Vinodchandra Sakarlal Kapadia & Ors. v. State of Gujarat & Ors.
Background
This was a batch of appeals raising a single recurring question under Gujarat's tenancy law: can a farmer who holds agricultural land pass that land on to someone who is not a farmer (a "non-agriculturist") by writing a Will, even though the law otherwise requires government permission before such land can be sold or gifted to a non-agriculturist? A Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court had ruled that Wills are covered by this restriction just like ordinary sales or gifts, overturning years of conflicting single-judge rulings that had allowed such transfers by Will.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court agreed with the Gujarat High Court's Division Bench. It held that the law's purpose, keeping agricultural land in the hands of people who will actually farm it, and preventing absentee landlordism, would be defeated if a farmer could simply bequeath the land by Will to someone who isn't a farmer and has no intention of cultivating it personally. The Court reasoned that if a living farmer cannot freely sell or gift such land to a non-farmer without official permission, he cannot achieve the same result indirectly through a Will that only takes effect after his death. All the appeals were dismissed, and an earlier Supreme Court decision that had taken a contrary view was declared wrongly decided.
Lesson Learnt
Protective land laws designed to keep agricultural land with genuine cultivators cannot be bypassed by using a Will instead of a sale or gift: the restriction applies regardless of how the transfer is structured.