MEHTA LAL CHAND Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AS common questions of law arise in these three cases, namely, L. P. A. No. 12 of 1968, C. W. No. 1090 of 1969 and C. W. No. 3106 of 1968, all these cases can be disposed of by one judgment, which we propose to do.

(2.) L. P. A. No. 12 of 1968 arises out of C. W. No. 1631 of 1962. Mehta Lal Chand, petitioner in that petition, was a displaced person from West Pakistan. He was entitled to allotment of agricultural land in lieu of the land left behind by him. While he was still an unsatisfied allottee, he made a report to the Rehabilitation authorities that Suchet Singh (now represented by his successors after his death)had received double allotment in different villages and that his allotment in village dhut Kalan, being unreserved, should be cancelled and the same land be allotted to the petitioner. The claim of the petitioner was negatived by the subordinate rehabilitation Authorities. He filed a petition before the Government under Section 33 of the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954 (hereinafter called 'the Act' ). This petition was dismissed by the Central government in a summary manner without affording any hearing to the petitioner. He challenged this order in the above mentioned writ petition, which came up for hearing before a Single Bench of this Court who, vide his order dated October 6, 1967 dismissed the same. The learned Single Judge following an earlier Division bench judgment of this Court in Ranjit Singh v. Union of India, 1962-64 Punj LR 44, held that the Central Government was not called upon to give a personal hearing to the petitioner before deciding his petition under Section 33 of the Act.

(3.) FEELING aggrieved against the order of the learned Single Judge, the appellant has come up in appeal before this Court.