Holding

Section 21‑A applies to proceedings pending at the time of its insertion and its non‑obstante clause gives it overriding effect over other provisions.

Summary

Arul Nadar, a landowner, was found to possess surplus agricultural land beyond the ceiling prescribed under the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961. He claimed that two settlement deeds executed in favour of his minor sons on 28‑April‑1970 and 2‑May‑1970 were valid under Section 21‑A, which provides a transfer holiday, and therefore should be excluded from the surplus calculation. The authorised officer rejected the claim and the High Court held that Section 21‑A, inserted by the 1970 amendment, could not apply to proceedings that had been initiated before its insertion. The Supreme Court examined the language of Section 21‑A, its non‑obstante clause and relevant precedents, and concluded that the provision applies to pending proceedings despite the object of the amendment to reduce the ceiling. Consequently, the Court set aside the High Court judgment, allowed the appeal and remanded the matter for recomputation of the ceiling taking the Section 21‑A transfers into account.

Issues considered

Whether Section 21‑A of the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961, applies to a ceiling‑determination proceeding that was pending when the provision was inserted by the 1970 amendment.
Whether the object of the 1970 amendment to reduce the ceiling area defeats the applicability of Section 21‑A to such pending proceedings.
How the non‑obstante clause in Section 21‑A affects its relationship with other provisions of the Act, notably Section 22.

Subjects

Land reformsCeiling on landSection 21-ATransfer holidayStatutory interpretationNon‑obstante clausePending proceedingsTamil Nadu

Judgment

ARULNADAR A
v.
AUTHORISED OFFICER, LAND REFORMS

SEPTEMBER 22, 1998

[M.M. PUNCHHI, C.J., G.B. PATTANAIK AND A.P. MISRA, JJ.] B

Tenancy and Land Laws :

Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961:
c
Section 21-A-Provided for transfer holiday for a limited period-Said
section inserted in Parent Act during pendency of proceedings-
Applicability-Held: S. 21-A does apply to such pending proceedings-T.N
Land Reforms (Reduction of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1970.

Section 21-A-Non-obstante clause-Held : No justification for giving D
a restrictive meaning-S. 21-A gives overriding effect to S.22 or any other
provision of the Act or any other law for the time being in force.

Interpretation of Statutes :

Basic rules-Literal construction-Intent or object ofAct-Examination E
of-Necessity-Held : Not necessary when the language of a statute is
unambiguous.

The appellant was the owner of agricultural lands and after the T.N.
Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961 came into force he
purchased some more land. The Authorised Officer took into consideration F
the subsequent acquisition made by the appellant and determined that he had
surplus land.

The appellant-landowner filed an objection contending that two
settlement deeds were executed in favour of two minor sons; that these
transactions ~ere valid under Section 21-A of the Act and, therefore, the G
lands so transferred should be exclud~d from the computation of surplus
land owned by the appellant. Section 21-A was inserted into the Act by the
T.N. Act 17 during the pendency of the proceedings under the Principal Act
The Authorised Officer rejected the. objection and the appeal was also
dismissed. The High Court.dismissed the Revision on the grounds that H
I
2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1998) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A Section 21-A was not applicable to pending proceedings under the Principal
Act. Hence this appeal.

On behalf of th2 respondent it was contended that the object of T.N. Act
17 was to reduce the ceiling area and, therefore, if Section 21-A were
applicable to pending proceedings then the said object would be frustrated.
B
Allowing the appeal, the Court

HELD: 1.1. Section 21-A of the T.N. Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling
on Land) Act, 1961 does apply to a proceeding which was pending on the date
this Section was inserted in the Parent Act even though the proceeding
C might have been initiated under the Parent Act itself. Therefore, the High -'
Court committed error in holding that Section 21-A will have no application
as the ceiling proceeding had been initiated under the Parent Act. [6-C-D)

V. Gopal Reddiar v. State ofT.N., (1995] Supp. 2 SCC 481; Susi/a Devi
Ammal v. State of Madras, [1993) 1 SCC 462 and MK. Harihara Iyer v.
D Authorised Officer, Land Reforms, Tirunelveli, [1990) Supp. SCC 182, relied
on.

A.G. Varadarajulu v. State of T.N., [1998] 4 SCC 231, relied; on..

1.2. The contention of the respondentthat the object of the Act being ~
E to further reduce the ceiling area, Section 21-A, if made applicable to the
pending proceeding, then the said object would be frustrated, cannot be
sustained inasmuch as when the language of a statute is unambiguous, in
interpreting the provisions thereof, it is not necessary to look into the
legislative intent or the object of the Act. [6-D-E)

p State of U.P. v. Vijay Anand Maharaj, (1963) l SCC 1, referred to.

Sussex Peerage's case, (1844) 11 CI and F 85, p. 143, referred to.

2. There would be no justification to give any restrictive meaning to
Section 21-A where the legislature indicated that the aforesaid provision is
notwithstanding anything contained in Section 22 or in any other provision
G of the Act or in any other law for the time being in force. Therefore, it would
not be appropriate to give any restrictive meaning to Section 21-A of the Act.
[6-H; 7-A-B)

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 9of1991.

H From the Judgment and Order dated 3 L3 .89 of the Madras High Court
ARUL NA DAR v. AUTHORISED OFFICER, LAND REFORMS [G.B. PA TT ANAIK, J.] 3
in C.R.P. No. 3688of1982. A
- j
R. Sunderavardhan and K.K. Mani for the Appellant.

M.A. Krishnamurthy, (A. Mariarputham) for Arputham and Aruna & Co.
for the Respondent.
B
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

G.B. PA TTANAIK, J. The question that arises for consideration in this
appeal is whether the provisions of Section 21-A of the Tamil Nadu Land
Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1961, would apply to the facts and
'
..i..
circumstances of the case and the appellant can derive benefit of the same, c
and if so, to what extent? When the matter was listed before a Bench of Two
Judges of this Court Their Lordships felt that there is a conflict between two
decisions of this Court both rendered by two Hon 'ble Judges, one in the case
of V. Gopa/ Reddiar (dead) By Lrs. and Anr. v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors.,
[1995] Supp. 2 Supreme Court Cases 481, to which one of us was a party,
namely (Hon'ble Punchhi, J., as he then was), and the other in the case of
D
A.G. Vardarajulu and Anr. v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors., [1998] 4, Supreme
Court Cases 231, and that is how the matter has come before a Three Judge
Bench.
~

The appellant was the owner of 43.55 standard acres of agricultural
E
land. He also purchased some land on 20.10.1961. The Tamil Nadu Land
Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Land) Act, 1961, (hereinafter referred to as "The
Act") came into force on 5.4.1960. A proceeding under the Act was initiated
by the authorised officer who came to the conclusion that the appellant was
in possession of 7 .0 I standard acres as surplus land, over and above the
permitted ceiling area of 30 standard acres. The appellant challenged the said F
order of the authorised officer by filing a Revision before Land Commissioner
,.. who ultimately remanded the matter to the authorised officer for re-disposal.
After the matter came back on remand the authorised officer prepared a
revised draft statement indicating therein that the total surplus land in
possession of the appellant comes to 19.28 standard acres. It may be stated
G
that subsequent acquisition made by the ·appellant was taken into consideration
for computing the surplus land. The appellant - land owner filed objection to
the said draft statement contending inter alia that two settlement deeds have
been executed in favour of two minor sons on 28.4.1970 and on 2.5 .1970 and
those transfers are valid under Section 21-A of the Act, and as such they
should be excluded from the computation of the ceiling surplus in the hands H
4 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1998] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A of the i!ppellant and on such exclusion the appellant cannot be said to have
any excess land in his possession. The authorised officer, however rejected
the said objection and the matter being carried in an appeal, the appeal was t, -
also dismissed. The appellant then preferred a Revision to the High Court and
the High Court by the impugned judgment in C.W.P No. 3688of1982 having
B negatived the contention of the appellant and having dismissed the Revision,
the present appeal has been preferred. The High Court considered the
provisions of Section 21-A which came into the Statute by Tamil Nadu Act
XVII of 1970 with effect from 15th February, 1970, as well as Section 3(1) and
3(2) of the said Tamil Nadu Act XVII of 1970 and came to the conclusion that
the proceedings in the present case having been initiated under the Principal
C Act the same has to be continued and concluded thereunder and, as such ·"
Section 21-A which was brought into the Statute by Tamil Nadu Land Reforms
· (Reduction of Ceiling on Land), Act 1970 (Act XVII of 1970) will have no
application.

The learned counsel appearing for the appellant contended that in view
D of non-obstante clause in Section 21-A and the legislatures having allowed
a land owner to transfer a part of his land between 15.2.1970 and 2.10.1970
the High Court committed serious error in coming to the conclusion that
Section 21-A has no application to the present case. According to the learned
counsel Section 21-A has an overriding effect on all provisions of the Land
E Reforms Act or even any other law in force and, therefore, the said provision
must have its full pli!y and cannot be restricted in any manner so as to exclude
its operation to a proceeding which had been initiated prior to coming into
force of the said Tamil Nadu Act XVII of 1970. In support of his contention
reliance was placed on the decisions of this Court in the case of Susi/a Devi
Ammal and Ors. v. State of Madras, [ 1993] 1 Supreme Court Cases 462, and
F V. Gopal Reddiar and Anr. v. State of Tamil Nadu and Anr., [1995] Supp. 2
Supreme Court Cases 481. The learned counsel appearing for the respondent
- State on the other hand contended, that the. aforesaid interpretation would
frustrate the very object of the Tamil Nadu Act XVII of 1970, namely, to
reduce the ceiling area from 30 standard acres to 15 standard acres and
G therefore, the High C.ourt rightly held that Section 21-A will have no application.

Before examining the correctness of the rival submissions it would be
appropriate for us to notice the decision of this Court in Varadarajulu 's case
(supra), as a Bench of this Court apparently thought that there is a conflict
between the said decision and the decision in V. Gopal Reddiar's case (supra).
H In Vardarajulu (supra) the question ·for consideration was whether Section
ARUL NADAR v. AUTHORISED OFFICER, LAND REFORMS [G.B. PATTANAIK, J.] 5
21-A overrides Section 3(42)? Section 3(42) defines Stridhana land to mean A
any land held on the date of commencement of the Land Reforms Act by any
female member of a family in her own name. The expression 'held' would have
its meaning from Section 3(19) which defines 'to hold land'. Section 21-A has
- ~ absolutely no connection with Section 3(42) in as much as under Section 21-
A the legislature recognises certain transfers made between 15-2-1970 and 2- B
10-1970 to be valid. But if the transferor had no right to transfer question of
legislature validating such transfer would not arise. In Varadarajulu 's case
(supra) the said question really arose for consideration and this Court held
that since the transferor was not holding the land as 'Stridhana land' the
provisions of Section 21-A will have no application. In V. Gopal Reddiar 's
case (supra) the question for consideration was whether a proceeding under C
the parent Act of 58of1961 having been initiated but had not been concluded
and. Tamil Nadu Land Reforms (Reduction of Ceiling on Land) Act 1970
having come into force whether Section 21-A brought into the statute by
virtue of Act XVII of 1970 would apply and this Court answered in affirmative.
We, therefore, do not find any inconsistency between the decision of the
Court in Vardarajulu and Gopal Reddiar, the two operating in different fields. D
In MK. Harihara Iyer v. Authorised Officer, Land Reforms Tiruneveli, [1990]
(supp.) SCC 182 a Three Judge Bench of this Court considered the question
of applicability of Section 21-A vis-a-vis Section 22 thereof and came to hold
that Section 21-A which begins with the words 'Notwithstanding anything
contained in Section 22" clearly overrides Section 22 and, therefore, the E
transactions referred to in Section 21-A cannot be the subject matter of
enquiry under Section 22. The interpretation of Section 21-A came up again
in the case of Susi/a Devi (supra). In the said case certain partitions in the
family had taken place within the interregnum. But the High Court had come
to the conclusion that the Authorised Officer shall calculate the ceiling area
under Section 23 a·s if no transfer had taken place. This Court reversed the F
judgment of the High Court and came to hold that while reducing the ceiling
area of a person from 30 standard acres to 15 standard acres under Tamil Nadu
Act XVII of 1970 the legislatures have granted the transfer holiday for a small
period between 15.2.70 to 2.10.70 as contained in Section 21-A and the said
provision would apply notwithstanding anything contained in Section 22 or G
any other provision of the Act or any other law for the time being in force,
and, therefore, while computing the ceiling; the transfers if falls within any
other clause of Section 21-A have to be given effect to. This decision was
also relied on in Gopal Reddiar 's case (supra) and it was held that for the
purpose of determining the final holding under the modified Principal Act the
amended Section 23 will have to be applied to the ceiling holding determined H
6 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1998] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A under the original Principal Act and for that purpose the sale transactions
between the two dates, namely, 15.2.70 and 2.10.70 will have to be ignored.
It was also held thai while pendency of the ceiling proceedings under the
Principal Act, Act XVII of 70 having come into force and inserting Section
21-A into the Parent Act, if any land has been voluntarily transferred to an ~ ·-
educational institution between the two dates then said land has to be
B excluded under Section 21-A. In other words Section 21-A was made applicable
to a proceeding which had been in itiatcd under the Parent Act and was
pending when said Section 21-A was brought on to the Statute book. In view
of the aforesaid two decisions and on examining the provisions of Tamil Nadu
Act XVII of 1970 more particularly Section 21-A, we have no hesitation to
C come to the conclusion that the said provision does apply to a proceeding
which was pending on the date the aforesaid provision was inserted in the
Parent Act even though the proceeding might have been initiated under the
Parent Act itself and the High Court committed error in holding that Section
21-A will have no application as the ceiling proceeding had been initiated
under the Parent Act.
D
We may notice at this stage the contentions advanced by the learned
counsel appearing for the respondent that the object of the Act being to
further reduce the ceiling area, Section 21-A, if is made applicable to the
pending proceeding then said object would be frustrated. We are afraid that
E this contention cannot be sustained in as much as when the language of a
statute is unambiguous, in interpreting the provisions thereof it is not •
necessary to look into the legislative intent or the object of the Act. As has
been stated by this Court in the case of State of Uttar Pradesh v. Vijay Anand
Maharaj, [1963] I Supreme Court Reports p.l, "When a language is plain and
unambiguous and admits of only one meaning no question of construction
F of a statute arises, for the Act speaks for itself."

In the Sussex Peerage case (1844) 11Cl&F85, p.143 Tindal C.J. stated
thus "If the words of the statute are in themselves precise and unambiguous
then no more can be necessary than to expound those words in their natural
G and ordinary sense and the words themselves do alone in such cases best
declare the i:ltent of the lawgiver." That apart, while the legislature intended
to reduce the ceiling area from 10 standard acres to 15 standard acres they
themselves provided for a transfer holiday by inserting Section 21-A as has
been held by this Court in Susi/a Devi's case (supra) and there would be no
justification to give any restrictive meaning to the said provision of Section
H 21-A where the legislature indicated that the aforesaid provision is
ARUL NADAR v. AUTHORISED OFFICER, LAND REFORMS [G.B. PATT ANAIK, J.] 7

notwithstanding anything contained in Section 22 or in any other provision A
of the Act or in any other law for the time being in force. In this view of the
matter it would not be appropriate for us to give any restrictive meaning to
Section 21-A of the Act as contended by the learned counsel for the
respondent.

In the aforesaid premises the impugned judgment of the High Court as B
well as the authorities under the Act are set aside and we hold that the
provisions of Section 21-A would apply to the facts of the case for computation
of ceiling provided, however, all the necessary ingredients of the said provision
are attracted. This appeal is accordingly allowed and the matter is remanded
back to the authorised officer for recomputation of the ceiling in the light of C
the law laid down by us in this judgment.

V.S.S! Appeal allowed.