VITHAL DATTATRAYA KULKARNI & ORS. vs SHAMRAO TUKARAM POWER & ORS.

The Supreme Court held that under Section 40 of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, the heirs of a protected tenant who died before the 1956 Amendment are entitled to recover possession from the landlord if the landlord ceased to cultivate the land personally within 12 years of dispossession. The Court clarified that the absence of a provision in the 1948 Act corresponding to the earlier definition of 'heirs' does not negate the rights of the heirs established under the 1939 Act. The Court upheld the decision of the lower authorities favoring the heirs, thereby restoring their possession rights.