Supreme Court of India
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARASversusRAJARAM V. PARAB & ORS.
- Citation
- 2009 INSC 86
- Decided
- 29 January 2009
- Disposal
- Appeal(s) allowed
- Bench
- TARUN CHATTERJEE
Holding
Section 7 of the Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964 empowers the Mamlatdar to decide both positive and negative declarations on the question of tenancy, and Section 4 does not oust this jurisdiction.
Summary
The appellant, owner of agricultural land in Goa, sought a declaration from the Mamlatdar that certain occupants were not tenants under the Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964. The Mamlatdar granted a negative declaration, which was later set aside by the High Court on the ground that Section 7 of the Act did not empower the Mamlatdar to issue such a declaration. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the language of Section 7, the purpose of the Act, and analogous provisions in the Bombay Tenancy Act. It held that the phrase "if any question arises" in Section 7 embraces both positive and negative declarations, and that Section 4’s specific provision for negative declarations does not oust the Mamlatdar’s jurisdiction under Section 7. Consequently, the Mamlatdar was found to have the authority to grant a negative declaration, and the High Court’s judgment was set aside. The appeal was allowed and the Mamlatdar’s order restored.
Issues considered
- Whether Section 7 of the Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964 confers on the Mamlatdar the power to grant a negative declaration that a person is not a tenant.
- Whether the specific power to grant a negative declaration under Section 4(1) ousts the Mamlatdar’s jurisdiction under Section 7 for other tenancy questions.
- Interpretation of the expression "if any question arises" in Section 7 – does it include negative declarations?
Legislation cited
- Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964s. 4(1), s. 7
Subjects
tenancyagricultural tenancyMamlatdar jurisdictionnegative declarationstatutory interpretationGoa Tenancy Actlandlord-tenant dispute
Judgment
[2009] 1 S.C.R. 696
A MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAS
v.
RAJARAM V. PARAS & ORS.
(Civil Appeal No. 2971 of 2001)
JANUARY 29, 2009
s
[TARUN CHATTERJEE AND AFTAB ALAM, JJ.)
Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964 -
ss. 4(1) and 7 - Jurisdiction of Mam/atdar u/s. 7 - To grant
c negative declaration on the question of tenancy - Held:
Mamlatdar has the authority to grant a negative declaration
on the question of tenancy- Power uls. 4(1) to grant negative
declaration does not oust such jurisdiction of Mamlatdar uls.
7 - s. 7 embraces within its sweep both the facets i.e. positive .
D as well as negative declaration - Interpretation of statute.
~
The question for consideration in the present appeal
was whether u/s 7 of Goa Daman and Diu Agricultural
Tenancy Act, 1964, Mamlatdar was vested with the
authority to grant a negative declaration to the effect that
E a particular person is/was not a tenant when any such
dispute is/was referred to him for his decision.
Allowing the appeal, the Court
F HELD:1.1 The expression "if any question arises"
embraces within its sweep both the facets, i.e., positive
declaration as well as negative declaration. The
expression "is or was tenant" in Section 7 of Goa, Daman
and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964 would include the
positive declaration as well as the negative declaration.
G
The expression in Section 7 of the Act as to the
determination of the fact that whether a person "is or was
a tenant", would also include the question whether the
person is not a tenant, and after conducting an enquiry
H 696
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAB v. RAJARAM V. PARAB & 697
ORS.
the Mamlatdar shall decide the same. Therefore the A
question, which was raised, is that, if the Mamlatdar after
conducting an enquiry comes to the conclusion that the
concerned person is/was not a tenant, he is bound to
mention the same. Therefore, it does also amount to a
declaration to the effect that the person is not a tenant. B
[Paras 6 and 5] [701-G-H; 700-F-H; 701-A-B]
Nivrutti Laxman Kondobahiri vs. Shiv Dayal
Laxminarayan Sarda and Ors. AIR 1960 Bombay 56 and
Trimbak Sopan vs. Ganga Ram Mhatarba AIR 1953 Bombay C
241, referred to.
1.2. The jurisdiction u/s. 7 is not confined to cases
where the relationship of the landlord and tenant is
admitted. In fact, it is only where the said relationship is
alleged by one party and denied by the other that the D
question falls to be considered and the decision of the
question is left exclusively to be determined by the
Mamlatdar under the provision of the Act. [Para 13] (709-
E-F]
E
2.1. When the legislature has provided that the
landlord can seek a negative declaration in respect of the
category of person mentioned in Section 4(1) of the Act,
it cannot conclusively lead to the conclusion that in other
cases, namely, where the question arises as to whether
a person is or is not a tenant, the Mamlatdar is not F
conferred with any power to grant negative declaration
that the concerned person is not a tenant in respect of
the disputed property. Considering Section 7 and the
objects and reasons of the Act and considering the fact
that for a limited purpose the Mamlatdar is conferred with G
such power to declare the negative declaration in respect
of the certain category of persons under Section 4(1) of
the Act, it cannot be said that while deciding the question
under Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act, the jurisdiction
of the Mamlatdar to declare that the concerned person H
698 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 1 S.C.R. '
A is or was not a tenant, is ousted. [Paras 12 and 13] [708-
H; 709-A-C]
2.2. The scope of Section 7 is quite different from that
of Section 4. Section 4 is to operate from within a limited
B period of one year from the date of enforcement of the
Act, i.e., 8th of February, 1965, while section 7 is operative
for all time. [Para 14] [710-E-F]
Case Law Reference:
AIR 1960 Bombay 56 Referred to. Para 8
c
AIR 1953 Bombay 241 Referred to. Para 9
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
2971 of 2001.
D From the final Judgment and Order dated 26.6.2000 of the
~
High Court of Judicature of Bombay at Panaji in Letters Patent
Appeal No. 9 of 2000.
Dhruv Mehta, Harshvardhan Jha and T.S. Subasish (for Ml
s K.L. Mehta and Co.) for the Appellant.
E
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
TARUN CHATTERJEE, J.1. This appeal is directed
against the judgment and order dated 26th of June, 2000 of the
Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay at Panaji in Letters
F Patent Appeal No.9 of 1999 whereby the appeal was dismissed
by the High Court based on the decision passed in Letters
Patent Appeal No.44 of 1998 decided on 13th of June, 2000.
2. The relevant facts leading to the present appeal are as
follows:
G
The appellant is the owner of a property called VAGAD,
survey No. 131, sub-division No. 33 and 37 situated at Paliem,
Taluka Pernem, Goa, (hereinafter referred to as "the disputed
property"). Three persons namely Vassu, Shankar and Shiva
H were recorded as tenants in respect of the disputed property
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAS v. RAJARAM V. PARAS & 699
ORS. [TARUN CHATTERJEE, J.]
"' in 1972 and the present respondents are their heirs and legal
representatives. The appellant applied before the Court of
A
Mamlatdar at Pernem, for a declaration that the respondents
were not tenants of the disputed property within the meaning
of the Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964 (in
short "Goa Tenancy Act). The Mamlatdar, after a detailed B
enquiry into the facts, passed an order on 28th of October 1986
granting the aforesaid declaration in respect of the disputed
* property. In appeal, the Deputy Collector dismissed the same
and affirmed the order of the Mamlatdar, by an order dated 5th
of January 1992. Further, an appeal to the Administrative c
Tribunal was taken, which reversed the orders of the Deputy
Collector and the Mamlatdar, by an order dated 30th of June,
1997 by re-appreciating the evidence on record. The appellant
filed a writ petition being WP No. 113of1998, before the High
Court of Bombay at Panaji, challenging the order of the D
Administrative Tribunal. The Writ Petition was dismissed on the
ground that under Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act, there was
no power vested with the Mamlatdar to grant negative
declaration. Aggrieved by this judgment, the appellant filed a
Letters Patent Appeal being LPA No. 9 of 1999 before the
E
Division Bench of the High Court. As noted herein earlier, the
same was dismissed vide its judgment dated 26th of June,
2000. Thereafter, the appellant had filed this special leave
~
petition in this Court, which on grant of leave was heard by us
in the presence of the learned counsel appearing on behalf of
the parties. F
3. We have heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf
of the parties and examined the materials on record. The issue
which we have to deal with while disposing of this appeal is
whether under Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act, the Mamlatdar G
was vested with the authority to grant a negative declaration to
the effect that a particular person is/was not a tenant when any
such dispute is/was referred to him for his decision.
4. Before going into the rival contentions of the parties, it
H
700 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 1 S.C.R.
A is necessary for us to refer to objects and reasons for enacting
the Goa Tenancy Act. This Act has been enacted to provide
for the regulation of the terms of tenancy with respect to
agricultural lands in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu
and for matters connected therewith. Section 7 of the Goa
B Tenancy Act reads as under:-
"Section 7: Question of tenancy:- If any question arises .
whether any person is or was a tenant or should be
deemed to be a tenant under this Act the Mamlatdar shall,
after holding an inquiry, decide such question.
c
In any such enquiry, the Mamlatdar shall presume that any
statement as to the existence of a right of tenancy in a
record of rights prepared in the prescribed manner under
and in accordance with the provisions of this Act, is true."
D
5. As noted hereinearlier, the learned Single Judge as well
as the Division Bench of the High Court decided that the
Mamlatdar did not have any jurisdiction to grant a negative
declaration following the ratio of its decision in LPA No. 44 of
E 1998. On a consideration of the objects and reasons of the Goa
Tenancy Act and the relevant provisions of the same, we are
of the view that although Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act
provides that where any question arises whether any person
is or should be deemed to be a tenant, the Mamlatdar shall,
after holding an enquiry, decide such question, even then, the
F negative declaration namely "such a person is/was not a tenant"
should also be dealt with by the Mamlatdar for the reasons
stated hereinafter. The expression in Section 7 of the Act as
to the determination of the fact that whether a person "is or was
a tenant", would also include the question whether the person
G is not a tenant, and after conducting an enquiry the Mamlatdar
shall decide the same. Therefore the question, which was
raised, is that, if the Mamlatdar after conducting an enquiry
comes to the conclusion that the concerned person is/was not
a tenant, he is bound to mention the same. Therefore, it does
H also amount to a declaration to the effect that the person is not
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAB v. RAJARAM V. PARAB & 701
ORS. [TARUN CHATTERJEE, J.]
~
a tenant. Accordingly, it results in a negative declaration. It A
bemuses us that when the wordings in the section are clear to
the effect that the Mamlatdar has to decide about the tenancy
of a concerned person, the expression "If any question arises
whether any person is or was a tenant..... " can purport to have
a meaning that the mamlatdar is not authorized to issue a B
negative declaration that the person is not a tenant. This
_.,,.._. expression, as noted herein earlier also, is clear that when there
is a dispute or doubt over the tenancy of a person, then the
Mamlatdar shall decide such question after conducting a due
enquiry to establish the same. Therefore, if the conclusion of c
the Mamlatdar, on enquiry, is that a particular person is not a
tenant, he is bound to declare such a person that he is not a
tenant. We do not also have any doubt regarding the
expression "is or was tenant" in Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy
-4-' Act which would include the positive declaration as well as the D
negative declaration. If the observations made by the Division
Bench of the High Court are accepted, it would then mean that
if a person approaches the Mamlatdar to declare him as a
tenant or on the application of a landlord for a decision on the
tenancy of his occupant, the Mamlatdar ultimately reaches to a
conclusion that the concerned person whose tenancy has to be
E
decided is not a tenant, he has to refrain from taking any
decision and decline to exercise his jurisdiction. Such a
.;..... situation would be unacceptable, untenable and a sheer waste
of time of the Mamlatdar to conduct a detailed enquiry under
Section 7 of the Goa T-enancy Act on the application filed F
before it. This, in our view, cannot be the intention of the
Legislature to create such an ambiguous position, which would
result in a lengthy procedure, that might ultimately yield no result.
6. At the risk of repetition, it is pertinent to mention that G
~
the expression "if any question arises" embraces within its
sweep both the facets, i.e., positive declaration as well as
negative declaration, and the conclusion can be reached only
at the end of the enquiry. The learned counsel appearing on
behalf of the appellant contended that if we examine the H
702 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 1 S.C.R.
A provision of section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act and also Section
70 of the Bombay Tenancy Act, it would be evident that both
the provisions are similar in nature and are pari-materia to each
other. We have already quoted Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy
Act. It is, therefore, necessary now to reproduce Section 70 of
B the Bombay Tenancy Act which is as follows:-
"Section 70-Duties of the Mamlatdar:-
"For the purposes of this Act, the following shall be the
duties and the functions to be performed by the
C Mamlatdar:-
(a) To decide whether a person is an agriculturist;
(b) To decide whether a person is, or was at any time in
the past, a tenant or a protected tenant or a permanent
D tenant. .......... ".
7. In this connection, Section 85 of the Bombay Tenancy
Act is also necessary to be produced. Section 85 of the said
Act is as follows:-
E
"Section 85 - Bar of Jurisdiction
(1) No Civil Court shall have jurisdiction to settle, decide
or deal with any question (including a question whether a
person is or was at the time in the past a tenant and
F whether any such tenant is or should be deemed to have
purchased from his landlord the land held by him) which
is by or under this Act required to be settled, decided or
dealt with by the Mamlatdar or Tribunal, a Manager, the
collector or the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal in appeal
G or on revision, the State Government in exercise of their
powers of control.
(2) No order of the Mamlatdar, the Tribunal, the Collector
or the Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal or the State
H Government made under this Act shall be questioned in
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAB v. RAJARAM V. PARAB & 703
ORS. [TARUN CHATIERJEE, J.]
--t-· any civil or criminal court. A
Explanation:- For the purposes of this section a Civil Court
shall include a Mamlatdar's Court constituted under the
Mamlatdar Courts Act, 1906."
B
8. From a bare perusal of Section 85 of the Bombay
Tenancy Act, it would be evident that this provision bars the
jurisdiction of Civil Court to deal with any question including a
question whether a person is or was at the time in the past a
tenant and whether any such tenant is or should be deemed to
have purchased from his landlord the land held by him which c
would be decided or dealt with only by the Mamlatdar or
Tribunal or a Manager, the Collector or the Maharashtra
Revenue Tribunal in appeal or revision by the State Government
in exercise of their powers of control. When a question arises
~ whether a particular person is an agriculturist or a tenant or not, D
it is only the Mamlatdar who has the jurisdiction to decide the
same. The question, therefore, is whether under Section 70 of
the Bombay Tenancy Act, the Mamlatdar has the power or
jurisdiction to grant a negative declaration that is whether the
concerned person is or was not a tenant. In Nivrutti Laxman E
Kondobahiri vs. Shiv Dayal Laxminarayan Sarda and Ors.
[AIR 1960 Bombay 56] (Full Bench}, Hon.Chainani, C.J. (as His
.. Lordship then was) observed :-
"It has, however, been urged that while an application may
F
be made to a Mamlatdar for obtaining a declaration that
a person is a tenant, an application for a negative
declaration that a person is not a tenant, is not competent.
It has been contended that the object of the Act is to
protect tenant and that it confers special rights upon them
and that consequently, where the owner of a land alleges G
that person is not a tenant or that he is not entitled to be
protection of the Act, the application cannot be said to be
one for the purposes of the Act. There does not seem to
us to be much force in this argument. The purposes of the
Act are, as will be seen from the preamble, to regulate the H
704 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 1 S.C.R.
A relations of landlords and tenants of agricultural lands.
While the Act confers extensive rights on tenants, the
landlords are not deprived of all their rights - For instances,
they can terminate the tenancies and resume possession
of their lands in certain circumstances. Under Section 29,
8 both the landlords and the tenants can apply to the
Mamlatdar for obtaining possession of lands. Under clause
(b) of Section 70 of the act, the Mamlatdar has jurisdiction
to determine whether a person is a tenant. He can,
therefore, also decide that a person is not a tenant. If he
c can decide this question, on an application made to him 'I"
by a tenant, it is difficult to understand why he should not
be able to decide this question, when the application is
made by the landlord. In either case, the question which
the Mamlatdar will have to determine is whether the
relationship of landlord and tenant exists between the
D
parties. The jurisdiction to decide this question vests
exclusively in the Mamlatdar and the Civil Court is not
competent to decide it. This question will also have to be
determined by reference to and in the light of the provisions
of the Act as to who are and who are deemed to be tenants
E and as to how and in what circumstances a tenancy can
be terminated. Such a determination will, therefore, be for
the purpose of the Act. The words for the purpose of this
Act, in our opinion, mean for the purposes of deciding any
question relation to a matter, which is regulated or
F governed by the provisions of this Act. If, therefore, the
question raised before the Mamlatdar relates to a matter,
which is to be decided by reference to the provisions of
the Act, its determination by the Mamlatdar will be for the
purposes of the Act and it is immaterial whether the
G application raising the question is made by the landlord
or by the tenant." (Emphasis supplied)
9. Similar was the view expressed by the Bombay High
Court relating to Section 70 of the Bombay Tenancy Act in the
H decision in Trimbak Sopan vs. Ganga Ram Mhatarba [AIR
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAS v. RAJARAM V. PARAS & 705
ORS. [TARUN CHATIERJEE, J.]
1953 Bombay 241] in which the Bombay High Court observed A
as follows :-
" ............. A very interesting argument has been advanced
by Mr.Tarkunde, and his contention is that a suit against a
trespasser is only cognizable by the civil court, and 8
therefore, if an issue arises in such a suit as to whether it
is for the civil court to decide that issue: if the defendant
is a trespasser, the Civil Court has jurisdiction to pass a
decree for possession; if, on the other hand, the civil court
comes to the conclusion that the defendant is a protected C
tenant, then the Court would have no jurisdiction and the
suit would have to be dismissed or sent to the Mamlatdar
to dispose of it according of law.
- Mr.Tarkunde's further contention is that it is only to
those issues which the Mamlatdar is required to determine
in a proceeding which should be filed before the
Mamlatdar that Section 70(b) has any application ....... .
D
............. Now, if this argument was sound, really no occasion
would ever arise for the Mamlatdar to decide the issue as E
to whether a person is a tenant or a protected tenant,
because, if a person could only go to the Mamlatdar in
those case where he admitted that the defendant was a
tenant or a protected tenant, then the issue as to whether
the person was a tenant or a protected tenant would not
F
arise. Such an issue can only arise when there is a dispute
' as to the status of the particular person, and it is only when
an allegation is made that the person is not a tenant or a
protected tenant that the Mamlatdar would be called upon
to try such an issue. Now, it is clear that the question
whether a person is a tenant or a protected tenant is not G
a jurisdictional fact as far as the Mamlatdar is concerned
but is a fact in issue.
The jurisdiction of the Mamlatdar does not depend upon
the person being a tenant or a protected tenant. On the H
706 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009] 1 S.C.R.
A contrary, the Mamlatdar himself has been given the
jurisdiction to try the question as to whether a person is a
tenant or a protected tenant.
Mr.Tarkunde says that the issue before the civil court is not
whether the defendant is a protected tenant or not, but the
B
issue is whether the defendant is a trespasser or a
protected tenant. In my opinion, when the Legislature has
left it to the Mamlatdar to decide the issue whether the
defendant is a protected tenant or not, it implies that he
must decide that the defendant is not a trespasser in order
c to hold that he is a tenant or a protected tenant and he
must also hold that he is a trespasser in order to
determine that he is not a tenant or a protected tenant. I
agree with Mr.Tarkunde that the provisions in law which
oust the jurisdiction of the civil court must be strictly
D construed. But considering it as strictly as I can, looking
to the language used by the Legislature in Section 70(b)
of the Tenancy Act, and looking to the scheme of the Act,
it seems to me clear that all questions with regard to the
status of a party, when the party claims the status of a
E protected tenant, are left to be determined by the Revenue
Court, and the jurisdiction of the civil court is ousted ............ "
10. In view of the discussions made hereinabove, we are,
therefore, of the view that under Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy
F Act, which is pari-materia with Section 70 of the Bombay
Tenancy Act, the Mamlatdar is conferred with power to decide
the question after holding an enquiry whether a particular
person is or is not a tenant of the disputed property.
11. It is true that the High Court by the impugned judgment
G has distinguished the two provisions of the two different Acts,
namely, Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act and Section 70 of
the Bombay Tenancy Act relying on the provisions of Section
4 of the Goa Tenancy Act. According to the High Court, if
Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act and Section 70 of the
H Bombay Tenancy Act could be considered as pari materia in
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAS v. RAJARAM V. PARAS & 707
ORS. [TARUN CHATTERJEE, J.]
- '!>- that case the Mamlatdar could decide the question, i.e. the A
concerned person is or is not a tenant, there would be no need
to provide for negative declaration under Section 4 of the Goa
Tenancy Act. According to the High Court, the cardinal principle
of interpretation was that the duty of the court is to give effect
to the intendment of the legislature. Once the legislature has B
expressly provided for grant of negative declaration in limited
cases, it would contemplate ouster of jurisdiction in matters
other than Section 4. This would also be a harmonious
construction as the jurisdiction of the civil coort would not be
ousted and there would be no conflicting judgments. Making c
these observations, the High Court held that the language of
the Goa Tenancy Act contemplates that no negative declaration
can be granted by the Mamlatdar under Section 7 of the Goa
Tenancy Act. At the same time, the High Court also observed
that, of course, when the issue arises whether the person is a 0
tenant or not before the Mamlatdar, he could always decide
whether the person who claims the right has so proved or not.
It was also the finding of the High Court that the jurisdiction of
the Mamlatdar to decide whether the concerned person is or
was not a tenant, was inherent in deciding the said issue. E
Before we proceed further, let us produce Section 4 of the Goa
Tenancy Act which runs as under:-
"Section 4 - Persons deemed to be tenants -
A person lawfully cultivating any land belonging to another F
person (hereinafter in this section referred to as the owner)
on or after the 1st of July, 1962 but before the
commencement of this Act, shall be deemed to be a
tenant if such land is not cultivated personally by the owner
and if such person is not - G
(i) a member of the owner's family, or
(ii) a servant on wages payable in cash or kind but not in
crop share or a hired labourer cultivating the land under
the personal supervision of the owner or of any member H
708 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 1 S.C.R.
A of the owner's family, or
(iii) a mortgagee in possession.
Provided that if upon an application made by the landlord
within one year from the commencement of this Act to the
8 Mamlatdar within whose jurisdiction the land is situated:-
(a) the Mamlatdar declares that such person is not a tenant
and his decision is not reversed on appeal or revision, or
(b) the Mamlatdar refuses to make such declaration but
c his decision is reversed on appeal or revision, such
person shall not be deemed to be a tenant under this
Section.
Provided further that a sub-tenant cultivating any land
D belonging to another person [on or after the 1st of July,
1962, but before the commencement of this Act] shall,
notwithstanding the fact that the creation of the sub-tenancy
might have been prohibited by any law for the time being
in force, be deemed to be lawfully cultivating the land as a
E tenant for the purposes of this section; and in such cases,
the intermediary tenant or tenants prior to the creation of
the sub-tenancy shall not be deemed to be tenant or tenants
for the purposes of this Act;
Provided further that in the case of a person claiming to
F
be a tenant on the ground that he was a sub-tenant
cultivating any land after the 1st July, 1962, but before the
commencement of this Act, the application by the landlord
for a declaration that such person is not a tenant may be
made within three months of the commencement of the
G Goa, Daman and Diu Agricultural Tenancy (Amendment)
Act, 1966."
12. A plain reading of this provision which in addition
would show that legislature has provided by introducing Section
H 4 that the landlord can seek a negative declaration in respect
MADHUMATI ATCHUT PARAS v. RAJARAM V. PARAS & 709
ORS. [TARUN CHATIERJEE, J.]
of the category of persons mentioned in Section 4(1 ). It is true A
--.. that under Section 4(1) of the Goa Tenancy Act, the Mamlatdar
is conferred with jurisdiction to declare the category of person
mentioned therein is or was not a tenant in respect of the
disputed property. But if we read Section 7 and the objects and
reasons of the Act and considering the fact that for a limited B
purpose the Mamlatdar is conferred with such power to declare
the negative declaration in respect of the certain category of
persons under Section 4(1) of the Goa Tenancy Act-, it cannot
be said that while deciding the question under Section 7 of the
Goa Tenancy Act, the jurisdiction of the Mamlatdar to declare c
that the concerned person is or was not a tenant is ousted.
Accordingly, we are of the view that the High Court was not
justified in holding that a Mamlatdar is not conferred under
Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act to deal with and decide
wheth.er the concerned person is a tenant or not a tenant in
D
respect of the disputed property.
13. Again it is needed to be mentioned that the jurisdiction
under Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act is not confined to cases
where the relationship of the landlord and tenant is admitted.
In fact, it is only where the said relationship is alleged by one E
party and denied by the other that the question falls to be
considered and the decision of the question is left exclusively
to be determined by the Mamlatdar under the provision of the
Act. It is likely that a trespasser would thereby be able to
prolong litigation between him and the owner of the property F
by frivolously raising a plea that he is a tenant or a protected
tenant; but, on the other hand, a landlord may also frivolously
allege that a tenant is a trespasser. We must, therefore, hold
that the only forum that can deal with this plea is the Mamlatdar.
If he rejects the plea, then only the dispute between the owner G
and the trespasser would be triable by the ordinary Civil Court;
~. but otherwise, the Mamlatdar alone would decide the dispute
in so far as it falls within the purview of the Act. In our view, the
jurisdiction of the Mamlatdar under Section 7 of the Goa
Tenancy Act is not confined to cases where the question is H
710 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009) 1 S.C.R.
A whether a person is or was a tenant in respect of the disputed
property. The High Court in the impugned judgment, as noted
herein earlier, held that the provisions of the Bombay Tenancy
Act and Goa Tenancy Act are similar, but in view of Section 4
of the Goa Tenancy Act, the decisions of the Bombay Tenancy
B Act, as referred to herein earlier, could not be applied in the
present case. We are unable to subscribe this view. When the
legislature has provided that the landlord can seek a negative
declaration in respect of the category of person mentioned in
Section 4( 1) of the Goa Tenancy Act, it cannot conclusively lead
c to the conclusion that in other cases, namely, where the
question arises as to whether a person is or is not a tenant,
the Mamlatdar is not conferred with any power to grant negative
declaration that the concerned person is not a tenant in respect
of the disputed property. Accordingly, we are of the view that
the Mamlatdar had the jurisdiction to declare a negative
0
declaration, that is to say, a particular person is not a tenant
under Section 7 of the Goa Tenancy Act and, therefore, the
judgment of the High Court cannot be sustainable.
14. That apart, in our view, the scope of Section 7 of the
E Goa Tenancy Act is quite different from that of Section 4 of the
Goa Tenancy Act. Section 4 is to operate from within a limited
period of one year from the date of enforcement of the Act, i.e.,
8th of February, 1965, while section 7 is operative for all time.
F 15. For the reasons aforesaid, we set aside the judgment
of the High Court and restore the order of the Mamlatdar and
the application filed by the appellant before the Mamlatdar
stands allowed.
16. The appeal is accordingly allowed. There will be no
G order as to costs.
K.K.T. Appeal allowed.
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