Holding

The statutory definition of "family" under Section 2(ee) is secular, excludes personal law, and provides no additional unit for an adult son irrespective of religion.

Summary

The State of Bihar appealed a Patna High Court order that had upheld a Board of Revenue decision allowing a land holder, governed by Mohammedan law, to claim an additional unit of land for his adult son. The land holder had been shown to hold surplus land under the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961 and argued that personal law entitled his son to a separate ceiling. The Supreme Court examined the statutory definition of "family" in Section 2(ee) and the explicit exclusion of personal law in Explanation II, holding that the definition is secular and applies uniformly to all religions. It further found that the Act contains no provision granting an additional unit to an adult son, whether Hindu, Mohammedan or Christian, and that a major son can obtain an independent ceiling only if he himself qualifies as a raiyat and land holder. Consequently, the Court overruled the Board’s view, affirmed the earlier decision in Amamul Hasan Choudhary v. State of Bihar, and allowed the appeal.

Issues considered

Whether personal law of the family is to be taken into consideration for determining ceiling area under the Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1961.
Whether an adult son of a land holder governed by Mitakshara Hindu law is entitled to a separate unit of land under the Act.
Whether, by parity, an adult son of a land holder governed by Mohammedan law is likewise entitled to a separate unit.
Whether the decision in Amamul Hasan Choudhary v. State of Bihar (1982) correctly interprets the Act.

Legislation cited

Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961s. 10, s. 11, s. 15, s. 2(aaa), s. 2(ee), s. 2(g), s. 2(k), s. 3, s. 4, s. 5, s. 6, s. 7

Subjects

land reformsceiling areasurplus landpersonal lawfamily definitionsecular legislationMitakshara lawMohammedan lawadditional unitstatutory interpretation

Judgment

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A STATE OF BIHAR
v.
SHRI KM. ZUBER! AND OTHERS

FEBRUARY 9, 1996

B (K. RAMASWAMY, S. SAGHIR AHMAD AND
G.B. PATTANAIK, JJ.]

Land laws:

C Bihar Land Refomis (Fixation of Ceiling area and Acquisition of
Surplus Land) Act, ·1961: Section 2(ee) Expln.-II, (g) and (k).

'Family'-Ceiling area-Separate additional unit of land for adult
son-Detennination of-Personal law not applicable-No distinction between
Hindu, Mohammedan and Cluistian-Not entitled to separate additional
D· unit-However, would be entitled to separate unit if a raiyat and had become
a land holde1~Act secular in nature.

The respondent - Land owner was shown to be holding surplus land.
However, he filed an objection claiming that he was entitled to one addi-
• E tional unit for his adult son. This was rejected by the Additional Sub-
Divisional Officer. The respondent appealed to the Collector but the
appeal was dismissed for default. The respondent carried the matter in
revision to the Board of Revenue. The Board ·or Revenue took into con-
sideration the amendments to the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling
area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961 and came to the con-
F clusion that personal law of the respondent-land holder was not required
to be taken into consideration for determination of the holdings. The
Board further held that since the adult son of a land holder governed by
the Mitakshara Law was entitled to a separate unit, the decision should
be identical with regard to the respondent-land holder governed by
G Mohammedan Law. Accordingly, the Board allowed the revision and called
upon the authorities to re-determine the ceiling. The appellant filed a writ
petition in the High Court against the aforesaid order, which was dis-

H
missed. Aggrieved by the High Court's judgment the appellant preferred
the present app.eal.

On behalf of the appellant it was contended that under the Act there
-
376
STATE v. K.M. ZUBERI 377

was no provision which conferred additional unit in case of a land holder A
governed by Mitakshara School of Hindu law on the adult son; and that
the High Court's conclusion that an adult son of a Mohammedan land
holder would be entitled to additional unit was unsustainable in law.

On behalf of the respondent it was contended that if the adult son
of a land holder governed by Mitakshara School of Hindu Law was entitled B
to an additional unit there was no justification in denying the same to the
adult son of a land holder governed by the Mohammedan Law.

Allowing the appeal, this Court

HELD : 1.1. The statutory definition of "family" in Section 2(ee) of
c
the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling area and Acquisition of
Surplus Land) Act, 1961 does not conceive of any personal law applicable
to the said family and, therefore, no personal law can be taken into
consideration for determination of th.e ceiling surplus with the land holder
under the Act. [381-B-C] D
1.2. The various provisions unequivocally indicate that under the Act
the ceiling area is required to be determined of a "family" as defined in
Section 2(ee) of the Act and, therefore, the land holder, whose ceiling is
going to be determined may be either a person, his or her spouse, and E
minor children. A major child whether belonging to a Hindu family or a
Mohammedan or Christian family is not conceived of getting an additional
unit while determining the ceiling area of a land holder. A major son of a
Hindu can get an independent ceiling determined provided he is raiyat
within the meaning of Section 2(k) of the Act and has become a land holder
within the ambit of Section 2(g) of the Act but not as a successor to the F
land holder whose ceiling is being determined on the ground that he has
a legal right in the property by virtue of birth. [385-A-C]

2. Under the Act no distinction has been maintained between Hindu,
Mohammedan and Christian for determination of the ceiling area in the G
hands of the land holder. Whether governed by Mitakshara Law or
governed by Mohammedan Law, no additional unit is given to an adult
son of the land holder. [385-D; E-F]

Amamul Hasan Choudhary v. State of Bihar & Others, (1982) BBCJ
208,approved. II
378 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) 2 S.C.R.

A CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 4336 of
1986.

From the Judgment and Order dated 15.11.86 of the Patna High
Court in W.P. No. 2175of1980.

B Mr. Pramod Swari.lp for the Appellant.

Mr. Raju Ramachandran, Mraj K. Misra and Mr. Ejaz Maqbool,
Advs. for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
c
PATIANAIK, J. This appeal by the State ofBihar raises the question
whether major sons of a family governed by Mohammedan law are entitled
to a separate unit while determining the ceiling area of a ceiling surplus
holder? In the ceiling fixation case of a land holder Aftab Ahmed, the
D Member, Board of Revenue came to the Conclusion that an adult son of
a land holder governed by Mohammedan law would be entitled to a
separate unit since an adult son of a land holder governed by the Mitak-
shara School of Hindu Law is entitled to the same. The State of Bihar
challenged the'said decision in Patna High Court by filing a Writ Petition
E and when the matter came up before a Division Bench, in view of the
significance of the matter the Division Bench referred the matter to a
larger Bench and the case was heard by five judges of the Court. The
majority view was expressed by Chief JUstice Sandhawalia, as he then was,
and the minority views were those of Justice H.L. Agrawal, as the then was,
and Justice L.M. Sharma, as he then was. Three questions were formulated
F by the Court; those question being :
11
1. Whether the personal law applicable to the family has to be
taken into consideration for the determination of its holding under
the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition
of Surplus Land) Act, 1961, despite the insertion of clause (ee)
G and explanation II thereto in section 2 of the said Act?

2. If the major sons of a family governed by the Mitakshara
School of Hindu law are entitled to a separate unit under the said
Act then would a major son of a family governed by Mohammedan
H Law be debarred therefrom?
STATE v. K.M. ZUBER! [PATTANAIK, J.) 379

3. Whether the Full Bench in Amamul Hasan Choudhary v. A
State of Bihar& Ors., (1982) BBCJ 208 lays down the law correctly
on the aforesaid points?

The short facts are that the land holder Aftab Ahmed was shown to
be holding 50.02 acres in the draft statement. The said land-holder filed an
B
objection claiming that he is entitled to one additional unit for his adult
son. This was rejected by the Additional Sub-divisional Officer. He deter-
mined 11.12 acres to be the surplus. The land holder appealed to the
Collector but the appeal was dismissed for default. The land holder carried
the matter in revision to the Board of Revenue. The Member, Board of
Revenue took into consideration the Amendments to the Bihar Land C
Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling area and Acquisition of Surplus land) Act.
1961 (Bihar Act 22 of 1962) (hereinafter referred to as 'The Act') made
under Act 1 of 73 and Act 72 of 76 and came to the conclusion that
personal law of the land holder is not required to be taken into considera-
tion for determination of the holdings. He further held that since the adult D
son of a land-holder governed by the Mitakshara Law is entitled to a
separate unit the decision should be identical with regard to the land
holder governed by Mohammedan law. Accordingly he allowed the revision
and called upon the authorities to re-determine the ceiling. The State of
Bihar being aggrieved by the same filed Writ Petition in the Patna High E
Court. The learned Chief Justice who spoke for the majority on an analysis
of the different provisions of the Act as well as the tracing history of the
legislation and the amendments made thereto came to the conclusion that
in the ceiling law the statutory "family" as defined in the Act has wholly
submerged the ceiling of the land holder and such concept of "family" is F
entirely secular in character and has universal application irrespective of
religion, faith or the personal law applicable to individual members. He
further held that despite definition of the statutory "family" and its secular
nature excluding personal laws, to still bring in the concept of the Moham-
medan family or Christian family or Mitakshara family for the purposes of
the act, is basically fallacious and would run against the gamut of ceiling G
legislation. The learned Chief Justice accordingly answered the question
no. 1 in the following words : -

"It is held that the personal law applicable to the family is not
to be taken into consideration for the determination of its holding H
-,·-
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.~.-_-r,.',,.--;

- .'"-"" j
. '~·' ·,
380 '.
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- SUPREME COURT REPORTS_"-~- - (1996] 2 S.C.R.
-- '

A under the Bihar Land. Reform< (Fixation of Ceiling Area and
. Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act 1961."

So far as second question is concerned the learned Chief Justice
answered as follow :- ·

B -,- -,.-,.:fhe answer to' question no. 2 is rendered in the negative.and
· i~ he!~ that if the major sons of a family governed by the Mitakshara
· school of Hindu laws are entitled to a separate unit under the Act
then the major sons of a family governed by Mohammedan Law 1
· are entitled to the same." · · '' ·
c As a nece~sary consequence the third question was. answered in the
negative and the decision of the Court in Imamul Hasan Choudhary v. State
ofBihar and Others was o~erruled. . •" ·
.. '•'• . - -- ----. - ' - ,- -- -- - ,; -- --· -- \

.. , Aggarawal, J. did not agree with .the- answer given to the second
D question by the I~arned Cruei'Justice ~nd then adverting to the pr~~icins
of the·
Mitahhara law and how 'a. minor ~,;ie, child of Mitakshara a
coparcemery acquires interesi in the property by h~ birth and is entitled
: ' - ! ' \ • • ; - ' • • • - .. • • ' .- • - .-

to a share and how the position of a Mohammedan son is entirely different
came to- the ciin°cl.;.ion
- ' ·1
thiit the
•
~arlier
: . . -
deciSion
. .
of. ilie Patna. High
:
Coiirt
' - -
in Imamul Hasan Choudhary's case - has laid down the law correctly and,
E the'refore, the adult son. of a Mohamrr;edan land hold~; would not be
entitled to sep~ate unit.' Sharma J,. also differed fro"m the i'najority. view
expressed by the Chief JU.Stice and agreed with the co~clusion of Agrawal,
J. but'on' different iround. The learned. Judge held that a land holder
a
wheiher in itlc!ividual or family within the meailing of the Act beloiig;ng
F to a;,y religion, faith· or group cannot claim additional land for his ceiling
area on the ground of a major son. In otherwordsaccording to Sh~ J,
the Act no where conferred additional unit on the major son of a l~d - an
· holder b~Ionging to Mitakshara School of Law,· and if he gets· a separate
unitit"ison<iccountofhis_oWn.·--~,.· ,-. ':,.,, ·_,: _..,,_,_ -:;.·:
-i - ·'·
G Mr. Pramod Swarup, learned counsel ~ppearing for the appellant,'
contended that_ under the Act there is no provision which confers addition-
.al unit in case of a land holder governed by Mitakshara School of Hindu -
Law on the adult son and, therefore, the majority view expressed by Chief
Justice is \itiated on account of such erroneous approach and the ultimate
H conclusion that the adult son of a Mohammedan land-holder would be
STATE v. KM. ZUBERI [PATTANAIK. J.] 381

entitled to additional unit is unsustainable in law. Mr. Raju Ramachan- A
daran, learned counsel appearing for the respondents, on the other hand,
contended that if the adult son a land holder governed by Mitakshara
School of Hindu Law is entitled to an additional unit there is no justifica-
tion in denying the same to the adult son of a land holder governed by the
Mohammedan law and therefore, the majority view is wholly justified. It is
B
to be noted that so far as the answer to the first question is concerned,
there is no dispute between the parties and, in our view rightly since the
statutory definition of "family" in Section 2 (ee) does not conceive of any
personal law applicable to the said family and, therefore, no personal law
can be taken into consideration for determination of the ceiling surplus
with the land holder under the Act. In order to test the correctness of the c
majority view, so far as the second question is concerned, it would be
appropriate for us to examine the relevant provisions of the Act. Section
2(aaa) defines "ceiling area" to mean the area of land fixed under Section
4 as the ceiling area.

"Family" in Section 2(ee) is defined thus : - D

"2( ee) 'Family' means and includes a person, his or her spouse
and minor children;

Explanation 1. - In this clause the word "person" includes any
company, institution, trust, association, or body of individuals
E
whether incorporated or not.

Explanation II - The personal law shall not be relevant or be
taken into consideration in determining the composition of the
family for the purposes of the Act". F
"Land holder" has been defined in Section 2(g) thus : -

"2(g) 'land holder' means a family as defined in clause (ee)
holding land as raiyat or as under raiyat or a mortgagee of land in
possession or holding land permanently settled by government or G
lessee of land not resumable by Government".

"Raiyat" has been defined in Section 2(k) thus :

"Raiyat" means primarily a person who has acquired a right to
hold land for the purpose of cultivating it by himself, or by H
(

1

382 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] 2 S;C.R.

A members of his family or by hired servants or with aid of partners,
and includes also the successors-in-interest or persons who have
acquired such a right, and includes, in the district of Santhal
Parganas, a village headman in respect of his private land, if any
but does not include in the area to which the Chotanagpur Tenancy
Act, 1908 (Ben. Act VI of 1908) applies, a Mundari Khunt-Katidar
B or a bhuihar".

Section 3 of the Act gives the provisions of the Act an overriding
effect over all other law in force. Section 4 fixes the ceiling area. The said
Act is quoted below in extenso :
c "4. Fixation of ceiling area of land. - On the appointed day, the
following shall be the ceiling area land for one family consisting of
not more than five members for the purposes of this Act.

(a) Fifteen acres, that is, equivalent to 6.0705 hectares of land
irrigated or capable of being irrigated by flow irrigation work or
D tube-wells or lift irrigation which are constructed, maintained,
improved or controlled by the Central or the State Government or
by a body corporate constituted under any law and which provide
or are capable of providing water for more than one season
(hereinafter referred to as class I land)
E
Explanation. - A land shall not ·be regarded as Class I land
unless it is capable of growing at least two crops in a year; or

(b) eighteen acres, equivalent to 7.2846 hectares of land ir-
rigated by such private lift irrigation or private tube-well as are
F operated by electric or diesel power, and provide or are capable
of providing water for more than one season (hereinafter referred
to as class I land);

Explanation. - Private lift irrigation or private tube-wells means
those which are not constructed, maintained, improved or control-
G led by the Central or the State Government or by a body corporate
constituted under any law; or ·

(c) twenty-five acres, equivalent to 10.1175 hectares of land,
irrigated or capable of being irrigated by works which provide or .
are capable of providing water for only one season (hereinafter
H referred to as class III land);
~·
)

STATEv.KM. ZUBERI [PAITANAIK,J.] 383

(d) thirty acres, equivalent to 12.141 hectares of land other than A
those referred to in clauses (a)(b)(c)(e) and (f) or land which is
an orchard or used for any other horticultural purpose (hereinafter
referred to as class IV land) ; or

(e) thirty-seven and a half acres, equivalent to 15.368 hectares
of Diara land, or Chaur (hereinafter referred to class V land); or B

(f) forty-five acres equivalent to 18.211 hectares of hilly, sandy,
forest land, even land perennially submemrged under water or
other kind of land none of which yields paddy, rabi or cash crops
(hereinafter referred to as class VI land)"
c
Section 5 puts an embargo for any 'family' to hold land in excess of
the ceiling area except provided under the Act.

"5. No person to hold land in excess of the ceiling area. - (l)(i)
It shall not be lawful for any family to hold, except otherwise D
provided under this Act, land in excess of the ceiling area.

Explanation. - All lands owned or held individually by the
members of a family or jointly by some or all of the members of
such family shall be deemed to be owned or held by the family.
E
(ii) No land holder holding land in excess of the ceiling area
shall from the commencement of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixa-
tion of ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) (Amend-
ment) Act, 1972 and till the publication of notification under
Section 15, transfer any land held by him except with the previous
permission in writing of the Collector, who may refuse to give such F
permission if he is satisfied for the reasons to be recorded in
writing that the transfer is proposed to be made with a mala fide
intention of defeating the object of this Act :

Provided that the transfer of any land made, with the previous G

- permission of the Collector, shall be deemed to have been made
from within the ceiling area admissible to the land-holder:

Provided also that the transfer of any land beyond the ceiling
area admissible to the land holder shall be deemed to have been
made within the object of defeating the provisions of the Act. H
'
'
384 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] 2 S.C.R.

A (iii) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any
judgment, decree or order of any court or authority, the Collector
shall have power to make enquiries in respect of any transfer of
land by a land-holder whether by a registered instrument or other-
wise made after the 22nd day of October, 1959 and if he is satisfied
that such transfer was made with the object of defeating, or in
B contravention of the provisions of this Act or for retaining, benami
or farzi land in excess of the ceiling area, the Collector may after
giving reasonable notice to the parties concerned to appear and
be heard, annul such transfer and thereupon the land shall be
deemed to be held by the transferor for the purposes of determin-
c ing the ceiling area he may hold under this section.

(iv) Land donated by a land-holder under the Bihar Bhoodan
Yagna Act, 1954 (Bihar Act XXII of 1954), to the extent it
subsequently vests in the Bhoodan Yagna Committee under the
said Act before the date of the final publication of draft statement
D under section 11 of this Act, shall not be taken into account in
determining the area he may retain under this section."

Explanation to Section 5(1) connotes that the land owned or
held individually by the members of the family or jointly shall be
deemed to be held or owned by the 'family'.
E
Section 6 provides for issuance of the public notice calling upon the
land-holders of the State who hold land in excess of the ceiling area to
submit a return to the Collector of the District where they originally reside
indicating the particulars as mentioned therein.
F
Section 7 authorises the Collector to obtain necessary information if
a ceiling surplus holder fails to submit return under Section 6 with regard
to area held by such surplus holder.

Section 10 is the provision for preparation of a draft statement on
G the basis of information received from the land-holder.
Section 11 provides for publication of the draft statement after
disposing all the claims or objections preferred by the land-holder.

Section 15 confers power on the State Government and the Collector
H of the District to acquire surplus land in the hands of the surplus holder.
STATEv. KM. ZUBER! (PATTANAIK,J.] 385

We are not concerned with the other provisions of the Act for adjudicating A
the point in issue.

An analysis of the aforesaid provisions unequivocally indicate that
under the Act the ceiling area is required to be determined of a "family"
as defined in Section 2( ee) and, therefore, the land-holder of whose ceiling
is going to be determined may be either a person, his or her spouse, and B
minor children. A major child whether belonging to a Hindu family or a
Mohammedan or Christian is not conceived of getting an additional unit
while determining the ceiling area of a land holder. A major son of a Hindu
can get an independent ceiling determined provided he is raiyat within the
meaning of Section 2(k) and has become a land-holder within the ambit of C
Section 2 (g) but not as a successor to the land-holder whose ceiling is
being determined on the ground that he has a right in the property by virtue
of birth. In other "'.ords, under the Act no distinction has been maintained
between Hindu, Mohammedan Christian for determination of the ceiling
area in the hands of the land-holder. The majority view expressed by Chief
Justice as well as by Justice Agrawal approached the problem on incorrect D
premise as if under the Act the adult son of a land-holder governed by
Mitakshara School of Hindu Law has been given an additional unit.
Minority view of Justice L.M. Sharma is wholly correct one. The ultimate
conclusion, as expressed by the majority judgment, in answering question
no. 2 is, therefore, unsustainable in law. In our considered opinion, under E
the Act while determining the ceiling area in the hands of a land-holder
whether governed by Mitakshara law or governed by Mohammedan law no
additional unit is given to an adult son of the land-holder and, therefore,
the earlier view expressed by Patna High Court in Imamul Hassan
Choudhry's case reported in 1982 (Vol. 30) Bihar Law Journal Reports
p.150 lays down law correctly. F

This appeal is accordingly allowed. But, in the circumstances, there
will no order as to costs.

v.s.s. Appeal allowed.