SHIVASHANKAR BHAT, J. ( 1 ) THE State of Karnataka, by Special deputy Commissioner, Dharwad, has filed this writ petition seeking the quashing of the order of the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal (shortly called 'the Tribunal'), whereby the tribunal allowed the appeal of the first respondent Society and directed the sanction for conversion of the land in question, under section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue act (for short 'the Act')as sought by the first respondent. The relevant facts are as follows:- ( 2 ) ON 7-1-1984 the 1st respondent - society - which is a registered body under the karnataka Co-operative Societies Act purchased vacant land measuring 1 acre 12 guntas 132 sq. ft. comprising in Sy. No. 624/4e/1d/3 of Lakmanahalli village, under a registered sale deed dated 7-1-1984. After the said purchase, the society applied for permission to the Special Deputy commissioner, Dharwad, under section 95 of the Act for conversion of the land to non-agrieultural use. The Special Deputy commissioner rejected the application filed by the first respondent on the ground that under section 79b of the Karnataka Land reforms Act a Society cannot hold an agricultural land. Aggrieved by the said order, the Society preferred an appeal before the Tribunal in Appeal No. 130/85. The tribunal allowed the appeal on 12-12-1985 and directed the Special Deputy commissioner to grant conversion by imposing such conditions as are permissible under Section 95 of the Act and by levying such conversion fine as is prescribed under the Rules, within one month from the date of receipt of records. ( 3 ) THE writ petition was filed on 13-10-1986, nearly 10 months of the order of the Tribunal. In the meanwhile, the Special deputy Commissioner by his order dated 30-4-1986 (Annexure-R4) complied with the directions issued by the Tribunal. Therefore, it is to be noted that the interim order of stay of the order of the Tribunal, which was granted by it on 16-10-1986, was infructuous from the very beginning. ( 4 ) THE 1st respondent purchased the land (measuring 1 acre 12 guntas 132 sq. ft) from one S. S. Khodanpur. The said vendor had applied to the State Government under the provisions of the Urban Land (Ceiling and regulation) Act, 1976 - hereinafter referred as the 'central Act', seeking exemption under section 20 of the Central Act. ( 4 ) THE 1st respondent purchased the land (measuring 1 acre 12 guntas 132 sq. ft) from one S. S. Khodanpur. The said vendor had applied to the State Government under the provisions of the Urban Land (Ceiling and regulation) Act, 1976 - hereinafter referred as the 'central Act', seeking exemption under section 20 of the Central Act. By an order dated 26-9-1983 (Annexure-Rl) the state Government having considered the application of the vendor, granted exemption under section 20 of the Central Act subject to the condition inter lia, that the land in question shall be sold to the 1st respondent only. Since the land was obviously, assessed for agriculture, the Society applied for permission to convert the land use, under section 95 of the Act. It is nobody's case that actually any agricultural operation was being carried on in the land. ( 5 ) WHILE rejecting the application of the society seeking conversion of the land, the special Deputy Commissioner made a cryptic order stating that under section 79b of the Land Reforms Act a Society was ineligible to hold an agricultural land and hence, its request for conversion of the land for residential purposes cannot be granted. ( 6 ) THE Tribunal has reversed this order by giving cogent reasons, which it is not necessary for me to repeat here. Without disturbing the said reasoning, I uphold the said order for the reason stated hereafter. ( 7 ) WHETHER a Society is eligible to hold land under section 798 of Land Reforms Act depends on the facts of the case. Said provision reads,-"prohibition of holding agricultural land by certain persons - (1) With effect on land from the date of commencement of the Amendment Act, except as otherwise provided in this Act,- (a) no person other than a person cultivating land personally shall be entitled to hold land; and (b) it shall not be lawful for, (i) an educational, religious or charitable institution or society or trust, other than an institution or society or trust referred to in sub-section (7) of Section 63, capable of holding property; (ii) a company; (iii) an association or other body of individuals not being a joint family, whether incorporated or not; or (iv) a co-operative society other than a co-operative farm, to hold any land. (2) Every such institution, society, trust, company, association, body or co-operative society,- (a) which holds lands on the date of commencement of the Amendment Act and which is disentitled to hold lands under sub- section (1), shall, within ninety days from the said date furnish to the tahsildar within whose jurisdiction the greater part of such land is situated a declaration containing the particulars of such land and such other particulars as may be prescribed; and (b) which acquires such land after the said date shall also furnish a similar declaration within the prescribed period; (3) The Tahsildar shall, on receipt of the declaration under sub- section (2) and after such enquiry as may be prescribed, send a statement containing the prescribed particulars relating to such land to the Deputy Commissioner who shall, by notification, declare that such land shall vest in the State Government free from all encumbrances and take possession thereof in the prescribed manner. (4) In respect of the land vesting in the state Government under this section an amount as specified in Section 72 shall be paid. Explanation - For purposes of this section it shall be presumed that a land is held by an institution, trust, company, association or body where it is held by an individual on its behalf". ( 8 ) IPSO facto, a transaction is not nullified. Section 83 of the said Act provides a machinery, which reads as follows :-"83. Inquiry regarding illegal transactions - The prescribed Authority shall, after a summary inquiry, determine whether the transaction reported to it under Section 82 or coming to its notice in any other manner is in contravention of or is unlawful or invalid under the provisions of this Act, as they stood before or as they stand after the date of commencement of the Amendment Act make a declaration accordingly. Any transaction so declared to be in contravention of or is unlawful or invalid under of any of the provisions of this Act as they stood before or as they stand after the date of commencement of the Amendment Act shall be null and void. The land in respect of which such transaction has taken place shall, as penalty, be forfeited to and vest in the state Government free from all encumbrances. No amount is payable therefor". ( 9 ) ADMITTEDLY no enquiry was held under this provision. The land in respect of which such transaction has taken place shall, as penalty, be forfeited to and vest in the state Government free from all encumbrances. No amount is payable therefor". ( 9 ) ADMITTEDLY no enquiry was held under this provision. No investigation as to the facts of the case and eligibility of the society to hold the land was made. When a special legislation like the Karnataka Land Reforms act creates special rights, liabilities and disabilities, and has provided a special machinery to go into those questions, it is imperative that the rights, liabilities and disabilities are to be determined by resort to such a machinery only. ( 10 ) SECTION 79b is a disabling provision. Section 83 is a penal provision. Both are to be construed strictly. These provisions adversely affect the right to acquire and hold immovable properties by certain persons. Therefore, these provisions cannot be applied automatically and disabilities stated therein cannot be assumed as in existence. ( 11 ) SPECIAL Deputy Commissioner is a subordinate officer of the State Government. He has certain implied disabilities flowing out of his subordination to the State government. He cannot nullify what the state Government permitted. It is not open to him to assume a fact, contrary to the assumptions of the State Government. ( 12 ) WHEN the State Government acted under the provisions of the Central Act and exempted the land in question under section 20 thereof, it follows that, the land was not agricultural. The Central Act governs non-agricultural lands. Section 3 of the said act, which is the key provision, reads as under :-"except as otherwise provided in this act, on and from the commencement of this Act, no person shall be entitled to hold any vacant land in excess of the ceiling limit in the territories to which this act applies under sub-section (2) of section 1". Section 3 of the said act, which is the key provision, reads as under :-"except as otherwise provided in this act, on and from the commencement of this Act, no person shall be entitled to hold any vacant land in excess of the ceiling limit in the territories to which this act applies under sub-section (2) of section 1". Vacant land is defined as per S. 2 (q) as follows :- "vacant land" means land, not being land mainly used for the purpose of agriculture, in an urban agglomeration, but does not exclude - (I) land on which construction of a building is not permissible under the building regulations in force in the area in which such land is situated; (ii) in an area where there are building regulations, the land occupied by any building which has been constructed before, or is being constructed on, the appointed day with the approval of the appropriate authority and the land appurtenant to such building; and (iii) in an area where there are no building regulations, the land occupied by any building which has been constructed before, or is being constructed on, the appointed day and the land appurtenant to such building; provided that where any person ordinarily keeps his cattle, other than for the purpose of dairy farming or for the purpose of breeding of live-stock, on any land situated in a village within an urban agglomeration (described as a village in the revenue records), then, so much extent of the land as has been ordinarily used for the keeping of such cattle immediately before the appointed day shall not be deemed to be vacant land for the purposes of this clause". Section 2 (o) of the same Act also be usefully referred, which defines 'urban land' as,-"urban land' means,- (i) any land situated within the limits of an urban agglomeration and referred to as such in the master plan; or (ii) in a case where there is no master plan, or where the master plan does not refer to any land as urban land, any land within the limits of an urban agglomeration and situated in any area included within the local limits of a municipality (by whatever name called), a notified area committee, a town area committee, a city and town committee a small town committee, a cantonment board or a panchayat, but does not include any such land which is mainly used for the purpose of agriculture". (rest omitted as unnecessary) section 20 under which, the Stale government granted exemption is also relevant, which reads thus :-"20 (1) : Notwithstanding anything contained in any of the foregoing provisions of this Chapter,- (a) Where any person holds vacant land in excess of the ceiling limit and the state Government is satisfied, either on its own motion or otherwise, that, having regard to the location of such land, the purpose for which such land is being or is proposed to be used and such other relevant factors as the circumstances of the case may require, it is necessary to expedient in the public interest so to do, that Government may, by order, exempt, subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the order, such vacant land from the provisions of this Chapter; (b) where any person holds vacant land in excess of the ceiling limit and the State government cither on its own motion or otherwise, is satisfied that the application of the provisions of this Chapter would cause undue hardship to such person, that government may by order, exempt, subject to such conditions, if any, as may he specified in the order, such vacant land from the provisions of this Chapter. Provided that no order under this clause shall be made unless the reasons for doing so are recorded in writing. Provided that no order under this clause shall be made unless the reasons for doing so are recorded in writing. (2) If at any time the Slate Government is satisfied that any of the conditions subject to which any exemption under clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (1) is granted is not complied with by any person, it shall be competent for the State government to withdraw, by order, sueh exemption after giving a reasonable opportunity to such person for making a representation against the proposed withdrawal and thereupon the provisions of this Chapter shall apply accordingly" ( 13 ) A perusal of these provisions of the central Act clearly show that, the regulatory provisions of the said Act are inapplicable to an agricultural land. State Government could not have acted at all under Section 20 thereof, if the land was agricultural land. By the exercise of the power under Section 20, after thoroughly examining the question of granting exemption, the State Government has conceded the land to be non- agricultural. If so, the Land Reforms Act, which governs only the agricultural lands, will not be operative on the land in question. ( 14 ) UNDER the Act, 'land' is defined under Section 2 (14) and it is not confined to an agricultural land only; similar is the resultant position if a reference is made to section 60 (a), under Chapter VI which governs the revenue jurisdiction. Section 80 says that 'all land, whether applied to agricultural or other purposes and wherever situate, is liable to the payment of land revenue. . . " Section 83 (1), (2) and (3) also may be referred, with are to the following effect;"383 : Manner of assessment, computation of non-agricultural assessment and prohibition of use of land for certain purposes (1) Save as otherwise provided by or under this Act, the land revenue livable on any land under the Act, shall be assessed or shall be deemed to have been assessed, with reference to the use of the land for the purpose of agriculture. (2) If any land held or used for any purpose other than agriculture be diverted or used for the purpose of agriculture, such land shall, notwithstanding that it was exempt from assessment or was assessed with reference to any purpose other than agriculture, be liable to the payment of land revenue at such rates and subject to such rules as may be prescribed in this behalf, as for land used for the purpose of agriculture. (3) Land revenue leviable on any land and assessed or deemed to be assessed under any enactment or law in force before the commencement of this Act, with reference to the use of that land,- (a) for purpose of dwelling houses; (b) for industrial or commercial purposes; or (c) for any other non-agricultural purposes, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, continue to be levied at such rate at which it was levied or was leviable as at the commencement of this Act, unless such assessment is commuted in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4)". ( 15 ) THUS, it is clear that assessment of a land for land revenue and the liability for land revenue, does not render it an agricultural land. Section 83 (1) declares the mode of assessment, to be with reference to the use of the land for purpose of agriculture. ( 16 ) IT is in this background provisions of scclion 95 (1) and (2) of the said Act may be read, which are as follows :-"95 - Uses of agricultural land and the procedure for use of agricultural land for other purpose - (1) Subject to any law for the time being in force regarding erection of buildings or construction of wells or tanks, an occupant of land assessed or held for the purpose of agriculture is entitled by himself, his servants, tenants, agents, or other legal representatives, to erect farm buildings, construct wells or tanks, or make any other improvements thereon for the better cultivation of the land or its more convenient use for the purpose aforesaid. (2) If any occupant of land assessed or held for the purpose of agriculture wishes to divert such land or any part thereof to any other purpose, he shall apply for permission to the Deputy Commissioner who may. (2) If any occupant of land assessed or held for the purpose of agriculture wishes to divert such land or any part thereof to any other purpose, he shall apply for permission to the Deputy Commissioner who may. subject the provisions of this section and the rules made under this Act, refuse permission or grant it on such conditions he may think fit; provided that in Dakshina Kannada district, subject to any law for the time bei ng in force regarding erection of buildings or the construction of wells or tanks, an occupant of dry (punja) land who is not,- (a) a person registered or liable to be registered as an occupant of such land under Section 48-A of the Karnataka land Reforms Act, 1961 (Karnataka Act 10 of 1962); or (b) a grantee of such land under section 77 of the said Act, may, without obtaining the permission required under this sub-section and notwithstanding anything contained, therein, divert such land or part thereof to any other purpose after sending a prior notice in that behalf, in the prescribed form to the Tahsildar and paying in the prescribed manner, the fine prescribed under sub- section (7)". ( 17 ) THESE provisions get attracted to"a land assessed for the purpose of agriculture or a land held for the purpose of agriculture". In other words, a land even though not actually an agricultural land, is still assessed for the purpose of agriculture, permission of deputy Commissioner is required for diverting its user. This proceeds from the presumption that mainly, a land assessed for the purpose of agriculture can be used for purposes of agriculture without permission; but using it for other purposes, permission is to be obtained. The Special Deputy commissioner therefore could not have assumed that the land in respect of which permission was sought for conversion, was factually an agricultural land and then assume the applicability of section 79b of the land Reforms Act to the said land. ( 18 ) THE Special Deputy Commissioner misguided himself while invoking the provisions of the Karnataka Land Reforms act against the society and the land in question. Further, his action in filling this writ petition long after he complied with the order of the Tribunal and seeking stay of the said order is ununderstandable. ( 18 ) THE Special Deputy Commissioner misguided himself while invoking the provisions of the Karnataka Land Reforms act against the society and the land in question. Further, his action in filling this writ petition long after he complied with the order of the Tribunal and seeking stay of the said order is ununderstandable. In seeking the stay, without disclosing that the order has been implemented, he has suppressed material fact from this court. He has also suppressed the order of the State government, made under the provisions of the Central Act, even though there is a reference to the said order in para-3 of the order of the Tribunal. The learned counsel for the society also brought to my notice that by an order dated 1-8-1987 the State government has permitted the use of the land for the residence of the members of the public and directed appropriate amendments to be made in the developmental plan. ( 19 ) IN view of the above, the writ petition deserves to be dismissed. ( 20 ) ACCORDINGLY, for the reasons stated above, this petition fails and is dismissed with costs of the first respondent society, computed at Rs. 1,000/ -. Writ Petition dismissed with costs. --- *** --- .