In Re: Raja of Vizianagaram

Rajamannar, C.J.—The Rajah of Vizianagaram is the petitioner in this application. The estate of Vizianagaram was notified under the

Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion imp Ryotwari) Act, 1948, in September 1949. This application relates to certain vacant house sites in

the town of Vizianagaram. These house sites certainly form part of the estate of Vizianagaram. They are admittedly situated within the ambit of the

estate and it is impossible to accept the contention raised in the affidavit that the petitioner''s predecessor owned these lands before the Permanent

Settlement. It is not suggested that they were parts of pre-settlement inams. It was contended that the permanent assessment was not arrived at

after taking into account uncultivated arable lands and waste lands and these were given practically free to the Zamindar without any additional

assessment and therefore the vacant sites in question which fall under that category must be taken to be outside the scope of the Permanent

Settlement.

The contention is based on a fallacy. What passed to the Zamindar under the sanad was not confined to the lands on which the peish-cush was

calculated -- see -- ''Prasad Row v. Secy. of State for India 40 Mad 886 PC. The fact that in 1802 no income accrued to the Zamindar from

these lands does not really affect the question. Once it is granted that these sites form part of the permanently settled estate, Section 3(b) of the

Abolition Act certainly gives power to the Government to take them over unless the Zamindar is entitled to be granted ryotwari pattas u/s 12 and

similar provisions of the Act. Obviously, these lands do not fall within such provisions and the petitioner will not be entitled to a ryotwari patta in

respect of them.

There is no reason therefore to quash the order of the Board of Revenue which gave effect to correct principles in directing the vesting of the

sites in question in the Government.

The application is therefore dismissed.