IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH L.P.A. No. 182 of 2009 (O&M) DATE OF DECISION: March 24, 2009 Raj Kaur …Appellant Versus The Financial Commissioner (Cooperation), Punjab and others …Respondents CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M. KUMAR HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE H.S. BHALLA Present: Mr. Naresh Kaushik, Advocate, for the appellant. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? M.M. KUMAR, J. The instant appeal is directed against order dated 10.2.2009, passed by the learned Singh Judge of this Court in C.W.P. No. 129 of 2009, dismissing the petition filed by the appellant. The District Collector, Jalandhar, vide order dated 8.7.2004 (P-3), has found that Tejinder Singh- respondent No. 4 is most suitable amongst the three candidates to function as Lambardar of the village. He is 34 years of age, B.A. Part-II pass and owns five acres of land. Besides the aforesaid characteristics, he is Member of the Panchayat and owns a car. There is no possibility of his going abroad. An FIR was lodged against him, which was cancelled as the same was found to be false. In comparison to other candidates like the L.P.A. No. 182 of 2009 appellant, Tejinder Singh-respondent No. 4 was preferred because the age of the appellant is 55 years. She is hardly literate and is capable of writing and reading only. She owned 10 Kanals 16 Marlas of lad in the village. On a comparison, the District Collector, Jalandhar, found that Tejinder Singh-respondent No. 4 deserve to be preferred as he is younger in age and more qualified. The aforesaid order passed by the Collector was reversed by the Commissioner, vide order dated 17.2.2005 (P-5). He found that the appellant is a female and widow of the deceased Lambardar and, therefore, she was well versed with the job of the Lambardar as she had been assisting her late husband in the discharge of lambardari duties. However, the Financial Commissioner on further appeal under Section 13(C) of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, has restored the order of the District Collector, vide his order dated 16.7.2008 (P-8). The view of the Financial Commissioner reads thus:- “……It is clear that Tejinder Singh is younger, he is better educated and owns more land than Raj Kaur. An FIR had been registered against him, but it was later cancelled. The learned Collector considered Tejinder Singh as the best of the three candidates and appointed him. However, the learned Commissioner has given undue importance to the criminal complaint, which has admittedly been cancelled, and has also made an observation that Raj Kaur has an edge over the other candidates, without giving any reason. This observation of the learned Commissioner is hard to sustain, when it is clear that she is much older than Tejinder Singh, has poor education 2 L.P.A. No. 182 of 2009 and owns less land. In my view, the learned Commissioner has wrongly interfered with the order of the Collector. ……” The appellant challenged the order of the Financial Commissioner before this Court and the learned Single Judge has dismissed the writ petition by holding that Tejinder Singh-respondent No. 4 was ignored initially for the reason that there was a criminal case registered against him, which, in fact, was cancelled. It is pertinent to notice that even the Commissioner and highlighted the factum of registration of FIR out of proportion. Once the FIR has been cancelled, having been found to be false, then it would not have any effect on the consideration for appointment to the office of Lambardar. In all other respects, Tejinder Singh-respondent No. 4 is superior than the appellant. His education is better as he is B.A. Part-II qualified, he is younger in age and also his landholding is much more than the appellant. Therefore, we do not find any legal infirmity in the order of the learned Single Judge or order of the Financial Commissioner. The appeal is wholly misconceived and does not warrant admission. Accordingly the same is dismissed. (M.M. KUMAR) JUDGE (H.S. BHALLA) March 24, 2009 JUDGE Pkapoor 3