GANPAT LAL Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Agriculture land in Khasra Nos. 396 and 397 measuring 15 Biswas and 1 Bigha 15 Biswas respectively situated in Village Palsana belonged to the petitioner Ganpatlal and Chouth Mal, father of the petitioners No. 2 to 5 and husband of petitioner No. 6. Shri Kanhaiyalal Tambi, who was the father of petitioner Ganpatlal and the deceased Chouthmal and late Shri Jamunadas was elder brother of Ganpatlal and late Shri Chouth Mal. A school had been constructed by said Shri Kanhaiyalal and late Shri Chouthmal which was donated to the government in the year 1949. It is admitted fact that the School in the name of late Shri Kanhaiyalal Tambi Govt. Secondary School, Palsana, is still in existence. This school has now been upgraded from Secondary to Senior Secondary. A donation deed was also executed in Feb. 1971. The above said Khasra No. 396 and 397 were abutting the buildings of the school. The school authorities required more land for the purpose of school ground, and, therefore, Shri Ganpatlal and late Shri Chouth Mal were approached by the authorities for handing over these khasras to the school so that the boundary of the school be extended. The land abutted not only the school boundary but it was situated on the National Highway. In lieu of the said land a proposal was made by the authorities to hand over a part of the land in exchange, to the said persons situated in khasra Nos. 231 measuring 10 Bighas. Out of the said area of 10 Bigha 10 Biswas, 1 and 2 Bigha and 10 Biswas, land was to be handed over to said Shri Ganpatlal and late Shri Chouthmal. The area was demarcated and the new Khasra was allotted as Khasra No. 231/1 and a separate allotment was made in favour of said persons in lieu and in exchange of the land situated in Khasra No. 396 and 397. This was so accomplished in the year 1972. Of course even though the final decision of exchange was implemented in the year 1972 but the matter was being negotiated right from 1962 onwards. The Collector, Sikar, vide his order dated 3-6-72, ultimately when the exchange was approved, made the allotment of the area 2 Bigha 10 Biswas in the name of the ancestral of petitioners. The order of the Collector, has been reproduced at page 7 of the writ petition which is not denied. The mutation of the said land was also entered in the name of the said two persons. Even the demarcated map was also prepared. Copy of the mutation has been annexed as Annex-6.

(2.) One Rameshwar Dass, Sarpanch was having certain objections and he filed an appeal before the Revenue Appellate Authority challenging the decision of the Collector by which the exchange was allowed. This appeal was dismissed on 6-5-74 vide Annex. 7 attached to the writ petition. No further action was taken by any of the authority nor the order or action of exchange of land was challenged by any person before any authority. It was after 13 years of the said allotment or mutation when the petitioner was issued notice by the Tehsildar on 6th Sept. 1985, vide Annex. 8 stating therein to explain as to why certain building material has been placed or collected by the petitioners in Khasra No. 231. Petitioner replied to the aforesaid notice vide Annex-9 on 12th Sept. 1985 by giving all the details of exchange. It was stated by the petitioners in Annex. 7 that the petitioner was only constructing boundary wall around the area allotted to them in lieu of the exchange of the land which transaction had been completed in the year 1972. The petitioners have alleged that because of some political rivalry and political reasons they have been harassed by one Shri Narain Singh who had contested elections from Danta Ramgarh Assembly Constituency as a Congress (I) candidate for the reasons that the family of the petitioner was the supporters of Bhartiya Janta Party. A complaint was made by the petitioners vide Annex. 10 but without any result. Even said Shri Narain Singh, M.L. A., had tried to raise the issue in Assembly by putting starred question No. 76, wherein an answer was said to have been given to the fact that the possession from the land in question shall be got vacated from the petitioners and consequently, on 26th March 1986 impugned order Annex. 11 was passed wherein the Dy. Secretary (Admn.) Government of Rajasthan, had stated that the earlier order passed on 3-6-72, allotment of alternative land in lieu of exchange land was not according to the rules and, therefore, the order dated 3-6-1972 is to be withdrawn. The District Collector, Sikar, was asked to get the possession vacated not only from the land in Khasra No. 231 but also land in Khasra No. 394 measuring 11 Biswas situated in Village Palsana, which land had also been allotted to the petitioners earlier. Admittedly the order Annex-11 was passed without issuing any show cause notice to any of the petitioners and also without stating any reason whatsoever in the impugned order.

(3.) It is stated that the one Jagirdar Khandelapana had earlier issued a patta of land measuring 12 Bigha 5 Biswas in favour of late Chouthmal and Bansidhar Tambi in Oct. 1954 which land included the area of 1 Bigha of land of Khasra No. 394, and as such 1 Bigha of land in Khasra No. 394 continued to be in continuous possession of said persons right from 1954. The Gram Panchayat Palsana had also granted permission on Oct. 1960 to construct a boundary wall around this land Khasra no. 394. In the year 1967 about this land of Khasra No. 394, the Tehsildar had passed certain adverse orders against the then occupants but the order was set-aside by the Additional Collector, Sikar on 16-11-1967. The case was remanded back to the Tehsildar. The Tehsildar again reiterated his earlier order which was again appealed before the Collector and the Collector vide his order dated 8-4-69 had set aside the order passed by the Additional Collector, Sikar, by giving a direction to the Tehsildar to reconsider the matter in view of the patta issued by the then Jagirdar of Khandela Pana. When the true facts were brought to the notice of the Tehsildar, the Tehsildar regularised the possession of the then occupants Ganpatlal and late Chouthmal over Khasra No. 395/1 measuring 18 Biswa and Khasra No. 394 measuring 1 Bigha. The State Government had challenged the said order passed by the Tehsildar on 26th August 1970 before the Collector in the year 1983 i.e. after a period of 13 years. The State Government had thought to file an appeal against the order of Tehsildar. The appeal of the State Government was dismissed on 4-9-85 and the order passed by the Tehsildar was maintained vide order Annexure-12.