VASDEV Vs. CUSTODIAN GENERAL AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ONE Vasdev has made this petition Under Article 226, Constitution of India and Clause 60 of Ordinance No. X of 2005 for issue of writs of certiorari, prohibition, etc. against the Custodian of Muslim Evacuee Property, Patiala and the Custodian General of India, New Delhi.

(2.) THE facts of the case are that Sheikh Kharaiti, a Muslim of Patiala, owned shop No. 15 in Ward No. 4 of the city. He leased this shop to Ram Lal, father's brother of the Petitioner on 9 -7 -1946 for a period of three years. Later on, Sheikh Kharaiti left Patiala and went away to, Pakistan. The Custodian of Muslim Evacuee Property made an effort to get hold of the shop from Ram Lal on the plea that it was a Muslim Evacuee property and had vested in him. Ram Lal protested and wrote to the Custodian that the shop having been leased to him by the original owner his possession could not be disturbed. In the alternative he contended that he should be allowed to retain the shop till the period of his tenancy expired and if the Custodian insisted upon taking hold of the shop the same should be allotted to him till the end of Bhadon, 2006 Bk. i.e. till the middle of Sept. 1949. On 28 -1 -1948 the Custodian informed Ram Lal that the shop could be leased to him only for a year. At first Ram Lal would not agree but ultimately he accepted the Custodian's offer and on 2 -3 -1948 executed in his favour a document whereby he become the lessee of the shop under the Custodian for a period of one year and subject to the conditions given in the document. Though the term of the lease expired on 1 -3 -1949 and Ram Lal did not. execute any fresh document he Custodian's favour thereafter the possession of the shop remained with him till his death which took place on 19 -5 -1950 and he continued to pay rent to the Custodian. On the very day Ram Lal died Jowahar Singh who is a displaced person from Pakistan applied to the Custodian that the shop be allotted to him. It was at this stage that the Petitioner appeared on the scene. He opposed Jowahar Singh's application and represented that as he was the heir and legal representative of Ram Lal deceased and the latter had also made a will in his favour leaving his entire property to him he had taken possession of the shop and was entitled to keep it so long as he continued to pay the rent. The Assistant Custodian after holding an inquiry into the matter reported that the Petitioner's allegations were correct and that he was entitled to retain the possession of the shop but at the same time recommended that Jowahar Singh being a displaced person half of the shop might be allotted to him. The Custodian by his order dated 12 -12 -1950 accepted Jowahar Singh's petition & rejecting the Petitioner's representation called upon him to vacate the shop. The Petitioner made a revision petition to the Custodian General against the order of the Custodian but failed. After that he made two review petitions to the Custodian General but they both met the same fate. The present petition was made to this Court on. 15 -5 -1951.

(3.) IT is contended on behalf of the Petitioner that neither the Custodian nor the Custodian General had any jurisdiction to have the shop vacated by Vasdev or to allot it to Jowahar Singh and the first point urged in this connection is that the shop was not a Muslim evacuee property. Now it cannot be denied that the shop belonged to a Muslim who migrated to Pakistan because of the communal disturbances and consequently so far as the ownership is concerned the shop was a Muslim evacuee property. This point is conceded by the Petitioner's counsel but he argues that since Sham Lal had taken the shop on lease from the original owner, his rights remained intact and did not vest in the Custodian. He further contends that on Ram Lal's death, Vasdev stepped into his shoes as his next heir and his position was the same as that of Ram Lal.