STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. SANKALCHAND P VACHHETA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these 30 Civil Applications filed in respective Letters Patent Appeals have been moved on behalf of State of Gujarat, Revenue Department and the Competent Authority and Deputy Collector (ULC) seeking condonation of delay in concerned Letters Patent Appeals. Whereas common questions based on identical facts are involved, we propose to decide this group of 30 Civil Applications by this common judgment and order as under:-

(2.) Since Civil Application No.7393/2000 in Letters Patent Appeal St.No.96/2000 arising out of Special Civil Application No.539/93 and the common order dated 10.9.99 passed in Misc. Civil Application No.1503/99 in Special Civil Application No.539/93 have been argued as the main and leading case, we may give preference to the facts of this particular case for the purpose of passing this order as was agreed by the parties. Special Civil Application No.539/93 filed by one Sankalchand P. Vachheta and pursued by his legal representatives on his expiry, was decided by the learned single Judge on 12.5.99. The contents of this order dated 12.5.99 are reproduced as under:-

(3.) It appears that thereafter several other matters were also decided on the basis of this order dated 12.5.99. State of Gujarat preferred Misc. Civil Applications for review of the orders by which the Special Civil Applications had been decided on the basis of the order dated 12.5.99 passed in Special Civil Application No.539/93. All these Misc. Civil Applications were in the nature of review of the aforesaid order on the ground that in fact the possession of the excess vacant land had been taken over by the State even before the issue of the notice in the main Special Civil Application. The State Government, therefore, sought deletion of the part of the order i.e. "the authorities have not taken the possession of the land in question from the petitioner, which is not in dispute. It was stated on behalf of the State that the factual position to the effect that the possession of the excess vacant land had been taken over by the Government had not been brought to the notice of the court through inadvertence and mistake, neither the officers of the concerned Department were called nor the original record was perused and the petitioner in that case had suppressed the fact that the possession was taken over by the Government even before the filing of the petition in this court. In support of the say, the copy of the panchanama taking possession of the excess land was filed. Since common averments of this nature have been made in all the Misc. Civil Applications for review all the Misc. Civil Applications were heard together and disposed of by a common order dated 10.9.99 whereby the review applications were rejected.