Civil Writ Petition No.22962 of 2011 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Civil Writ Petition No.22962 of 2011 Date of Decision:- December 12, 2011 Meyan Singh and others ...Petitioners Versus State of Haryana and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SATISH KUMAR MITTAL HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE PARAMJEET SINGH Present: Mr.Madan Gupta, Advocate, for the petitioners. .. Satish Kumar Mittal, J. (Oral) The petitioners, who are residents of village Shergarh, District Kaithal, have filed the instant petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India for quashing the Resolution dated 8.5.2011 (Annexure P2) passed by the respondent-Gram Panchayat, whereby it was decided to give 63 Kanals 14 Marlas land of the Gram Panchayat to the Technical Education Department, Haryana for the purpose of establishing Government Polytechnic College at village Shergarh; as well as the order dated 2.11.2011 (Annexure P3), whereby the Government has approved the said Resolution and permitted the Gram Panchayat to lease out the said land for 33 years for the aforesaid purpose. The petitioners primarily have challenged the aforesaid action of the respondents on the ground that as per the impugned Resolution the Civil Writ Petition No.22962 of 2011 -2- aforesaid land was leased out to the Technical Education Department, Haryana for setting up Polytechnic College at village Shergarh @ ` 1 per acre per year for 33 years. In the impugned Resolution, it has been clearly stated that the Gram Panchayat had taken the said decision to lease out the said land at the aforesaid rate while taking into consideration that each year at least 10 students of the village will be admitted under the reserved category of that village. The petitioners are challenging the impugned lease only on ground of inadequate consideration. Rule 6(5) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964 (As Applicable to Haryana) provides as under:- “6(5) Panchayat may with the prior approval of the State Government, lease out its land by allotment for a period not exceeding thirty-three years and further renewable for a period not exceeding thirty-three years for setting up infrastructure facilities, units of public utility nature, educational institutions, Special Economy Zone Projects and Industrial Development or for such purposes as may be approved by the State Government to be for the benefit of village community. The terms and conditions of lease including the lease money and mode of leasing out, shall be such as may be approved by the State Government from time to time. Provided that State Government may specify the maximum area of land in shamilat deh which can be leased out by a Gram Panchayat and may further specify area to be retained by each Gram Panchayat for common purposes such as charand, pond, cremation ground, playground etc. in the interest of inhabitants of the village: Provided further that the concerned Deputy Commissioner shall be the competent authority to accord approval to the Gram Panchayat for leasing out its land upto an Civil Writ Petition No.22962 of 2011 -3- area of one acre, over which unauthorized religious construction has taken place before the 29th September, 2009.” In the aforesaid Rule, it has been clearly laid down that the terms and conditions of lease including the lease money and mode of leasing out, shall be such as may be approved by the State Government from time to time. Therefore, in our opinion, the Panchayat was competent to pass the aforesaid Resolution in the interest of the Gram Panchayat while taking into consideration the benefit of the inhabitants of the village, particularly a clause in the said resolution that each year at least 10 students of the village will be admitted under the reserved category of that village. The State Government is also competent to sanction such kind of lease proposed by the Gram Panchayat. Therefore, we do not find any jurisdictional or procedural illegality in the aforesaid impugned orders. In our opinion, only on ground of inadequate consideration, the decision of Gram Panchayat and approved by the Government, particularly when the Gram Panchayat has taken a conscious decision for the benefit of the children of the village, cannot be said to be illegal, particularly when the land has been given to the Technical Education Department, Haryana for the purpose of establishing Government Polytechnic College in the said village. During the course of arguments, example given by the counsel of transfer of certain land from villages Kheri Jasaur and Jasaur Kheri, Block Bahadurgarh, District Jhajjar is not relevant because in that case the land was sold to the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India for the purpose of establishing Centre of Excellence for Global Deployment of Civil Writ Petition No.22962 of 2011 -4- Nuclear Energy, but in the present case the land has been leased out to the Educational Institution for establishing Government Polytechnic College. Thus, we do not find any illegality in the impugned orders. Dismissed. (SATISH KUMAR MITTAL) JUDGE December 12, 2011 (PARAMJEET SINGH) vkg JUDGE