Agricultural land includes casuarina plantations; defective occupancy-right enquiries should be remitted for fresh consideration.

Land used for raising casuarina trees can fall within the Karnataka Land Reforms Act's broad concept of agricultural land, because cultivation includes human effort such as preparing soil, planting, watering, manuring and tending trees for agricultural produce. On that basis, raising casuarina trees was treated as cultivation and not excluded merely because the crop was not food-based. Where the Tribunal's enquiry under Section 48-A was found to be defective and the party had not been given a proper opportunity to establish the claim, the matter should not be finally decided on an incomplete record; it was remitted for fresh enquiry and disposal according to law.

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Issues: (i) Whether land used for raising casuarina trees could be treated as agricultural land and the activity of raising such trees could amount to cultivation for the purposes of occupancy rights under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961. (ii) Whether the applications under Section 48-A of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 should be rejected outright or remitted to the Tribunal for fresh enquiry.

Issue (i): Whether land used for raising casuarina trees could be treated as agricultural land and the activity of raising such trees could amount to cultivation for the purposes of occupancy rights under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961.

Analysis: The definition of "land" under Section 2(18) of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 is wide enough to include land capable of being used for agricultural purposes, and even forest land. A land on which casuarina trees are grown is capable of agricultural use. The statutory definition of "to cultivate" in Section 2(10) of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 includes tilling or husbanding land for raising agricultural produce and carrying on agricultural operations. Raising casuarina trees by human effort, involving preparation of soil, planting, watering, manuring and tending, is an agricultural operation and is not excluded merely because the produce is not a food crop.

Conclusion: Yes. Land used for raising casuarina trees can be treated as agricultural land, and such raising of trees amounts to cultivation. The contention that no occupancy right can be granted on that basis is rejected.

Issue (ii): Whether the applications under Section 48-A of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 should be rejected outright or remitted to the Tribunal for fresh enquiry.

Analysis: The prior order of the Tribunal was quashed because the enquiry was found to be improper and the affected party had not been given a sufficient opportunity to establish the case before the Tribunal. In such a situation, the proper course was not to decide the matter by reappreciating the material at the writ stage, but to remit the matter to the Tribunal for a fresh disposal in accordance with law after recording evidence properly.

Conclusion: The applications should be remitted to the Tribunal for fresh enquiry and decision according to law.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded in part: the quashing of the Tribunal's order was maintained, but the rejection of the occupancy-right applications was set aside and the matter was sent back for a fresh adjudication.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purposes of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, land capable of agricultural use, including land under casuarina plantation raised by human effort, falls within the statutory concept of land and cultivation, and where the original enquiry is defective, the proper course is remand for fresh enquiry rather than final rejection on an incomplete record.

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