STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANR.versusGRAM PANCHAYAT AND ORS.

                           STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANR.                                 A
                                           v.
                          GRAM PANCHAYAT AND ORS.

                                   MARCH 6; 2002

            [SYED SHAH MOHAMMED QUADRI AND R.P. SETHI, JJ.]                         B

           Punjab Village Common land (Regulation) Act, 1961:

            Ss. 2 (g)(ii-a) 4, 7 and 11-Shamlat delr-Vesting of in Gram Panchayat-
      App/ication u/s 7 by Gram Panchayat for possession as the said land has C
      vested in it and was mutated in its nam.,_Application contested by appellants
      contending that mutation in the name ofPanchayat was effected without notice
      to them-That the land belonged to appellant-State Government and was
      allotted to appellant nos.2 and 3-Appellants 2 and 3 established a potato/arm
      therein by spending crores ofrupees and constructed pucca buildings thereon- D
      The authorities under the Act and the High Court held in favour of the Gram
      Panchayat-Contention that after amendment ofs. 3 by Act 8of1995 the land
      stood excluded from the land vested in Panchayat, rejected-Held, question of
      dispute as to title was not referred to competent authority u/s I I-But on
      application of Panchayat uls 7 both, the Collector as also the Commissioner,
      found that appellant nos. 2 and 3 had not produced anything to show that the E
      land had vested in them or had been transferred by sale or otherwise in their
      favour-Jn view of these findings offact, the amended provision would have
       no application-Besides, no right can be claimed by appellants on the basis
      of vesting of land under the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 as,
      under the State Act, Sham/at deh would vest in the Panchayat-lt was submitted F
      on behalf of the Gram Panchayat that it would lease out to appellants the land
      on which their buildings are existing together with land necessary for ingress
      ond egress to reach the said land-Submission recorded-However nothing
      said in the judgment shall preclude the State Gavernment to establish its title
      to protect the farm and the buildings-Administration. of Evacuee Property


---   Act, 1950.

          Gram Panchayat of Village Jamalpur v. Ma/winder Singh and Ors., (1985]
      Suppl 2 SCR 28, relied on.
                                                                                      G




                                          283                                       H
    284                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                   [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A           CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 10364 of
    1996.

         From the Judgment and Order dated 27.2.96 of the Punjab and Haryana
    High Court in C.W.P. No. 5436 of 1995.

B           Shiv Pujan Singh and R.S. Suri for the Appellants.

            Hardev Singh and Ms. Madhu Moolchandani for the Respondents.

            The following Order of the Court was delivered :

C         This appeal, by special leave, is from the judgment of the Division
    Bench of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh dismissing
    appellant's CWP No. 5436 of 1995 on February 27, 1996, following the
    judgment of this Court in Gram Panchayat of Village Jamalpur v. Ma/winder
    Singh and Ors., [1985] Suppl 2 SCR 28.

D          To appreciate the controversy involved in this case it would be necessary
    to notice the facts giving rise to this appeal. The first respondent filed
    application before the Development and Panchayat Officer-cum-Collector,
    Ludhiana (for short. 'the Collector') under Section 7 of the Punjab Village
    Common Lands (Regulations) Act, 1961 (for short, 'the Act') for possession
    of the land in dispute on the ground that the land has vested in it and the
E   same was mutated in the name of Panchayat by order of the Tehsildar dated
    September 4, 1986. Appellant Nos. 2 and 3 contested the claim of the first
    respondent pleading; that the land belonged to the Government of Punjab and
    it was allotted in their favour under a package deal in lieu of which the
    amount was also deposited in the Treasury; that the pos!.~ssion of the land
F   was given 'to them as per the order of the Tehsildar in the year 1970 and on
    that basis they have been in possession of the same; that the mutation in the
    name of Panchayat was done without notice to them, therefore, it is illegal;
    that by mutation the Panchayat did not become the owner of the land in
    which there was potato farm which was Government Agency; that the
    Government of Punjab established the potato farm by spending crores of
G   rupees; that pucca buildings were constructed on the site and 27 crores and
    9 electric motors were also installed there; and that there are 12 tractors of
    the farm on the site. It was further averred that the Government was spending
    about IO to 11 lakhs per year on the potato farm.

H         The Collector, after discussing the evidence placed on record by the
                                            STATEv. GRAMPANCHAYAT                                285
                    parties, pointed out the appellant Nos. 2 and 3 (the respondents therein) had        A
                    not produced any proof to show that the disputed land was allotted by the
                    Punjab Government or that the potato farm was purchased from the
                    Government; that from the beginning the disputed land was being shown in
                    Jamabandi as shamilar deb and on September 4, 1986, the mutation of the
                    land was effected in favour of the Gram Panchayat. With regard to dispute
                    of title to the land it was noted that appellants never brought to his notice that   B
                    the title dispute should be decided first nor was any application filed for that
                    purpose before him. It was held that the disputed land was owned by Gram
                    Panchayat and in that view of the matter he ordered delivery of possession
                    of the land to the Gram Panchayat. Appellant Nos. 2 and 3 herein filed an
                    appeal against the said order before the Director Rural Development and              C
                    Panchayat, Punjab (exercising the powers of Commissioner under the Act)
                    (hereinafter referred to as, 'the Commissioner'). The Commissioner, on
                    examining 1ecord in the light of the contentions of the parties, held that the
                    documents brought on record did not link up the case with the land in question
                    and that nothing was placed on record to support the package deal and as to          D
                    how and when the land was allotted to the Hm1iculture Department and
                    accordingly dismissed the appeal on January 11, 1995. The correctness of the
                    order of the Commissioner was assailed in the Writ Petition by the said
                    appellants and the State of Punjab, which as stated above, was dismissed by
                    the High Court by the order under challenge in this appeal.
                                                                                                         E
                          Mr. Shiv, Pujan Singh, the learned counsel for the appellants, has
                    contended that after the amendment of Section 3 by Act 8 of 1995 the land
                    in question stood excluded from the land vested in the Panchayat, therefore,
                    the order of the High Court has to be set aside.

                           It may be useful to refer to the amended Section 3 of the Act, insofar        F
                    as it is :elevant, which reads as follows:-

                          "lands to which this Act applies-

                            (I) This Act shall apply and before the co1'1mencement of this Act,
                            the Shamilat Law shall be deemed always to have applied, to all              G
_...- -· ........           lands which are shamilat deh as defined in clause (g) of Section 2.

                            (2) Notwithstanding anything ccntained in sub-section (I) of Section
                            4-

                                 (i) Where any land has vested in a Panchayat under the Shamilat         H
    286                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                     [2002] 2 S.C.R.

A           Law, but such land has been excluded from shamilat deh under clause
            (g) of Section 2 other than the land so excluded under sub-clause (ii-
            a) of that clause, all rights, title and interest of the Panchayat in such
            land as from the commencement of the Punjab Village Common
            Lands (Regul~tion) Amendment Act, 1995, shall cease and all such
            rights, title and interest shall vest in the person or persons in whom
B           they were vested, immediately before the commencement of the
            shamilat law.

                 (ii) where any land has vested in a Panchayat under this Act, but
             such land has been excluded from shamilat deh under sub-clause (ii-
             a) of clause (g) cf Section 2, all rights, title and interest of the
c          · Panchayat in such land, as from the commencement of the Punjab
             Village Common Land (Regulation) Amendment Act, 1995, shall
             cease, and all such rights, title and interest shall on or before the 9th
             day of July, 1985, revest in the person or persons to whom the land
             so excluded has been allotted or otherwise transferred by sale or by
D            any other manner whatsoever, subject to the condition that-

            (a) ***                 ***                    ***

            (b) ***                 ***                    ***

E               shall be paid by the Rehabilitation Department of the Government
            of Punjab to the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats
            for onward disbursement to the Panchayat to which such shamilat
            deh belonged."
          By Act 8 of 1995, sub-sections (2) and (3} are inserted in Section 3.          ·-4
F But before reading the said sub-sections it would be necessary to notice that
    by virtue of Section 4 of the Act all rights, title and interest whatsoever in
    the land which is included in the shamilat deh of any village had vested in
    the Panchayats except to the extent indicated therein. Clause (g) of Section
    2 defines shamilat deh. It is an inclusive definition anrl is in two parts: the
    first part enumerates five categories of land which are included within its
G   meaning and th~ second part excludes as many as ten items of land which
    would fall outside the ambit of shamilat deh. By the same Amendment Act,
    (ii-a) is inserted in clause (g) of Section 2 in the list of the excluded items.
    Now adverting to the provisions of amended Section 3, we are conc1erned
    here with sub-section (2). It opens with non obstante clause and says that
H   notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) of Section 4 (which




                                                                                               ,'
                        STATEv. GRAMPANCHAYAT                             287

. deals with vesting of rights in Panchayat and non-proprietors), any land A
  which has vested in Panchayat shall cease and all such rights, title and interest
  will revest in the person or persons in whom they were earlier vested. It has
  two limbs: (i) deals with a case where the land has vested in a Panchayat
  under the Sharnilat Law but such land has been excluded from sharnilat deb
  under clause (g) of Section 2 (other than the land so excluded under sub-
  clause (ii-a) of that clause) and as from the commencement of Act 8 of 1995 B
  all rights, title and interest of the Panchayal in such land shall cease and vest
  in the person or persons in whom they were vested immediately before the
  commencement of such law; and (ii) provides, where any land has vested in
  a Panchayat under the Act but such land has been excluded from sharnilat
  deh under sub-clause (ii-a) of clause (g) of Section 2, then as from the C
  commencement of Act 8 of I 99S all rights, title and interest of the Panchayat
  in such land shall cease on or before July 9, 1985 and revest in the person
  or persons to whom the land so excluded has been allotted or otherwise
  transferred by sale or by any other manner whatsoever, subject to the conditions
  specified in clauses (a) and (b) therein (which are not relevant for the present
  discussion). Section 3(2)(i) has no application as the land in question does D
  not fall under any of the items excluded under clause (g) of Section 2 other
  than sub-clause (ii-a). For purposes of application under Section 3(2)(ii), it
   has to be shown that the land falls within Section 2(g)(ii-a) which reads as
   follows:

         "2(g) 'shamilat deh' includes-                                           E

         (I) to (5) •••                •••                 •••
         But does not include land which-

         (ii-a) was shamilat deb, but, has been allotted on quasi-permanent F
         basis to a displaced person, or, has been otherw\se transferred to any ·
         person by sale or by any other manner whatsoever after the
         commencement of this Act, but on or before the 9th day of July,
         1985 ."

         This sub-clause excludes the land which was shamilat deb and had         G
  been allotted on quasi-permanent basis to a displaced person, or has been
  otherwise transferred to any person by sale or by any other manner whatsoever
  after the commencement of the Act (4th May, 1961) but on or before July
  9, 1985. For invoking sub-section (2) of Section 3, quoted above, it has to
  be shown that the land in question had vested in the appellants immediately
  before the commencement of the Shamilat Law or has been allotted or             H
    288                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2002) 2 S.C.R.

A   otherwise transferred by sale or by any other manner whatsoever. We have
    pointed out above that the question of dispute as to the title of the appellant
    was not referred to the competent authority under Section 11 of the Act; but
    on the application of the Panchayat under Section 7 both the Collector as
    well as the Commission~r found that tbe appellant Nos. 2 and 3 had not
B   produced any material or any documentary evidence to show that the land
    had vested in them or had been transferred by sale or otherwise in their
    favour. In view of the ·above findings of fact the said amended provision
    would have no application.

          In Gram Panchayat of Village, Jamalpur's case (supra), a Constitution
C Bench of this Court held:                                            '

            " .... The law passed by the State Legislature being a measure of agrarian
            reform is conducive to the welfare of the community and there is no
            reason why that law should not have effect in its full amplitude. By
            this process, the village Panchayats will be able to meet the needs of
D           the village Panchayat community and secure its welfare. Accordingly,
            the Punjab Act of 1953 would prevail in the State of Punjab over the
            Central Act of 1950 even in so far as shamilat deh land are
                                                                                         \
            concerned .... "

          From the above observation of the Constitution Bench judgment it
E follows that no right can be claimed by the appellants on the basis of vesting
    of land under the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950 as under the
    Punjab Act of 1953 shamilat deh would vest in the Panchayat.



F
          It is next contended by the learned counsel for the appellants that the
    case may be remanded to the Collector to enable the appellants to place
    necessary material on record. We are afraid we cannot accede to the contention
    of the learned counsel. As the litigation is pending for more than fifteen years
                                                                                         -
                                                                                         I


    we do not want to put the clock back after such a long time.

          It is brought to our notice that with the huge investment of corers of
    rupees the potato farm has been set up bythe State Government in which
G   many persons are working and the Government is spending Rs.I0-12 lakhs
    per year and that the land was handed over to the Horticulture Department
    of the Government as an agency of the Government; there are constructed
    buildings and that the appellants would suffer grave hardship if the Panchayat
    would resort to demolish the same for purposes of taking dispossession. On
H   instructions, the learned counsel for the Panchayat submits that the respondents
                                     STATEv. GRAMPANCHAYAT                               289
             would lease out the area on which the building of the appellants are existing      A
     --..:   together with land necessary for ingress or egress to reach the said land. We
             record this submission.

                   However, we make it clear that nothing said in this judgment shall
             preclude the State Government from taking such steps as may be considered
             necessary to establish its title, if any, to protect the farms and the buildings   B
             in accordance with law.

                    Subject to the above observations the appeal is dismissed.

                    There shall be no order as to costs.
                                                                                                c
             R.P.                                                        Appeal dismissed.




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