RAWAT HIMMAT SINGH Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a writ petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution by one Rawat Himmat Singh and by it he seeks a writ of prohibition against the Board of Revenue, Rajasthan for restraining it from entertaining hearing and determining a special appeal filed by the State of Rajasthan before a Division Bench of the Revenue Board against an order of a Single Member of the Board of Revenue dated 30. 9. 64, purporting to have been passed by him on the revision application filed by the petitioner before the Board under sec. 22 of the Rajasthan Forest Act, as, according to the petitioner, such an appeal was not maintainable. The relevant facts necessary for a proper appreciation of the question raised before us may briefly be stated as follows -

(2.) THE petitioner is the ex-Jagirdar of Thikana Bhensrodgarh in district Chittorgarh. According to him, in village Kalakhet, the land known as 'kalakhet Hathi Pagga' measuring 1447 Bighas and odd, was part of his Jagir land while his Jagir was existing and thereafter on its resumption he claimed it to be his Khud-kasht land. THE petitioner's Jagir was resumed on 25. 8. 54 under the Rajasthan Land Reforms and Resumption of Jagirs Act, 1952, and thereafter, the petitioner maintains, he has been paying the land revenue of this. In respect of this land the Government of Rajasthan notified its intention to declare it as a Reserve Forest under sec. 4 of the Mewar Forest Act (No. 2 of 1942), 1942, and the notification was published in the Rajasthan Rajpatra on 4. 3. 50. In pursuance of the notification the petitioner filed his objections before the Forest Settlement Officer against the inclusion of this land in the proposed Reserve Forest, but the grievance of the petitioner was that the Forest Settlement Officer did not dispose of the objections properly and on 21. 3. 52 it was ordered by the Forest Settlement Officer that the. land in dispute may not be recorded in the name of the petitioner. THE petitioner proceeds to say that this order of the Forest Settlement Officer was illegal and without jurisdiction and, therefore, he complained against this order to the Chief Forest Officer of the State. On this complaint the Forest Settlement Officer again too up his objection for consideration, but he rejected it on 18. 11. 58 saying that the objections already stood rejected in 1952 and as no appeal had been filed against the earlier decision, the petitioner was not entitled to challenge the same. Against this decision of the Forest Settlement Officer the petitioner filed an appeal under sec. 17 of the Rajasthan Forest Act, 1953, before the Collector, Chittorgarh. THE Collector, Chittorgarh, agreed with the order of the Forest Settlement Officer observing that the appeal filed by the petitioner was not competent under the Mewar Forest Act, 1942, and accordingly the Collector rejected the appeal.

(3.) A comparison of secs. 17 and 18 of the Rajasthan Forest Act, 1953, with secs. 11 and 12 of the Mewar Forest Act shows that what was made final under the Mewar Forest Act, was the decision of the Prime Minister, whereas under the Rajasthan Forest Act, what was made final was the order passed on appeal, subject only to revision by the State Government. The two provisions also differ in other material respects. While under the Mewar Forest Act, there was a provision for revision by the State Government, under sec. 22 (2) the State Government could, by a notification in the Official Gazette, delegate all or any of its powers under that section to the Board of Revenue or any other authority. That section runs as under - "sec. 22. Power to revise arrangements made under sec. 15 or sec. 18 - (I) The State Government, may, within five years from the publication of any notification under sec. 20 revise any arrangement made under sec. 15 or sec. 18, and may for this purpose rescind or modify any order made under sec. 15 or sec. 18, and direct that any one of the proceedings specified in sec. 15 be taken in lieu of any other of such proceedings, or that the right admitted under sec. 12 be commuted under Sec. 16; Provided that no such arrangements shall be rescinded or modified unless previous notice has been given to the person or persons likely to be affected by such revision and they have been heard. (2) The State Government may, by noun-cation in the Official Gazette, delegate all or any of its powers under this section to the Board of Revenue or to any other authority named in such notification. " The State Government delegated its powers under sec. 22 (2) to the Revenue Board and the notification was in the following terms - "no. F. (141)Rev/a-59 - In exercise of the power conferred by sub-secs. (2) of sec. 22 of the Rajasthan Forest Act. 1953 (Rajasthan Act 13 of 1953) the State Government hereby delegates all its powers under the said section to the Board of Revenue. "