COL MOHAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) S .B. Civil Writ Petition No. 1858 of 1975 filed by Col. Mohan Singh and S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 1874 of 1975 filed by Narendra Singh against the State of Rajasthan and Anr., arise out of almost identical facts and so they are disposed of together by one single order.

(2.) THE relevant facts giving rise to these petitions may be briefly narrated as follows: - -Col. Mohan Singh along with his son Narendra Singh was personally cultivating land comprised in Khasra No. 4 situated at village Bicharli in District Jodhpur since year 1951 as a tenant of Khudkasht of Maharaja Shri Gaj Singh of Jodhpur. The land including 'Kacholia Beria' was taken by Col. Mohan Singh on lease in the year 1951 from Maharaja Shri Gaj Singh for a period of 10 years and paid Rs. 3800/ -, per annum as lease money for the land in question. Subsequent thereto possession of the land known as 'Kacholia Beria' was handed over by Col. Mohan Singh, petitioner, to Maharaja Shri Gaj Singh in the year 1961. He however retained 316 Bighas of land only in village Bicharli. The lease relating to this land was further extended in the year 1961 for a period of three years and the petitioner paid lease -money for that period. The land which was leased out to Col. Mohan Singh, petitioner, belonged to the full ownership of His Highness Maharaja Gaj Singh as it was shown in the list of his private properties which was prepared and approved of by Rajasthan Government and the Central Government. Later on, the Rajasthan Government in exercise of its powers under Section 7 of the Rajasthan Land Reforms and Acquisition of Land Owners Estates Act, 1963 (Act No. 11 of 1964), hereinafter referred to as the Act, issued Notification No. 1 (29) Revenue/A/60 dated August 11, 1964, which was published in the Rajasthan Raj Patra Part 4(C) ordinary dated August 13, 1964. The said notification reads as under:

(3.) IN pursuance of the judgment of the Assistant Settlement Officer, corrections in the record of rights were made by the Settlement Department and a settlement Parcha was issued in the name of the petitioner from Samvat year 2021 to Samvat year 2030, i.e. for a period often years. The petitioner was, therefore, entered in the revenue record as a tenant of Khudkasht on 15th March, 1964 and acquired Khatedari rights in the land in question even before the commencement of the Act. After the name of the petitioner was entered in the record of rights as a Khatedar tenant of the land under controversy, the settlement department recovered land revenue from him since 1964 upto the date of filing of the writ petition as is evident from the rent receipts marked Annexures 5 and 6.