PREM SINGH Vs. COMMISSIONER, AMBALA DIVISION, AMBALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners pray for issuance of a writ of certiorari quashing orders dated 04.06.1984(Annexure P-3), 08.04.1985 (Annexure P-4) and 19.04.1985(Annexure P-5), passed by the Assistant Collector Ist Grade, Sonepat, the Collector, Sonepat and the Commissioner, Ambala Division, Ambala, respectively.

(2.) Bhagwana, father of the petitioners, filed a suit before Senior Sub Judge, Sonepat, under Section 13-A of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 1961 Act'), for a declaration that the land, in dispute, is "Shamilat Panna, Hasab Rasad Raqba Khewat, and does not vest in the Gram Panchayat as it is not used, as per the revenue record, for benefit of the entire village community or a part thereof or for common purposes of the village. The Gram Panchayat filed a reply denying these averments. The suit was, eventually transferred to the Assistant Collector Ist Grade, Sonepat. The Assistant Collector Ist Grade, Sonepat, framed issues and after parties led evidence, dismissed the suit by holding that the petitioners have failed to prove their ownership. Aggrieved by this order, the petitioners filed an appeal. The Collector, Sonepat, dismissed the appeal. The petitioners, thereafter, filed a revision before the Commissioner, Ambala Division, Ambala, which was also dismissed.

(3.) Counsel for the petitioners submits that the land, in dispute, does not vest in the Gram Panchayat as the "Sharat-wajib-ul-arz" of 1909-10 clearly records that khasra no.1190, the number of the land, in dispute, before consolidation, was exclusively reserved by proprietors for grazing their cattle. The "Sharat-wajib-ul-arz" further states that proprietors, alone, shall be entitled to use the land for grazing their cattle, whereas non-proprietors would be required to pay a fixed amount of money. The "Sharat-wajib-ul-arz" prepared after consolidation in 1955-56, reveals that the land, in dispute, was not included in land reserved for grazing of cattle. According to the relevant jamabandi, the land, in dispute, is owned by "Shamilat Panna Hasab Rasad Khewat" and is in self cultivation of proprietors.