Petitioner sought Bhoodan land allotment of 4.52 acres in Coimbatore district after his earlier purchase from the original assignee was invalid. The court found his certified annual income of Rs.1,20,000 exceeded the Rs.25,000 ceiling for a landless poor person and dismissed the writ petition.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 25.10.2024
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.SOUNTHAR
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
D.Stanley Peter
... Petitioner
Vs.
1.The Principal Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu Revenue Department, Fort St. George, Chennai – 600 005.
2.The Land Commissioner, Commissionerate of Land Administration, Ezhilagam Building, Second Floor, Chepauk, Chennai – 600 005.
3.The Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Yagna Board, Ezhilagam Building, First Floor, Chepauk, Chennai – 600 005.
4.The Collector, Coimbatore District Collector Office, Coimbatore.
5.The Tahsildar, Sulur Taluk Office, Sulur, Coimbatore District.
1/8
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
... Respondents
Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of Constitution of India, to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the records of the 2nd respondent bearing Na.Ka.K2/5813/2016(Bhoo.Va), dated 21.05.2024 and quash the same and direct the 3rd respondent to allot the agricultural land admeasuring an extent of 4.52 acres comprised in Survey No.289/3 Appanayakkanpatti Village, Sulur Taluk, Coimbatore District as per recommendation of Bhoodan Board dated 30.03.1992 bearing V.Pa 640/1/H.
For Petitioner : Mr.L.Dhamodharan
For Respondents : Mr.P.Sathish Additional Government Pleader
O R D E R
This writ petition is filed challenging the order passed by
the second respondent negativing the petitioner's prayer for allotment of land situated in Survey No.289/3 Appanayakkanpatti Village, Sulur Taluk, Coimbatore District.
extent of 4.52 acres was assigned in favour of one S.R.Arumugam by Boodhan Board in the year 1964. The petitioner purchased the above
2/8
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
mentioned land from above said S.R.Arumugam on 30.11.1989. As the petitioner encountered with trouble from the Revenue Authorities on the ground that alienation by S.R.Arumugam in favour of the petitioner was not valid, the petitioner approached Boodhan Board for assignment in his favour. Since the Board was not headed by a chairman at the relevant point of time, the decision on the request of the petitioner was deferred. In the mean time, the petitioner received a notice from Tahsildar directing the petitioner to surrender the land as the same belonged to Boodhan Board. The petitioner submitted a representation before the respondents seeking allotment of the above mentioned land in his favour. The second respondent by impugned order rejected the request of the petitioner and aggrieved by the same, he has come before this Court.
3/8
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
above mentioned land from S.R.Arumugam, the original assignee in the year 1989. After the respondents informed the petitioner about the violation of assignment order, the property was surrendered by the petitioner voluntarily and sought for assignment in his favour. The petitioner also submitted that the respondents did not appreciate the eligibility criterion for assignment of Boodhan land and therefore, the impugned order passed by them is not justifiable in law.
the respondents submitted that in order to get assignment under the Tamil Nadu Boodhan Yagna Act, 1958, the applicant should not possess more than one acre of wet land or more than two acres of dry land. The income of the applicant should not exceed Rs.25,000/- per annum. However, in the case on hand, as per the income certificate issued to the petitioner on 10.10.2015, his income was more than Rs.1,20,000/- per annum. Therefore, it is the submission of the learned Additional Government Pleader that the petitioner failed to satisfy the eligibility criteria and hence his request for assignment was rightly rejected by the official respondents.
4/8
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
person” is defined under Section 2(f) of said Act as follows:
(f)"landless poor person" means a person who either is not an owner of land or an owner of land which does not exceed the limits prescribed in this behalf and whose annual income does not exceed [such sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees as may be prescribed] [Substituted for the words 'three hundred rupees' by Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Yagna (Amendment) Act. 2000 (Tamil Nadu Act 37 of 2000).];
5/8
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
Rs.1,20,000/-. Hence, the income of the petitioner exceeds the threshold limit of Rs.25,000/- per annum. Therefore, the petitioner failed to satisfy the eligibility criteria for getting assignment of free lands under the Tamil Nadu Boodhan Yagna Act, 1958. Accordingly, the claim of the petitioner was rightly rejected and I do not find any error in the impugned order.
25.10.2024
Index : Yes / No Speaking order : Yes / No Neutral Citation : Yes / No ub
6/8
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
To
1.The Principal Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu Revenue Department, Fort St. George, Chennai – 600 005.
2.The Land Commissioner, Commissionerate of Land Administration, Ezhilagam Building, Second Floor, Chepauk, Chennai – 600 005.
3.The Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Yagna Board, Ezhilagam Building, First Floor, Chepauk, Chennai – 600 005.
4.The Collector, Coimbatore District Collector Office, Coimbatore.
5.The Tahsildar, Sulur Taluk Office, Sulur, Coimbatore District.
7/8
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
S.SOUNTHAR, J.
ub
W.P.No.18742 of 2024
25.10.2024
8/8
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioner satisfied the eligibility criteria under the Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1958 for assignment of the Bhoodan land.
Whether the impugned rejection order dated 21.05.2024 was liable to be quashed and assignment directed.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
D.Stanley Peter
The Principal Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu Revenue Department
The Land Commissioner, Commissionerate of Land Administration
The Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Yagna Board
The Collector, Coimbatore District
The Tahsildar, Sulur Taluk
S.Sounthar
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
