Holding

The family of the landholder comprises more than five members, including members of the specified category, thereby satisfying both conditions of Section 6(3B) and entitling the landholder to the additional land, so the appeal is dismissed.

Summary

The State of Gujarat appealed against a High Court order that had allowed J.L. Talasji, a landholder, to claim the benefit of Section 6(3B) of the Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, 1960. The issue was whether Talasji's family, consisting of himself, his mother, wife, three minor sons and three minor daughters, qualified as a "family" of more than five members for the purpose of the provision, and how the additional land entitlement should be calculated. The Supreme Court held that the term "family" is to be given its ordinary meaning, encompassing all members living together, and therefore the family comprised eight members, satisfying the first condition. It further held that the second condition was met because the family included members belonging to the specified category (the three minor sons). The Court clarified that the phrase "each member in excess of five" refers to each member of the specified category, entitling Talasji to three‑fifths of the ceiling area as excess land, which did not exceed the statutory limit. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, confirming Talasji's entitlement under the Act.

Issues considered

Whether the family of the landholder consists of more than five members for the purpose of Section 6(3B).
Whether members not belonging to the specified categories (mother, wife, minor daughters) should be counted in the family size.
How to interpret "each member in excess of five" in computing the additional land entitlement under Section 6(3B).
Whether the landholder is entitled to hold land exceeding the prescribed ceiling area.

Legislation cited

Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, 1960s. 6(3B)

Subjects

land ceilingfamily definitionagricultural landsection 6(3B)Gujaratland holdingstatutory interpretationbenefit of enlargement

Judgment

\
A STAIB OF GUJARAT
v.
JAT LAXMANJI TALASJI
}' -··:
- FEBRUARY 19, 1988

B [M.P. THAKKAR, K.N. SINGH AND N.D. OJHA, JJ.)

Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, 1960: s. 6(3B)-Benefit of
enlargement of ceiling area-Availability of-Family consisting of more
than five members including members . of specified category-
- Computation of ceiling area. - -

-- c Section 6(3B) or the Gujarat Agricultural -Land Ceiling -Act ~r )-
-1960 entitles a family, consisting of more than five members comprising
a person and other members of the categories mentioned therein, viz.(i)
minor son, (ii) widow of pre-deceased son, (iii) minor son or unmarried
daughter of a pre-deceased son, where his or her mother is dead, to bold
D, land in excess of the ceiling area to the extent of one-fifth of such area
for' each member in· excess of five, provided the_ total area does not_j
exceed twice the _ceiling area. The ceiling area prescribed was 45 acres. T
'
- -- The family of the respondent landholder consisted of .nine
· membei;i including himself, his .mother, wife,. three ?'inor sons and__,,(
E three mmor daughters. The holdmg of the famtly cons_1sted of 60 acres -
and 4 gunthas •.

- The Revenue Tribunal held that the landholder was not entitled to
the benefit of s.6(3B) of the Act. In counting the members of the family;J...
it excluded from consideration the mother and three minor daughters of
F the landholder on the view that the applicant and his wife would count
" ..._._ as one unit and his minor sons would count as four units and ruled that
·there were only five members in the family for the purpose of counting
the unit, notwithstanding the fact that the family consisted of nine
-- members and also comprised or other members belonging to the speci-
- fied category. r' -
G
In the writ petition, the High Court held that the landholder's f
family consisted of nine members inasmuch as his mother and his wife
as also his minor daughters were members of his family.

In the appeal to this Court it was contended for the appeUant-
H Slat~ that in applying the test whether or not the family consisted of five

1068
STATE OF GUJARAT v. J.L. TALASJI 1069

members regard must be had only to the members of family belonging A
to the specified category, namely minor sons, in so far as the composi-
tion of the family of the landholder was concerned, so to say, that tbe
landholder, his wife and his three minor sons were the only five mem-
bers of the family for the purpose ofs. 6(3B) of the Act.

Dismissing the appeal, B
1 HELD: 1.1 Two tests must be satisfied cumulatively for being
I eligible to claim the benefit of s. 6(38) of the Gujarat Agricultural Land
..... Ceiling Act, 1960: (1) the size of the family should exceed five, (2J it
must consist of members one or more of whom belong to one or other of
the specified categories. All the ingredients of s. 6(3B) are satisfied in
1 the instant case. [1074G)
c
f '
' 1.2 The expression "family" has not been defined in the Act. The
Court has, therefore, to go by the concept by family as it is commonly
understood, meaning, a group of persons consisting of parents and their

. ' otTsprings living together in one household. In that view, that family of D
the landholder consisted of eight members including himself, his wife,
three minor sons and three minor daughters. The family of the land-
holder thus consists of more than five members. The family also
includes persons of one of the specified categories viz., the minor
SODS. [1074A-C, E-F)
'r E
2. It cannot be said that in ascertaining whether or not the pre-
~ condition is satisfied only the members of the specified category should
be taken into account. For, to do so would be to kill the letter as well as
the spirit of the benevolent provisions aimed at relieving the distress of
family members subject to one or other of the socio-economic handi-
caps. [1075D-E; 1071C-D) F

3. Computation of the extent of the additional land must be made.
by applying the formula embodied in s. 6(3B). On a trll!' interpretation
of the provision "each member in excess of five" must of logical neces-
\. . sity mean each "such" member of the specified handicapped category
viz. three minor sons. Under the circumstances, for each minor son in G
excess of the five members, the holder was entitled to one-fifth of the
ceiling area in excess of the prescribed ceiling. That is to say he was
entitled to three-fifth of the prescribed ceiling area over and above the
ceiling area provided the total retainable holding of the family did not
exceed twice the ceiling area. The holding of the family consisted of 60
acres and 4 gunthas. And making a computation on the aforesaid basis H
1070 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1988] 2 S.C.R.

A having regard to the fact that the ceiling area was 45 acres, the family 'f
wonld be entitled to additional 27 acres (45/5=9x3=27). Thns he would
bi! entitled to hold 72 acres (45+27=72) whereas the holding of the ~ •
respondent consisted of only 60 acres. Therefore, the holding of the
family was not in excess of the prescribed ceiling as computed in the
aforesaid manner. [1075F-G; 1076B-C]
B
Nathekhan v. Mamlatdar, Vadgam, G.L.R. 25(3) 1473 approved. ~

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 681 1
of 1985. -

C From the Judgment and Order dated 24.8.84 of the High Court !
of Gujarat in S.C.A. No. 1286/1980. ~
. \
1

T.V. Mehta, M.N. Shroff and K.M.M. Khan for the Appellant.

S.H. Sheth, Vimal Dave and S.C. Patel for the Respondents.
D
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by ) .
THAKKAR, J. In the course of an exercise in interpretation of a
provision, Section 6(3B) of Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling Act of
1960 complains the appellant-state, the High Court has misinterpreted
E the said provision which had been correctly interpreted by the Tri-
bunal Gnjarat Revenue Tribunal. The debate in the present appeal has
centred on this plea the meritlessness of which will become evident
presently.

The provision in question viz, Section 6(3B) is embodied in Chap-
F ter III of the Ceiling Act which bears the caption "Fixation of Ceiling
on Holding Land, Determination of Surplus Land and Acquisition\.. , {
thereof'. The concerned provision in so far as material to the problem·!
posed by the present appeal deserves to be quoted:

"6(3B) Where a family or a joint family consists of more
G than five members comprising a person and other
members belonging to all or any of the following
categories, namely:

(i) minor son,

H (ii) widow of a pre-deceased son,
STATE OF GUJARAT v. J.L. TALASJI (THAKKAR, J.J 1071

(iii) minor son or unmarried daughter of a pre-deceased A
son, where his or her mother is dead,

such family shall be entitled to hold land in excess of the
ceiling area to the extent of one-fifth of the ceiling area for
each member in excess of five, so however that the total
holding of the family does not exceed twice the ceiling B
area; and in such a case, in relation to the holding of such
family, such area shall be deemed to be the ceiling area:

.. Provided x x x x x x"

\ The philosophy of this provision stares one in the eyes. When a
·--'-- family is both large and comprises (which expression is employed in
c
f 'the sense of includes, Collins' dictionary defines comprise as ..... to
include ... amongst it members who are subject to one or other of the
socio-economic handicaps, fairness demands that such family is per-
mitted to retain some more land than other families which are not so
handicapped. The very nature of the three categories which are D
specified (minors, widow of a pre-deceased son, minor son or unmar-
ried daughter of a predeceased son who has lost both parents) conveys
this message of plight. Understandable it is, that for such a family
which has to carry the burden of misery, the community acting through
the legislature has a soft comer and pours milk of human kindness into
this benevolent provision aimed at relieving their distress to an extent. E
Such is the design. Two tests must be satisfied commulatively for being
eligible to claim the benefit:

( 1) The size ofthe family (No. of members should exceed 5)

(2) It must consist of members one or more of whom belong to F
one or other of the specified handicapped categories.

Now the factual backdrop in which the problem of interpretation has
sudaced needs to be traced. The family of the respondent landholder
consisted of 9 members including himself. (The land-holder, his
mother, his wife, his three minor sons and his three minor daughters). G
The question which arose was whether the land-holder was entitled to
·the benefit of Section 6(3B) which provides that where a family or a
joint family consists of more than 5 members comprising a person and
other persons belonging to all or any of the specified categories, such
family shall be entitled to hold land in excess of the ceiling area t~ the
extent of 1/5 of the ceiling area for each member of the speetfied H
1072 SUPREME COURT REPORTS {1988] 2 S.C.R.

A category in excess of five; subject to the rider that the total holding of Y
the family does not exceed twice the ceiling area. The Tribunal took
the view that Section 6(3B) was not attracted to the case of the said '
land-holder notwithstanding the fact that his family consisted of 9
members and also comprised of other members belonging to specified
category (i) (minor son). The view taken by the Tribunal is reflected in ~
B the following passage extracted from its order dated January 24, 1978
which gave rise to the Writ Petition in the High Court which in tum has t
given rise to the present appeal by special leave:

"As regards the other contention of Shri R.K. Panchal, it
may be observed that for the purpose of section 6(3B)
family of the applicant consisted of not more than five
c members eventhough as a matter of fact there are nineL
members in his family because the applicant and his wife \
will count as one unit and his minor sons will count as four
units for the purpose of section 6(3B) of the Act, and thus
there are only five members in the family for the purpose of
D counting the unit. Therefore, the family is not entitled to
hold more than 45 acres of land on the ground that there.
are nine members in the family as argued by Shri R.K.
Panchal. In this view of the matter, the findings of the
Mamlatdar and confirmed by the Deputy Collector do not
deserve to be interfered with."
E
Upon the jurisdiction of the High Court, under Articles 226/227
of the Constitution of India being invoked, !he High Court reversed .,,_
the Tribunal. Because, the reasoning unfolded in the aforesaid passage
was inconsistent with the exposition of law made by the High Court in
its earlier pronouncement. Reliance was placed on Nathekhan's
F Gujarat Law Reporter Vol. XXV (3) p. 1473 (Nathekhan v.
Mamlatdar, Vadgam) case wherein Ahmadi, J. had earlier taken a\., I"
contrary view. Says Ahmadi, J. 'l
"With respect the Tribunal's thinking is confused, Sub- ~
section (3B) of Sec. 6 merely lays down that where a family
~
G consists of more than five members comprising a person '
and other members of the categories mentioned therein,
namely, (i) minor son, (ii) widow of a pre-deceased son, ~'
(iii) Minor son or unmarried daughter of a pre-deceased
•
son, where his or her mother is dead, such family shall be
entitled to hold land in excess of the ceiling area to the
H extent of one-fifth of the ceiling area for each member in
STAIB OF GUJARAT v. J.L. TALASJI [1HAKKAR, J.] 1073

excess of five provided the total holding of the family does A
not exceed twice the ceiling area. A bare perusal of this
sub-section makes it ·clear that in order to avail two condi-
tions must be satisfied, namely, (i) the family should con-
sist of more than five members and (ii) it should have
amongst it the categories of members mentioned in the
three sub-clauses. If the family does not consist of more B
~ than five members but has amongst it any of the members
mentioned in the three sub-clauses, it will not be entitled to

." the benefit of enlargement of the ceiling area. Therefore,
the benefit of enlargement of the ceiling ar·ea will ensure to
only that family where the total numbe.r of members is
more than five and amongst them are members belonging
~. . to the categories mentioned therein. However, there is C
I '
nothing in the sub-section wherefrom it can be inferred that
the wife, widowed mother and unmarried daughters are
intended to be excluded from the family, that is group or unit
constituting the family. I am, therefore of the opinion that
all the authorities including the Tribunal were wrong in D
coming to the conclusion that the aforesaid female mem-
bers of the family had to be excluded for the purpose of
determining the size of the family."

We fully concur with this view. The reasons are not far to seek.
E
It is not in dispute that the family of the land-holder consisted of
9 members if the heads of the members of the family are counted. The
first condition required to be satisfied in order to attract Section 6(3B)
is that the family must consist of more than 5 members. The debate has
f centred round the question as to how the number of the members
constituting the family should be counted. In counting the members of F
) / the family the Tribunal has excluded from consideration the mother
. 'r"'• and the three minor daughters of the land holder. Excluding these four
persons the family consisted of 5 members. In that event Section 6(3B)
I Will not be attracted beCaUSe One Of the COnditiOnS precedent for the
applicability of the provision is that the family must consist of more
than 5 members. The High Court on the other hand has upheld the G
contention of the land holder that his family in fact consisted of 9
~ members inasmuch as his mother and his wife as also his minor daugh-
ters were members of his family. The Tribunal in terms observed that:

"for the purpose of Section 6(3B) family of the applicant
consisted of not more than 5 members eventhough as a H
1074 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1988) 2 S.C.R.

matter of fact there are 9 members in his family."
A
This reasoning is obviously fallacious. The expression 'family' 1-
has not been defined in the Act. One has therefore to go by the
concept of family as it is commonly understood, taking into account
the dictionary meaning of the expression. Collins English Dictionary
B defines family as:

"a primary social group consisting of parents and their
offspring, the principal function of which is provision for its
members."

"a group of persons related by blood; a group descended j
c from a common ancestor." , ~ c ·-\

"all the persons living together in one household."

Ha'ving regard to this definition it can be safely concluded that
D the land-holder, his wife and his offspring consisting of three minor
sons and three minor daughters would certainly constitute a family
even if the mother of the land holder is excluded from consideration.
Thus in any view the family of the land holder consisted of 8 members
including himself, his wife, three minor sons and three minor daugh-
ters. The Tribunal was therefore clearly in error in taking the view that
E the family consisted of not more than 5 members. Learned counsel for
the appellant however contended that in applying the test whether or
not the family consisted of 5 members tegard must be had only to the
members of the family belonging to the specified category namely
minor sons in so far as the composition of the family of the land holder
in the present case is concerned. Jn other words the contention is that
F the land holder, his wife and his three minor sons are the only five
persons of the family for the purposes of Section 6(38). In our opinion
there is no warrant for reading Section 6(38) in this artificial and
truncated manner. On a plain reading, Section 6(38) is attracted
where a family consists of more than 5 members "comprising a person
and other members belonging to all or any one of the following
G categories viz. (i) minor son ..... " In the present case the family of
the land holder consists of more than 5 members. The family also
includes persons of one of the specified categories viz. the minor sons.
Thus, all the' ingredients of Section 6(38) are satisfied. In order to
claim benefit of Section 6(38) the test which must be satisfied is a two
fold test. First, whether the claimant's family consists of more than five
H persons. In the present case the answer to this test is in the affirmative.
STATE OF GUJARAT v. J.L. TALASJI (1HAKKAR, J.] 1075

y The second test that is required to be answered in favour of the person A
who claims the benefit of Section 6(3B) is that such family must also
-< comprise of one individual and other members besides himself who
must belong to all or any of the three specified categories. This test is
also answered in favour of the respondent inasmuch as the family does
comprise of the respondent and other members and from out of the
other members, three belong to one of the specified categories viz. B
f 'minor son'. In otherwords access to Section 6(3B) is barred by two
doors. In order to secure entry the family must consist of more than 5
> persons. If there are more than 5 persons including the land holder
..-. himself, the first door will be opened and the land holder will be
entitled to have an access provided the second door does not bar his
entry inside the beneficial area. The second door will also be opened C
_':..,_ provided that some of the other members meaning thereby members
f 'other than individual land holder belong to one of the three categories
specified in the section. The second door would be opened provided he
has got minor sons. Admittedly, the respondent has three minor sons.
Therefore both the doors which bar the access of the land holder to the
benevolent provisions are opened. It is not possible to accede to the D
submission that in ascertaining whether or not the pre-condition is
satisfied only the members of the specified category should be taken
into account. For, to do so would be to kill the letter as well as the
spirit of the concerned provision. We are therefore not prepared to
uphold the plea of the appellant-state that the High Court has not
'r correctly interpreted the relevant provision in the case giving rise to

-
E
the present appeal.

Under the circumstances the appeal deserves to fail. But before
we conclude we must set aright an inadvertent error made by the High
Court in making computation of the extent of the additional land
which the respondent was entitled to hold in excess of the prescribed F
ceiling in the context of section 6(3B). Computation in this behalf must
be made by applying the formula embodied in Section 6(3B) viz. that
the family sliall be entitled to hold land in excess of the ceiling area to
the extent of "one fifth of the ceiling area for each member in excess of
five" subject to the rider that the total area does not exceed twice the
ceiling area. It needs to be clarified that on a true interpretation of the G
provision "each member in excess of five" must of logical necessity
mean each 'such' member of the specified handicapped category. In
'"' the present case there were 3 members in the family and it comprised
of three members of the specified category viz. 3 minor sons. Under
the circumstances for each minor son in excess of the five members the
holder was entitled to 1/5th of the ceiling area in excess of the pre- H
1076 ST,JPREME COURT REPORTS [1988) 2 S.C.R.

scribed ceiling. That is to say he was entitled to 3/5th of the prescribed '1
A
ceiling over and above the ceiling area subject to the rider that the
total retainable holding of the family did not exceed twice the ceiling I-
area. This aspect was lost sight of by the High Court in making the
computation. Of course in the ultimate result in the facts of the present
case nothing turns on it as in any view of the matter the extent of the
B land held by the family computed on this basis would not exceed twice
the ceiling area. The holding of the family consisted of 60 acres and 4
gunthas. And making a computation on the aforesaid basis having
regard to the fact that the cei1ing area was 45 acres, the family would
be ,entitled to additional 27 acres (45/5=9x3=27). Thus he would be
'?""'
entitled to hold 72 acres (45+27=72) whereas the holding of respon-
dent consisted of only 60 acres. Therefore the holding of the family
c was not in excess of the prescribed ceiling as computed in the aforesaid j_
manner. While the High Court in terms followed its earlier decision in . \.
Nathekhan's case (supra) it overlooked the ratio of the decision in this
behalf. What was overlooked was the ratio reflected in the passage
from para 6 of the decision extracted hereinbelow which is in accord
D with formula indicated by us:
f

" . . . . . . There were two minor sons in the family of
Nathekhan and one minor son in the family of Majamkhan.
Since the family unit of each brother exceeded five in
number so far as Nathekhan is concerned, he was entitled
1

-
E to hold land in excess of the ceiling area to the extent of
two-fifth of the ceiling area and Majamkhan with one
minor son was entitled to hold land in excess of the ceiling
area to the extent of one-fifth thereof. Since the excess land
in the case of each brother :was of 4 acres and 38.5 gunthas
being less than even one-fifth of the ceiling area, it could
F not be held that their holding exceeded the permissible
ceiling."
\, .(
We are therefore of the opinion that this appeal deserves tofail
subject to the clarification ln regard to the true position as regards
· computation of the permissible extent of land which can be held in the
G context of section 6(3B) of the Act. The appeal is disposed of accord- •
ingly. There will be no order regarding costs.
~
P.S.S. Appeal dismissed.