Civil Writ Petition No. 17765 of 2008 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No. 17765 of 2008 Date of Order: 19.07.2010 Resham Singh ....Petitioner Versus State of Punjab and others ..Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIVE BHALLA Present: Mr. Mukand Gupta,Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. C.S.Brar, DAG, Punjab for respondent no.1. Ms. Shikha Sharma, Advocate for respondents No.2 to 4. RAJIVE BHALLA, J (Oral). The petitioner prays for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari for setting aside the order dated 05.03.2008, passed by the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Punjab, setting aside the order passed by the Commissioner and upholding the order passed by the Collector whereby an order passed by the Assistant Collector IInd Grade, was set aside. Counsel for the petitioner submits that as the petitioner is in cultivating possession of the land in dispute, the Assistant Collector IInd Grade rightly directed the change of khasra girdwaris in the name of petitioner. It is submitted that mere pendency of partition proceedings or the filing of a civil suit by private respondents would not oust the jurisdiction of a revenue officers to alter a khasra girdwaries. It is further argued that partition proceedings have been adjourned sine-die, on the Civil Writ Petition No. 17765 of 2008 -2- ground that a civil suit is pending. The civil suit, however, is not being decided as the writ petition is pending and the petitioner's application for correction of khasra girdwari has been rejected on the ground that partition proceedings are pending. It is submitted that in view of this anomalous situation, the order passed by the Financial Commissioner should be set aside. Counsel for the private respondents, submits that possessory and proprietary rights in land cannot be altered after the filing of an application for partition. As partition proceedings cannot proceed on account of the pendency of a civil suit, the petitioner's application for correction of the khasra girdwari was rightly dismissed. I have heard counsel for the parties and perused the impugned orders. Admittedly, partition proceedings initiated at the behest of the petitioner have been adjourned sine-die to await the out come of a civil suit filed by the private respondents. The Financial Commissioner, therefore, rightly set aside the orders directing the correction of khasra girdwaries in favour of the petitioner. It would require emphasis that a revenue officer proceeds with partition proceedings, in accordance with possessory and proprietary rights obtaining on the date of the application for partition. The petitioner's prayer for change of the khasra girdwaries after he filed an application for partition was, therefore, rightly rejected. In this view of the matter, the writ petition is dismissed with liberty to the petitioner to approach the Civil Court, for appropriate orders in the pending suit. July 19, 2010 (RAJIVE BHALLA) nt JUDGE