GOVINDBHAI D BHAGAT Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONERS are five residents of village Kotda, Tal. Palanpur, Dist: Banaskantha. They have prayed for a direction to respondents Nos. 1 to 3 to declare land admeasuring 244 acres of land in survey No. 39 of village Kotda as goucher land for the benefits of grazing of cattle in the village.

(2.) ADMITTED facts are that the said land has been taken possession of by the Government through the proceedings under the Gujarat Agricultural Lands Ceiling Act from the erstwhile owner. The Government in terms of the provisions of the Act was in the process of disposing of the land in favour of respondent Nos. 4 to 29 who are members belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. At that stage, the petitioners approached this Court contending, inter alia, that the land is not useful for agriculture and no agriculture activities are possible thereon. The same should, therefore be reserved for common grazing of the cattle of the village. Heavy reliance was placed on report Annexure E issued by certain experts. In the report, it is stated, inter alia, that the land cannot be made cultivable without considerable expenditure which would make agriculture unviable.

(3.) THE request of the petitioners cannot be accepted. I fail to understand how a handful of petitioners of the village would have any locus to contend that certain land acquired under the Agricultural Lands Ceiling Act should not be disposed of in terms of the provisions made under the Act and that the same should be reserved for common use for the cattle of the village. The Village Panchayat has not come to the Court taking up any such cause. In any case, there is nothing in the Agricultural Lands Ceiling Act to permit the Government to take such a recourse. Further, it is for the land recipients to judge for themselves whether it would be possible for them to put the land for meaningful agricultural use and it is for the Government to take a decision in this regard depending on the facts and circumstances of the case.