ALLAH RAKHI Vs. REVENUE MINISTER, J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY medium of this writ petition, the order of the Revenue Minister of the Jammu and Kashmir Government dated 13.6.1989, the respondent No: 1 herein is challenged, interalia, on the ground that the said order was passed without jurisdiction, moreso, after coming into force of the Jammu and Kashmir Special Tribunal Act, 1988 (Act No: XIX of 1988), hereinafter referred to as "Act". The Jammu and Kashmir Special Tribunal hereinafter in this judgment will be referred to for short as Tribunal.

(2.) THE brief facts of the case may be adumbrated, as under:

(3.) DURING the disturbances of 1947 the landed property belonging to the petitionerâ„¢s family was allegedly, forcibly occupied by some locals. The petitionerâ„¢s father and uncle were killed in the said disturbances and she is their sole heir. The said land wrongly came to be recorded as evacuee property. The petitioner applied for deletion of the said land from the record of evacuee property. Her application was granted by the Assistant Custodian, R.S. Pora on 17.4.1971. On appeal by the opposite party, the Custodian remanded the case to the Assistant Custodian for a detailed inquiry. Again, the Assistant Custodian vide his order dated 10.1.1974 held the petitioner entitled to the said land. The Deputy Custodian, however, vide his order dated 15.2.1978 instead of deleting the land from the record of the evacuee property, allotted the same to the petitioner. On appeal, the Custodian General upheld the order of the Assistant Custodian and directed that the land shall be deleted from the evacuee record and the same restored to the petitioner. Against the order of Custodian General, a second appeal came to be filed before the High Court. However, during the pendency of appeal, some of the appellants died and their legal representatives were not brought on record within the prescribed time, with the result that the appeal was dismissed as abated. When the petitioner thereafter sought the execution of the order of the Custodian General, some of the respondents filed an application before the Revenue Minister, respondent No:1 herein who directed to maintain status quo. In the meanwhile, a revision also came to be filed before the Tribunal against the said order of the Custodian General. The said revision was also dismissed on 14.5.1991. Not only that, the Special Leave Petition/filed in the Supreme Court against the order of the High Court dated: 2.2.1989 also has been dismissed as time barred.