Rajasthan High Court - Jodhpur
Naina Ram vs State Of Rajasthan And Ors on 20 November, 2018
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2018 RAJ 1417
Author: Sandeep Mehta
Bench: Sandeep Mehta
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
JODHPUR
S.B. Civil Writ No. 13015/2017
Naina Ram
----Petitioner
Versus
State Of Rajasthan And Ors.
----Respondent
Connected With
S.B. Civil Writ No. 11316/2017
Biram Ram
----Petitioner
Versus
State Of Rajasthan And Ors.
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 2824/2017
Ram Chandra
----Petitioner
Versus
State Of Rajasthan And Ors.
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 12960/2017
Ramu Ram
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 13309/2017
Smt. Dakhu
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
(2 of 7) [CW-13015/2017]
S.B. Civil Writ No. 9454/2016
Smt. Chuki
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 13242/2016
Shyam Das
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 9453/2016
Bala Ram
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 11398/2017
Bhoma Ram
----Petitioner
Versus
State Of Rajasthan And Ors.
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 12782/2017
Smt. Seeta
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 12158/2016
Sangi Das
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
(3 of 7) [CW-13015/2017]
S.B. Civil Writ No. 4265/2016
Smt. Champa
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 13263/2016
Chaina Ram
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
S.B. Civil Writ No. 12157/2016
Shaitan Ram
----Petitioner
Versus
State And Ors
----Respondent
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Paramveer Singh Champawat
Mr. Tribhuvan Singh
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Manish Patel, AGC
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP MEHTA
Order 20/11/2018 The instant bunch of writ petitions involve common questions of facts and law and thus, is being decided by this single order.
The petitioners herein are residents of Village Lordi Panditji, Panchayat Samiti Mandore and claim to be holding pattas of land lawfully issued to them by the Gram Panchayat on 20.11.2004.
It appears that the BDO, Panchayat Samiti Nagaur moved the District Collector, Jodhpur by filing revisions under (4 of 7) [CW-13015/2017] Section 97 of the Panchayati Raj Act seeking cancellation of pattas issued to the petitioners claiming that the same were issued without following due process of law. The District Collector, Jodhpur proceeded to accept all the revisions by separate orders as per the Schedule below and quashed the pattas of land issued in favour of the petitioners. These orders are assailed by the petitioners in bunch of writ petitions.
SCHEDULE
S.No. S.B.C.W.P. Number Patta No. and Date of
and date of revisional order
Name of the petitioner issuance
1. 13015/2017 Patta No.98 17.06.2015
Mr. Naina Ram 20.11.2004
2. 4265/2016 Patta No.95 11.12.2015
Mrs. Champa 20.11.2004
3. 9453/2016 Patta No.69 15.07.2015
Mr. Bala Ram 20.11.2004
4. 9454/2016 Patta No.161 15.07.2015
Mrs. Chuki 20.11.2004
5. 12157/2016 Patta No.97 15.07.2015
Mr. Shaitan Ram 20.11.2004
6. 12158/2016 Patta No.77 10.06.2015
Mr. Sangi Das 20.11.2004
7. 13242/2016 Patta No.34 17.06.2015
Mr. Shyam Das 20.11.2004
8. 13263/2016 Patta No.145 17.06.2015
Mr. Chaina Ram 20.11.2004
9. 2824/2017 Patta No.146 15.07.2015
Mr. Ram Chandra 20.11.2004
10. 11316/2017 Patta No.221 15.07.2015
Mr. Biram Ram 20.11.2004
11. 11398/2017 Patta No.171 30.06.2015
Mr. Bhoma Ram 20.11.2004
12. 12782/2017 Patta No.121 03.06.2015
Mrs. Seeta 20.11.2004
13. 12960/2017 Patta No.17 11.12.2015
Mr. Ramu Ram 20.11.2004
14. 13309/2017 Patta No.123 15.07.2015
Mrs. Dhaku 20.11.2004
(5 of 7) [CW-13015/2017]
Learned counsel Mr. Paramveer Singh Champawat and Mr. Tribhuvan Singh, Advocates representing the petitioners vehemently and fervently urged that the District Collector committed grave error in facts as well as in law while entertaining the revisions in question. The petitioners were in peaceful possession of the land under the questioned pattas for nearly 9 to 10 years before the revisions came to be instituted. The pattas were lawfully issued to the petitioners as per their after making due enquiry and following the requisite procedure provided under the Panchayati Raj Act and the Land Allotment Rules. The revisional authority went on to delve into disputed questions of facts and proceeded to quash the pattas of land lawfully issued to the petitioners without any justification whatsoever. He further submitted that the entire action was perpetrated at the instance of the JDA, which was bent upon to usurp the land in question lawfully owned by the petitioners for the purpose of establishing Sardar Patel Police University. He further urged that in view of the Full Bench decision in the case of Tara & Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Anr. reported in 2015 (3) WLN 197 (Raj.), the revisions were liable to the dismissed as being time barred. On these grounds, learned counsel for the petitioners craved quashing of the impugned orders and acceptance of the writ petitions.
Per contra, Mr. Manish Patel, learned AGC, representing the Panchayati Raj Department, has vehemently and fervently opposed the submissions advanced by the petitioner's counsel. He submitted that the disputed pattas were issued in favour of the petitioners without following the due process of law and as such, the District Collector was absolutely justified in quashing and setting aside same by the impugned order, which as per Mr. Patel, (6 of 7) [CW-13015/2017] does not suffer from any illegality or infirmity warranting interference therein.
I have given my thoughtful consideration to the arguments advanced at bar and gone through the material available on record.
The first and foremost circumstance, which convinces the court that the revisional authority acted totally in an unjust manner while entertaining the challenge to the subject pattas is that the revisions came to be instituted after nearly 9 to 10 years after the date of issuance of the pattas in question and that too at at the instance of the Vikas Adhikari concerned. No reason or cause was set up in the pleadings of the revisions as to why the pattas issued to the petitioners, who belong to the weaker sections of the society were being challenged after a gross delay of 9 years. The administration being the revisionist did not set up a case that it was not aware of these pattas for all these years. Though it is true that the concept of delay does not apply in strict sense to the revisional jurisdiction conferred upon the District Collector by virtue of Section 97 of the Panchayati Raj Act, but while entertaining a revision filed after significant delay, the court has to remain mindful of the reasons behind the delay. If there is no justification whatsoever for the delay, then the revision should normally should not be entertained. Furthermore, Hon'ble Full Bench of this court in the case of Tara (supra) considered the very issue of delay and held that a period of three years should normally be sufficient to be treated to be the outer limit for entertaining a challenge to a patta or any such allotment. Furthermore, on perusal of the impugned order, this court is duly satisfied that no significant shortcoming, illegality or irregularity in (7 of 7) [CW-13015/2017] the procedure was pointed out by the revisionist Vikas Adhikari while filing the questioned revisions. Considering the fact that the petitioners all belong to the weaker sections of the society, this court is of the firm opinion that the revisional authority was not at all satisfied while entertaining purely disputed questions of facts for setting aside the pattas of land issued to the petitioners way back in the year 2004. On a careful evaluation on facts as well as on law, the impugned orders do not stand to scrutiny, thus, the same are liable to be and are hereby struck down. The writ petitions deserve acceptance and are hereby allowed, as such. The stay applications are also disposed of.
No order as to costs.
(SANDEEP MEHTA),J Pramod Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)