AJMER SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of the instant petition, the petitioners have approached this Court for seeking the relief of issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari seeking quashing of the order dated 22.01.2020 passed by respondent no.2 whereby the appeal, as preferred by them against the order handed down by respondent no.3 on 03.12.2018 declaring respondent No.4 to be the owner of the land in dispute (for short "disputed land"), had been dismissed.

(2.) Bereft of unnecessary details, the factual-matrix, as canvassed by the petitioners in this petition, is that during the land consolidation proceedings, the land owned by Nand Kaur, their predecessor-in-interest, fell within the phirni (the circular passage/road around a village). She preferred an application to the Consolidation Officer with a request to make good the deficiency, so caused to her land. Thereupon, the Consolidation Officer, after perusing the record, found that her land measuring 09 biswas had come under the phirni and in lieu thereof, she was entitled to 04 biswas land. Therefore, the Consolidation Officer passed an order on 26.05.1955 (Annexure P-2) for allotting the land measuring 04 biswas to her out of the land of one Jawahar Singh and Chanan who were owners in possession of the land comprised in Khasra Nos.253 and 276, as shown in Annexure P-1.

(3.) The petitioners have, further, averred that consequent upon the land consolidation proceedings, Khasra No.253 was re-numbered as Khasra No.472 whereas Khasra No.276 was converted to Khasra No.468 although a part of Khasra No.276 was also merged in Khasra No.472, as shown in the copy of the Field Book (Annexure P-3). A mutation bearing No.1442 was also sanctioned on the basis of the afore-mentioned order Annexure P-2. Thus, they have been in possession over the disputed property as its owners since the year 1955 and have also raised construction thereupon without any interference from any quarter and their names were also duly recorded as the owners of the said land in the jamabandi for the year 1966-67 (Annexure P-4).