BALWINDER SINGH Vs. DIRECTOR, RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND PANCHAYATS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) EXERCISING the powers of Commissioner under the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, hereinafter referred to as the Act, the Director, Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab, vide his order dated 31.1.2003 dismissed the appeal preferred by Shri Daya Singh against the order dated 9.8.1983 passed by the Collector, Patiala. Vide this order, the Commissioner, while adopting the reasoning given by him in another connected appeal being Appeal No. 171 of 1985 titled as Didar Singh v. Gram Panchayat, Naulakjha, also held that the petition under Section 11 was maintainable and the appellant had no right and that the petition of the Gram Panchayat was maintainable. Aggrieved from this order, the petitioners have filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) WE may notice at this stage that vide order dated 24.8.1987, the relief claimed by the persons similarly situated like the petitioners and in fact including the petitioners was declined by the authorities concerned. This was challenged in the High Court by filing, amongst others, C.W.P. No. 8148 of 1987. The bunch of these writ petitions was disposed of by the High court vide its order dated 13.11.2002, wherein the matter was remanded to the Director, Rural Development and Panchayats, Punjab, with the direction to finally pass the orders after considering the evidence referred to therein, by 16.12.2002. Upon remand, the detailed order was passed by the Commissioner. In this order, the authority inter alia considered the merits or otherwise of the contentions raised before him and held as under :-

(3.) ANOTHER important aspect of this case is that against the impugned order and the order dated 16.12.2002, Annexure P/10 to the present writ petition, other two writ petitions being C.W.P. No. 1948 of 2003 titled as Didar Singh v. The Director, Rural Development and Panchayats and others and C.W.P. No. 2286 of 2003 titled as Amarjit Singh and another v. State of Punjab and others, 2003(2) RCR(Civil) 664 (P&H), were dismissed on merits by another Division Bench of this Court vide its judgment dated 17.2.2003. In that order the Panchayat discussed the merits of the case and even the factual aspects. With respect and in addition to the above, we would adopt the reasoning given by the Bench in those two writ petitions as well and dismiss this petition.