Civil Writ Petition No.19355 of 2011 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.19355 of 2011 Date of Decision:17.10.2011 Rampal ......Petitioner Versus State of Haryana and others .....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MEHINDER SINGH SULLAR. Present: Mr.Manoj K.Tanwar, Advocate, for the petitioner. **** M EHINDER S INGH S ULLAR , J.(oral) The conspectus of the facts, which requires to be noticed for the limited purpose of deciding the sole controversy, involved in the instant writ petition and emanating from the record is that, in the wake of death of Bhagmal, the post of Lambardar of Village Rahdodi, Tehsil Badhra, District Bhiwani, had fallen vacant. After completion of all the formalities for the appointment of Lambardar, as envisaged under The Punjab Land Revenue Act and Rules framed thereunder(hereinafter to be referred as “the Act and Relevant Rules”), ultimately, three candidates, namely, Rampal son of Matu Ram(petitioner), Kirpal Singh son of Bhagmal(respondent No.4) and Narpal Singh son of Bhagmal(respondent No.5) applied and lodged their respective claims for the post in question. 2. After considering the merits and demerits of the candidates, the Collector found Kirpal Singh(respondent No.4) more suitable candidate and appointed him on the indicated post of Lambardar of the village, vide impugned order dated 12.10.2010(Annexure P-2). 3. Aggrieved by the order(Annexure P-2) of the Collector, the petitioner filed the appeal, which was also dismissed by the Commissioner, Hisar Civil Writ Petition No.19355 of 2011 2 Division, Hisar, by virtue of impugned order dated 26.11.2010(Annexure P-3) and the revision petition filed by him was dismissed as well, by the Financial Commissioner, by means of impugned order dated 29.08.2011(Annexure P-4). 4. The petitioner still did not feel satisfied with the impugned orders (Annexures P-2 to P-4) and preferred the present civil writ petition, invoking the provisions of Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India. 5. After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner, going through the record with his valuable help and after considering the entire matter deeply, to my mind, there is no merit in the instant writ petition in this context. 6. Ex facie, the argument of the learned counsel that although, the petitioner is more meritorious and suitable candidate, but the Collector committed a mistake in appointing respondent No.4 as Lambardar of the village and since, the Commissioner, Hisar Division, Hisar and the Financial Commissioner further erred in accepting his choice, so the impugned orders are illegal, is not only devoid of merit but misplaced as well. 7. As is evident from the record that, the Assistant Collector Ist Grade, recommended the name of Kirpal Singh(respondent No.4). He is younger in age and more educated than other candidates. 8. Having completed all the codal formalities and taking into consideration the respective pros and cons of the candidates, the Collector came to a definite conclusion that, since, respondent No.4 is more meritorious and suitable candidate, so, he appointed him as Lambardar, by way of impugned order dated 12.10.2010(Annexure P-2), which in substance is as under:- “I have heard the counsel of all the three candidates and after going through the evidence on file, I finds that Kirpal candidate is much educated than other candidates, his father and grand father were Lambardar so he has the knowledge of the works of Lambardar. He is also having sufficient land for his livelihood. So other two candidates are less educated than Kirpal candidate, so keeping in view all the evidence on record, I appoint Sh.Kirpal son of Bhagmal, Civil Writ Petition No.19355 of 2011 3 r/o village Rahdodi, Tehsil Badhra, Distt. Bhiwani for the post of Lambardar.” 9. What cannot possibly be disputed here is that, the Collector is the appointing authority of the Lambardar. The appointment of Lambardar is administrative function and is prerogative of the District Collector, being In-charge of the Administration. It is the duty of the Collector to appoint such persons in the office of Lambardar, who are eligible and competent to carry out the duties efficiently. He is in an advantageous position to examine the merits and demerits of the candidates more closely. The choice of the Collector in the matter of appointment of village Lambardar should not normally be interfered with, specially when it is accepted by the Commissioner, unless the Collector has taken a perverse view and has not exercised his choice judiciously. In the instant case, the Collector has rightly appointed respondent No.4 as Lambardar of the village. 10. Not only that, the choice of the Collector was further upheld by the Commissioner, Hisar Division, Hisar, as well as by the Financial Commissioner, through the medium of impugned orders dated 26.11.2010(Annexure P-3) and 29.08.2011(Annexure P-4), respectively. 11. Learned counsel for the petitioner did not point out any legal violation and material, much less cogent, to contend as to how and in what manner, the impugned orders are illegal and would invite any interference by this Court in this relevant connection. 12. Meaning thereby, the authorities have recorded the cogent grounds in the impugned orders in this regard. Such orders, containing the valid reasons, cannot legally be set aside, in exercise of writ jurisdiction of this Court, as contemplated under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, unless the same are perverse and without jurisdiction. Since, no such patent illegality or legal infirmity has been pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioner, so, the impugned orders deserve to be and are hereby maintained in the obtaining circumstances of the case. Civil Writ Petition No.19355 of 2011 4 13. No other legal point, worth consideration, has either been urged or pressed by the learned counsel for the petitioner. 14. In the light of aforesaid reasons, as there is no merit, therefore, the instant writ petition is hereby dismissed as such. October 17, 2011 (MEHINDER SINGH SULLAR) seema JUDGE