Ramesh Parsram Malani And Ors.. vs The State Of Telangana Represented By ...

2) Some facts would be necessary to appreciate the contention raised by the parties. One Parsram Ramchand Malani, father of the appellant, was resident of Sindh in the present-day Pakistan and 1 for short, ‘CCLA’ 1 after partition, came to settle in Hyderabad. The father of the appellant asserted that he was owner of 83.11 acres of land in Sindh. Such land was verified vide an order passed by Settlement Claim Officer, Bombay on November 22, 1952 (copy submitted by the appellant during the course of the arguments). On the basis of such order, the father of the appellant applied for 200 acres of land in lieu of 83.11 acres of land left by him in the West Pakistan (copy submitted by the appellant during the course of the arguments). It is on the basis of such application that 40.4 standard acres of land (323.10 local acres) was allotted in District Hyderabad East, Village Bata Singaram, measuring 32.12 standard acres (262.11 local acres) and in Hyderabad West, Village Boinapally measuring 7.8 standard acres (60.39 local acres). There is no dispute between the parties till such allotment. Such allotment was made prior to commencement of the Displaced Persons (Compensation & Rehabilitation) Act, 19542. Therefore, to regularise such allotment, another letter was issued on March 24, 1956 after commencement of the Act. The father of the appellant did not raise any claim for allotment of additional land till his death on August 10, 1988. It may be mentioned that Rule 51 of the Displaced Persons (Compensation & Rehabilitation) Rules, 1955 3 provides for scale of compensation in the form of land in accordance with the Land Allotment Scheme in the States of Punjab and Patiala and the East Punjab States Union as set out in Appendix XIV. A perusal of 2 for short, ‘Act’ 3 for short, ‘Rules’ 2 Appendix XIV would show that against area abandoned of 83 standard acres, the entitlement is allotment of 45.8¾ acres. It has also come on record that the father of the appellant, the displaced person, sold the entire land allotted to him soon after allotment.

3) The appellant addressed a letter to the CCLA on March 15, 2001 claiming allotment of 43.7 standard acres against balance of verified claim. The CCLA addressed the letter to the Settlement Officer, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India on May 5, 2001 but no response was received from the Ministry of Home Affairs. On February 21, 2003, the appellant made another representation to the CCLA pursuant to which CCLA allotted the land measuring 19.26 standard acres (148.3 local acres) in Survey No. 301 to 308, 325 to 328 and 331 part in favour of the appellant on February 26, 2003, which is the subject matter of present appeal.

4) The orders of CCLA were stayed by a memo of Government of Andhra Pradesh dated March 20, 2003. The Secretary to Revenue Department in the Government of Andhra Pradesh initiated suo moto proceedings in respect of six cases of allotment of evacuee property in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy District. Subsequently, a show-cause notice was issued to the appellant on August 20, 2003. The appellant filed writ petition before High Court of Andhra Pradesh challenging the show-cause notice and the stay order dated March 20, 2003. The High Court disposed of the writ petition 3 on November 14, 2003 with a direction to the appellant to approach the Revisional Authority. The Revisional Authority dismissed the revision filed by the State on June 28, 2006 holding that the allotment of land is in accordance with the Act.

5. Allotment of lands to individuals with reference to the valuation of their claims, guided by various considerations, priorities and preferences and so forth administratively determined.”

The properties, would, thereafter, be managed and disposed of by the State Government who would pay to the Government of India 15% of the reserve price/market value as assessed in 1953 or 15% of the value realised as a result of disposal of these properties, as the case may be. The balance amount would be retained by the State Government.

IV. DISPOSAL OF JUDICIAL CASES RELATING TO EVACUEE PROPERTIES IN THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH xx xx xx V. xx xx xx VI. RESIDUARY WORK IN THE SETTLEMENT WING Residuary work relating to the properties etc. 16 already disposed of will be taken over by the Sate Govt. and dealt with by them hereafter.

VII. RECORDS The files pertaining to the litigation work referred to in item No. (V) above will be handed over by a representative of this Department at Hyderabad. The files pertaining to the residuary work vide para (VI) above will also be transferred to the State Government. In addition, there are about 6000 closed files in the Central Record Room of the Settlement Wing pertaining to the properties already disposed of. Necessary arrangements for transferring this record would be made by this Department. The expenditure on their transportation from New Delhi to Hyderabad would be met by this Department.

VIII. TRANSFER OF WORK UNDER THE EVACUEE INTEREST (SEPARATION) ACT, 1951 The work relating to administration, management and disposal of composite properties in terms of the Evacuee Interest (Separation) Act, 1951 shall stand transferred to the State Government with effect from 1.6.1980.

8 CWP No. 14772 of 2000 decided on November 14, 2017 34 vested in the Settlement Commissioner. The various orders of allotment are thus, illegal having been passed by officers who were not vested with jurisdiction to do so.

xx xx xx

19. Thus, it stands established on record that the claim of Jeta Ram stood satisfied during his life time. There was no “verified claim” of him left to be satisfied and the entire exercise initiated by his son through letter dated 15.03.1994 was with fraudulent intentions. Officials/officers passed allotment orders with a view to benefit Harbans Lal Arora, even though, they did not have the jurisdiction to do so under the law. Even the procedure prescribed by law was short-circuited so that instant gratification could be achieved.

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36) The Punjab Act is to regulate transfer of land for allotment to displaced persons after vesting of surplus land with the State Government of Punjab. Such Act is only to regulate and provide for procedure for allotment of surplus evacuee land.

OCTOBER 22, 2019.