GWALIOR RAYON SILK MFG. (WVG.) CO. LID. versus CUSTODIAN OF VESTED FORESTS PALGHAT AND ANR.

Citation: [1990] 2 S.C.R. 401 · Decided: 06-04-1990 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: K. JAGANNATHA SHETTY · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 1 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

, 
GWALIOR RAYON SILK MFG. (WVG.) CO. LID. 
A 
v. 
CUSTODIAN OF VESTED FORESTS PALGHAT AND ANR. 
APRIL 6, 1990 
[K. JAGANNATHA SHETTY AND R.M. SAHAI, JJ.] 
Kera/a Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971: Sec-
tions 2(f)( l)(i)(C), 3(1) and (2): 'Private Forest'-Vesting in Govern-
ment-'Any other agricµ/tura/ crop'-Does not include all species of 
trees including eucalyptus plantations-Only fruit bearing trees are 
excluded-Land planted with eucalyptus-Held vested in Government 
-Object of the Act explained. 
Kera/a Land Reforms Act, 1963 (As amended by Amendment Act 
35 of 1969): Section 2(47)(iv ): Scope and meaning accorded to 'Private 
Forest'-Held inapplicable to Kera/a Private Forests (Vesting and 
Assignment) Act, 1971: 
The Madras Preservation of Private Forests Act, 1949-0bject of. 
Statutory interpretation: Words defined in a statute-Judicial 
interpretation of-Does not afford a guide to construction of the same 
words in another statute unless the statutes are pari materia legisla-
tions. 
Legislative intention-Ascertainment of-Judges should not only 
listen to the voice of the legislature but also listen attentively to what the 
legislature does not say. 
Words and Phrases: 'Agriculture', 'Agricultural Crop', 'Garden' 
and 'Nilam'-meaningof. 
The appellant company was maintaining a large eucalyptus planta· 
tion for captive consumption in its production of Rayon Grade Pulp. 
The State of Kerala claimed that as a consequence of the Kerala 
Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act, 1971, the eucalyptus 
plantation being a 'private forest' stood transferred to and vested in it. 
The company resisted the State's claim on the ground that the term 
'private forest' excludes the eucalyptus plantation. The High Court 
decided the question in favour of the State and against the appellant. 
401 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
402 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[ 1990] 2 S.C.R. 
A 
In the appeal to this Court, it was contended on behalf of the 
B 
c 
0 
E 
F 
G 
H 
appellant that since the eucalyptus plantation was covered by the expre-
ssion 'any other agricultural crop' in section 2(47)(iv) of the Kerala 
Land Reforms Act, 1963 the similar expression , used in section 
2(f)(l)(i)(C) of the Vesting Act, 1971 must also carry the same meaning. 
Dismissing the appeal, this Court. 
HELD: 1. Judicial interpretation given to the words defined in 
one statute does not afford a guide to construction of the same 
words in another statute unless the statutes are pari materia legisla-
tions. [408G] 
1.1 The defmition of 'private forest' in the Kerala Land Reforms 
Act is not just the same as the definition of 'private forest' in the Vesting 
Act. Indeed, there is a vast difference between the two. Two separate 
definitions have been provided in the Vesting Act; the first is applicable 
to the Malabar district where the Madras Preservation of Private 
Forests Act, 1949 applied inunediately before the appointed day; the 
second concerned is in relation to the remaining areas in the State of 
Kerala. The definition of 'private forest' as is applicable to the 
Malabar district is not general in terms but limited to the areas and 
lands to which the Madras Preservation of Private Forests Act applied, 
and exempts therefrom lands described under sub-clauses (A)·to (D). 
This significant reference to this Act in the d~imition of 'private forest' 
in the Vesting Act makes all the difference in the case. The scheme of 
this Act appears to be that if the land is shown to be private forest on the 
date on which the Act came into force, it would contin.ue to be a forest, 
even ifthere was subsequent replantation. [408H; 409A-D) 
1.2 The lands involved in this appeal were all forests as defmed in 
the Madras Preservation of Private Forests Act and continued to be so 
when the Vesting Act came into force. Therefore, it seems inappro-
priate to transplant the meaning accorded to 'private forest' from the 
Kerala Land Reforms Act to the Vesting Act. l409E-F) 
State of Kera/av. An1do American D. T. T. Co., [1980) Ker. L.T. 
215 and State of Kera/a v. K.C. Moosa Haji, A.I.R. 1984 Ker. 149 
referred to. 
Ma/ankara Rubber and Produce Co. v. State of Kera/a & Ors., 
[1973] 1SCR399, Held inapplicable. 
• 
GWALIOR RAYON CO. v. CUSTODIAN OF FORESTS 
4D3 
State of Kera/a v. Gwalior Rayon Silk Mfg. (Wvg.) Co. Ltd., 
/1974] 1SCR671, referred to . 
2. The term 'agriculture' and 'agricultural crop' have wider as 
well as narrower connotation. The wider conc

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