MAGUNI CHARAN DWIVEDI vs STATE OF ORISSA AND ANOTHER

The Supreme Court held that the Orissa Merged Territories (Village Offices Abolition) Act, 1963, specifically Section 3, rendered the decree for possession of 'bhogra land' ineffective as it vested absolutely in the State Government from April 1, 1966. The Court clarified that the holder of the village office must have been in separate and actual cultivating possession of the land before this date to be eligible for settlement under Section 5. The appeal was dismissed, and the previous decision in State of Orissa v. Rameswar Patabisi was overruled.