VASANT GANPAT PADAVE (D) BY LRS. & ORS. v. ANANT MAHADEV SAWANT (D) THROUGH LRS. & ORS.

A “... it is true that the words used, even in their literal sense, are the primary and ordinarily the most reliable, source of interpreting the meaning of any writing: be it a statute, a contract or anything else. But it is one of the surest indexes of a mature and developed jurisprudence not to make a fortress out of the dictionary; but to remember that statutes always have some purpose or object to accomplish, whose sympathetic and imaginative discovery is the surest guide to their meaning.” We must not adopt a strictly literal interpretation of Section 52 sub-section (2) but we must construe its language having regard to the object and purpose which the legislature had in view in enacting that provision and in the context of the setting in which it occurs. We cannot ignore the context and the collocation of the provisions in which Section 52 sub-section (2) appears, because, as pointed out by Judge Learned Hand in most felicitous language: “... the meaning of a sentence may be more than that of the separate words, as a melody is more than the notes, and no degree of particularity can ever obviate recourse to the setting in which all appear, and which all collectively create.” E Keeping these observations in mind we may now approach the construction of Section 52 sub-section (2).

6. The primary objection against the literal construction of Section 52 sub-section (2) is that it leads to manifestly unreasonable and absurd consequences. It is true that the consequences of a F suggested construction cannot alter the meaning of a statutory provision but they can certainly help to fix its meaning. It is a well-recognised rule of construction that a statutory provision must be so construed, if possible, that absurdity and mischief may be avoided. There are many situations where the construction G suggested on behalf of the Revenue would lead to a wholly unreasonable result which could never have been intended by the legislature. Take, for example, a case where agrees to sell his property to for a certain price and before the sale is completed pursuant to the agreement — and it is quite well- known that sometimes the completion of the sale may take place H

VASANT GANPAT PADAVE (D) BY LRS. v. ANANT 613 MAHADEV SAWANT (D) THR. LRS. [R. F. NARIMAN, J.]

even a couple of years after the date of the agreement — the market price shoots up with the result that the market price prevailing on the date of the sale exceeds the agreed price at which the property is sold by more than 15 per cent of such agreed price. This is not at all an uncommon case in an economy of rising prices and in fact we would find in a large number of cases where the sale is completed more than a year or two after the date of the agreement that the market price prevailing on the date of the sale is very much more than the price at which the property is sold under the agreement. Can it be contended with any degree of fairness and justice that in such cases, where there is clearly no under-statement of consideration in respect of the transfer and the transaction is perfectly honest and bona fide and, in fact, in fulfilment of a contractual obligation, the assessee who has sold the property should be liable to pay tax on capital gains which have not accrued or arisen to him. It would indeed be most harsh and inequitable to tax the assessee on income which has neither arisen to him nor is received by him, merely because he has carried out the contractual obligation undertaken by him. It is difficult to conceive of any rational reason why the legislature should have thought it fit to impose liability to tax on an assessee who is bound by law to carry out his contractual obligation to sell the property at the agreed price and honestly carries out such contractual obligation. It would indeed be strange if obedience to the law should attract the levy of tax on income which has neither arisen to the assessee nor has been received by him. If we may take another illustration, let us consider a case where sells his property to with a stipulation F that after some time which may be a couple of years or more, he shall re-sell the property to for the same price. Could it be contended in such a case that when transfers the property to A for the same price at which he originally purchased it, he should be liable to pay tax on the basis as if he has received the market G value of the property as on the date of re-sale, if, in the meanwhile, the market price has shot up and exceeds the agreed price by more than 15 per cent? Many other similar situations can be contemplated where it would be absurd and unreasonable to apply Section 52 sub-section (2) according to its strict literal H

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A construction. We must therefore eschew literalness in the interpretation of Section 52 sub-section (2) and try to arrive at an interpretation which avoids this absurdity and mischief and makes the provision rational and sensible, unless of course, our hands are tied and we cannot find any escape from the tyranny of the literal interpretation. It is now a well-settled rule of construction that where the plain literal interpretation of a statutory provision produces a manifestly absurd and unjust result which could never have been intended by the legislature, the court may modify the language used by the legislature or even “do some violence” to it, so as to achieve the obvious intention of the legislature and produce a rational construction (vide Luke v. Inland Revenue Commissioner [(1963) AC 557] ). The Court may also in such a case read into the statutory provision a condition which, though not expressed, is implicit as constituting the basic assumption underlying the statutory provision. We think that, having regard to this well-recognised rule of interpretation, a fair and reasonable construction of Section 52 sub-section (2) would be to read into it a condition that it would apply only where the consideration for the transfer is understated or in other words, the assessee has actually received a larger consideration for the transfer than what is declared in the instrument of transfer and it would have no application in case of a bona fide transaction where the full value of the consideration for the transfer is correctly declared by the assessee. There are several important considerations which incline us to accept this construction of Section 52 sub-section (2).” F

30Copy pinpoint30. In CIT v. J.H. Gotla (1985) 4 SCC 343, the true construction of Section 24(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1922 was before the Court. Following Verghese’s case (supra), the Court held:

45. In the case of K.P. Varghese v. IT0 [(1981) 4 SCC 173 : 1981 SCC (Tax) 293 : (1981) 131 ITR 597] this Court emphasised H

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that a statutory provision must be so construed, if possible, that A absurdity and mischief may be avoided.

46. Where the plain literal interpretation of a statutory provision produces a manifestly unjust result which could never have been intended by the Legislature, the Court might modify the language used by the Legislature so as to achieve the intention of the B Legislature and produce a rational construction. The task of interpretation of a statutory provision is an attempt to discover the intention of the Legislature from the language used. It is necessary to remember that language is at best an imperfect instrument for the expression of human intention. It is well to C remember the warning administered by Judge Learned Hand that one should not make a fortress out of dictionary but remember that statutes always have some purpose or object to accomplish and sympathetic and imaginative discovery is the surest guide to their meaning. D

47. We have noted the object of Section 16(3) of the Act which has to be read in conjunction with Section 24(2) in this case for the present purpose. If the purpose of a particular provision is easily discernible from the whole scheme of the Act which in this case is, to counteract the effect of the transfer of assets so far as computation of income of the assessee is concerned then bearing that purpose in mind, we should find out the intention from the language used by the Legislature and if strict literal construction leads to an absurd result i.e. result not intended to be subserved by the object of the legislation found in the manner indicated before, and if another construction is possible apart from strict literal construction then that construction should be preferred to the strict literal construction. xxx xxx xxx

48. In view of the aforesaid and in view of the attitude of the law-makers in dealing with this problem as evidenced by the amendment and in the circular originally issued prior thereto and bearing in mind that under the scheme of the Act where the wife or minor child carries on a running business, the right to carry forward the loss in the running business would be available to the wife or minor child if they themselves were assessed but the H

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G 19. … The presumption canvassed to be raised that the true effect of the words “if the offence had not been committed” was to presume a situation in which the undertaking given by the assessee had been carried out even though in fact the same had not been carried out. That would be an absurd result. In our opinion the use of the expression “if” simpliciter, was meant to indicate a condition, the condition being that at the time of

VASANT GANPAT PADAVE (D) BY LRS. v. ANANT 617 MAHADEV SAWANT (D) THR. LRS. [R. F. NARIMAN, J.]

assessing the penalty, that situation should be visualised wherein there was no scope of committing any offence. Such a situation could arise only if the tax liability fell under sub-section (2) of Section 8 of the Act. The scheme of Section 8 indicated that concessional rates contemplated by sub-section (1) thereof would be available only with reference to those goods which are covered by the declarations in Form ‘C’. The moment it is found that in respect of particular quantity of goods the undertaking given by the assessee in Form ‘C’ declaration has not been carried out, the goods were presumed to be such in respect of which no undertaking was existing. Therefore such goods would be liable to normal tax contemplated under sub-section (2) of Section 8. C Therefore, the penalty should be worked out only on the basis of the normal rates prescribed under sub-section (2) of Section

8. That would make sense. That is a reasonably possible construction. That would avoid absurd result.”

31Copy pinpoint31. In Hameedia Hardware Stores v. B. Mohanlal (1988) 2 D SCC 513, Section 10(3)(a)(iii) of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 was read harmoniously with the other provisions of the Act, as a result of which the words “if the landlord required it for his own use or for the use of any member of his family” were read into sub-clause (iii). This was done for the reason: E “10. …If the two sub-clauses are not so read, it would lead to an absurd result. The non-residential building referred to in sub- clause (ii) is a building which is used for the purpose of keeping a vehicle or adapted for such use and all other non-residential buildings fall under sub-clause (iii). The State Legislature cannot be attributed with the intention that it required a more stringent proof by insisting upon proof of bona fides of his requirement or need also when a landlord is seeking eviction of a tenant from a garage than in the case of a non-residential building which is occupied by large commercial house for carrying on business. The learned counsel for the respondent was not able to explain as to why the State Legislature gave greater protection to tenants occupying premises used for keeping vehicles or adapted for such use than to tenants occupying other types of non-residential buildings. It is no doubt true that the court while construing a provision should not easily read into it words which have not H

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A been expressly enacted but having regard to the context in which a provision appears and the object of the statute in which the said provision is enacted the court should construe it in a harmonious way to make it meaningful.”

32Copy pinpoint32. This judgment was followed in Surjit Singh Kalra v. Union B of India (1991) 2 SCC 87 as follows: “19. True it is not permissible to read words in a statute which are not there, but “where the alternative lies between either supplying by implication words which appear to have been accidentally omitted, or adopting a construction which deprives certain existing words of all meaning, it is permissible to supply the words” (Craies Statute Law, 7th edn., p. 109). Similar are the observations in Hameedia Hardware Stores v. B. Mohan Lal Sowcar [(1988) 2 SCC 513, 524-25] where it was observed that the court construing a provision should not easily read into it words which have not been expressly enacted but having regard to the context in which a provision appears and the object of the statute in which the said provision is enacted the court should construe it in a harmonious way to make it meaningful. An attempt must always be made so to reconcile the relevant provisions as to advance the remedy intended by the statute. (See: E Sirajul Haq Khan v. Sunni Central Board of Waqf [1959 SCR 1287, 1299 : AIR 1959 SC 198] .)

20. The tenant of course is entitled to raise all relevant contentions as against the claim of the classified landlords. The fact that there is no reference to the word bona fide requirement F in Sections 14-B to 14-D does not absolve the landlord from proving that his requirement is bona fide or the tenant from showing that it is not bona fide. In fact every claim for eviction against a tenant must be a bona fide one. There is also enough indication in support of this construction from the title of Section G 25-B which states “special procedure for the disposal of applications for eviction on the ground of bona fide requirement”.”

33Copy pinpoint33. In C.W.S. (India) Limited v. Commissioner of Income Tax (1994) Supp. 2 SCC 296, Section 40(c)(iii) of the Income Tax Act, H 1961 came up for discussion. The Court held:

VASANT GANPAT PADAVE (D) BY LRS. v. ANANT 619 MAHADEV SAWANT (D) THR. LRS. [R. F. NARIMAN, J.]

“10. Now, it may be noticed that Section 40(a)(v) is only an expanded version of Section 40(c)(iii). The idea was to bring the allowances in respect of the assets owned by the assessee, which assets are used by its employee for his own purposes or benefit, within the net of ceiling. Section 40(c)(iii) did not cover such allowances and this was sought to be remedied. The idea was certainly not to bring about a different treatment of two situations in Section 40(a)(v) referred to as clauses (i) and (ii) in this judgment. The consequence of accepting the assessee’s interpretation would be that while the ceiling on expenditure would apply to a case falling under clause (i), no such ceiling would apply to a case falling under clause (ii) unless the employee governed by clause (ii) is also provided a benefit, amenity or perquisite falling under clause (i). The consequence would not only be discriminatory but also very incongruous, almost absurd. In principle, there is no distinction between the two cases or two situations, as they may be called. We are satisfied that the mere use of the word “such” in clause (ii) should not have the effect of driving the court to place an interpretation upon the said clause which is not only discriminatory but is highly incongruous…In this connection, we may refer to the well-recognised rule of interpretation of statutes that where a literal interpretation leads to absurd or unintended result, the language of the statute can be modified to accord with the intention of Parliament and to avoid absurdity. The following passage from Maxwell’s Interpretation of Statutes (12th Edn.) may usefully be quoted: “1. Modification of the language to meet the intention.— Where the language of the statute, in its ordinary meaning and grammatical construction, leads to a manifest contradiction of the apparent purpose of the enactment, or to some inconvenience or absurdity which can hardly have been intended, a construction may be put upon it which modifies the meaning of the words and even the structure of the sentence. This may be done by departing from the rules of grammar, by giving an unusual meaning to particular words, or by rejecting them altogether, on the ground that the legislature could not possibly have intended what its words signify, and that the modifications made are mere corrections of careless language and really give the true meaning. Where H

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A the main object and the intention of a statute are clear, it must not be reduced to a nullity by the draftman’s unskilfulness or ignorance of the law, except in a case of necessity, or the absolute intractability of the language used. Lord Reid has said that he prefers to see a mistake on the part of the draftsman in doing his revision rather than a deliberate attempt to B introduce an irrational rule: ‘The canons of construction are not so rigid as to prevent a realistic solution.’” We are, therefore, of the opinion that the Full Bench of the Kerala High Court was right in taking the view it did on this aspect and we agree with it.” C

34Copy pinpoint34. In Molar Mal v. Kay Iron Works (P) Ltd. (2000) 4 SCC 285, this Court construed a provision of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 by interpreting the proviso to Section 13(3) of the said Act by adding certain words as follows:

D “12. …We agree with this contention of the landlord that normally the courts will have to follow the rule of literal construction which rule enjoins the court to take the words as used by the legislature and to give it the meaning which naturally implies. But, there is an exception to this rule. That exception comes into play when application of literal construction of the words in the statute leads to absurdity, inconsistency or when it is shown that the legal context in which the words are used or by reading the statute as a whole, it requires a different meaning. In our opinion, if the expression “entitled to apply again” is given its literal meaning, it would defeat the very object for which the legislature has incorporated that proviso in the Act inasmuch as the object of that proviso can be defeated by a landlord who has more than one tenanted premises by filing multiple applications simultaneously for eviction and thereafter obtain possession of all those premises without the bar of the proviso being applicable to him. We are of the opinion that this could not have been the purpose for which the proviso is included in the Act. If such an interpretation is given then the various provisos found in sub- section (3) of Section 13 would become otiose and the very object of the enactment would be defeated. Any such interpretation, in our opinion, would lead to absurdity. Therefore, we have no hesitation in interpreting the proviso to mean that the restriction contemplated under that proviso extends even up to the stage

VASANT GANPAT PADAVE (D) BY LRS. v. ANANT 621 MAHADEV SAWANT (D) THR. LRS. [R. F. NARIMAN, J.]

when the court or the tribunal is considering the case of the landlord for actual eviction and is not confined to the stage of filing of eviction petition only.”

35Copy pinpoint35. In Union of India v. Hansoli Devi (2002) 7 SCC 273, this Court construed Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 by eschewing a literal interpretation thereof, and reading into the Section B the words “and that reference is entertained and answered”. The Court stated: “9. …It is no doubt true that the object of Section 28-A of the Act was to confer a right of making a reference, (sic on one) who might have not made a reference earlier under Section 18 C and, therefore, ordinarily when a person makes a reference under Section 18 but that was dismissed on the ground of delay, he would not get the right of Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act when some other person makes a reference and the reference is answered. But Parliament having enacted Section D 28-A, as a beneficial provision, it would cause great injustice if a literal interpretation is given to the expression “had not made an application to the Collector under Section 18” in Section 28- A of the Act. The aforesaid expression would mean that if the landowner has made an application for reference under Section 18 and that reference is entertained and answered. In other words, it may not be permissible for a landowner to make a reference and get it answered and then subsequently make another application when some other person gets the reference answered and obtains a higher amount. In fact in Pradeep Kumari case [(1995) 2 SCC 736] the three learned Judges, while enumerating the conditions to be satisfied, whereafter an application under Section 28-A can be moved, had categorically stated (SCC p. 743, para 10) “the person moving the application did not make an application to the Collector under Section 18”. The expression “did not make an application”, as observed by this Court, would mean, did not make an effective application which had been entertained by making the reference and the reference was answered. When an application under Section 18 is not entertained on the ground of limitation, the same not fructifying into any reference, then that would not tantamount to an effective application and consequently the rights of such H

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A applicant emanating from some other reference being answered to move an application under Section 28-A cannot be denied. We, accordingly answer Question 1(a) by holding that the dismissal of an application seeking reference under Section 18 on the ground of delay would tantamount to not filing an application within the meaning of Section 28-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.”

36Copy pinpoint36. Given the fact that the object of the 1956 Amendment, which is an agrarian reform legislation, and is to give the tiller of the soil statutory title to land which such tiller cultivates; and, given the fact that the literal interpretation of Section 32-F(1)(a) would be contrary to justice and reason and would lead to great hardship qua persons who are similarly circumstanced; as also to the absurdity of land going back to an absentee landlord when he has lost the right of personal cultivation, in the teeth of the object of the 1956 Amendment as mentioned hereinabove, we delete the words “.. of the fact that he has attained majority..”. Without these words, therefore, the landlord belonging to all three categories has to send an intimation to the tenant, before the expiry of the period during which such landlord is entitled to terminate the tenancy under Section 31. Section 32-F to be read in conformity with Article 14 of the E Constitution of India

37Copy pinpoint37. In R.L. Arora v. Union of India (1964) 6 SCR 784, this Court laid down that: “It is well settled that if certain provisions of law construed in one way will be consistent with the constitution, and if another F interpretation would render them unconstitutional, the Court would lean in favour of the former construction: (see Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar) [(1962) Supp 2 SCR 769].”

38Copy pinpoint38. In Shri Ram Krishna Dalmia v. Shri Justice S.R. Tendolkar (1959) SCR 279, this Court summarised the case law under G Article 14 in the form of six propositions. We are concerned here with proposition (d), which reads as follows: “… The principle enunciated above has been consistently adopted and applied in subsequent cases. The decisions of this Court further establish— H xxx xxx xxx

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(d) that the legislature is free to recognise degrees of harm and may confine its restrictions to those cases where the need is deemed to be the clearest;” Based on this proposition, Shri Bhasme has argued that the legislature in the present case has recognised a certain degree of harm, namely, to tenants of minor landlords and may, therefore, confine itself to such cases where the need is deemed to be clearest.

39Copy pinpoint39. Proposition (d) has been later clarified in the seminal judgment of this Court, In Re Special Courts Bill, 1978, (1979)1 SCC 380. A Constitution Bench of this Court in paragraph 72 of the aforesaid judgment, after referring to Ram Krishna Dalmia’s case (supra) and other judgments, stated 13 propositions insofar as Article 14 is concerned. We are directly concerned with propositions (1), (3), (6) and (8) which are set out as follows: “72. As long back as in 1960, it was said by this Court in Kangsari Haldar that the propositions applicable to cases arising under Article 14 “have been repeated so many times during the past few years that they now sound almost platitudinous”. What was considered to be platitudinous some 18 years ago has, in the natural course of events, become even more platitudinous today, especially in view of the avalanche of cases which have flooded this Court. Many a learned Judge of this Court has said that it is not in the formulation of principles under Article 14 but in their application to concrete cases that difficulties generally arise. But, considering that we are sitting in a larger Bench than some which decided similar cases under Article 14, and in view of the peculiar importance of the questions arising in this reference, though the questions themselves are not without a precedent, we propose, though undoubtedly at the cost of some repetition, to state the propositions which emerge from the judgments of this Court insofar as they are relevant to the decision of the points which arise for our consideration. Those propositions may be stated thus: G “(1) The first part of Article 14, which was adopted from the Irish Constitution, is a declaration of equality of the civil rights of all persons within the territories of India. It enshrines a basic principle of republicanism. The second part, which is a corollary of the first and is based on the last clause of the first section of H

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A the Fourteenth Amendment of the American Constitution, enjoins that equal protection shall be secured to all such persons in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties without discrimination of favouritism. It is a pledge of the protection of equal laws, that is, laws that operate alike on all persons under like circumstances. B xxx xxx xxx (3) The constitutional command to the State to afford equal protection of its laws sets a goal not attainable by the invention and application of a precise formula. Therefore, classification need not be constituted by an exact or scientific exclusion or inclusion C of persons or things. The courts should not insist on delusive exactness or apply doctrinaire tests for determining the validity of classification in any given case. Classification is justified if it is not palpably arbitrary. xxx xxx xxx D (6) The law can make and set apart the classes according to the needs and exigencies of the society and as suggested by experience. It can recognise even degree of evil, but the classification should never be arbitrary, artificial or evasive. xxx xxx xxx E (8) The differentia which is the basis of the classification and the object of the Act are distinct things and what is necessary is that there must be a nexus between them. In short, while Article 14 forbids class discrimination by conferring privileges or imposing liabilities upon persons arbitrarily selected out of a large number F of other persons similarly situated in relation to the privileges sought to be conferred or the liabilities proposed to be imposed, it does not forbid classification for the purpose of legislation, provided such classification is not arbitrary in the sense abovementioned.” G To proposition (d) in Ram Krishna Dalmia’s case (supra) an exception has been engrafted in proposition (6) contained hereinabove. The law may recognise degrees of harm, but in so doing the classification should never be arbitrary, artificial or evasive. This is repeated by way of a proviso to proposition (8) as well. We have referred to the Statement of the Objects and Reasons for the 1969

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Amendment. Paragraph 2 thereof stated that a large number of cases involving minor landlords had come to the notice of the legislature, for which reason the amnesty scheme mentioned in sub-section (1A) of Section 32-F was enacted. However, what was forgotten by the draftsman when the addition to Section 32-F(1)(a) was made was the fact that Section 32F(1)(a) referred to three categories of landlords and not only one. The words added by the 1969 amendment thus gave relief to tenants only qua minor landlords and not the other two categories. Obviously, the classification made in favour of tenants of minor landlords as opposed to tenants of landlords of the other two categories is a classification which is arbitrary in nature. This being the case, such classification would ordinarily have to be struck down as being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

40Copy pinpoint40. However, instead of striking down such classification as a whole, what can be done is to strike down the words “..of the fact that he has attained majority..”, as a result of which, what is added by the 1969 Amendment to Section 32-F(1)(a) now ceases to be discriminatory, as it is applicable to tenants of all three categories of landlords.

41Copy pinpoint41. In Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017) 9 SCC 1, this Court referred to the positive aspect of the fundamental right contained in Article 14 thus: E “62. Article 14 of the Constitution of India is a facet of equality of status and opportunity spoken of in the Preamble to the Constitution. The Article naturally divides itself into two parts— (1) equality before the law, and (2) the equal protection of the law. Judgments of this Court have referred to the fact that the F equality before law concept has been derived from the law in the UK, and the equal protection of the laws has been borrowed from the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. In a revealing judgment, Subba Rao, J., dissenting, in State of U.P. v. Deoman Upadhyaya [State of U.P. v. Deoman Upadhyaya, (1961) 1 SCR 14 : AIR 1960 SC 1125 : G 1960 Cri LJ 1504] , AIR p. 1134 para 26 : SCR at p. 34 further went on to state that whereas equality before law is a negative concept, the equal protection of the law has positive content. The early judgments of this Court referred to the “discrimination” aspect of Article 14, and evolved a rule by which subjects could H

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A be classified. If the classification was “intelligible” having regard to the object sought to be achieved, it would pass muster under Article 14’s anti-discrimination aspect. Again, Subba Rao, J., dissenting, in Lachhman Dass v. State of Punjab [Lachhman Dass v. State of Punjab, (1963) 2 SCR 353 : AIR 1963 SC 222], SCR at p. 395, warned that: (AIR p. 240, para 50) B “50. … Overemphasis on the doctrine of classification or an anxious and sustained attempt to discover some basis for classification may gradually and imperceptibly deprive the Article of its glorious content.” C He referred to the doctrine of classification as a “subsidiary rule” evolved by courts to give practical content to the said Article.

63. In the pre-1974 era, the judgments of this Court did refer to the “rule of law” or “positive” aspect of Article 14, the concomitant of which is that if an action is found to be arbitrary and, therefore, unreasonable, it would negate the equal protection of the law contained in Article 14 and would be struck down on this ground.”

42Copy pinpoint42. Hiralal P. Harsora v. Kusum Narottamdas Harsora (2016) 10 SCC 165, is a case in point. In this judgment, this Court struck down a portion of Section 2(q) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Section 2(q) of the said Act defined “Respondent” as meaning any adult male person who is, or has been in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person and against whom the aggrieved person has sought any relief. This Court having regard to the object sought to be achieved by the Act, struck down the expression “adult male” as follows: “39. A conspectus of these judgments also leads to the result that the microscopic difference between male and female, adult and non-adult, regard being had to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 Act, is neither real or substantial nor does it have any rational relation to the object of the legislation. In fact, as per the principle settled in Subramanian Swamy [Subramanian Swamy v. CBI, (2014) 8 SCC 682 : (2014) 6 SCC (Cri) 42 : (2014) 3 SCC (L&S) 36] judgment, the words “adult male person” are contrary to the object of affording protection to women who have suffered from domestic violence “of any

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kind”. We, therefore, strike down the words “adult male” before the word “person” in Section 2(q), as these words discriminate between persons similarly situate, and far from being in tune with, are contrary to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 Act. xxx xxx xxx B

44. An application of the aforesaid severability principle would make it clear that having struck down the expression “adult male” in Section 2(q) of the 2005 Act, the rest of the Section is left intact and can be enforced to achieve the object of the legislation without the offending words. Under Section 2(q) of the 2005 Act, while defining “respondent”, a proviso is provided only to carve out an exception to a situation of “respondent” not being an adult male. Once we strike down “adult male”, the proviso has no independent existence, having been rendered otiose.”

43Copy pinpoint43. In Secretary, Mahatama Gandhi Mission v. Bhartiya Kamgar Sena (2017) 4 SCC 449, this Court referred copiously to the judgment in D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, (1983) 1 SCC 305, and then held: “88. What is the remedy open to the citizen and the corresponding obligation of the judiciary to deal with such a situation, where the inequalities are created either by the legislation or executive action? Traditionally, this Court and the High Courts have been declaring any law, which created inequalities to be unconstitutional, but in Nakara case [D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, (1983) 1 SCC 305 : 1983 SCC (L&S) 145] this Court realised that such a course of action would not meet with the obligations emanating from a combined reading of the directive principles and Article 14. Therefore, this Court emphatically laid down in Nakara case [D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, (1983) 1 SCC 305 : 1983 SCC (L&S) 145] that it is possible to give an appropriate inductive relief by eliminating the factors, which creates the artificial classification leading to a G discriminatory application of law.”

44Copy pinpoint44. Respectfully following the law laid down in these judgments, and in order to read Section 32-F(1)(a) in conformity with Article 14, we eliminate the words “..of the fact that he has attained majority..” so that the intimation that is to be made by the landlord has to be made H

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A to tenants of all the three categories of landlords covered by the provision.

45Copy pinpoint45. It now remains to deal with some of the judgments of this Court on the interpretation of Section 32-F. In Anna Bhau Magdum v. Babasaheb Anandrao Desai (1995) 5 SCC 243, a minor landlord B attained majority in 1965 i.e. before the 1969 Amendment Act came into force. After adverting to the amendments made in 1969, this Court held that for this reason the amendment did not apply to the facts of that case. It was also found, as a matter of fact, that despite knowing that the Respondent landlord would attain majority on 17.¹.1965, the tenant gave no intimation as required by sub-section (1A) to Section C 32-F even within the amnesty period of two years granted by the said sub-section. The only argument made on behalf of the tenant in that case was that since there is an automatic purchase, the provisions of sub-section (1A) are directory in nature. This was turned down stating that the consequences of non-compliance of Section 32-F (1A) are laid D down in Section 32-P(1) and that, therefore, the time period contained in sub-section (1A) of Section 32-F is mandatory in nature. This case is wholly distinguishable on its facts and lays down the law on Section 32-F(1A) with which we are not immediately concerned.

46Copy pinpoint46. However, in Appa Narsappa v. Akubai Ganapati (1999) 4 E SCC 443, this Court referred to the landlady widow on the facts of that case who had died in 1965, prior to the coming into force of the Amendment Act of 1969. In this factual scenario, since the tenant did not comply with the timeline of one year given to him, the right to purchase of the tenant was stated to have come to an end. The argument that one year should be from the date of knowledge was turned down in the following terms: “4. It was submitted by the learned counsel that this being a welfare legislation enacted for the benefit of tenants should be construed in a liberal manner. He also submitted that the heirs of the landlady had not given any intimation to the appellant about her death and therefore he could not have known who were the heirs of the landlady and given intimation to them. He submitted that the period of one year should be counted from the date of the knowledge of the tenant. We cannot accept this submission because the language of Sections 32-F and 31 is quite clear and the period of one year will have to be counted in accordance

VASANT GANPAT PADAVE (D) BY LRS. v. ANANT 629 MAHADEV SAWANT (D) THR. LRS. [R. F. NARIMAN, J.]

with the said provisions and not from the date of the knowledge of the tenant. The provision of law being clear, we cannot in such a case grant relief on the basis of equity.” Since this judgment does not square with object sought to be achieved by the 1956 Amendment to the 1948 Act or to the declaration of law in this judgment, it does not state the law correctly and is, therefore, overruled.

47Copy pinpoint47. The next judgment that was cited before us is Sudam Ganpat Kutwal v. Shevantabai Tukaram (2006) 7 SCC 200. After setting out the relevant provisions of the Act, this Court held that on the facts of that case since Section 31(3) had ceased to apply, Section 32-F(1) C did not apply at all, as a result of which there was no need for the tenant to issue any notice of intimation to the landlord. The other judgments that were cited were distinguished in paragraph 27 stating that they were all judgments in which Section 32-F(1A) would apply. The facts of this case again are far removed from the facts of the present case and the judgment has, therefore, no application to the law laid down in the present case.

48Copy pinpoint48. The next judgment cited before us is Tukaram Maruti Chavan v. Maruti Narayan Chavan, (2008) 9 SCC 358. This judgment followed the law laid down in Appa Narsappa (supra) and on facts held that the Appellant tenant had complete knowledge of the death of the widow in that case, as a result of which the Appellant’s contention that he was confused as to who was the true owner was turned down. To the extent that this judgment follows the law laid down in Appa Narsappa (supra), this judgment also does not lay down the law correctly and is overruled to this extent. F

49Copy pinpoint49. It now only remains to consider some of Shri Bhasme’s other arguments. The argument made based on Section 14(1)(a) that since a tenant is bound to pay the rent every year before the 31 st May thereof, the tenant is bound to know that the person to whom he is paying rent has since died and that, therefore, knowledge cannot be brought in to G the construction of Section 32-F need not detain us. On facts in the present case, the landlady was actually at Mumbai, whereas the tenant was at Ratnagiri. Also, Section 14(1)(b) makes it clear that in case the tenant fails to pay rent before the 31st May of every year, the landlord must first give a three months’ notice in writing informing the tenant that he has not so paid the rent, within which period the tenant is given H

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A time to remedy the breach. On facts, there is nothing to show that any such notice was given. The other emotive argument that in the agricultural village world everyone knows about everybody else and that, therefore, it may be assumed that a villager at Ratnagiri will know about his landlord’s death equally cannot apply on the facts of this case as the landlord lived and died in Mumbai. The other emotive argument B about the reverse situation obtaining today as opposed to the situation obtaining in 1956, namely, that it is tenants who are now well off and landlords who are poor is again a perception of learned counsel which has no bearing either on the facts of this case or the law that needs to be laid down.

50Copy pinpoint50. The questions referred to us are now answered as follows: (i) The object of the Amendment Act of 1969 is relevant and applicable in deciding the scope of the right to purchase by a tenant of a landlord who was a widow or suffering from mental or physical disability on Tillers’ D day. (ii) The successor-in-interest of a widow is obliged to send an intimation to the tenant of cessation of interest of the widow to enable the tenant to exercise his right of purchase. E (iii) The decision in Appa Narsappa (supra) stands overruled. The decision in Sudam Ganpat (supra) stands distinguished as stated in paragraph 47 of the judgment. The decision in Tukaram Maruti (supra), to the extent that it follows the law laid down in Appa F Narsappa (supra), stands overruled. We, therefore, allow the appeals and set aside the judgment of the High Court dated 1st August, 2014. As a result, the tenant’s intimation of purchase of 2008 will now be taken on record by the authorities under the Act, who may now proceed under the Act to determine G purchase price and its payment consequent upon which the postponed right of the tenant in this case to own the land will then come into being upon the statutory conditions being met. The appeals are disposed of accordingly.

H Ankit Gyan Appeals allowed.