Narayan Mahto vs The State of Bihar and Others

Heard. We are not satisfied with the contention of the petitioner that while entertaining an application for pre-emption u/s 16(3) of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, the Collector is a court and, thus, he can condone the delay in filing the pre-emption application.

The Act is a special statute, prescribing limitation for making an application for pre-emption, appeal against order granting or refusing to grant pre-emption or revision against the appellate order. Such period prescribed in the special statute with respect to the jurisdiction of Tribunals or deemed courts of limited jurisdiction are not governed by section 5 of the Limitation Act.

Notwithstanding the nature of the proceedings contemplated under the Act, the authorities deciding at the original level, appellate level or revisional level are not courts as contemplated in Article 235 of the Constitution of India. Unless they are courts, as contemplated therein, the inherent jurisdiction of the court shall not vest in them to condone delay. For the reasons, aforementioned, we do not find any merit in this application. It is, accordingly, dismissed.