S BALBIR SINGH Vs. RAJNI KANT SETTLEMENT COMMISSIONER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Possession is nine-tenths of the law This case illustrates it. The battle in this case is about vacant possession of a property bearing house No. 58, situated on Chruch Road) Bhogal, to which the N.D.M.C. has given municipal number 4936 and Khasra number of which is 594. Its area is 422 sq. yards. The petitioners are in possession of 275 sq. yards of this plot. The dispute relates to this land. The property has a long history; It was owned by one Chaudhry Chand Khan and his two brothers. It appears that during the riots of 1947 Chand Khan left Bhogal and went to reside in Nizamuddin. His brothers and his nephews were killed during the disturbances of 1947. From the report of the Assistant Custodian (judicial) dated December 27, 1963 it appears that the residents of the locality saw the dead bodies of daceased persons being carried away in trucks in the riots of 1947. They testified to it. The Custodian of Evacuee Property in 1948 teeated this property and two other properties of Chand Khan and his brothers as evacuee properties. As law provided for automatic vesting, these properties vested in the Custodian. On May 3, 1955 these properties were taken over as part of the compensation pool. In this case we are concerned only with house No. 58. It was in possession of one Puran, a local man. There were two chhapors on this plot of land. On May 24, 1948, Santokh Singh, one of the present petitioners, applied for allotment of the portion in occupation of Puran, On December 5, 1948 Puran was evicted and the vacant plot with chappars thereon was allotted to the petitioners, namely, Santokh Singh and his brothers Balbir Singh and Harbans Singh, on a monthly rent of Rs. 3.50Paise. After allottment they built pucca structure consisting of 6 rooms with 3 shops on this plot and now they are doing the business of tyre retreading and motor parts there.

(2.) In 1954, when peace returned after the Great Divide, Chand Khan as the only surviving member of the family made an application to the Custodian of Evacuee Property for the restoration of his properties on the ground that he was never an evacuee and that he never migrated to Pakistan. Nothing was done on his application. He repeated this application in 1962. The Custodian moved in the matter. He ordered an enquiry into the title of Chand Khan to these properties and his status whether he was an evacuee or not. The Central Government came to the conclusion that Chand Khan was entitled to the restoration of his properties because he remained in India throughout and was working as a Superintendent of Gardening in the Office of the Archeological Department, Government of India, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi. On Angurt 1, 1966, the Central Government made an order under Section 16 of the Administration of Evacuees' Property Act 1950 (the Act) holding that Chand Khan was entitled to the restoration of his properties. In the order it was recorded that the Central Government is satisfied that the evacuee properties which had vested in the Custodian were the properties of Chand Khan and he would have been entitled to the same if the Act had not been in force. It was also found that he had satisfied the conditions prescribed in the rules in this behalf. SD the Central Government declared Chand Khan to be entitled to the restoration of evacuee properties described in the Schedule and directed that action may be taken inregard to the said properties under Section 20-A of the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act 1954.

(3.) After this order dated August 1, 1966 Chand Khan made an application on October 17, 1966 to the Regional Settlement Commissioner saying that as the order of restoration had been passed in his favour attornment letters to the tenants of these properties may be issued. He said :