ANAR SINGH Vs. COMMISSIONER, ROHTAK DIVISION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner prays for issuance of a writ of certiorari quashing order dated 10.3.2010, passed by the Commissioner, Rohtak Division, Rohtak, dismissing his appeal on the ground that as the land, in dispute has fallen within territorial limits of Municipal Council Sampla, District Rohtak, the petition under Section 13A and as a consequence, the appeal under Section 13AA of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (as applicable to Haryana) (hereinafter referred to as the "1961 Act"), is no longer maintainable. The petitioner, alleging that the land, in dispute, does not vest in Gram Panchayat, Sampla, filed Civil Writ Petition No. 14867 of 2004, praying that the petitioner and other proprietors of the village, be declared owners. The petitioner placed reliance upon a Full Bench judgment of this Court in Jai Singh v. State of Haryana, 2003 2 RCR(Civ) 578. The writ petition was dismissed as withdrawn on 2.11.2004 with liberty to the petitioner to pursue his remedy under Section 13A of the 1961 Act. The petitioner filed a suit under Section 13A of the 1961 Act before the Collector, Rohtak, on 1.3.2005, claiming that the land, in dispute, does not vest in the Gram Panchayat. The Collector dismissed the suit on 29.5.2007. Aggrieved by this order, the petitioner preferred an appeal before the Commissioner. In the meanwhile, pursuant to a notification issued under the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as "the Municipal Act"), the Sabha area of Gram Panchayat, Sampla, came to be included within the territorial limits of Municipal Council, Sampla. The Commissioner dismissed the appeal by holding that as the land has fallen within territorial limits of Municipal Council, Sampla, the suit and the appeal are no longer maintainable.

(2.) Counsel for the petitioner submits that the suit was filed before the land in dispute came to fall within territorial limits of Municipal Council, Sampla. The mere fact that during pendency of proceedings, the land, in dispute, has fallen within municipal limits, would not oust jurisdiction of the Collector to determine, whether the land, in dispute, is or is not "Shamilat Deh". It is further submitted that the question, in hand, is not, whether the land, in dispute, has come to vest in Municipal Council, Sampla but whether the land, in dispute, is "Shamilat Deh', as only if the land, in dispute, is "Shamilat Deh", would it vest in the Gram Panchayat and thereafter in the Municipal Council, under the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the "Municipal Act") read along with Section 7 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. (hereinafter referred to as the "Panchayat Act"). Counsel for the petitioner further submits that a perusal of Section 13A read along with Section 13B of the 1961 Act, reveals that the only authority, empowered to decide whether a parcel of land is or is not "Shamilat Deh", is the Collector exercising power under Section 13A of the 1961 Act, The jurisdiction of all other authorities, including a Civil Court, is barred. The mere inclusion of the sabha area of the Gram Panchayat in the area of the Municipal Council, does not divest the Collector or the Appellate Authority of power to decide whether land is or is not "Shamilat Deh" and whether it vests or does not vest in a Gram Panchayat and as a consequence in the Municipal Council. It is prayed that the impugned orders may be set aside and the Appellate Authority may be directed to decide the appeal on merits.

(3.) Counsel for Municipal Council, Sampla, submits that the appeal has been rightly dismissed. Section 7 of the Panchayat Act provides that if the sabha area of a Gram Panchayat is included within the area of a Municipal Council, a Gram Panchayat shall cease to exist. The Gram Panchayat having ceased to exist and the land having vested in the Municipal Council, the 1961 Act is no longer applicable and the Appellate Authority, exercising power under the 1961 Act, can no longer exercise power under the 1961 Act. The only forum, empowered to decide a dispute, after the land has vested in a Municipal Council, is a civil Court. The mere fact that the land may or may not have been "Shamilat Deh", is irrelevant for the purpose of deciding the forum, which would now decide the dispute. The land, in dispute, has fallen within limits of Municipal Council, Sampla, pursuant to notification dated 6.4.2007 and, therefore, vests in the Municipal Council.