ARTATRANA SINGH DEO Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ petition filed in the nature of Public Interest Litigation, the petitioner, namely, Shri Artatrana Singh Deo, though has impleaded the State as an opp. party, but has sought for eviction of encroachers over plot Nos. 1495 and 1501 of Bolangir Nazul under Khata No. 4 of the Settlement of the Year 1936, which' according to the petitioner, is to an extent of Ac. 1.533 decimals and corresponds to plot No. 58 and other plots of holding Nos. 182, 831, 832 and 833 of Bolangir (kha) of the current settlement. The petitioner has further sought for restraining the private opp. parties 2 to 7 from effecting any transfer/alienation over the aforementioned land and has also sought for a direction to the opp. party No. 1 to dispose of the Ceiling Proceedings on the Orissa Land Reforms Act stated to be pending against the opp. parties 2 to 7 within a stipulated time.

(2.) PARTIES to this writ petition have exchanged their affidavits and when the matter was taken up for hearing, learned Counsel for the State as well as learned Counsel appearing for the opp. parties 2 to 7 vehemently argued that the writ petition should be dismissed at the threshold as the same cannot be maintained as a Public Interest Litigation. They further raised a plea that there is no element of Public Interest involved in the writ petition and the petitioner has been set up by the unsuccessful plaintiff in a suit bearing T.S. No. 20 of 2002 which was filed by the Youth Club, Bolangir to set aside the decree passed in a previously instituted suit, i.e., T.S. No. 19 of 1980 under which title to the properties involved in the present writ petition was declared in favour of the predecessor in interest of the opp. parties 2 to 7 of the writ petition. The opp. parties have further raised the question of delay and laches in filing the present writ petition.

(3.) CONSIDERING the submissions, we heard the learned Counsel for the parties only on the question of maintainability of this writ petition as Public Interest Litigation (in short 'PIL').