Statutory power to declare a proprietor disqualified failed for lack of relevant material and bona fide satisfaction.

The Orissa Court of Wards Act required an enquiry, notice, recommendation and Government satisfaction that the proprietor had persistently failed to discharge legal duties and was thereby incapable or unfit to manage the estate. On the materials available, the alleged defaults did not establish the persistent legal breach contemplated by the Act, the Collector's report was largely favourable, and the recommendation was only perfunctory. The Government also failed to place before the Court the material said to justify the declaration. The Court held that the statutory power was exercised without relevant and sufficient material, that the necessary causal link between default and incapacity was not shown, and that the action was not bona fide. The declaration was quashed and possession was directed to be restored.

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Issues: Whether the State Government's declaration under Section 16 of the Orissa Court of Wards Act, 1947, declaring the petitioner a disqualified proprietor and taking over the estate, was invalid for want of relevant material, failure to establish persistent breach of legal duties, and arbitrary or mala fide exercise of statutory power.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required the Collector's enquiry, notice and opportunity to be heard, the Court of Wards' consideration and recommendation, and the Government's satisfaction that the proprietor fell within Section 10(f)(iv), namely persistent failure to discharge duties imposed by law, coupled with incapacity or unfitness to manage the property owing to that failure. On the materials produced, the charges relied upon did not establish a persistent legal default of the kind contemplated by the Act. The Collector's report was largely favourable to the petitioner on the principal charges, the Court of Wards' recommendation was perfunctory, and the Government did not place before the Court the material said to have justified the declaration. In these circumstances, the Court held that the statutory power had not been exercised on relevant and sufficient material and that the required causal connection between legal default and incapacity to manage was not shown. The delay and surrounding circumstances also reinforced the conclusion that the action was not bona fide.

Conclusion: The declaration under Section 16 was invalid and liable to be quashed; the taking over of the estate by the Court of Wards could not stand and possession was to be restored to the petitioner.

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