IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
CWP No.25219 of 2013
Date of Decision:18.11.2013
Piara Singh and others ...Petitioners
Versus.
The State of Punjab and others ...Respondents
CORAM: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain
Present: Mr. M.L.Saggar, Senior Advocate, with
Mr. Sunny Saggar, Advocate, for the petitioners.
Rakesh Kumar Jain, J.
The petitioners have challenged the order dated 01.11.2013 by which their application for transfer of land measuring 40 Kanals 01 Marla, comprised in Khasra No.39//16, 25, 40//12min, 40//10, 11 and 40//1/2/1, situated at village Hambran, Tehsil LudhianaWest, District Ludhiana, filed under the provisions of the Punjab Package Deal Properties (Disposal) Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") has been rejected. The petitioner had earlier approached this Court by way of filing CWP No.23437 of 2013 in which it was alleged that their application for transfer of land is pending with the respondents who are threatening to dispossess them on the ground of being in unauthorized possession. The said writ petition was disposed of on 28.10.2013, without commenting anything on the merit, directing the respondents to decide the application filed by the petitioners within a prescribed period, by passing a speaking order.
In terms of the aforesaid order, the impugned order has been passed by the Tehsildar (Sales), Ludhiana (West), which has been challenged in the present writ petition.
The Tehsildar (Sales), while declining the prayer made by the petitioners, made the following observations:-
"i) As the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in civil/appeal no.1132 of 2011 @ SLP no.3109 of 2011 arising out of LPA no.668 of 2010 has held the policy letter dated 26.09.2007 of Punjab Government invalid. The genesis of your claim lies in the policy of 2007 of Government of Punjab. The very basis of your claim i.e. The policy has been rendered invalid and consequently ineffective by the orders of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. Pronouncements of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India become law of the land. It is a settled principle that when policy itself has been struck down no benefits can flow from the same. Hence, allotment of land as applied for cannot be made.ii) Record shows you are in possession since 2003 but you falsely you have submitted in your application for allotment letter that you were in possession since 2001 and for the same there is a cutting in your affidavit attached with your application.iii) Your application was received by this office on 26.04.2010 which is more than two and half months late to the last date of submission of applications. This shows that you filed your application after the last date of filing the applications and falsely you wrote 02.02.2010 on the application so that it may seem that you have presented your application in time.iv) The date mentioned by you on your application regarding allotment is 02.02.2010 and the documents placed by you with that very application have been issued and signed by the concerned Patwari on 05.02.2010 and 11.02.2010 which are issued after the last date of filing applications i.e. 04.02.2010.v) The date of the challan placed by you in your file through which you have deposited lagan for the year 2004 to 2009 in favour of the Government is 11.02.2010, as per the stamp of the Bank affixed on the challan the date on which the same money was deposited in the Bank is also 11.02.2010 which is atleast a week after the last date of submission of applications that means you have deposited the amount after the last date of submission of applications.vi) As per the record of the office you have applied for allotment vide your application dated 02.02.2010 of allotment of the land in question in respect of the orders of State Government amending policy of 2007 vide letter dated 03.02.2010. From here it is very much crystal clear that you were ineligible as per the policy letter of the State Government dated 26.09.2007 so you applied as per the letter dated 03.02.2010 but you applied even a day before the issue of the letter by the State Government which shows that you applied on a later date but you mentioned 02.02.2010 on your application so it is concluded from the findings that you applied for allotment on the expired date i.e. After 04.02.2010." Counsel for the petitioners has submitted that immovable properties left by Muslims at the time of partition were taken over by the Custodian General under the Administration of Evacuee Properties Act, 1950, which was used to be allotted to the migrants from Pakistan against their claims under the Displaced Persons (Rehabilitation and Compensation) Act, 1954 and the Rules framed thereunder. The surplus rural evacuee property in the State of Punjab was transferred to it by the Central Government vide letters dated 24.04.1961, 03.06.1961, 05.03.1962, 27.03.1962 and 23.03.1962. These properties were popularly known as Package Deal Properties for which the State Government has issued executive instructions and enacted the Act and Rules, referred to above. It is submitted by counsel for the petitioners that village Hambran is situated near Budha Nalah, adjoining River Sutlej, the land situated in between was lying uncultivated due to river action and became banjar. However, with the passage of time, the landless agricultural workers entered into possession thereof and made it cultivable. Petitioner Piara Singh entered into possession of land measuring 13 Kanals 06 Marlas and petitioners Dharminder Singh and Harminder Singh are in cultivating possession of land measuring 26 Kanals 15 Marlas out of the land in dispute. They applied for transfer of the land in their possession in April 2010 but their applications have been illegally rejected by the impugned order.
Counsel for the petitioners has further submitted that the applications from the eligible persons for transfer of land were to be received within 3 months from the date of publication of the notice. The petitioners applied within the prescribed period but their application has been illegally rejected on the ground that it has been submitted after the cut off date. It is further submitted that reference has been made to the decision of the Supreme Court regarding policy dated 26.09.2007 which pertains to Shamilat land only and not the land which is part of the Package Deal Property.
I have heard learned counsel for the petitioners, examined the record and of the considered opinion that there is no error in the impugned order. It has been held by the Supreme Court in the case of Jagpal Singh and others v. State of Punjab and others, (2011) 11 Supreme Court Cases 396, that "the letter dated 26.09.2007 of the Government of Punjab permitting regularization of possession of these unauthorized occupants is not valid. We are of the opinion that such letters are wholly illegal and without jurisdiction. In our opinion such illegalities cannot be regularized. We cannot allow the common interest of the villagers to suffer merely because the unauthorized occupation has subsisted for many years". The Supreme Court has gone to the extent of demolishing the houses of the trespassers and in this regard, the following observations have been made:-
"The appellants herein were trespassers who illegally encroached on to the Gram Panchayat land by using muscle power/money power and in collusion with the officials and even with the Gram Panchayat. We are of the opinion that such kind of blatant illegalities must not be condoned. Even if the appellants have built houses on the land in question they must be ordered to remove their constructions, and possession of the land in question must be handed back to the Gram Panchayat. Regularizing such illegalities must not be permitted because it is Gram Sabha land which must be kept for the common use of the villagers of the village."
The respondents have categorically pointed out that the petitioners had manipulated the dates in the application which was received in the office on 26.04.2010, after more than 2- ½ months from the last date of submission of the application. It was also observed that the date mentioned in the application regarding the allotment of land was 02.02.2010. The last date for filing application for transfer of land was 04.02.2010, whereas the documents attached with the application were issued and signed by the concerned Patwari on 05.02.2010 and 11.02.2010. Similarly, the challan placed on record by which Lagan was deposited for the year 2004 to 2009 in favour of the Government on 11.02.2010, as per the statement of the Bank proves that it was deposited after a week of the last date of submission of application.
In view of the aforesaid discussion, I do not find any error in the impugned order and hence, the present writ petition is hereby dismissed.
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