Deemed tenancy under Kerala land reform law depends on mortgagee possession on commencement date and strict statutory continuity.

Section 4A of the Kerala Land Reforms Act applies only where the claimant was a mortgagee in possession on the date the provision commenced and had continuously held the land as mortgagee for at least fifty years immediately before that date. The non obstante clause does not waive these statutory conditions. After the mortgagor deposited the mortgage amount in execution, the mortgage relationship ended and the appellants' later possession was only as judgment-debtors in unlawful possession. The Court also held that the statutory deeming fiction must be confined to the express text and cannot be expanded by ignoring the word "immediately" or by stretching the provision beyond its terms.

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Issues: Whether the appellants, who were erstwhile mortgagees in possession, were entitled to the benefit of Section 4A of the Kerala Land Reforms Act notwithstanding the final redemption decree and the deposit of the mortgage amount in execution proceedings, and whether the statutory deeming fiction could be invoked when they were not mortgagees in possession on the date of commencement of the provision.

Analysis: Section 4A operates only if the claimant is a mortgagee in possession on the date the provision comes into force and has continuously held the land as mortgagee for not less than fifty years immediately preceding that commencement. The non obstante clause does not dispense with these statutory conditions. Once the mortgagor deposited the mortgage amount in execution, the mortgagor-mortgagee relationship ceased and the appellants' possession thereafter was merely as judgment-debtors in unlawful possession. The Court further held that a legal fiction must be confined to the express words of the statute and cannot be enlarged by omitting the word "immediately" or by importing a wider meaning inconsistent with the text.

Conclusion: The appellants failed to satisfy the statutory prerequisites for deemed tenancy under Section 4A and could not claim its benefit.

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