U.P. BHOODAN YAGNA SAMITI, U.P. versus BRAJ KISHORE & ORS.

Citation: [1988] SUPP. 2 S.C.R. 859 · Decided: 09-09-1988 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: G.L. OZA · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed
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Judgment (excerpt)

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U.P. BHOODAN YAGNA SAMIT!, U.P. 
v. 
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BRAJ KISHORE & ORS. 
SEPTEMBER 9, 1988 
[G.L OZA AND K. JAGANNATHA SHEITY, JJ.] 
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U.P. Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1952: Sections 14 and 15-Grant of 
land to landless persons-To be made in accordance-with the Bhoodan 
Yagna Scheme and the philosophy behind the Bhoodan Movement. 
The Respondents, in 1968, obtained grant from Bhoodan Yagna 
Samiti under section 14 of the U.P. Bhoodan Yagna Act, of various 
plots of land situated in a village in Kanpur. On the basis of a report 
submitted by the Tehsildar co_ncerned in 1972, the Additional Collector 
issued notices to the respondents under the Act, requiring them to show 
cause as to why the settlement obtained by them should not be cancelled 
on the grounds, that they-did not reside in the village where the plots 
are situated, that they did not fall under the category of landless 
persons and that the grants had not been approved by the Government. 
After considering the objections filed by the respondents, the 
Additional Collector quashed all the grants made in favour of the 
respondents. 
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Against the order of the. Additional Collector, the respondents 
filed writ petitions in the High Court •. The High Court held that the 
respondents were covered by the definition 'landless persons' as they 
had uo land in that village-and the district, though they may be traders 
and paying income-tax aud may have properties in the city of Kanpur, 
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and quashed the order passed by the Additional Collector and main-
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tained the grants in favour of the respondents. These appeals are 
against the said order of the High Court. 
On behalf of the appellant, it was contended that the expression 
'landless person' has to be interpreted in the background of the law and 
the philosophy behind the movement which was the basis of the enact-
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ment of the law. 
Allowing these appeals, 
HELD: I. I It is now well settled that in order to interpret a law 
one must understand the background and the purpose for which the law 
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
I 1988] Supp. 2 S.C.R. 
was enacted. If one has bothered to understand the common phrase 
used in the Bhoodan Movement as 'Bhoomihin Kissan' which has been 
translated into English to mean 'landless persons' there would have 
been no difficulty. [868F-G] 
1.2 At the time when Acharya Vinoba Bhave started his move-
ment of Bhoodan Yagna our rural society had a peculiar diversity. 
There were some who owned or had leasehold rights in vast tracks 
of agricultural lands. And there were those who were working as 
labourers in the fields and depending on what little they got from their 
masters. Sometimes they were even bound down to their masters and 
therefore had to lead a miserable life. It was this problem in rural India 
which attracted the attention of Acharya Vinoba Bhave followed by 
Shri Jaya Prakash Narain and they secured large donations of land 
from big land-holders and the scheme of the Bhoodan Yagna movement 
was to distribute this land to those 'Bhoomihin Kissan' who were living 
on agriculture but had no land of their own. It was to make this effec-
tive and statutory that this law was enacted and in this context it is clear 
that if one had noticed even the slogan of the Acharya Vinoba Bhave's 
movement or its basis and the purpose, it would have clearly indicated 
the problem which was to be remedied by this enactment and if this was 
looked into for the purpose of interpretation of the term 'landless 
persons' no Court could have come to the conclusion which has been 
arrived at in the instant case. [866C-F] 
2. Section 15 provides that all grants shall be made so far as 
may be in accordance with the scheme of the Bhoodan Yagna. It could 
not be disputed that Bhoodan Y agna scheme only contemplated 
allotment of lands in favour of those landless agricultural labourers who 
were residing in the villages concerned and whose source of livelihood 
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was agriculture. In that context only, the expression 'landless person' 
could be understood as contemplated under section 14. Section ·14 
was amended in 1975 to substitute the words 'landless agricultural 
labourers' in place of 'landless persons'. The objects and reasons 
contained in the Amendment Bill clearly go to show that it was because 
of such errors committed that it became necessary to make this 
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amendment. [864G-H; 865A-B] 
Lord Dennings's 'The Discipline of law', pp. 10, 12 and 'Vinoba
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