GRAM PANCHAYAT, VILLAGE SUDHEWAL Vs. DIRECTOR PANCHAYATS PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PRAYER in the present writ petition, filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, is for quashing the orders dated 9.11.2004 and 4.2.2005, Annexures P-6 and P-7 respectively, whereby an application, filed by the petitioner-Gram Panchayat, under Section 11 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (for short herein after referred to as "the Act"), has been dismissed.

(2.) THE respondent-proprietors filed a petition under Section 42 of the East Punjab Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act, 1948 (for short herein after referred to as "the Act of 1948"), for partition of shamlat land. Vide order dated 4.7.1991 (Annexure P-2), the said application was dismissed as withdrawn. Thereafter, the respondent-proprietors filed another application under Section 42 of the Act of 1948. Vide order dated 4.2.1992 (Annexure P-3), the Director of Land Records, Punjab Jalandhar, exercising powers under Section 42 of the Act of 1948, accepted the application and directed partition of the shamlat land which, as per his findings, has been wrongly allotted to the Gram Panchayat by making an excessive cut in the land holdings of the proprietors. The said order, Annexure P-3, was challenged by the Gram Panchayat-petitioner by way of CWP No. 5227 of 1992, which was dismissed by this Court, vide order dated 7.5.1992 (Annexure P-4). Civil Appeal No. 6584 of 1995, filed by the petitioner-Gram Panchayat against the order, Annexure P-3, was dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, vide order dated 27.8.1998.

(3.) COUNSEL for the petitioner contends that the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held in Gram Panchayat Nurpur's case (supra) and Gram Panchayat Sidh's case (supra) that the Collector, exercising powers under Section 11 of the Act, is the sole authority to decide a question of title regarding shamlat land. The Director of Land Records, exercising powers under Section 42 of the Act of 1948, had no jurisdiction to decide as to whether the land vested in the Gram Panchayat or not and, therefore, the order, passed by the consolidation authorities being void, the Collector, exercising the powers under Section 11 of the Act, should have accepted the Gram Panchayat's petition and proceeded to decide the same ignoring the order of the Director of Land Records, even though affirmed by this Court, as also by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.