( 1 ) THE landlord's right to recover rents from his tenant for the years 1965-66 to 1968-69 is the common question for consideration in these four revision petitions. ( 2 ) BEFORE coming to the facts of the case, it is convenient to remind oneself of the legislation. Sec. 8 of the Mysore Land Reforms Act (briefly the Act') provides:"8. Rent (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, and notwithstanding any law, custom, usage, agreement or the decree or order of a Court to the contrary, (a) the rent payable by a tenant shall be paid annually; and (b) such rent shall not exceed one-fourth of the gross produce or its value in cash in the case of land possessing facilities for assured irrigation from a tank or a river channel, and one-fifth of the gross produce or its value in cash in the case of any other land: provided that where the rent payable by any tenant under any contract is less than the maximum rent specified in clause (b), such tenant shall not be liable to pay more than such rent: provided further that in the area notified by the State Government as malnad area, the rent in respect of land classed as dry but exclusively used only for grazing or removing leaves, shall be twice the land revenue payable on such land. (2) For purposes of sub-section (1), (a) the gross produce per acre in any year of any land in each local area specified by the State Government by notification, shall be the average yield for that year of the principal crops grown on that class and grade of land in that local area published under sub-see. (4); (b) the value in cash of the produce payable as rent shall be as determined in accordance with the prices notified under sub-sec. (2) of Section 9. (3) The average yield for each of the principal crops for each class and grade of land in each local area shall be determined by the prescribed authority in the prescribed manner, taking into consideration the productivity of the lands and such other factors as may be prescribed. (2) of Section 9. (3) The average yield for each of the principal crops for each class and grade of land in each local area shall be determined by the prescribed authority in the prescribed manner, taking into consideration the productivity of the lands and such other factors as may be prescribed. The average yield so determined shall be in force for a period of five years and shall be liable to be revised by the prescribed authority thereafter at the end of each successive period of five yars: provided that the average yield determined at any time shall be deemed to continue in force until revised by the prescribed authority. (4) The average yiled determined under sub-sec. (3) shall be published in the prescribed manner. "rule 4 of the Mysore Land Reforms Rules, 1965, provides for the determination of the areas where 'land possessing facilities for assured irrigation are situate. Rule 5 is material for my purpose. It provides:"5. Determination of average yield of crops. (1) The Tahsildar shall determine for the taluk the average yield for each of the principal crops for such of the seven classes of land specified in Part A of the Schedule appended to the Act which may exist in his taluk with reference to the classification value of each land, whether such land is ' good land' medium land' or ' inferior land as specified in Rule 23 of the Mysore Land Revenue Rules, 1966. (2) For determining the average yield of principal crops, the tahsildar shall take into consideration: (a) the normal produce of the class of soil or land to which it belongs; (b) the seasonal report and rainfall accounts; (c) the results of crop cutting experiments conducted and recorded by the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Economics and statistics and the Revenue Department. Provided that in any case where the results mentioned in Cl. (c) are not available or where it has not been possible to conduct any crop cutting experiment, the Tahsildar shall determine such average yield after holding a local enquiry and after taking into consideration any other available statistics: provided further that in any case where two or more crops are raised in the same land in a year, the Tahsildar shall take into consideration the result of the first harvest of crops in such land. (3) The Tahsildar shall publish by affixture on the notice board of the Taluk Office and in the Village Chavadies a notice specifying the average yield of the principal crops as determined under sub-rule (2), and stating that any person interested may make his representation within thirty days from the date of affixture of the notice on the Notice board of the Taluk Office. After taking into consideration the representations if any, made by any person, within the aforesaid period, the tahsildar shall publish the final statement of the average yield of principal crops by affixture on the notice board of the Taluk Office and in the Village Chavadies. " ( 3 ) THE facts undisputed are, that the Tahsildar did not issue notifications under Rule 5 for the years 1965-66, 1966-67 and 1967-68. For the year 1968-69, he notified the average yield of the principal crops on 15-4-1971 for Sindhagi Taluk. The lands in the possession of the tenant are situate in the said Taluk. The landlord filed applications under S. 42 (2) of the Act for recovery of rents payable by the tenant for the years 1965-66 to 1968-69. The lands are not having facilities for assured irrigation from a tank or a river channel. The landlord is therefore entitled to one-fifth of the gross produce or its value in cash. He made a rough estimate of onefifth of the gross produce and claimed the same for all the four years. ( 4 ) THE tenant was paying an agreed rent of eight bags of jawar. The parties produced no oral evidence. The learned Munsiff estimated onefifth of the gross produce, taking the figures in a draft notification issued by the Tahsildar for the year 1968-69 and calculated its rate as per notification of the Chief Marketing Officer. The particulars of the notifications are not given in his order. He found that one-fifth of the gross produce was more than the agreed rent. He therefore directed the tenant to pay only the value of the agreed rent for all the years. ( 5 ) THE tenant appealed to the District Judge. The particulars of the notifications are not given in his order. He found that one-fifth of the gross produce was more than the agreed rent. He therefore directed the tenant to pay only the value of the agreed rent for all the years. ( 5 ) THE tenant appealed to the District Judge. His main contentions that there was no valid notification issued by the Tahsildar under the Rules determining the average yield for each of the principal crops, for the years 1965-66 to 1967-68; "that the notification issued for the year 1968-69 should not be the basis for the rents payable for the earlier years and that the relevant notification issued under the provisions of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, should only be the basis for determining one-fifth of the gross produce payable by him, ( 6 ) THE learned District Judge held that the notifications issued under the provisions of the BT. and AL. Act did not survive after the coming into force of the Act and he further held that the average yield determined by the Tahsildar for the year 1968-69, may be considered as the basis for the earlier years 1965-66, 1966-67 and 1967-68. Accordingly, he upheld the orders of the Munsiff and dismissed the appeals. The tenant has taken up the matter in these revision petitions. ( 7 ) THE questions presented by these petitions may be thus stated: (1) Whether the notification determining the average yield of the principal crops issued for the year 1968-69, could be relevant for the earlier years; and, (2) Whether the Court is competent to determine the rent payable by the tenant in the absence of relevant notifications? ( 8 ) THE scheme of the Act and the Rules framed thereunder, for the payment of rent by a tenant, is this: The average yield for each of the principal crops for each class and grade of land in each local area shall be determined by the Tahsildar, in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Rule 5. He must first publish a draft by affixture on the notice board of the Taluk Office and in the village chavadies, inviting objections if any, within thirty days from the date of affixture of the notice on the notice board of the Taluk Office. He must first publish a draft by affixture on the notice board of the Taluk Office and in the village chavadies, inviting objections if any, within thirty days from the date of affixture of the notice on the notice board of the Taluk Office. If there is any representation, he must consider the same and then publish a final statement of the average yield of the principal crops. The average yield so determined for one year shall be in force for a period of five years. It shall be liable to be revised at the end of the period of five years but however shall be deemed to continue in force until revised by him. (See S. 8 (3) of the Act ). The average yield so notified for one year shall be the gross produce for that year (See S. 8 (2) (a ). The tenant after the coming into force of the Act, is liable to pay the rent annually and such rent shall not exceed one-fourth or one-fifth of the gross produce as the case may be, or its value in cash. If the agreed rent is less than the rent payable under the Act, the tenant shall be liable to pay only the agreed rent and not the statutory rent. (See S. 8 (1) (a) and (b) ). Relying on these provisions, the learned District Judge held that the gross produce determined for the year 1968-69, could be taken also for a period of five years prior to 1968-69. Mr. Deshpande for the tenant strongly criticised the view. He said that the average yield determined for a particular year would be in force for a period of future five years and not the past five years. I think Counsel is correct. S. 8 (3) of the Act is unambiguous and plain. There is no need to call into aid any of the rules of construction as was sought to be done by the learned District Judge. S. 8 (3) states the average yield so determined shall be in force for a period of five years and shall be liable to be revised by the prescribed authority thereafter at the end of each successive period of five years". S. 8 (3) states the average yield so determined shall be in force for a period of five years and shall be liable to be revised by the prescribed authority thereafter at the end of each successive period of five years". The meaning in other words is that the notification determining the average yield for the year 1968-69 would continue to be in force till 1972-73 and the said average yield cannot be deemed to be the average yield for the years 1967-68 or any other year earlier to it. ( 9 ) I will now consider the second question. The Court functioning under the Act is having limited jurisdiction. It has no jurisdiction to determine a fair rent payable by the tenant. It has only to compute one-fourth or one fifth of the gross produce or its cash value, as notified by the competent statutory authorities. If there is no relevant notification for any particular year, the Court under S. 42 of the Act cannot give any relief to the parties, for that year. It has no jurisdiction to determine the average yield for each of the principal crops from different classes of land. ( 10 ) IN the view that I have taken, as there was no notification determining the average yield of crops for the years 1965-66, 1966-67 and 1967-68, the petitioner cannot be ordered to pay rents for those years. For the year 1968-69, the Courts below have relied on a draft notification. The final notification was published only on 15-4-1971, a copy of which has been produced before me by Counsel for the petitioner. The learned Munsiff has to determine the rent payable by the tenant for the years 1968-69 on the basis of the said notification. ( 11 ) IN the result, CRP. Nos. 2563 to 2565 of 1971 are allowed; the orders impugned therein are set aside. CRP. 2566 of 1971 is also allowed but the matter is remitted to the Munsiff with a direction that he should take back the application for the years 1968-69 on his file and consider the rent payable by the tenant for the year 1968-69 on the basis of the notification dated 15-4-1971. ( 12 ) IN the circumstances, the parties to bear their own costs both here and in the Courts below. --- *** --- .