CM No.12050 of 2010 and CWP No.1760 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. CM No.12050 of 2010 and CWP No.1760 of 2009 Date of Decision: 31.8.2010 Bhule Ram .....Petitioner Vs. State of Haryana and others ....Respondents .... CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RAJIVE BHALLA **** Present : Mr. Jaswant Jain, Advocate for the petitioner. Ms. Shruti Jain, AAG, Haryana, for respondents no.1 to 5. Mr. Sanjay Vashist, Advocate for respondent no.6. Mr. Jagat Singh, Advocate for respondent no.7. .... RAJIVE BHALLA, J (Oral) CM No.12050 of 2010 C.M. is allowed. Additional Affidavit of respondent no.6, alongwith document Annexure R-6/10 is taken on record. CWP No.1760 of 2009 The petitioner prays for issuance of a writ in the nature of Certiorari for quashing orders dated 5.10.2007 and 30.12.2008, passed by the Commissioner, Gurgaon Division, Gurgaon and the Financial Commissioner, Haryana. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was appointed as the Lambardar by the Collector, after considering all relevant CM No.12050 of 2010 and CWP No.1760 of 2009 2 factors including the allegations levelled by the private respondents. The Commissioner, however, reversed this order and appointed respondent no.6 as the Lambardar by observing that the petitioner “has illegally occupied panchayat land”. The Commissioner did not refer to any particulars or the nature of this unauthorised occupation and ignored the finding recorded by the Collector that it is the petitioner's brother, who is in unauthorised occupation. The Commissioner also ignored the finding recorded by the Collector that respondent no.6 is in illegal possession of Wakf Board property and in fact recorded a strange finding that respondent no.6 is not in possession of property belonging to the “Rehabilitation Department”. It is further submitted that the Financial Commissioner compounded these errors by referring to family planning certificates signed by the petitioner, without noting that they were signed after the petitioner was appointed,by the Collector. Counsel for respondent no.6 submits that respondent no.6 is not in unauthorised occupation of any land, much less land belonging to the Rehabilitation Department or the Wakf Board. Respondent no.6 has obtained a certificate from the Rent Collector, Haryana, Wakf Board, Faridabad, that he has not encroached upon wakf property bearing Khasra No.134 situated in Village Kheri Kalan. It is further submitted that as the petitioner and respondent no.7 are in unauthorised occupation of panchayat property and as the petitioner has attested family planning certificates as a Lambardar, the Commissioner rightly set aside the appointment of the petitioner and appointed respondent no.6. It is further submitted that as the Commissioner and the Financial commissioner have assigned clear and cogent reasons for appointing respondent no.6, the writ petition should be CM No.12050 of 2010 and CWP No.1760 of 2009 3 dismissed. I have heard counsel for the parties and perused the impugned orders. The Collector rejected the candidature of Bari Chand, respondent no.7 by holding that he is in unauthorised occupation of panchayat property. The candidature of Kishan Lal @ Kishan Chand,respondent no.6 was rejected on the ground that he is in authorised occupation of wakf property. The allegation against the petitioner that he is in unauthorised occupation of panchayat property was rejected on the ground that the house constructed in Khasra No.151 belongs to his brother. This apart, the Collector considered the other merits of the candidates and ordered the appointment of the petitioner. The Commissioner, on the other hand, held that the petitioner is not fit to be appointed as the Lambardar, as he is shown to be in unauthorised occupation of panchayat property in a demarcation report. The candidature of Bari Chand,respondent no.7, was rejected as an FIR had been registered against him and a demarcation report, specifically indicted him for unauthorised occupation of panchayat path No.151/1 and Khasra No.217. With respect to respondent no.6, the Commissioner held that there is no evidence in view of a report submitted by the Tehsildar (Sales) Faridabad dated 31.7.2007to support the allegation of unauthorised occupation of property belonging to the “Rehabilitation Department”. After recording these findings, the Commissioner appointed Kishan Lal as the Lambardar. The Financial Commissioner affirmed the order passed by the Commissioner by holding that the petitioner is in illegal possession of panchayat land and has attested family planning certificates as the Lambadar. CM No.12050 of 2010 and CWP No.1760 of 2009 4 A perusal of the order passed by the Collector discloses that the candidature of respondent no.6 was rejected as he was in authorised occupation of property belonging to the “Wakf Board”. The Commissioner did not deal with this finding but instead held that respondent no.6 is not in occupation of property belonging to the “Rehabilitation Department”. The Commissioner apparently confused the “Rehabilitation Department” with the “Wakf Boad”. The finding that the petitioner is in illegal possession of panchayat land was recorded by the Commissioner and the Financial Commissioner by ignoring findings recorded by the Collector that the petitioner's brother is in unauthorised occupation of panchayat property. The family planning certificates were signed by Bhule Ram, after he was appointed as Lambadar by the Collector. It appears that neither the Commissioner nor the Financial Commissioner perused the record with any degree of care and arbitrarily set aside the appointment of the petitioner. In view of what has been stated herein above, the writ petition is allowed, the order dated 30.12.2008 is set aside and the matter is remitted to the Financial Commissioner, Haryana, to decide the matter afresh and in accordance with law. Parties shall be free to place before the Financial Commissioner any relevant material in support of their respective contentions. Parties are directed to appear before the Financial Commissioner, Haryana on 1.10.2010. 31.8.2010 (RAJIVE BHALLA) GS JUDGE