EMPEROR Vs. LIMBA TATYA KASID

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this case the complainant, a cadastral surveyor, received an application from the District Inspector of Land Records for measuring and demarcating the boundaries of survey No. 111 on April 1, 1927. On May 4, while he was measuring the land and fixing the boundaries the accused snatched the crowbar from the hands of one Ishwara Mahar who was digging a hole for fixing a stone at the place fixed by the complainant after the measurements were taken. The complainant made a Panchnama, Ex. 2C, and a report, and in consequence of the report a complaint was filed against the accused under Section 186, Indian Penal Code. The accused was convicted by the Second Class Magistrate, Barsi, and on appeal the District Magistrate has confirmed the conviction.

(2.) It is urged on behalf of the applicant that the complainant was not discharging public functions, and, therefore, the accused is not guilty under Section 186 of the Indian Penal Code. Under Section 119, Clause 2, of the Land Revenue Code, when a dispute arises concerning the boundary of any survey number at any time after the completion of a survey, it shall be determined by the Collector, who shall be guided by the land records if they afford satisfactory evidence of the boundary previously fixed, and if not, by such other evidence as he may be able to procure. The powers of the Collector under this section are delegated to the Mamlatdar under Nos. 60 and 61 of Revenue Department No. 5295 dated June 1, 1911, and under Rule 9(a) of the Standing Orders of the Land Record Establishments, the District Inspector is required to send measurement cases for measurement to the Circle Inspector. The Circle Inspector in this case h represented by the complainant who is a cadastral surveyor. Under Rule 15 of the Land Revenue Rules, 1921, for all lands which shall be hereafter surveyed, it shall be the duty of the Director of Land Records to cause to be corrected any arithmetical or clerical error whenever discovered, and to cause to be incorporated punctually in the land records all changes in the boundaries; and Rule 21, Clause (2), says: Where there is any dispute, the boundary to which the dispute relates shall be measured and mapped in accordance with the claims of both disputants, and the dispute entered in the register of disputed cases. After the dispute has been settled under Section 37 and Rules 119-120, or Rule 108, as the case may be, the map shall be corrected accordingly and the areas finally entered into the land records.

(3.) It is clear, therefore, that the Mamlatdar had the power to determine the boundary under Section 119, Clause 2, and the complainant had jurisdiction to measure the land and map it in accordance with the claims of both the disputants. In Rule 25 roughly dressed long stones are prescribed to be boundary marks for the purpose of demarcating the boundaries of survey numbers. It is clear, therefore, that the complainant was performing his legitimate functions under the rules under the Land Revenue Code, and the obstruction caused by the accused would fall within Section 186 of the Indian Penal Code.