Allahabad High Court
Smt. Mewati Devi vs Deputy Director Of Consolidation, ... on 27 February, 1987
Equivalent citations: AIR1987ALL216, AIR 1987 ALLAHABAD 216, 1987 ALL. L. J. 769, (1987) 2 LANDLR 451, 1987 ALL WC 718, 1987 REVDEC 186
Author: K.J. Shetty
Bench: K.J. Shetty
JUDGMENT A.N. Varma, J.
1. This case comes before us upon a reference by a Division Bench which felt that certain Division Bench decisions of this Court on the point set out below required consideration by a larger Bench. The point which has let to this reference is whether under U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act (briefly 'the Act') the consolidation authorities are required to dispose of the entire proceedings relating to claims to land and partition of joint holdings under Section 9-A before undertaking the preparation and publication of the provisional consolidation Scheme under Sections 19-A and 20 of the Act. On this point there is a conflict of opinion as reflected by two learned single Judge decisions on the one hand and two Division Bench decisions on the other.
2. In the case of Chandrapal Singh v. Bhola Singh, 1972 Rev Dec 350 a learned single Judge of this Court took the view that proceedings under Section 20 of the Act could be started only after all the objections have been disposed of under Section 9-A of the Act. A similar view was expressed by another learned single Judge in the case of Ganga Prasad v. Dy. Director of Consolidation, 1968 All WR (HC) 869. In Writ Petition No. 6605 of 1984, (Hasan Raza v. Collector/District Dy. Director of Consolidation, Allahabad), however, a Division Bench of this Court by its judgment dated 7th December, 1984, expressed the view that there was nothing whatever either in the Act or the Scheme underlying the same which may warrant the conclusion that proceedings for allotment of chaks under Sections 19-A and 20 could be undertaken only after all the objections under Section 9-A have been disposed of. It was held that proceedings for allotment of chaks could go on and final adjustments could be made therein in accordance with the decision on the objections filed under Section 9-A which might have been pending at the stage of proceedings under Sections 19-A and 20. Similar observations were made by another Division Bench in the case of Ram Charan Singh v. Dy. Director of Consolidation, (Writ Petition No. 849 of 1977) decided on 25th February, 1977.
3. Before dealing with the above controversy, we may briefly state the relevant facts which lie within a narrow compass. In respect of the disputed land the petitioner filed some objections under Section 9 of the Act. The grievance is that without disposing of these objections the consolidation authorities have initiated proceedings for preparation and publication of the provisional Consolidation Scheme under Sections 19-A and 20 which, according to the petitioner, was not permissible. An application filed by the petitioner before the Deputy Director of Consolidation requesting him to stay the proceedings for allotment of Chaks under Sections 19-A and 20 of the Act having failed to evoke any response the petitioner has had to approach this Court for a writ of mandamus directing the consolidation authorities not to initiate proceedings for allotment of chaks under Section 20 until the petitioner's objection has been disposed of.
4. In order to appreciate the controversy it will be necessary to set out the broad features of the Act. U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act, as the title of the enactment itself indicates, was passed with the object of consolidation of agricultural holdings for the development of agriculture. The basic idea was to fight the evil of fragmentation of holdings and to provide the agriculturists compact holdings with a view to developing agriculture. The Act divides the process of consolidation into four main parts. The first part deals with the revision and correction of maps and records (Sections 7, 8, 8-A and 9 of the Act). The second part deals with the adjudication of disputes arising out of claims to land and partition of joint holdings (Sections 9-A, 10, 11 and 12 of the Act). The third part deals with the preparation of the Consolidation Scheme and the allotment of chaks (Sections 19, 19-A, 20, 21 and 23 of the Act). Finally, we have Chapter IV which deals with the enforcement of the Scheme which involves delivery of possession of the chaks carved out under Sections 19 to 23 to the respective tenure-holders.
5. After a declaration by the State Government under Section 4 of the Act bringing a particular district or area under consolidation, the duty of preparing and maintaining the maps and the Annual Register stands transferred to the Consolidation Authorities. In the exercise of this power the consolidation authorities carry out a survey and revise the field book and the current Annual Register under Section 8. After the survey, the District Deputy Director of Consolidation causes to be prepared what is called khasra chakbandi in respect of all the plots falling in the unit as also a statement showing the mistakes and disputes discovered during the survey, Upon the preparation of the records and the statements mentioned in Section 8 the Assistant Consolidation Officer corrects the clerical mistakes if there are any and causes to be sent to the tenure-holders concerned notices containing relevant extracts from the correct Annual Register.
6. The next relevant provision in Section 9-A which deals with the disposal of cases relating to claims to land and partition of joint holdings and the same is being extracted here in so far as it is relevant for our purposes.
"9-A. Disposal of cases relating to claims to land and partition of joint holdings-
(1) The Assistant Consolidation Officer shall:
(i) Where objections in respect of claims to land or partition of joint holdings are filed, after hearing the parties concerned, and
(ii) Where no objections are filed after making such enquiry as he may deem necessary.
settle the disputes, correct the mistakes and effect partition as far as may be by conciliation between the parties appearing before him and pass orders on the basis of such conciliation.
(2) All cases which are not disposed of by the Assistant Consolidation Officer under Sub-section (1), all cases relating to valuation of plots, and all cases relating to valuation of trees, wells or other improvements, for calculating compensation therefor, and its apportionment amongst co-owners, if there be more owners than one shall be forwarded by the Assistant Consolidation Officer to the Consolidation Officer, who shall dispose of the same in the manner prescribed."
7. We have then Section 10 which was made by the learned counsel for the petitioner the sheet-anchor of his arguments and the same is accordingly reproduced here in full:
"10. Preparation and maintenance of revised annual registers-
(1) The annual register shall be revised on the basis of the orders passed under Sub-section (1) and Sub-section (2) of Section 9-A. It shall thereafter be prepared in the form prescribed and published in the unit.
(2) Where any entry in the annual register published under Sub-section (2), is modified in pursuance of an order passed under this Act or under any other law : a reference to the order along with an extract of its operative portion shall be noted against the said entry."
8. Section 11 provides for appeals by any person aggrieved by an order of the Assistant Consolidation Officer or Consolidation Officer under Section 9-A. Section 11-A states that no question in respect of claims to land or partition of joint holdings which has been raised or which ought to have been raised under Section 9, but has not been so raised, shall be raised or heard at any subsequent stage of consolidation proceedings. Section 12 deals with decision of matters relating to changes and transactions affecting right or interests recorded in the revised records. We are not concerned with that provision here.
9. We next turn to Chapter III which deals with the preparation of consolidation scheme. Section 19 lays down the conditions to be fulfilled by the Consolidation Scheme. Section 19-A provides for preparation of provisional Consolidation Scheme in the form prescribed for each unit. Section 20 provides for publication of the provisional consolidation Scheme and receipt of objections thereon. Shortly, the provisional Consolidation Scheme contains the proposals for allotment of chaks to the tenure-holders. Under Sub-section (2) of Section 20, any person feeling aggrieved by the Consolidation Scheme or disputing the propriety or correctness of the entries in the same may file an objection, unless the same is barred under Section 11-A.
10. The next relevant provision in Section 21 which lays down the procedure for disposal of the objections filed under Section 20. It provides that any person feeling aggrieved by the order of the Consolidation Officer passed under Sub-section (1) of Section 21 may file an appeal before the Settlement Officer (Consolidation) whose decision shall, except as otherwise provided by or under the Act, be final.
11. Finally we have Section 48 which vests in the Director of Consolidation very wide powers of calling for examining the record of any case or proceedings taken by any subordinate authority for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the irregularity of proceedings or correctness, legality or propriety of any order passed by such authority in any case or proceedings. This includes the power to review orders passed under Sections 9-A, 10, 11, 20, 21 and 23 (which deals with the confirmation of provisional consolidation Scheme and the issue of allotment orders after the disposal of objections filed under Section 20 or as modified under Section 21). ,
12. Having set out the provisions relevant to the controversy at hand, we proceed to consider the submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioner. Relying on Sub-section (1) of Section 10 of the Act, learned counsel contended that Annual Register is required to be prepared and published only after the same has been revised on the basis of orders passed under Sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 9-A. That being so, learned counsel argued, the provisional Consolidation Scheme cannot be prepared under Section 19-A until the Annual Register has been prepared under Section 10(1) of the Act. In this connection, reliance was placed on Clause (a) of Section 19 which provides that the right and liabilities of a tenure-holder as recorded in the Annual Register prepared under Section 10 are subject to the deductions, if any, made on account of the contributions to public purpose under the Act, shall be secured in the lands allotted to him.
13. The submission completely ignores Sub-section (2) of Section 10 which provides that where an entry in the Annual Register published under Sub-section (1) is modified in pursuance of an order passed under this Act or under any other law, a reference to that order shall be noted against the said entry. This clearly suggests that the Annual Register prepared under Sub-section (1) of Section 10 is not a permanent record of rights, immutable or incapable of any alternation subsequently. The Annual Register, as the name itself indicates, is a register which is prepared annually keeping in view the orders which may have been passed under Sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 9-A. They are under the express terms of Sub-section (2) of Section 10 liable to be modified in pursuance of an order which may be passed under this Act or under any other law. This includes orders passed on appeal under Section 11 or upon a revision under Section 48 of the Act. Further, Section 5 of the Limitation Act has been made applicable to the proceedings under the Act. That being so, an objection can be filed under Section 9-A even after the expiry of the period prescribed for filing an objection under Section 9 as held by this Court in the case of Smt. Dev Kunwar v. Joint Director of Consolidation, 1968 All LJ 461.
14. The annual Register revised under Sub-section (1) of Section 10 is thus subject to being revised from lime to time in accordance with the provisions of the Act referred to hereinabove. It is thus apparent that if the preparation of the Consolidation Scheme is held in abeyance until every single objection filed under Section 9-A has been disposed of finally, the entire purpose of the enactment would be defeated. There are in each unit numerous tenure-holders and the objections are various and varied. The final disposal of all such objections would take considerable time as has been noticed by this Court in a large number of cases. Indeed, in many cases that have come to our notice, the final disposal of objections takes several years. The acceptance of the submission of learned counsel would, therefore, mean that the consolidation authorities would not be able even to initiate the preparation of provisional Consolidation Scheme or to publish the same under Sections 19-A and 20 of the Act. even after years from the commencement of the consolidation operations. Such a result could not have been intended by the legislature. It must be borne in mind that the Act is a social legislation designed to bring about a long awaited and revolutionary change in approach to agriculture. It has, therefore, to be construed in a broad way so as to subserve the interest of the community at large rather than conveniences of individuals. So construed, it must follow that the Consolidation Authorities will take the Annual Register prepared under Section 10 as it may stand at the time of initiation of proceedings for allotment of chaks under Sections 19-A and 20, even if some of the objections may still be pending adjudication. The contrary opinion expressed by the learned single Judges in the cases of Chandrapal Singh, (1972 Rev Dec 350) and Ganga Prasad. (1968 All WR (HC) 869) (supra) would clearly render the entire enactment unworkable.
15. Learned counsel for the petitioner next contended that if the consolidation authorities are allowed to proceed with the preparation of provisional Consolidation Scheme without deciding all objections under Section 9-A, the tenure-holders would be left without any remedy.
16. The submission is devoid of any merit. There is an in-built mechanism in the Act which takes care of the tenure-holders whose objections may still be pending at the time of the preparation of the Consolidation Scheme or even the finalisation thereof. If in the Annual Register prepared under Section 10, the petitioner's name was not entered and the provisional Consolidation Scheme is prepared on the basis of such an Annual Register, the aggrieved person can file an objection under Section 20(2) asking for modification of the Chaks provisionally allotted to him in terms of the orders which may have been passed since under Section 9-A in the meantime. Next he has a right of appeal under Sub-section (2) of Section 21 which confers on him yet another remedy. Sub-section (4) of Section 21 also makes provision for corrective measures which can be taken by the consolidation authorities in order to prevent any material injustice likely to be caused to a number of tenure-holders in giving effect to the Consolidation Scheme.
17. Even after the confirmation of the provisional Consolidation Scheme the aggrieved tenure-holder whose objection might have been pending on the date of the confirmation of the provisional Consolidation Scheme, can approach the Director of Consolidation or Deputy Director of Consolidation who exercises wide powers of revision. The powers vested in the Director of Consolidation or the Deputy Director of Consolidation under Section 48 who are the highest officers in the hierarchy of officers and authorities are supervisory in nature and they can, therefore, pass appropriate orders under Section 48 even after the confirmation of the provisional Consolidation Scheme for effectuating the orders passed upon the objections filed under Section 9-A which may have been pending at the time of allotment of chaks for readjustment of chaks allotted to the aggrieved tenure-holders.
18. A similar submission advanced before another Full Bench of this Court in the case of Sita v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (AIR 1969 All 342 at p. 362) has been negatived with the following observations : --
"We have no doubt that if the statement of proposals is prepared on the basis of the particulars contained in the statement of tenure-holder or village records which particulars are still to be corrected in accordance with the appellate or revisional order then once the appellate order is passed and it becomes final or a revisional order is passed which is at variance with the particulars in respect of a tenure-holder either entered in the statement of tenure-holders or entered in the statement of proposals, would clearly be a clerical error or an error apparent on the face of the record in documents prepared, under the provisions of the Act and both of them can be corrected and brought in accordance with the final decision in the appeal or revision. The further proceedings in consolidation then would be in accordance with the correct statements. This can be done even though the statement of proposals achieves confirmation under Section 23(2) of the Act. The power under Sub-section (2) of Section 38 can be exercised at any time before the notification under Section 52 is issued."
19. The Full Bench was construing the Act as it stood prior to its amendment, but the basic features relevant to the present controversy were the same. The above dictum therefore, provides a complete answer to the petitioner's apprehension. It will thus be seen that at each stage the aggrieved tenure-holder has been provided with a forum and remedy within the framework of the Act itself.
20. This takes us to the last contention urged for the petitioner. Learned counsel laid considerable stress on Section 19(1)(a) and contended that under that provision there is a reference to the Annual Register prepared under Section 10 which supports the submission that a provisional Consolidation Scheme cannot be prepared unless all the objections under Section 9-A has been disposed of. The argument is clearly untenable. There is no reason to suppose that the Annual Register prepared under Section 10(1) is prepared only once and that the entries made therein are immutable. As already observed, the entries in the Annual Register prepared under Section 10(1) are subject to correction/modification from time to time both under the present Act as well as under any other law. The same are liable to be corrected as and when objections are disposed of from time to time. After the entries have been corrected, the tenure-holder concerned can be granted necessary relief under the provisions set out hereinabove.
21. In conclusion, we hold that the Consolidation Authorities are not required to await the disposal of all the objections filed under Section 9 of the Act before initiating proceedings for preparation and publication of the provisional Consolidation Scheme under Sections 19-A and 20 of the Act. We are in agreement with the opinion expressed by the Division Benches in the cases of Hasan Raza and Ram Charan Singh (supra). The learned single Judge decisions in the cases of Chandrapal Singh, (1972 Rev Dec 350) and Ganga Prasad, (1968 All WR (HC) 869) (supra) taking a contrary view do not, in our opinion, lay down the correct law and the same are overruled.
22. In the result, the petition fails and is dismissed but we make no order as to costs.