held that the legal fiction in Section …

The appellant, the heirs of the late Vithaldas Jagannath Khatri, challenged a declaration that 59 acres 35 guntas of their agricultural land were surplus under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961. The dispute centred on a partition deed dated 31‑01‑1970, executed before the statutory cut‑…

Mugaji Laxman Padule, a long‑time tenant, held agricultural land that exceeded the ceiling area prescribed under the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948. In 1960 he purchased an additional parcel from the landlords for Rs 3,000, claiming that a prior partition had brought his holdings within the ceiling lim…

Bhikoba Shankar Dhumal, a tenant, filed a return under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961, disclosing land holdings that exceeded the statutory ceiling. The Special Deputy Collector declared a portion of his land as surplus, but Bhikoba died before a Section 21 notification and possessio…

The appellants, private landowners in Maharashtra, challenged revenue annotations and mutation entries that labelled their lands as private forests and vested in the State, arguing that the statutory requirements for acquisition were not fulfilled. The State contended that notices issued under Section 35(3) of the Indi…

The State of Maharashtra appealed against a Bombay High Court order that had directed the Surplus Lands Determination Tribunal to examine whether land held in the name of the respondent's wife was her separate or stridhan property. The respondent, Vyasendra, claimed that such land should be excluded from the family uni…

Sh. Kishandas Kanahiyalal Gandhi was declared to have a surplus of 45 acres 30 guntas of agricultural land under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961. He argued that the tenant, Om Prakash, had crystallised tenancy rights over 47 acres 17 guntas, thereby removing the surplus, and alternati…