Mumbai University Solved Question Papers
Land Laws
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
LLB 3 years · Sem 4
May 2024 - 60/40 Examination
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LLB 3 years Sem 4 Land Laws May 2024 - 60/40 Question Paper with Solutions
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First published on munotes.in on 24 October 2026.
Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.
Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
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The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.
The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by the University of Mumbai at the May 2024 - 60/40 examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as the University of Mumbai set it at the May 2024 - 60/40 examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the May 2024 - 60/40 examination, reproduced as the University of Mumbai set them, in the order it set them. Nothing has been reworded, added or left out. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 2 hours · Total marks 60 · 22 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q.1
Q.1: Answer in a sentence or two, any six
12 Marks - 2 marks each
(a)What is the meaning of Surplus lands?[2]
Answer
Surplus land is land held in excess of the ceiling area by a person or a family unit. The ceiling is fixed by the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961.
The statutory basis. Section 3(1) says that no person or family unit shall, after the commencement date, hold land in excess of the ceiling area. The commencement date is 2 October 1975 (section 2(6A)). Section 3(2) then provides that all land held in excess of the ceiling area, "whether in this State or any other part of India", shall "be deemed to be surplus land".
How the excess is measured.
- The ceiling area depends on the class of land (section 5 and the First Schedule). It runs from 18 acres of perennially irrigated land to 54 acres of dry crop land.
- A family unit of more than five members may hold one-fifth more for each extra member, up to twice the ceiling (section 6).
- Exempted land may be held to any extent (Explanation to section 3(1)).
What happens to it.
- The Collector declares the surplus after an inquiry (section 21(1)). From the declaration, it cannot be sold, gifted or leased (section 21(2)).
- He takes possession, and the land is deemed acquired by and vested in the State, free from encumbrances (section 21(4)). Compensation is paid under section 23.
- It is then distributed in a fixed order of priority, starting with tenants whom the holder made landless (section 27).
Validity. In Waman Rao v. Union of India (1981) 2 SCC 362 the Supreme Court held that agricultural ceiling laws fall within Article 31A(1)(a), and upheld the Maharashtra Act.
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