Dismisses petition filed by Tivim comunidade
Panaji: The Supreme Court has said that tenanted agricultural land can only be used for farming purposes as mandated by law.
It dismissed a petition filed by the Comunidade of Tivim, which challenged the High Court’s order denying permission to allow tenants of farmlands to use it for non-agricultural purposes after reclaiming a portion of the tenanted agricultural land.
The case pertained to land parcels in Tivim in Bardez, originally leased by the Comunidade of Tivim to the ancestors of the respondents in 1978.
The attempt to settle a tenancy dispute through a 60:40 land-sharing compromise between the comunidade and the tenants was rejected by the Administrative Tribunal and the High Court of Bombay at Goa — a stance upheld by the apex court.
The top court observed that the compromise would effectively convert tenancy rights into ownership and allow non-agricultural use, violating both the Goa Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1964, and the Goa Land Use (Regulation) Act, 1991.
The Supreme Court also stressed that any such agreement bypasses legal procedures meant to protect agricultural land and tenant rights. The tenancy appeal will now proceed before the appellate court on its own merits.
While dismissing a petition filed by the Tivim comunidade, the High Court had held that the Administrative Tribunal was right in refusing to grant permission to it to compromise proceedings filed under the Agricultural Tenancy Act.
The administrative tribunal had held that such a compromise is clearly against the provisions of the Agricultural Tenancy Act and that by signing such a compromise, a tenant cannot give up his right of tenancy.
