Tenant's purchase right under tenancy law runs from the widow-landlord's death, not from the tenant's knowledge of it.

Section 32F of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1947 requires a tenant seeking to purchase land from a widow-landlord to exercise that right within the statutory period running from the date on which the landlord's right to terminate the tenancy under Section 31 expires. The starting point is the widow's death, not the tenant's knowledge of that death, and the period cannot be shifted on equitable grounds. On those facts, the tenant's intimation was too late and non-compliance with the prescribed period was found.

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Issues: Whether the tenant's right to purchase land under Section 32F of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1947 had to be exercised within one year from the landlord-widow's death, and whether that period could be counted from the tenant's knowledge of the death.

Analysis: Section 32F gives a tenant the right to purchase in the case of a widow-landlord, but the time prescribed by the statute runs from the expiry of the period during which the landlord could terminate the tenancy under Section 31. On the widow's death, the statutory period began to run from that date, and the tenant was required to act within one year thereafter. The tenant's intimation was given long after the expiry of that period. The language of Sections 32F and 31 was held to be clear, leaving no scope to shift the starting point to the tenant's knowledge or to grant relief on equitable considerations.

Conclusion: The tenant had failed to comply with Section 32F within the prescribed period, and the contention that limitation should run from the date of knowledge was rejected. The dismissal of the writ petition was upheld.

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