ZAMINDARAN MOUZA MUJA GUND Vs. ABDULLAH LONE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal under the Letters Patent is directed against the judgment of a learned Single Judge of this court, Mian Jalal -ud -Din J, who has thereby quashed the order of the Financial Commissioner, respondent No. 2, herein, and upheld the allotment sanctioned by the Tehsildar Consolidation Officer in favour of respondent No. 1, herein under Order LB 6, of 1958. The facts giving rise lo this appeal may be briefly narrated as below: -

(2.) LAND measuring 40 kanals comprising Khasra No. 370 situated in village Rakh Muja Gund was mutated by Tehsildar, Consolidation Officer Palhallan in fauour of respondent No. 1, herein under LB -6 of 1958 vide his order dated 21 -10 -1960. Aggrieved by this order the appellants went in revision before respondent No.2 -The revision petition was filed by the appellants on 14 -7 -1970. Respondent No. 2 vide his order dated 8 -6 -1972 overset the order of the Tehsildar Consolidation Officer holding that the land could not have been validly transferred in favour of respondent No. 1 under provisions of LB -6 of 1958 and also on the respondent having been previously ejected from the very said land by the predecessor -in -office of the Tehsildar Consolidation Officer and subjected to a fine of Rs. 100/ - per day, the subsequent order of the Tehsildar Consolidation Officer was patently illegal.

(3.) AGGRIEVED by the aforesaid order of respondent No. 2 respondent No. 1 assailed the same in a writ petition before the High Court mainly on the ground that the revision petition having been filed more than three months after the date of the order passed by the Consolidation Officer, the same was hopelessly time barred and respondent No.1 had exercised jurisdiction in oversetting the order which in fact did not vest in him. This petition was allowed by the learned Single Judge of this court vide the order impugned in this appeal, as the learned Single Judge was of the view that the time started running against the appellants not from the date they acquired knowledge of the order passed by the Tehsildar Consolidation Officer, but from the date of the order itself, that section 5 of the Limitation Act being inapplicable to revision petitions the same could not be held to be within time, that the plea of knowledge was not available to the appellants in the absence of any specific provisions in the Consolidation of Holding Act, 1962 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) to the effect that the appellants were entitled to a prior notice by the officer who passed the order, and that the appellants had knowledge of the order as they were present on spot when the order came to be passed by the Tehsildar Consolidation Officer.