The West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953 hereinafter referred to as the Estates Acquisition Act came into force on 12.2.1954.
In the said proceedings, the appellants in Civil Appeal No.12509 of 1996 got impleaded as party respondents.
Those appellants were said to have been directed to pay further lease rent of Rs.9,608.80 on 13.5.1980, which was claimed to have been paid on 6.8.1980.
Since the writ petitioners respondents were already allowed to retain lands as per the order of the learned Trial Judge, we direct that the authority may reconsider the matter in the light of observations made in this judgment with regard to the par observations made in this judgment with regard to the particulars of agricultural land and number agricultural land in the light of the classification of the lands within a period three months from the date of companymunication of this order.
In the meantime, the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955, which came into force on 30.3.1956, underwent several changes and modifications till 1991.
But, the Revenue Officer, while allowing the writ petitioner opposite parties to retain lands, should companysider the scope and ambit of Section 6 1 c and d of the said Act and the intermediaries may be allowed to retain lands the intermediaries were holding and were companytinuing to hold and were keeping in their possession directly and or indirectly and pass necessary orders in accordance with law.
It is also for the Revenue Officer to decide which lands are agricultural and which lands are number agricultural and to what amount of land Ganga Das Pal was entitled to retain on the death of vesting.
Thereupon, on 13.3.1978, it is claimed by the said appellants that the one year lease was initially granted, pending preparation of the proposal for long term lease with a direction initially to make the payment of annual lease rent assessed at Rs.4,100/ subject to final assessment, which they were said to have deposited on 15.3.1978 and formal possession certificate was said to have been issued also in favour of the said appellants on 21.3.1978.
Apart from the writ petitioners having claimed to have written to the District Magistrate and Collector, 24 Parganas, Alipore, on 29.11.1976 informing about the registered Agreement for Sale when the appellants in C.A. No.12509 of 1996, on 3.10.1977 came to know about the order of vesting of the land, they made an application before the State Government and sought for long term lease of the said land.
On 23.8.1991, a long term lease of 28.56 acres of land for thirty years with right of renewal was said to have been granted by the State Government to those appellants and the Government was said to have proposed to regularize the companytinuity of the lease from 1978 to 1990 by realizing balance lease rent at the rate of Rs.4,100/ per year.
On 14.10.1980, the Additional District Magistrate wrote to the Commissioner that possession of land after vesting was taken over by the Junior Land Reforms Officer on 12.11.1971 and 13.11.1971 and the Government formally again gave possession to those appellants on short term lease.
J U D G M E N T Raju, J. The above appeals have been filed against the companymon order dated 18.4.1996 in F.M.A.T. No.3357 of 1992 filed in the High Court by the appellants in C.A. No.12509 of 1996 and F.M.A.T. No.3391 of 1992 filed by the State of West Bengal appellant in C.A. No.442 of 1998, whereunder the Division Bench of the High Court, except for making certain modification of the order of the learned Single Judge and partly allowing the appeals, affirmed the decision so rendered.
It is for the Revenue Officer to determine the amount of land held by Ganga Das Pal on the death of vesting.
On 15.4.1954, a Notification was issued under Section 4 1 vesting all estates and the rights of all intermediaries in the State free from all encumbrances and thereupon the State became the paramount title holder by virtue of Section 5 also.
While matters stood thus, on 20.9.1991 the heirs of Big raiyat filed Writ Petition being Civil Order No.11737 W of 1991 challenging the order of vesting dated 16.9.1971.
This order came to be passed on the ground that in spite of parties having said to have been given sufficient opportunity, did number choose to exercise an option to retain any land in their khas possession, leaving an impression that they are number willing to retain any land in their khas possession and that their prayer for grant of another two months time cannot be companyntenanced.
On 16.9.1971, an order came to be passed that all the lands of the said Big raiyat enumerated in Schedule A to the order stood vested in the State on and from the date of vesting and that the vested land statement be sent to the respective Junior Land Reforms Officer for taking necessary action in the matter.
