NAND SINGH Vs. DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall dispose of Civil Writ Petition Nos. 1734, 1735 and 1736 of 1966 filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India as common questions of law and fact are involved.

(2.) The petitioners' father Shri Labh Singh is alive and is a big landowner in village Pojo-Ke-Uttar. The family belongs to the community of Rai Sikhs and are displaced persons from West Pakistan.

(3.) The petitioners, who are small landowners owning less than five acres each, are in occupation of evacuee lands in village Lakha Haji as lessees or tenants since 1956. The lands leased out to them were of Sailab or Banjar quality and the petitioners had to sink in a good deal of labour and money to improve and develop the land and to make it fit for cultivation. The leases or allotments of these lands in favour of the petitioners are reported to have been cancelled by the Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepore (respondent No. 1) and his subordinate officers (respondent Nos. 2 and 3) without giving the petitioners a hearing. The petitioners came to know about this cancellation of the leases or allotments when some unknown persons were seen prospecting these lands and making inquiries at the spot. The petitioners asked for copies of the orders of cancellation but the respondents declined to make these copies available until the petitioners had vacated the land. According to the policy laid down by the Government the petitioners had the right to purchase these lands at a reserve price to be fixed by the Government. The impugned orders of cancellation of the leases or allotments had been passed by the respondents in utter disregard of the principles of natural justice.