SHANKARI DEVI Vs. UT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner seeks issuance of an appropriate writ, order, or direction in the nature of certiorari for quashing the order dtd. 8/10/2020 passed by respondent No. 2 in the appeal titled Shankari Devi vs. Gundurb Singh and another, as well as the order dtd. 6/6/1988 passed on Mutation No. 981. By virtue of the said mutation, occupancy tenancy rights with respect to the land allotted to Khillu Ram (predecessor-in-interest of the petitioner and respondents No. 4 and 5) were conferred solely upon respondents No. 4 and 5, thereby depriving the petitioner of her rightful share. The petitioner also seeks issuance of a writ of mandamus directing respondent No. 3 to attest the mutation of the allotted land in favour of the petitioner and the private respondents in equal shares, and prays for any other appropriate relief this Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.

(2.) The petitioner is one of the persons displaced from her native place in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) due to the Indo-Pak conflict of 1947. She migrated to the Indian side and settled in Lamberi, Tehsil Nowshera, District Rajouri as a 1947 refugee. The petitioner's family was headed by her husband Khillu Ram (since deceased) and consisted of the following members: (i) Khillu Ram, (ii) Koushalaya (first wife), (iii) Shankari Devi (second wife and petitioner herein), and (iv) Raj (daughter). Respondents No. 4 and 5 were born subsequently. Khillu Ram passed away in 1985. The daughters born to him were married and had settled in their matrimonial homes. It is pertinent to mention that Koushalaya, the first wife of Khillu Ram, passed away before him. However, the Tehsildar, Agrarian Reforms, Lamberi (respondent No. 3) attested Mutation No. 981 dtd. 6/6/1988 under Sec. 3-A of the J&K Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976, exclusively in favour of the private respondents, thereby depriving the petitioner of her rightful one-third share in the land allotted to late Khillu Ram. The land under mutation comprises the following Khasra numbers situated at Village Lamberi, Tehsil Nowshera:

(3.) Aggrieved by the mutation, the petitioner preferred an appeal before the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, exercising powers of Commissioner Agrarian Reforms, which was dismissed vide the impugned order dtd. 8/10/2020.