Law: Punjab Tenancy Act, (XVI of 1887)

Section: S. S (1) (a).

(On appeal from the judgment and order of the High Court of West Pakistan, Lahore, dated the 5th January, 1960, in Letters Patent Appeal No. 93 of 1958).   Rehabilitation Resettlement Scheme (Punjab)------   ----Part II, para. 31-Landlords of dakhilkars qism-i-awwal- Not entitled to any compensation in respect of their right in land held by such tenants-Punjab Tenancy Act (XVI of 1887), S. S (1) (a).   In the Rehabilitation Scheme dakhilkars qism-i-awwal are placed on a par with occupancy tenants under section 5 (1) (a) of the- Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887, whose landlords receive nothing more than the land revenue and cesses, and such landlords are not entitled to receive any compensation under the scheme for these abandoned rights. The transfer of rights to the occupancy tenants in these cases seems to stop short of being complete by merest margin. It is, therefore, entirely in accord with reason that the residuary rights remaining with the landlords should be treated on a par with the landlord's rights under section 5 (1) (a) of the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887. It may be that such landlord's loss in the aggregate be considerable, but the Scheme is not founded upon any principle of exact compensation, anna for anna. Its overall purpose is to compensate, and to do so out- of the available evacuee property in the most equitable and conveni ent manner to ensure successful rehabilitation of the lakhs of people involved. In such a Scheme it is unreasonable to expect that every splinter benefit, how near so ever it might be to vanish ing point, should be weighed and accounted for. JUDGMENT   CORNELIUS C. J.-The subject-matter of the case out of which this petition arises is the landlord's right in certain land abandoned by the petitioners in the State of Kapurthala in East Punjab, which was held by tenants in occupancy rights of a category described in the Revenue Records as dakhilkar qism-i-awwal. It is conceded before us by Mr. Ghias Muhammad that the pecuniary advantage derived by the landlords under these tenancies was so slight as to justify the description "infinitesimal" applied to it by the High Court judgment from which…