Civil Writ Petition No. 20135 of 2010 1 In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, at Chandigarh. Civil Writ Petition No. 20135 of 2010 Date of Decision: 11.11.2010 Bhupinder Singh …Petitioner Versus State of Punjab and Others …Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA. Present: Mr. Kanwaljit Singh, Senior Advocate with Ms. Guneet Kaur, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. V.K. Sandhir, Advocate for the caveator/respondent No.3. Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia, J. (Oral) On oral prayer made by Ms. Guneet Kaur, Advocate, she is permitted to make corrections in the writ petition, after appending her initials. Respondent No.3-Jarnail Kaur was elected as a Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat, Village Sahib Nagar Theri, Block Sanaur, District Patiala. Her husband Jagdish Singh, who was in possession of the land belonging to the Gram Panchayat, has moved an application dated 2.8.2006 (Annexure P1) before the Collector (District Development and Panchayat Officer), Patiala, stating therein that he is in possession of the land in dispute for the last 55 years and has constructed the house thereupon. He further stated therein that as per the Government policy, Civil Writ Petition No. 20135 of 2010 2 the land be sold to him at the Collector rates. The Collector (District Development and Panchayat Officer), Patiala, vide his order dated 31.10.2007 (Annexure P2), dismissed the said application. The Appellate Authority, vide his order dated 11.10.2010 (Annexure P6), noticed this fact and held that after the application (Annexure P1) was rejected by the Collector, on 31.10.2007, husband of respondent No.3- Jarnail Kaur has vacated the possession over the land in dispute and now he is not in possession of any land belonging to Gram Panchayat. M. V.K. Sandhir, Advocate, appearing for the caveator/respondent No.3, has made a categoric statement that at the time when the appeal was decided, husband of respondent No.3 was not in possession of any land of Gram Panchayat. Considering this fact, the discretion has been validly exercised by the Appellate Authority and thus, the Court will be circumspect to substitute its opinion with that of the Appellate Authority. Hence, no interference is warranted in the present writ petition and the same is hereby dismissed, in limine. (Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia) Judge November 11, 2010 “DK”