Preferential right of Class I heirs applies to agricultural land devolving by succession under the Hindu Succession Act.

Section 22 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 applies to agricultural land where the property devolves by succession, because the source of title is inheritance under the Act rather than an independent inter vivos transfer. The Court treated the preferential right of other Class I heirs as part of the statutory scheme governing devolution of inherited property and held that it is enforceable in respect of agricultural land. The earlier exclusion of agricultural land from the concurrent field did not displace Section 22, and the limited exception in Section 4(2) for tenancy rights did not prevent its operation. The preferential right was therefore available against the transferred interest.

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Issues: Whether the preferential right under Section 22 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 applies to agricultural land and enables the other Class I heirs to acquire the transferred interest.

Analysis: The source of title in the case of inherited agricultural land is succession under the Act, not an independent transfer inter vivos. After the Constitution of India, the exclusion of agricultural land from the earlier concurrent entry on succession was removed, while transfer and alienation of agricultural land remained within the State sphere. Section 22 operates in the field of succession and its preferential right is part of the same legislative scheme that governs devolution of the inherited interest. Section 4(2), as it then stood, created a limited exception for tenancy rights, which does not affect the general operation of Section 22 to succession in agricultural land.

Conclusion: Section 22 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 applies to agricultural land, and the preferential right of the other Class I heirs is enforceable in respect of such property.

Ratio Decidendi: Where agricultural land devolves by succession under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the statutory preferential right conferred by Section 22 is attracted because the right of transfer is a qualified incident of the succession itself.

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