BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED (BSNL) Vs. SASHIDHAR NEPAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The short question for consideration in the instant Appeal is;

(2.) The Appellants were the Defendants before the Trial Court, while the Respondent was the Plaintiff. The parties shall hereinafter be referred to by their litigative status during trial.

(3.) The Plaintiff filed a suit for declaration, injunction, recovery of possession and other consequential reliefs before the Court of the District Judge, East Sikkim, at Gangtok, averring that he is the owner of a plot of land, bearing no.728, registered in his name and measuring an area of 0.0140 hectares, under Kambal block, East Sikkim. The Defendants in the year 1988 started construction of their towers on an adjacent plot of land. During such process, they encroached upon a portion of the Schedule B land described hereinabove. Proceedings were initiated before the concerned authority of the District Collectorate by the Plaintiff and field verification of the land was carried out in the presence of the officers of the Defendants Company. The area Amin (Revenue Supervisor) who had conducted the inspection in the presence of both parties concluded that, the Defendants had indeed encroached upon the land of the Plaintiff. Nevertheless, as no settlement could be arrived at before the revenue authorities, the Plaintiff approached the Lok Adalat, Gangtok, East Sikkim. The matter remained unresolved before the Lok Adalat, upon which the Plaintiff filed the aforestated Suit before the Court of the District Judge, East Sikkim, at Gangtok, with the following prayers in the Plaint