MAHAVIR MAHLI Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed against initiation of Land Encroachment Case No. 01/2021-22 on the ground that Land Encroachment Case No. 06/2020-21 alleging encroachment over the same land was already initiated wherein vide order dtd. 20/7/2021, a direction was also issued to remove the said encroachment. Further prayer has been made for quashing the entire proceeding of Land Encroachment Case No. 06/2020-21 initiated against the petitioners as the same was conducted without providing any opportunity of hearing to them which is violative of the provisions of the Bihar (now Jharkhand) Public Land Encroachment Act, 1956 [hereinafter referred to as 'the Act, 1956'].

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the land appertaining to Khata No. 114, R.S. Plot No. 1091, Mouza-Balalong, Thana No. 236, District- Ranchi (hereinafter referred as 'the said land') was recorded in the R.S Record of Rights in the name of Jagbandhan Nath Tiwari, who died in the year 1939. Thereafter, the said land was inherited by his widow, namely, Urangmohan Kunwar, who sold the same to several people including the ancestors of the petitioners and the buyers also got their names mutated in the concerned circle office. The petitioners/their ancestors constructed houses over the said land and started living there peacefully without any hindrance. Moreover, approval for construction of the houses under ''Indira Awas Yojna/Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojna'' has also been granted in favour of some of the petitioners/their relatives on the part of the said land which clearly suggests that the petitioners are not the encroachers.

(3.) It is further submitted that Forest Case No. 227/92 was registered with respect to the said land against ''Sukra Nayak'' under Ss. 32, 33, 63 and 66 of the Indian Forest Act which was finally decided in his favour vide judgment dtd. 14/6/1995. It is thus evident from the aforesaid facts that the said land is not a government land as the petitioners/their ancestors have been residing over the same even before the construction of ''Dhurwa Dam''. The said land does not fall within the catchment area of the said dam which is situated almost 2 K.Ms. away from the petitioners' houses. A pitch road was constructed by the government authorities in the year 1975-76 connecting Village-Balalong to other parts of the city and the same has been in operation since then.