IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No. 8060 of 2005 Date of Decision: 26.08.2008 Gram Panchayat Mansa Khurd ....Petitioner Versus State of Punjab and others ...Respondents CORAM : Hon'ble Mr. Justice J.S. Khehar. Hon'ble Ms. Justice Nirmaljit Kaur Present:- Mr. Rajinder Singla, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. P.C. Goyal, Sr. D.A.G., Punjab for the State. Mr. Kashmir Singh, Advocate for respondents No.5 to 7. Mr. P.S. Dhaliwal, Advocate for respondents No.12 to 14 and 17. NIRMALJIT KAUR, J. Three petitions were filed by the petitioner-Gram Panchayat before respondent No.2 for eviction of the respondents under the Punjab Public Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery) Act, 1973 and the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961.The petitions were dismissed by respondent No.2 on 10-04-2003 holding that the land in question did not vest in the petitioner-Gram Panchayat. The appeal filed by the Gram Panchayat before respondent No.3 against the said order dated C.W.P. No. 8060 of 2005 -2- 10-04-2003, was also dismissed on 02-06-2003. These orders are now challenged in the present writ petition by the petitioner-Gram Panchayat. Taking up the arguments on behalf of the petitioner, it is argued that the land is recorded as Shamlat Deh in the Revenue Record. The documents tendered in the evidence by the petitioner have not been discussed. Further the action of the Consolidation Authorities in partitioning the Shamlat land among the right holders is wholly illegal. The respondents, on the other hand, took the objection that the mutations are in their favour. They are owners in possession. Disputed land never vested in Gram Panchayat. The petition is not maintainable as it involves question of title and the Civil Court has already adjudicated upon the matter. During proceedings of the consolidation in the year 1961-62, the consolidation Authorities in advertently ignored the above said factual position as was crystal clear in previous record of rights, revealing the name of the forefathers of the answering respondents in the column of ownership as well as in the column of cultivation depicting their exclusive possession as proprietor as per their entitlement. The answering respondents after getting the knowledge of erroneous entries, approached the consolidation Authorities for necessary rectification. The consolidation Authorities after probing the matter thoroughly and after examination of the records made the necessary rectification of the record and only restored the original position. The Gram Panchayat contested the proceedings of the consolidation and challenged the same in this Court by filing writ petition. The Writ Petition was dismissed. Learned counsel for the parties have been heard. C.W.P. No. 8060 of 2005 -3- It is admitted that the consolidation authorities had partitioned the land among the individual right holders. However, it is alleged by Gram Panchayat that this partition was illegal. In any case, it is admitted that the said action of the consolidation authorities was challenged by the Gram Panchayat in Writ Petition before this Court and the said writ petition has since been dismissed. Thus, the counsel for the petitioner has not been able to dispute the fact that the Consolidation authorities on the representation of the respondents, had rectified the mistake committed by the Consolidation Department during the consolidation and thus restored the original position which was prevailing before the initiation of the consolidation proceedings. As per the findings recorded by the Revenue Authorities, the land in dispute never vested in the Gram Panchayat as per Section 4 of the Punjab Village Common Land Act, 1961. This land was in exclusive possession of the fore-fathers of the answering respondents as per their entitlement and the Jamabandis even before 26-01-1950 onwards reveal the distinct share of the proprietors in Shamlat Deh.The names of the fore- fathers of the answering respondents appear in the column of ownership. During the proceedings of the consolidation in the year 1961-62, the consolidation authorities ignored the above factual position. The respondents, on getting to know of this erroneous entries, approached the consolidation authorities for rectification. The said rectification on the record was made and restored to its original position. The proceedings of the consolidation were challenged by the Gram Panchayat in CWP No.2512 of 1989 which was dismissed. Once, the consolidation proceedings have been upheld till the High Court, there is no merit in the C.W.P. No. 8060 of 2005 -4- claim of the petitioner-Gram Panchayat. There is no infirmity in the orders dated 10-04-2003 (Annexure P-2) and 14-10-2004 (Annexure P-3) passed by the authorities. The petition is, accordingly, dismissed. (NIRMALJIT KAUR) JUDGE (J.S. KHEHAR) JUDGE August 26, 2008. gurpreet