GRAM PANCHAYAT Vs. RAM SARUP

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Present appeal, at the instance of defendant-Gram Panchayat, is directed against the judgment of reversal passed by the learned first appellate court, whereby the first appeal of the plaintiff was partly allowed, declaring his suit for declaration and permanent injunction.

(2.) Briefly put, facts of the case as noticed by the learned first appellate court in paras 2 and 3 of the impugned judgment, are that, plaintiff filed this suit for declaration to the effect that he is in possession of land comprised in khewat/khatauni No.388 min/475, khasra No.34//15/2, 16/2, 17 total measuring 13 kanals 16 marlas situated in village Duliana, Tehsil Barara, Distt. Ambala (hereinafter referred to as the suit land) and revenue entries showing the defendant as owner of the land and Parama Nand in possession of the same are incorrect, null and void, ineffective qua the rights of the plaintiff and the mutation in the name of Gram Panchayat on the basis of the notification is null and void, in effective qua the rights of the plaintiff with consequential relief of rectifying the same in the name of the plaintiff in the column of cultivation instead of Parma Nand and restraining the defendant from dispossessing the plaintiff from the suit land forcibly and illegally or in the alternative suit for possession of the suit land. Briefly stated, the plaintiff came with the averments that he was in possession of the suit land for the last more than 20 years. Previously one Parma Nand son of Beli Ram was in possession of the suit land who delivered the possession of suit land vide writing dated 28.11.1985. Parma Nand died issue less leaving behind no legal heir. The revenue entries could not be changed in the name of the plaintiff in the revenue record despite of said writing. The plaintiff filed an application for correction of khasra girdawari in the court of Assistant Collector Second Grade, Barara and the khasra girdawari was ordered to be corrected in the name of plaintiff from the name of Parma Nand and the order was handed over to the Patwari Halqa. The plaintiff also planted poplar and safeda trees in the suit land. The plaintiff had been cultivating the suit land and remained in possession of the same throughout, but recently in February 2005 he had come to know that Halqa Patwari had not changed the khasra girdawari in his name as share holder, despite of the order of AC Second Grade and he further came to know that defendant was shown to be the owner of suit land in the revenue record in the column of ownership on the basis of some notification of the Government of Haryana. The plaintiff being illiterate person was not aware about the mischief of the Halqa Patwari. The revenue entries showing the defendant as owner and Parma Nand in possession are wrong and without any basis, these entries are liable to be rectified by inserting the name of share holder in the column of ownership land, the name of the plaintiff in the column of cultivation, as the notification of the State of Haryana declaring the Gram Panchayat as owner of sult land/property and the mutation in consequence of the alleged notification are also null and void. The plaintiff requested the defendant several times to get the revenue entries corrected, but it is adamant and rather threatening to dispossess the plaintiff from suit land forcibly and illegally on the basis of wrong revenue entries. Hence, the suit was filed.

(3.) On notice, defendant-Gram Panchayat appeared and filed written statement raising the preliminary objections regarding maintainability, locus standi, jurisdiction, suppression of true and material facts and limitation. On merits, it was denied that plaintiff was in possession of the suit land for the last more than 20 years. It was also denied that Parma nand son of Bali Ram was in possession of suit land. Said Parma Nand and the plaintiff have got no right, title or interest in the suit land which was owned and possessed by the defendant-Gram Panchayat of village Duliana exclusively. Said Parma Nand had got no right to deliver the possession of the suit land and to execute any writing regarding the same. The alleged writing was illegal and not binding upon the defendant in any manner. The illegal possession from suit land had already been removed through competent authority. The suit land was owned and possessed by the defendant-Gram Panchayat, Duliana, therefore, there was no question of correcting the khasra girdawari in the name of the plaintiff of Parmanand. It was denied that plaintiff had planted poplar and Safeda trees in the suit land. The alleged order if any passed by the AC II Gr. Barara, behind the defendant was not binding upon the defendant in any manner and same was illegal as defendant was never summoned by the court of AC II Gr. The revenue entries regarding suit property were rightly going on in the name of the defendant as the suit land vests in the Gram Panchayat. Denying the rest of the averments, dismissal of the suit was prayed for.