KESHAR SINGH Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The matter comes upon an application under Order 1 Rule 10 CPC filed on behalf of 48 villagers of the village Rewatra for impleadment in the present petition as party respondents on the ground that the present public interest litigation has been filed by the petitioners within an ulterior motive to somehow hinder the development proceedings in the village. For the reasons stated in the application, same is allowed. With the consent of the parties, the present PIL petition itself is heard finally. The present public interest litigation has been filed against the order dtd. 28/7/2021 passed by the District Collector, Jalore whereby 1.60 hectares of land falling in khasra No.856, village Rewatra, District Jalore recorded in the revenue records as gair mumkin gochar has been allotted for construction of a Community Health Center. It has been averred by the petitioners in the present petition that khasra No.856 originally comprised of 13.66 hectares out of which some land was allotted in the year 1973 and again in the year 2011 for construction of a government school. Now again 1.60 hectares land has been allotted for Community Health Center which would mean the reduction in gochar land and resultantly only 10 hectares of land would now remain for the purposes of gochar. It has further been averred that the land which has been set apart in khasra No.1054 in lieu of the said gochar land is not appropriate for the said purpose as most of the land is having ditches and babool trees are standing in maximum part of it. The action of the government in allotting the land out of the present gochar land and setting apart compensatory chunk of land in some other khasra would clearly amount to fragmentation of the existing gochar land. A reply to the petition has been filed on behalf of the State and it has been averred that the land allotted in khasra No.1054 in lieu of the gochar land is perfectly appropriate for gochar purposes and the said fact has also been duly verified by the Gram Panchayat of the village. It has further been averred on behalf of the State that as of date, 25.47 hectares of land is still available in the village in the nature of gochar and the same is enough for the cattle in the revenue village Rewatra which number stands at 1382. On behalf of the newly added respondents i.e. the other villagers of village Rewatra, it has been argued that there is no medical facility available in the village which comprises of a population of 8000-10000 people. Therefore, the construction of the Community Health Center in the village is totally in the interest of the village. It has also been averred that a donor is ready and willing to contribute Rs.1.00 Cr. for the purpose of construction of the Community Health Center but the offer could not be acted upon because of the interim order passed in the present PIL. It has also been argued that adequate gochar land is available in the village and the villagers have no objection and would rather insist that the Community Health Center should be constructed on the allotted land. Even a representation to that effect has been averred to be given by the said villagers to the Collector. Rejoinder to the reply filed by the State has been preferred by the petitioners and it has been submitted that for the purpose of allotment of gochar land by the Collector, prior permission by the State Government is mandatory and in the present case no permission from the State Government before allotment of the land has been obtained by the Collector. Heard the parties and perused the material available on record. Before adverting to the facts of the present case, it is essential to consider the provisions of law and the precedent law pertaining to the "gochar/pasture land." Ss. 5(28) of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 defines pasture land:

(2.) If the State Government has the power to denotify or deserve 'gochar' under any other law and the said power is validly exercised, the land would cease to be 'gochar'.

(3.) If a 'gochar' land is allotted for any other purpose permitted under law, that is to say, the classification of any pasture land is changed in terms of law, an equal area of land is mandatorily required to be set apart as pasture land.