IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.1531 of 2011 Date of Decision: January 27, 2011 Lakhvir Kaur & others .....PETITIONER(S) VERSUS State of Punjab & others .....RESPONDENT(S) . . . CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAI LAMBA PRESENT: - Mr. R.S. Chauhan, Advocate, for the petitioners. . . . AJAI LAMBA, J (Oral) 1. The petitioners, eleven in number, have approached this Court in civil writ jurisdiction to pray for issuance of a direction to Tehsildar cum Assistant Collector, Grade-I, Malout, District Muktsar to finalise partition proceedings in case titled ‘Lakhvir Kaur & others vs. Nishan Singh & others’. 2. Notice of motion. 3. On the asking of the Court, Ms. Sonu Chahal, Additional Advocate General, CWP No.1531 of 2011 [2] Punjab, accepts notice on behalf of official respondents. Requisite number of copies of the petition have been handed over to her. 4. In view of nature of issue, this petition can be disposed of on hearing the respondent-State. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioners has referred to Annexure P-3 i.e. zimni orders passed in partition proceedings initiated at the instance of the petitioners, from 19.1.2010 to 9.12.1010. Virtually no proceeding has taken place and adjournments have been given without there being any reasonable cause. 6. Till such time partition proceedings are finalised, the khatas are common. Partition proceedings are initiated if there is some dispute between the co-sharers, or to settle the matters of land holding. Prolonged continuance of partition proceedings is likely to give rise to other litigation viz. civil suits and possibly criminal acts. In such circumstances, it is most appropriate to conclude partition proceedings at the earliest. 7. Perusal of the zimni orders indicates that Tehsildar is not taking the matter seriously enough. A litigant has to go to the Court for every date of hearing and in this case, twice a month. I find that litigants are being CWP No.1531 of 2011 [3] harassed for no good reason. 8. Considering the pace at which the authority has proceeded, respondent No.2 i.e. Tehsildar cum Assistant Collector, Grade-I, Malout, is directed to conclude the proceedings at his end by 30.4.2011. 9. The petition is accordingly disposed of. 10. Copy of this order be sent to Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Punjab, to issue appropriate directions to the authorities to ensure that partition proceedings are taken up and disposed of within a fixed time frame. 11. Copy of the order be given, under signatures of Reader of the Bench, to learned counsel for the official respondents for onward transmission. (AJAI LAMBA) January 27, 2011 JUDGE avin 1. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 2. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest?