Supreme Court of India

STATE OF KERALAversusM.K. KUNHIKANNAN NAMBIAR MANJERI MANIKOTH, NADUVIL (DEAD) AND ORS.

Citation: 1995 INSC 827
Decided: 4 December 1995
Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed
Bench: K RAMASWAMY

Holding

A void order does not automatically invalidate a final inter‑party order; the order in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 is valid and the Board’s later orders allowing impleadment are set aside.

Summary

The Kerala Land Board, under the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, ordered the surrender of excess land held by the family of the deceased respondent. The respondent's sisters filed an impleadment application under Section 85(b) claiming tenancy, which the Board rejected; the High Court affirmed this rejection in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977. The Board later re‑initiated the ceiling proceedings suo moto, without the statutory intimation required by Section 85(7), and the High Court declared those proceedings void in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977, allowing the sisters to be impleaded and finding no excess land. The State of Kerala appealed, arguing that the voidness of the original proceedings made the earlier inter‑party order (C.R.P. 3440 of 1977) non‑existent. The Supreme Court held that a void order does not automatically nullify a final inter‑party order; the order in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 remains valid, and the Board’s later orders allowing impleadment are set aside. Consequently, the appeal was allowed and the Board’s revised orders were annulled.

Issues considered

Whether a void administrative order renders subsequent inter‑party orders in the same matter non‑existent and invalid.
Whether the order rejecting impleadment, affirmed by the High Court, remains effective despite a later finding of voidness of the original ceiling proceedings.
What is the legal effect of the term 'void' in administrative decisions under the Kerala Land Reforms Act.

Legislation cited

Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963s. 103, s. 85(7), s. 85(8)

Subjects

Kerala Land Reforms Actceiling limitimpleadmentvoid orderadministrative lawrevisioncollusive tenancyjurisdiction

Judgment

STATE OF KERALA A
v.
M.K. KUNHIKANNAN NAMBIAR MANJERI MANIKOTH,
NADUVIL (DEAD) AND ORS.

DECEMBER 4, 1995
B
[K. RAMASWAMY AND K. S. PARIPOORNAN, JJ.]

Kera/a Land Refomis Act, 1963-Section 85(8}-Ceiling proceedings-
Application for impleadment filed by sisters of the declarant found to be
collusive and dismissed by High Court-Declarant challenges ceiling proceed- C
ings by filing another revision petition-High Court declares ceiling proceedings
as void-If the order passed on the impleadment petition also becomes non-
est-Held : No.

Proceedings were initiated against the family of Respondent No. 1
under the provisions of Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963. In the said D
proceedings respondents No. 3 and 4 who were the sisters of Respondent
No. 1 filed impleadment application claiming tenancy rights over the
property. The application for impleadment was rejected by the Land
Board. The Respondent No. 1 and 2 filed C.R.P. No. 3440 of 1977 before
the High Court against the said order which was dismissed by the High E
Court holding that alleged tenancy was a collusive attempt between the
brother and the sisters.

Respondent No. 1 had also challenged vide C.R.P. No. 3699of1977,
the proceedings of the Land Board by which he was directed to surrender
excess land held by him over and above the ceiling limit. The High Court F
in C.R.P. No. 3696 of 1977 held that the proceedings against the Respon-
dent No. 1 was initiated suo moto and not on intimation given by the Land
Board about non-filing of statement by the Respondent No. 1. Therefore,
the High Court held that the ceiling proceedings against the Respondent
No. 1 was void and quashed the impugned order. However, the High Court G
did not preclude the Land Board from initiating the proceedings afresh in
accordance with law.

Pursuant to the order of the High Conrt in C.R.P. 3696 of 1997, the
Land Board issued a fresh draft statement and issued notice to Respon·
dents No.1and2. In these proceedings the Respondents No. 3 and 4 again H
139
140 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1995) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A filed impleadment application which was allowed by the Board. The Board
also held that the Respondent No. 1 was holding lands only within the
ceiling limit. The revision petition of the Appellant was dismissed by the
High Court on the ground that as the proceedings initiated by the Land
Board had been declared as void and non-est, the proceedings from which
C.R.P. No. 3440 of 1997 arose was also non-est.
B
Allowing the appeal, this Court

HELD : 1. The order passed inter parties in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977
dated 2.11.1977, has become final, and it concludes the matter. The obser-
C vations made in the proceedings at the instance of the 1st respondent
regarding the validity of the order of the Board, in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977,
will not, in any way, affect the legality and validity of the proceedings
declining to implead respondents No. 3 and 4 or the order passed in
Revision therefrom - C.R.P. 3440 of 1977. [144-G]

D 2.1. Mere use of the word 'void' is not determinative of it legal
impact. The word 'void' has a relative rather than an absolute meaning.
It only conveys the idea that the order is invalid or illegal. It can
be avoided. There are degrees of invalidity, depending upon the gravity of
the infirmity, as to whether it is, fundamental or otherwise. In this case,
E the only complaint about the initiation of the suo moto proceedings by the
Board was, that it was not initiated on intimation by the State Land Board
about the non-filing of the statement as required by Section 85(7) of the
Kerala Land Reforms Act. This is not a case where the infirmity is
fundamental. [145-A-B]

F 2.2. Even a void order of decision rendered between parties cannot
be said to be non-existent in all cases and in all situations. Ordinarily,
such an order will, in fact be effective inter parties until it is successfully
avoided or challenged in higher forum. [144-H]

G Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th Edn. Judicial Review of Administra-
tive Action by De Smith, Woolf and Jowell, 1995 edn.; Administrative Law
by Wade and Forsiyth, 7th edn, relied on.

2.3. Even assuming that the order of the Board ·~-as held to be void
in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977 (in the proceeding at th• instance of the 1st
H respondent), the order passed in Revision between the parties herein, in
STATE v. M.K.K. NAMBIAR MANJERI MANJKOTH [PATl'ANAIK, J.] 141

C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 will be valid and cannot be said to be without jurisdic- A
tion or invalid. [146-F]

Janardhan Reddy and Others v. State of Hyderabad and Othei~, AIR
(1951) SC 217, relied on.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 8376 of B
1995.

From the Judgment and Order dated 1.7.87 of the Kerala High Court
in C.R.P. No. 2538 of 1981.

M.T. George for the Appellant. c
A.S. Nambiar, Ms. Shanta Vasudevan and P.K. Manohar for the
Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
D
PARIPOORNAN, J. The State of Kerala, having obtained leave of
this Court in Special Leave Petition (C) No. 13411 of 1987, appeals against
the judgment of a learned single Judge of the High Court of Kerala,
rendered in C.R.P. No. 2538 of 1981 dated 1.7.1987. The matter arises
under the Kerala Land Reforms Act in connection with the proceedings E
relating to determination of ceiling are of the lst respondent, by the Taluk
Land Board, Taliparamba (hereinafter referred to as the 'Board') in T.L.B.
447of1977. The Board initiated proceedings, T.L.B. 447of1977 and issued
notice to late respondent No. 1, head of the family, to surrender an extent
of 6.32 acres of land, which according to the Board is the land, the family
headed by the first respondent was holding in excess of the ceiling area. F
Respondent No. 2 is the wife of the first respondent. In the said proceed-
ings, respondents No. 3 and 4 (sisters of the first respondent) sought
impleadrnent under Section 85(b) of the Land Reforms Act, lo set asi<le
the proceedings of the order of Board dated 28.6.1977 and claimed tenancy
rights over an extent of property measuring HJ acres, in R.S. Nos. 201 and G
208 of Naduvil village, Taliparamba. The impleadment petition was
rejected by the Board on 7.10.1977. Respondents No. 1 and 2 filed C.R.P.
No. 3440 of 1977 before the High Court of Kerala, which was disposed of
on 2.11.1977, the relevant portion of which reads as follows :

. "The declarant in ceiling proceedings No. 447/77 (TBA) on the fJe H
142 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1995] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A of the Taluk Land Board. Taliparamba was directed by the Taluk
land Board by its order dated 28.6.1977 to surrender an extent of
6.32 acres or land held by his family in excess of the ceiling limit.
This two petitioners, who are the sisters of the declarant, filed an
application under section 85(8) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act
for reopening the order contending that they are cultivating tenants
B
in respect of the property with respect to an extent of 10 acres.
The Taluk Land Board after having gone into the evidence placed
before it found that no proof regarding the alleged tenancy was
produced before the Taluk Land Board and that the cultivating
tenancy alleged was a collusive attempt between the brother and the
c sisters to defeat the provision of the Act. It cannot be said that the
Taluk Land Board has either decided erroneously or failed to
decide a question of law to attract Section 103 of the Act. The
revision is therefore dismissed without admitting in the file." (Em-
phasis supplied)
D
2. The first respondent also challenged the proceedings dated
28.6.1977, by which he was directed to surrender 6.32 acres of land, in
C.R.P. No. 3696 of 1977. The Civil Revision Petition was allowed by order
dated 14.3.1979 and the operative portion of the order reads as follows :

E
"I do not think that I should go into the merits of the objections
raised by the petitioner in regard to the fixation of the ceiling area
in view of the fact that the impugned order is in a suo moto
proceedings where the proceedings have been initiated not on
F intimation given by the land Board about the non-filing of the
statement as required by section 85(7) of the Kerala Land Reforms
Act. However, the order was sought to be supported by the learned
Government pleader on the ground that they have subsequently
ratified the proceedings before the final order was actually issued.
In the nature of the provisions in Section 85(7) that may not validate
G the proceedings which would render such proceedings void in law
cannot be cured by ratification. No doubt, the disposal of the C.R.P.
by quashing the impugned order on this ground will not prevent
the Taluk Land Board for proceedings the matter afresh on due,
intimation to the Land Board and in accordance with Law." (Em-
H phasis supplied)
STATE v. M.K.K. NAMBIAR MANJERI MANIKOTH [PATTANAIK, 1. J 143

3. In pursuance to the later order of the High Court, the '3oard issued A
a revised draft statement and issued notice to respondents No. 1 and 2
calling upon them to file objections, if any. No objections were filed.
However, respondents No. 3 and 4 filed a fresh petition for impleadment
on 30.6.1980, which was allowed by the majority members of the. Board on
29.7.1980. The majority members of the Board, by proceedings dated
B
9.1.1981, accepted the plea put forward by respondents No. 3 and 4
regarding tenancy and further held that respondent No. 1 was holding lands
only within the ceiling limit. There was no surplus land to be surrendered.
The aforesaid decision was assailed by the State of Kerala before the High
Court in C.R.P. No. 2538/81. The learned single Judge of the High Court
of Kerala, by order dated 1.7.1987, held thus : c
"The order in C.R.P. 3696/77 has become final. It can be seen
from the said order that the S.M. proceedings initiated by the T.L.B.
was declared void and hence non-est. That being the position, it is
needless to say that the proceedings from which C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 D
arose also is non-est. It cannot therefore, be said that the rights of
the parties to the said proceedings has been determined by any
authority constituted under the K.L.R. Act."

On the merits, the learned single Judge also held that it cannot be
said that the Board decided any question of law erroneously or failed to E
decide any question of law to merit interference in exercise of the revisional
powers vested under Section 103 of the Kerala Land Reforms Act. It is
from the aforesaid order of the High Court, the State had filed the present
appeal.
F
4. We heard Mr. M.T. George, who appeared for the appellant and
also Mr. A.S. Nambiar, senior counsel, who appeared for the respondents.
Counsel for the appellant argued that the majority members of the Board
committed a grave error in ordering the impleadment of respondents No.
3 and 4 by order dated 29.7.1980 and in upholding the plea of tenancy
urged by them. He further argued that the learned single Judge of the High G
Court erred in law in holding that in view of the order passed in C.R.P.
No. 3696 of 1977, the S.M. proceedings initiated by the Board was void and
non-est and that being the position, the proceedings from which C.R.P.
3440 of 1977 (Revision filed by respondents No. 3 and 4 arose also is
non-est. The conclusion of the learned single Judge "that it cannot be said H
144 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1995] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A that the rights of the parties to the said proceedings had been determined
by any authority constituted under the Kerala Land Reforms Act" was
assailed as illegal. On the other hand, counsel for the respondents, Mr. A.S.
Nambiar, argued that since the proceedings initiated by the Board dated
28.6.1977 was found to be void in law, in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977, it cannot be
cured by ratification, and the order passed by the Board rejecting the
B impleadment of respondents No. 3 and 4 dated 7.10.1977 and confirmed
by the High Court in C.R.P. No. 3440 of 1977, by order dated 2.11.1977 is
non-est and in this perspective the fresh application for impleadment filed
in pursuance to the order passed by the High Court in C.R.P. No. 3696 of
1977 and the consequential final decision of the Board dated 29.7.1980 are
c sustainable and valid in law.

5. The short question that arises for , :msideration is whether the
order passed by the Board in the first instai,~e, rejecting the impleadment
of respondents No. 3 and 4, and holding that the tenancy put forward is
D "collusive" one, which was affirmed by the High Court in C.R.P. No. 3440
of 1977 on 2.11.1977, can be ignored in view of the order passed in C.R.P.
No. 3696 of 1977 filed by the first respondent? As between the State and
respondents No. 3 and 4 the order pa"ed by the Board as confirmed by
the High Court in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 dated 2.11.1977 has become final.
It is a valid order. Will the observations made in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977 to
E the affect "that the S.M. proceedings without intimation by the Board under
Section 85(7) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act render such proceedings
void", affect the legality or validity of the proceedings which culminated in
C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 ?

F 6. It is not necessary for us to go into the merits of the case. We are
of the view that the order passed inter parties in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 dated
2.11.1977, has become final, and it concludes the matter. The observations
made in the proceedings, at the instance of the 1st respondent regarding
the validity of the order of the Board, in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977, will not, in
any way, affect the legality and validity of the proceedings declining to
G implead respondents No. 3 and 4 or the order passed in Revision therefrom
- C.R.P. 3440 of 1977. It is true that the proceedings dated 28.6.1977 was
observed to be void in law in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977, filed by the first
respondent. In our opinion even a void order of decision rendered between
parties cannot be said to be non-existent in all cases and in all situations.
H Ordinarily, such an order will, in fact be effective inter parties until it is
STATE v. M.K.K.NAMBIARMANJERIMANIKOTH(PATTANAIK,J.)145

successfully avoided or challenged in higher forum. Mere use of the word A
'void' is not determinative of its I "gal impact. The word "void" has a relative
rather than an absolute meaning. It only conveys the idea that the order is
invalid or illegal. It can be avoided. There the degrees of invalidity, depend-
ing upon the gravity of the infirmity, as to whether it is, fundamental or
otherwise and in this case, the only complaint about the initiation of the
B
suo moto proceedings by Board was, that it was not initiated on intimation
by the State Land Board about the non-filing of the statement as required
by Section 85(7) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act. In our opinion, this is
not a case where the infirmity is fundamental. It is unnecessary to consider
the matter further.
c
7. In Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th edition, (Reissue) Volume 1(1)
in paragraph 26, page 31, it is stated, thus :

If an act or decision, or an order or other instrument is invalid,
11

it should, in principle be null and void for all purposes: and it has
been said that there are no degrees of nullity. Even though such D
an act is wrong and lacking in jurisdiction, however, it subsists and
remains fully effective unless and until it is set aside by a Court of
competent jurisdiction. Until its validity is challenged, its legality
is preserved."

In the Judicial Review of Administrative Action De Smith. Woolf and E
Jowell, 1995 edition. at pages 259-260 the law is stated, thus :

"The erosion of the distinction between jurisdictional errors and
non-jurisdictional errors has, as we have seen, correspondingly
eroded the distinction between void and voidable decisions. The p
courts have become increasingly impatient with the distinction, to
the extent that the situation today can be summarised as follows :

(l) All official decisions are presumed to be valid until set
aside of otherwise held lo be invalid by a court of competent
jurisdiction. G
Similarly, Wade and Forsyth in Administrative Law, Seventh edition - 1994,
have stated the law thus at pages 341-342:

•••••••• every unlawful administrative act, however invalid, is merely
11

voidable. But this is no more than the truism that in most situations H
146 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1995] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.

A the only way to resist unlawful action is by recourse to the law. In
a well-known passage Lord Radcliffe said :

An order, even if not made in good faith, is still an act
capable of legal consequenct;s. It bears no brand of invalidity
upon its forehead. Unless the necessary proceedings are
B taken at law to establish the cause of invalidity and to get it
quashed or otherwise upset, it will remain as effective for its
ostensible purpose as the most impeccable of orders.

This must be equally true even where the brand of invalidity is
plainly visible : for there also the order can effectively be resisted
c in law only by obtaining the decision of the court. The necessity
of recourse to the court has been pointed put repeatedly in the
House of Lords and Privy Council without distinction between
patent and latent defects."

D The above statement of the law supports our view that the order of the
Board dated 28.6.1977, declining to implead respondents No. 3 and 4
(which stood confirmed in Revision) concludes the matter against respon-
dents No. 3 and 4.

8. The additional feature in this case, is that the decision of the Board
E declining to implead respondents No. 3 and 4 was taken up in Revision -
C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 wherein the order of the Board was affirmed and it
was further observed that the plea of tenancy was not proved and it was
only a 'collusive' attempt between respondent No. 1 and respondents No.
3 and 4. Even assuming, for arguments sake that the order of the Board
F was held to be void in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977 (in the proceeding at the
instance of the 1st respondent), the order passed in Revision between the
parties herein, in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 will be valid and cannot be said to
be without jurisdiction or invalid. In this context, the Constitution Bench
decision of this Court in Ja11ard11a11 Reddy & Others v. State of Hyderabad
a11d Others, AIR (1951) SC 217 is of great relevance. In that case, the Court
G found that there is no specific order of the civil administrator making over
the case covered by charge-sheet No. 14 dated 20.7.1949 [charge sheet No.
14(2)1 to the Tribunal. Therefore, the Court held thatprimafacie there was
room to hold that case no. 17, which was affected by the charge sheet No.
14 (2) was never properly made over to the Tribunal and the Trial of the
H accused in that case was, therefore, without jurisdiction. But the matter was
STATE v. M.K.K. NAMBIAR MANIERI MANIKOTH [PATTANAIK, J.] 147

carried in appeal before the High Court of Hyderabad and the convictions A
and sentences were confirmed. It was urged before the Supreme Court that
notwithstanding the decision rendered by the High Court in appeal since
·the decision of the Tribunal was without jurisdiction, the detention was
invalid. In repelling this plea, Fazal Ali, J. observed at page 225, thus :

"Evidently, the appellate Court in a case which properly comes B
before it on appeal, is fully competent to decide whether the trial
was with or without jurisdiction, and it has jurisdiction to decide
the matter rightly as well as wrongly. If it affirms the conviction
and thereby decides wron! y that the trial court had the jurisdiction
to try and convict it cannot be said to have acted without jurisdic- c
tion and its order cannot be treated as a nullity."

"It is ,well settled that if a court acts without jurisdiction, its
decision can be challenged in the same way as it would have been
challenged if it had acted with jurisdiction, i.e., an appeal would
lie to the court to which it would lie if its order was with jurisdic- D
tion. 11

9. In the light of the above position in law, whatever may have been
the infirmity in the proceedings of the Board dated 28.6.1977 (which was
set aside in C.R.P. 3696 of 1977), since the said proceedings were affirmed E
in C.R.P. 3440 of 1977 dated 2.11.1977, which is the final decision inter-
parties, (State of Kerala and respondents No. 3 and 4, it was not open to
the Board to order impleadment of respondents No. 3 and 4 in the revised
draft statement proceedings by order dated 29.7.1980 and in finally ordering
the matter in favour of respondents No. 3 and 4; as it did, by order dated
9.1.1981. We are constrained to hold that the learned single Judge of the F
High Court committed a grave error in holding that the proceedings
rendered inter parties - between the State and respondents No. 3 and 4,
which finally stood confirmed by the order in C.R.P. 3440of1977, is non-est
and can be ignored. We set aside the order passed by the High Court in
C.R.P. No. 253 of 1981 dated 1.7.1987. In consequence, the revised orders G
passed by the board dated 29.7.1980 and 9.1.1981 will stand annuled. This
appeal is allowed with costs payable by respondents No. 3 and 4 herein,
quantified at Rs. 5000.

B.K.M. Appeal allowed.

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