BRIJ KISHORE Vs. TAHSILDAR AND ASSISTANT COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Tahsildar Bhar-thana, district Etawah, by an order dated 31st of August, 1965 requisitioned an area of 0.18 acre of plot No. 145, situated in village Karwa Buzurg, Pargana Bharthana, district Etawah, for the purpose of constructing a drainage channel. Aggrieved the Petitioners approached the Commissioner under Rule 14 of the Rules framed under the U.P. Rural Development (Requisitioning of Land) Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), and prayed for review of the said order. They claimed that the Tahsildar who passed the impugned order had not been properly appointed as the Requisitioning Authority and the order passed by him was without jurisdiction. The Commissioner by his order dated 12th December, 1972 rejected the review application. He held that as per State Government's notification dated 22nd January, 1960 issued under Section 2 of the Act all Tahsildars had been appointed as Requisitioning Authorities under the Act. There was thus no defect in the appointment of the Tahsildar, Bharthana, as a Requisitioning Authority under the Act, and the order passed by him could not be interfered with on this ground. Being aggrieved the Petitioners have approached this Court for relief under Article 226 of the Constitution.

(2.) Before us the learned Counsel appearing for the Petitioners has impugned the validity of the requisitioning order dated 31-8-1965 on following two grounds:

(3.) Having heard counsel for the Petitioners as also the learned Standing Counsel, we are of the opinion that there is merit in the first submission made by Petitioners' counsel. It is true that the State Government purporting to exercise its powers under Section 2 of the Act has, vide its Notification dated 22nd of January, 1960, appointed all Tahsildars exercising the powers of Assistant Collectors as Requisitioning Authorities within the respective Tahsil to which they may be posted for the time being. (The relevant portion of the notification has been extracted in paragraph 10 (a) of the petition). A perusal of the impugned requisitioning order, copy of which has been filed as Annexure 1 to the writ petition, shows that while exercising the powers of the Requisitioning Authorities the Tahsildar made a reference not only to U.P. Government's notification dated 22nd January, 1960 but also to some order passed by the Collector on 25th of May, 1959.