SAZIDS Vs. COMMISSIONER OF CONSOLIDATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners have filed the present writ petition for Issue of a writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to hold fresh consolidation proceedings in accordance with law in Village Keserva Tehsil Budhna district Muzaffarnagar and a further prayer has been made for issue of a writ of mandamus commanding the respondent No. 1 to decide the representation dated 10.5.1999 filed by the petitioners within a month and during the tendency of the representation, the respondent Nos. 2 to 4 and other consolidation authorities be directed not to dispossess the petitioners from their original holding.

(2.) The first ground taken by the petitioners is that their area has been illegally reduced by the consolldator and other consolidation authorities during survey proceedings in the village. The second ground which has been taken by them is that the Assistant Consolidation Officer as well as other concerned consolidation authorities have illegally allotted uran chaks to the petitioners depriving their original holding and the chaks have been allotted to them at a long distance from the village abadi. The third ground taken by the petitioners is that the consolidation authorities have not provided proper Chak Road and channels of irrigation facilities and as such, the petitioners as well as 80% tenureholders of the village are unable to reach their chaks easily and cannot irrigate their chaks. The other ground taken by the petitioner Is that the consolidation authorities respondent Nos. 3 and 4 and Assistant Consolidation Officer concerned have illegally assessed the less valuation of the original plots of the petitioners and higher valuation of big tenureholders of the village whose holdings is very inferior by which the petitioners as well as other tenureholder of the village have suffered double irreparable loss and injury.

(3.) In the Consolidation of Holdings Act. 1953 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), there is provision in Section 4 to issue declaration and notification regarding consolidation. The relevant Section 4 of the Act is quoted below : "4. Declaration and notification regarding consolidation.--(1) (a) The State Government may, where it is of opinion that a district or part thereof may be brought under consolidation operation, make a declaration to that effect in the Gazette, whereupon it shall become lawful for any officer or authority who may be empowered in this behalf by the District Deputy Director of Consolidation (i) to enter upon and survey, in connection with rectangulation or otherwise and to take levels of any land in such area ; (ii) (to fix pillars in connection with rectangulation, and) ; (iii) to do all acts necessary to ascertain the suitability of the area for consolidation operations. (b) The District Deputy Director of Consolidation shall cause public notice of the declaration Issued under Clause (a) to be given at convenient places in the said district or part thereof. (2) (a) When the State Government decides to start consolidation operations, either in an area covered by a declaration issued under sub-section (1) or in any other area, it may Issue a notification to this effect. (b) Every such notification shall be published in the Gazette and in a daily newspaper having circulation in the said area and shall also be published in each unit in the said area in such manner as may be considered appropriate."