SHEOJI MAHTO AND ORS.versusTHE ADDITIONAL MEMBER, BOARD OF REVENUE AND ORS.

A                          SHEOJI MAHTO AND ORS.
                                          v.
                  THE ADDITIONAL MEMBER, BOARD OF
                                                                                      -
                          REVENUE AND ORS.

                               DECEMBER 10, 1996
B
                 IK. RAMASWAMY AND G.T. NANAVAT!, JJ.j
          Bihar La11d Refonns (Fixation of Ceiling Area a11d Acq11isitio11 of
    Surplus La11d) Act, 1961: Section 16(3).
c        Pre-emptio11-Application filed by appellants for pre- emptio11 of la11d
  sold to respo11de11ts by sale deed-Applicatio11 filed within three months from
  the date of registratio11 of the docume11t-Tribu11al holding in favour of
  appellants 011 the gro1111d that appellants---:Raiyats were holding iand adjoi11-
  ing the land sold to respo11dents-Collector holding against the appel-
D la11ts-High Court dismissing appellants' writ in limine-Appeal-Held
  conditions under section 16(3)(i) were satisfied-17ierefore appel/a11ts were
  entitled to pre-emptio11.

          CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 465 of
E 1986
         From the Judgment and Order dated 10.12.84 of the Patna High
    Court in C.W.J.C. No. 5491 of 1984

          M. Pankaj Bala Varina for D.B. Vobra for the Appellants.
F         The following Order of the Court was delivered :

          This appeal by special leave arises from the order of the Patna High
    Court, made on December 10, 1984 in CWJC No.5491184 dismissing the
    writ petition in limine.
G        The admitted facts are that Sukhdeo Rai is the predecessor-
   in-interest of the respondents. Gulabo Devi and others had purchased one
   Katha of land towards the east of the land of the appellants from Sukhdeo
   Rai by a sale deed executed on December 31, 1979 which was got
   registered on February 8, 1980. The appellants had filed an application for
H. pre-emption of the land on the ground that be, being the adjoining raiyat,
                                       808
           SHEOJIMAJITO v. ADDL.MEMBER,BD.OFREV.                       809

by operation of Section 16(3) of the Bihar Lands Ceiling Act, was entitled A
to pre-emption of the said land from the contesting respondent. The
Tribunal held in favour of the appellant and ultimately the Collector in the
proceedings dated August 11, 1984 held against the appellants. The High
Court has dismissed the writ petition in limine, as stated earlier. The
question, therefore, is: whether the view of the Collector is correct in law?
Section 16(3)(i) reads as under:                                              B

      "16(3)(i) When any transfer of land is made after the commencement
of this Act to any person other than a co-sharer or a raiyat of adjoining
land, any co-sharer of the transferor or any raiyat holding land adjoining
the land transferred, shall be entitled, within three months of the date of   C
Registration of the document of transfer, to make an application before
the Collector in the prescribed manner for the. transfer of the land to him
on the terms and conditions in the said deed:

            Provided that no such application shall be entertained by the
        Collector unless the purchase money together with a sum equal to      D
        ten per cent thereof is deposited in the prescribed maJIIler within
        the said period.

        (ii) On such deposit being made the cO'sharer or the raiyat shall
        be entitled to be put in possession of the land irrespective of the   E
        fact that the application under clause (i) is pending for decision:

            Provided that· where the application is rejected, the co-sharer
        or the raiyat, as the case may be, shall lie enacied from the land
        and possession thereof shall be restored to the trans(eree and the
        transferee shall be entitled to be paid a sum equal to ten per cent   F
        of the purchase money out of the deposit made under clause (i)."

       A reading of Section 16(3)(i) clearly indicates that when any transfer
of land is made after the commencement of the Act, to any person other
than a co-sharer or a raiyat of adjoining land, any co-sharer of the trans-
feror or any raiyat holding land adjoining the land transferred, shall be G
entitled within three months of the date of registration of the document of
transfer, to make an application before the Collector in the prescribed
manner for the transfer of the land to him on the terms and conditions
contained in the said deed. It is not in dispute that Tribunal below held
the appellants to be raiyats holding land adjoining to the land sold to the H
    810                  SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) SUPP. 9 S.C.R.

A respondents by registered sale deed. An application was also filed within
    three months from the date of the registration of the document. Under
    these circumstances, the two conditions having been satisfied by operation
    of Section 16(3)(i), the appellants are entitled to pre•emption of the sl!id
    land. The High Court, therefore, was clearly in error in refusing to enter-
B   tain the writ petition dismissed in limine. The Collector was also wrong in
    allowing the appeal.

          The appeal is accordingly allowed. The order of the High Court as
    also of the Collector are set aside. No costs.

    T.N.A                                                      Appeal allowed.