SAT PARKAS Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment will dispose of two Civil Writ Petitioners Nos. 305d and 351d of 1960 filed by Sat Parkas and Bhupinder Parkash petitioners respectively. The facts relevant for their disposal may briefly be stated. Sat Parkash and Bhupinder parkash are two brothers. They migrated from Lahore from Lahore on partition of the country in 1947. They filed separate claims for the property abandoned by them there and each claim was verified for the Displaced Persons (claims) Act, 1950. Subsequently the Settlement Commissioner under the Displaced Persons (Claims Supplementary) Act (No. XII of 1954) suo motu issued notices to bhupinder Parkash petitioners to show cause as to why the value of property shown at item No. 3 of the dated 6th December 1951 should not be redetermined. The Settlement Commissioner after hearing the claimant by his order dated 27th may 1958 copy annexure A observed "i have also gone through the file and find that there is no prima facie evidence representation amounting to fraud. " In the result he declined to interfere in the order already passed by Mr. Raj Kishan Gupta claims Officer. The two petitioners jointly purchased properties Nos. H/66/68-H /1023/ 37/37/37/1 and H. 36. H/ 5-8 situate in New Delhi in a public auction on 29th december, 1955, for RS. 3,05,000/ -. . . The bid provisional was finally accepted by the competent authority and provisional possession of the properties so purchased was delivered to them and since then they had been collecting rents from the tenants although the sale petitioners were entitled to compensation to the tune of rs. 1,57,320/- each on the basis of their verified claims. The auction money of the properties purchased by them was to be deducted from the amount of compensation payable to them. The Settlement Officer of the office of the Regional settlement Commissioner Delhi by his order dated 14th May, 1959, informed the petitioners that their claims had been Rs. 1,00,000/- each. He deducted Rs. 32,273. 04 np. out of this sum of Rs. 2,00,000/- and gave credit of the balance towards the sale price of the properties purchased by the petitioners in the auction and directed the officer who was to finally transfer the properties in favour of the petitioners that before doing so he should recover Rs. 1,37,273. 04 np. from them as balance of the sale price. The petitioners felt aggrieved from this order and preferred two separate appeals which came up for hearing before the Deputy Chief Settlement come who dismissed them by one order dated 6th October, 1959, copy annexure B. Their revision against the order S. 33 of the Displaced Persons (compensation and rehabilitation) Act was dismissed by the Central Government on 11th July 1960 copy annexure D.

(2.) THE two petitioners got the properties which they had abandoned in Pakistan by virtue of a will executed by their grandfather Shankar Das on 9th August, 1928 copy annexure C at Lahore. Their father Tara Chand was disinherited by his father shankar Dass on account of mental weakness. The will amongst other things also provides: "after my death 6/16 of the whole of my moveable and immovable property shall be owned by my son kishore Chand and the remaining 10/6 share thereof shall be owned by all the sons Tara Chand subject to the other conditions embodied in this will. Accordingly out of the immovable property have shown the same in list 'a' similarly I having set apart 10/16 share of immovable property have share of immovable property of all the sons of dear Tar Chand have shown the same in list 'b'" The will further provides. " The executors appointed by me should make over 10/16 share of the entire movable property and the immovable property shown in list 'b' to Tara Chand's eldest son (when he attains the age of 21 years) and to Tara Chand's wife. Similarly they should make over 6/16 shares of the movable and immovable property shown in list 'a' to Kishore Chand when he attains the age of 21 years. " shankar Dass soon after died and at the time of his death Bhupinder Parkash petitioners was not born. Sat Parkash petitioners only was then in existence. The estate of the deceased testator came under the superintendence of the High Court of Judicature at Lahore. It appears from the order dated 8th December, 1942, copy annexure E. that J. H. Monroe and attained the age 21 years was entitled to receive certain property bequeathed by the will of Shanker Dass which was then under the control of the Court in the hands of Mr. D. C. Ralli, Bar-at-Law as S. 151 and O. 40 R. I Civil P. C. . , put in by Kishore jointly by him and Sat Parkash and bhupinder Parkash minor through the Receiver.

(3.) THE petitioners in the writ petition impugned the order passed by the settlement Officer on behalf of the Regional Settlement Commissioner the Deputy chief Settlement Commissioner and the Central Government on the grounds that they were not competent to reopen their claims which had been verified under the displaced Persons (Claims) Act, 1950, and that there was no evidence before them to show that the properties for which their claims had been separately verified in fact belonged to Sat Parkas petitioners alone or were coparcenary properties of the joint Hindu Family comprising of them.