Land Used For Quarrying Not Exempted From Applicability Of Kerala Land Reforms Act: SC [Read Judgment]

Assailing the majority view ofthe Full Bench of Kerala High Court, it was contended before the Apex Court in KH Nazar vs. Mathew K. Jacob, that the definition of 'commercial site' is very wide and any land which is principally used for the purpose of trade, commerce, industry, manufacture or business is a commercial site. It was urged that, since breaking of rock is a manufacturing activity and quarrying operations involve digging land and breaking of rocks into metal pieces, the digging of land and breaking of rock is for a commercial activity and the sale of stones is for the purpose of trade and business.

The bench comprising of Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Hemant Gupta, examined the objective of the Land Reforms Act and observed:

The dominant legislative intent of the Act is the imposition of ceiling on land holdings and distribution of excess land among landless people. Large number of people have no place of abode in the State of Kerala, which is known as God's own country. To provide land to such landless people by taking it from those who possess in excess is the major objective of the Act.

Answering the main issue, the bench observed that the commercial site is a land on which there is a structure being utilized for an industrial or commercial purpose and the extension of the words 'commercial site' to quarries would result in defeating the purpose of the Act. Upholding the majority view, the bench observed:

Exemption of quarries by the Government under Section 81 (3) would not arise if quarries are covered by Section 81 (1) (q) of the Act. In other words, if quarries are commercial sites, the need for their exemption in public interest does not arise. Section 81(3) of the Act empowers the Government to exempt lands for commercial purposes in public interest. The overriding power conferred on the Government to exempt lands from the applicability of the Act cannot be utilized for the purpose of interpretation of Section 81 (1) (q) which exempts commercial sites from the purview of the Act. Section 81 (1) (k) exempts unused lands of industrial or commercial undertakings at the time of commencement of the Act. The provision presupposes that an industrial or commercial undertaking was existing on the date of the commencement of the Act and there was some land set apart for the use of the undertaking in future. The said land is exempted only if the land is used for the industrial or commercial purposes of the undertaking within the time to be fixed by the authority. If the land is not used for the purpose for which it was set apart, the exemption ceases to operate. It is clear from the above that Section 81(1) (k) deals with a completely different type of land belonging to an industrial or commercial undertaking set apart for use of the said undertaking. Therefore, we are not in agreement with the support sought by the dissenting Judge from Section 81 (1) (k) to interpret the expression 'commercial site' in Section 81 (1) (q).

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