New Delhi, May 27 (UNI) The Supreme Court has upheld an order of the West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal that set aside the declaration of a 1967 gift deed as a benami transaction, ruling that the genuineness of a registered gift cannot be questioned due to a retrospective amendment in law made decades later.

A bench, comprising Justices Rajesh Bindal and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, dismissed an appeal challenging the Tribunal’s order, which had been overturned by the Calcutta High Court.

The Supreme Court restored the Tribunal’s decision, holding that the High Court erred in treating the gift deed as questionable based on an amendment introduced in 1989 to the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955, with retrospective effect.

“The genuineness of the registered gift deed executed on December seven, 1967 could not be put in doubt merely because of a legislative amendment introduced over two decades later,” the Court observed.

The bench added, “If that argument were accepted, the entire holding could have been distributed to evade land ceiling provisions. However, the fact remains that even after the 1967 gift to his children, 8.806 acres of land remained with Iswar Chandra Pal and was rightfully declared surplus and vested in the State.”

Notably, in 1967, Iswar Chandra Pal executed a registered gift deed transferring 20.88½ acres of land to his sons and daughters. This transfer was reflected in the revenue records by 1969. After Pal's death in 1975, the State declared 8.80 acres of his remaining land as surplus and took possession of it.

Following the 1989 amendment to the Land Reforms Act, proceedings were initiated to re-examine land holdings under Sections 14T(3), 14M, and 14S of the Act.

In 1997, a Revenue officer held that the 1967 gift deed was a 'benami' transaction and declared 17.9 acres of land as surplus, allowing the family to retain only 8.65 acres.

The family appealed, and the Tribunal later set aside the Revenue officer’s order. However, the High Court, on a writ petition by the State, remanded the matter for reconsideration, treating the gift deed as potentially 'benami'.

Challenging the High Court’s order, the appellants argued that it was legally unsound to treat a valid 1967 gift deed as 'benami' simply because of a law amended in 1989.

Agreeing with the appellants, the Supreme Court held that the retrospective application of the amendment could not invalidate a transaction that was lawful and registered decades earlier.

“It would be illogical to assume that one could anticipate future land ceiling laws and structure transactions accordingly,” the bench said.

The Court concluded that the High Court had wrongly interfered with the Tribunal’s order, as the facts of the case did not permit more than one interpretation.

It therefore allowed the appeal and reinstated the Tribunal’s decision.

UNI SNG SS