Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI. The Supreme Court of India has reaffirmed the longstanding principle that land leased under agricultural tenancy laws must be used solely for agricultural purposes and cannot be converted for non-agricultural uses such as construction or development.
The bench, consisting of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Arvind Kumar, delivered the verdict on Monday in a special leave petition filed by the Thivim Comunidade. The petitioner challenged a Bombay High Court ruling that dismissed their request to settle a tenancy dispute through an out-of-court agreement.
The case involved two plots of land, identified as survey numbers 448/0 and 440/0, which were leased in 1978 to the ancestors of Biku Vaigankar and others, who passed away in 1985. In 1986, Vaigankar and the other parties successfully applied to have their tenancy rights recorded in property records via ex-parte proceedings. The Thivim Comunidade later contested this declaration but simultaneously sought to resolve the dispute through a consensual arrangement approved in a special general body meeting held in March 2021.
According to the proposed agreement, Vaigankar’s family would receive a 60 percent share of the land, while the Comunidade would retain 40 percent. However, such a settlement required approval from the Administrative Tribunal under the Code of Comunidades. The tribunal rejected the application, and subsequent appeals to the Bombay High Court and ultimately the Supreme Court also failed.
In its judgement, the Supreme Court stated that the proposed settlement violated both the Tenancy Act and the Land Use Act by effectively granting freehold ownership rights over tenancy land without following the statutory purchase procedures. Moreover, the agreement permitted the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes, which is prohibited under existing laws.
The Court condemned the compromise as an abuse of legal process and an attempt to circumvent established legal provisions.
Commenting on the ruling, Advocate General Devidas Pangam noted that the Bombay High Court has consistently upheld the principle that tenanted agricultural lands cannot be repurposed for non-agricultural uses, reaffirming the protection of such lands under the law.
This verdict underscores the judiciary’s commitment to safeguarding agricultural land and ensuring compliance with tenancy and land use regulations.
