K.N. FARMS INDUSTRIES (PVT.) LTD. v. STATE OF BIHAR & QRS

Citation: [2009] 10 S.C.R. 415

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: R.V. RAVEENDRAN, J.M. PANCHAL

Case summary

K.N. FARMS INDUSTRIES (PVT.) LTD. v. STATE OF BIHAR & QRS.pdf

Judgment text

[2009] 10 S. C. R. 415 -i K. N. FARMS INDUSTRIES (PVT. ) LTD. ..... v. STATE OF BIHAR & QRS. (Civil Appeal No. 4154 of 2009) JULY 7, 2009 [R. V. RAVEENDRAN AND J. M. PANCHAL, JJ. ] Bihar Land R(! forms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961 - s. 2(f) - Land - Definition of - Tanks if fall within the definition of land uls. 2(f) - Held: Tanks meant to provide water for agricultural! horticultural purposes is 'land' for purposes of the Act - In view of the clear and specific words used in the definition of 'land', the land perennially covered with water, which includes tanks, ~ " cannot be excluded from the definition of land - In State of Bihar! Jharkhand, land peren,iially submerged under water, except riverbeds or ravines filled with water, is land.

The question which arose for consideration in this appeal was whether a tank will fall within the definition of 'land' under section 2(f) of the Bihar Land Reforms (fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) .. Act, 1961 as applicable in the State of Jharkhand. ... Dismissing the appeal, the Court HElD: 1. Having regard to the clear and specific words used in the definition of 'land' in the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961, it is not possible to exclude land perennially covered with water, which includes tanks, from the definition of land. Therefore, tanks meant to ·-. provide water for agricultural/horticultural purposes is 'land' for purposes of the Act. There is no error in the orders of the Single Judge of High Court as affirmed by ... the Division Bench of High Court. (Para 14] [428-B-C] 2. 1.

When a particular word Is defined in an Act with ·reference to its ordinary and normal meaning, and then includes certain additional 'meaning' which would not normally follow but for the specific inclusion, it is not possible to contend that that the extended meaning is contrary to the general or normal meaning and therefore it should be ignored. [Para 6] [423-C-D] Principles of Statutory Interpretation by Justice G. P. Singh 11th (2008) Edition pp 174-181, referred to. 2. 2. One of the objects of the Act is to take over surplus land from large land-holders, and distribute such excess land among landless. But it does not follow therefrom that only land that could be distributed among .. ~ landless for agricultural/horticultural purposes, can be considered as 'land' and not other lands.

The courts while interpreting the provisions of any Act should adopt an object oriented approach keeping in mind the principle that legislative futility is to be avoided so long as interpretative possibility permits. But at the same time, the courts will have to keep in mind that the object oriented approach, cannot be carried to the extent of } doing violence to the plain language used in the statute ... by re-writing the words of a statute in place of the actual words used, or by ignoring definite words used in the statue. The clear and specific words used cannot be ignored. [Paras 9 and 10) [425-C-F] Commissioner of Income Tax v. Budhraja and Company 1994 Supp. (1) SCC 208, referred to. ~ T Principles of Statutory Interpretation by Justice G. P. -- Singh's 11th Edition, p 116-117 - referred to. 2. 3. The definition of "land" includes homestead of - BIHAR & ORS. the land-holder. Explanation (I) to s. 2(f) defines "homestead" as including any tank appurtenant to the dwelling house.

If a tank appurtenant to the dwelling house is land, it follows that any tank appurtenant to agricultural/horticultural land used to irrigate or water such agricultural/horticultural land, will also be land. When tank is specifically referred to as land in explanation-I to the definition of 'land' in s. 2(f), it is not possible to accept the contention that no tank can be land. [Para 12] (427-A-C] 2. 4. Explanation (II) to the definition of 'lahd' states that "land perennially submerged under water" shall not include "submerged in the bed of a river". This clearly implies that in the State of Bihar/Jharkhand, all land perennially submerged under water, except riverbeds, is land. The apparent legislative intention is that not only the land actually used for agriculture or horticulture but any or every land which is used incidental or appurtenant to agriculture or horticulture, is also land. This is evident from the definition of 'homestead'.

Any dwelling house which is situated in an agricultural or horticultural land, which is intended for the dwelling of persons is homestead and is included in the definition of land. Further, any outbuilding used for the purposes ' - connected with agriculture or horticulture is also part of homestead and therefore, land. Any artificial or natural body of water, situated in private holdings, which irrigates or supplies water for the agricultural or horticultural purposes is also land. The word 'even land' with reference to the land submerged under water shows that what is excluded is riverbeds or ravines filled with water. The use of the words 'even land perennially submerged under water' in the definition of 'land' would thus indicate that a tank also is land. What is excluded from the definition of land is the riverbed, or a tank which is a dammed ravine.

Section 4(f) of the Act which prescribes the ceiling area in regard to Class VI lands also reiterates that even land perennially submerged under water, is land. [Para 13] (427-D-H; 428-A] Authorized Of(icer, ThanJ? vur v. S. Naganathf1 Ayyar 1979 (3) SCC 466. ; S. J(. Ars~cf Ali v. S. K. Fazle Hakani 1996 (11) sec 585? ref~rr~~ to. P. Ramanatha Aiyar's Advanced Law Lexicon, Third Edition, Vol. 4, p 4608 - r~ferred to. Case Law Reference: 1979 (3) sec 466 Referred to. Para 5 1996 (11) sec 585 Referred to. Para 5 ~ - 1994 Supp. (1) sec 208 Referred to. Para 9 CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 4154 of 2009. From the Judgment and Order dated 19. 2. 2004 of the High Court of Patna in LP. A. No. 21 of 1993. ) . , S. B. Sanyal and Ranjan Mukherjee for the Appellants. Gopal Singh and Anuj Prakash for the Respondents. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by R. V. RAVEENDRAN, J. Leave granted. Heard parties. 1. This appeal by special leave raises the question • ..

whether a tank will fall within the definition of "land" under section 2(f) of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act. 1961 as applicable in the State of Jharkhand ('Act' for short), extracted below : BIHAR & ORS. [RV RAVEENDRAN, J. ] .. ''Lahd'' means land Which is used or capable of being used for agriculture of horticulture and includes land which is an '" orchard, kharhur or pasturage or forest land ot eveh land perennially submerged under water or the homestead of a land-holder; Explanation 1. - "Homestead" means a dwelling house for the purpose of living or for the purpose of letting out on rent together with any courtyard, compound, attached garden, -l orchard and out-building and includes any out-building for the purpose connected with agriculture or horticulture and any tank, library and place of worship appertaining to such dwelling house. .. Explanation II.

- Land perennially submerged under water shall not include submerged in the bed of a river. " ,. "' 2. The appellant is a land-holder. Proceedings were initiated in the year 1973 for determination of the surplus land held by it. The appellant filed a return showing the extent of land in its possession as 379. 12 acres. The Circle Officer submitted a report to the Land Reforms Deputy Collector, Jamshedpur, showing the extent of land in the possession of appellant as 443. 09 acres. The appella11t filed the objections contending that certain tanks which did not fall under the definition of land in all ~ measuring 43. 29 acres had been wrongly included in the draft ... ' publication. By order dated 9. 10. 1982, the Addi. Collector held that the tanks covering an area of 43. 29 acres fell within the definition of "land" and therefore, had to be taken into account for determining the surplus area.

The challenge to the inclusion of the "tank" area was rejected by the appellate authority on 22. 3. 1983 and upheld by the Board of Revenue on 22. 11. 1983. --} 3. Feeling aggrieved, the appellant filed a writ petition 0NP No. 995 of 1984), contending that while "even land perennially submerged under water" was 'land' for the purpose of the ceiling area, a tank cannot be considered to be land. The '"::. appellant contended that only land which was arable, that is .. land which was used or capable of being used for agriculture .. or horticulture could be considered as land for determining surplus land and a tank which is land covered with water incapable of being used for agriculture or horticulture could not be treated as land for the purp1se of the Act. A learned Single Judge of the Patna High Court rajected the said contention and dismissed the writ petition by order dated 2. 3. 1993.

He held that the legislative intent was to include all tanks and ponds )' > used for agricultural purposes, within the definition of "land" by including in the definition "even land perennially submerged under water". The appeal filed by the appellant was dismissed by order dated 19. 2. 2004 affirming the reasoning and findings of the Learned Judge. The Division Bench also noticed the amendment to the Act in the State of Bihar by Act 5 of 2002 by which the words 'also the land' were substituted for the words .. ,. _ "even land" and held that the subsequent amendment showed the legislative intent was that 'land' should also include any land perennially submerged under water. The said order is challenged in this appeal, giving rise to the question whether a tank will be 'land' for purposes of the Act. 4.

The learned counsel for the appellant contended that the Preamble to the Act showed that the object of the Act was to ) provide for fixation of ceiling, restriction on sub-letting and resumption of certain raiyats for personal cultivation of land, acquisition of status of raiyat by certain under-raiyats, and acquisition of surplus land by the State and matters connected therewith. He submitted that the definition of land shows that it means only land which is used or capable of being used for agriculture or horticulture. According to him, the addition of certain categories of land by using the words "includes" does not take away or dilute the requirement that only land used or ~ . capable of being used for agricultural or horticultural purposes, ' will be 'land'. He submits that the additions of certain categories by use of the words "and includes land which is an orchard, karhur or pasturage or forest land or even land perennially ....

·J submerged under water or the homestead of land holder" merely accentuates the requirement that the land should be used or capable of being used for agricultural or · distribute such excess land among landless. But it does not follow therefrom that only land that could be distributed among landless for agricultural/horticultural purposes, can be considered as 'land' and not other lands. The courts, while interpreting the provisions of any Act should, no doubt, adopt an object oriented approach keeping in mind the principle that legislative futility is to be avoided so long as interpretative possibility permits. But at the same time, the courts will have to keep in mind that the object oriented approach, cannot be ~ carried to the extent of doing violence to the plain language used in the statute, by re-writing the words of a ,statute in place of the actual words used, or by ignoring definite words used in the statue.

(See : the observations of this court in Commissioner of Income Tax v. Budhraja and Company - 1994 Supp. (1) SCC 208 and Justice G. P. Singh's Principles of Statutory Interpretation - 11th Edition, Page 116-117). Therefore the decision in S. Naganatha Ayyar (supra) relied . on by the appellant will be of no assistance. 10. The third is the emphasis on the general meaning of the word 'tank' and the consequential contention that no one· would think of a 'tank' as 'land'. The argument is sea is not / ~ considered as land, river is not land and therefore tank also " cannot be land. It is pointed out that if the determining factor is existence of land or level surface beneath the water to say 'tank' is land, then even sea and rivers also will have to be treated as land.

It is submitted that when land is perennially covered with water, such land cease to be 'land' as ordinarily understood, and become water bodies which may be an ocean, sea, river, lake, tank or pond, depending upon the size, ~ situation and nature of the water body. Reliance is placed on the decision of Arsed Ali (supra) where it was held that a pond abounding with fish was not land. But general meanings and perceptions, or decisions rendered with reference to statutes containing different definitions will not be of any assistance in interpreting a word which is clearly, specially and exhaustively defined in the Act itself. We will have to find out the meaning of the word, with reference to its definition in the Act. While the • ~ object of the Act can be one of the indicators used in interpretation, clear and specific words used cannot be ignored.

In fact the learned Single Judge keeping in view the object of the Act, has held that only tanks used for agricultural purposes will be 'land' for purposes of the Act and not all tanks in general. Let us now examine the provisions of the Act to find out whether 'tank' used for agricultural purposes is land, as held by the High Court, keeping the above principles in view. J. 11. It is no doubt true that the word 'land' would not have included a tank, in the normal sense, but for its definition specifically including "even land perennially submerged under water". The word 'tank' is defined in P. Ramanatha Aiyar's Advanced Law Lexicon, (Third Edition, Vol. 4, page 4608) as follows: ""Tank". - A pond or pool, or lake; a tank is often of many ~ ~ acres in extent; an irrigation reservoir, a dammed up ravine or other suitable place for collecting the water............ All the following three together, namely (i) the underground j.

or the land underneath, on which water is stored (ii) the embankment or the bandh ·which serves the purpose of keeping the water confined within its boundary and (iii) the bed or pet of the tank, is known as tank. 12. As noticed above, the definition of "land" includes homestead of the land-holder. Explanation (I) to section 2(f) defines "homestead" as including any tank appurtenant to the dwelling house. If a tank appurtenant to the dwelling house is __, land, it follows that any tank appurtenant to agricultural/ horticultural land used to irrigate or water such agricultural/ horticultural land, will also be land. When tank is specifically referred to as land in Explanation-I to the definition of the word 'land' in section 2(f), it is not possible to accept the contention that no tank can be land. _.. 13. Explanation (11) to the definition of 'land' states that "land "' perennially submerged under water" shall not include "submerged in the bed of a river'' .

This clearly implies that in the State of Bihar/Jharkhand, all land perennially submerged under water, except riverbeds, is land. The apparent legislative intention is that not only the land actually used for agriculture or horticulture but any or every land which is used incidental or appurtenant to agriculture or horticulture, is also land. This is ,. evident from the definition of 'homestead'. Any dwelling house which is situated in an agricultural or horticultural land, which is intended for the dwelling of persons is a homestead and is included in the definition of land. Further, any outbuilding used for the purposes connected with agriculture or horticulture is also part of homestead and therefore, land. Any artificial or natural body of water, situated in private holdings, which irrigates or supplies water for the agricultural or horticultural purposes is also land.

The word 'even land' with reference to •-J the land submerged under water shows that what is excluded is riverbeds or ravines filled with water. The use of the words 'even land perennially submerged under water' in the definition of 'land' would thus indicate that a tank also is land. What is excluded from the definition of land is the riverbed, or a tank • which is a dammed ravine. Section 4(f) of the Act which prescribes the ceiling area in regard to Class VI lands also reiterates that even land perennially submerged under water, is land. 14. Having regard to the clear and specific words used in the definition of 'land', it is not possible to exclude land perennially covered with water, which includes tanks, from the definition of land. We therefore agree that tanks meant to provide water for agricultural/horticultural purposes is 'land' for purposes of the Act.

We therefore find no error in the orders of the learned Single Judge affirmed by the Division Bench and consequently, the appeal is dismissed. N. J. Appeal dismissed.