HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT
JODHPUR
S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 626/2020
1. Ashok Kumar S/o Shri Manak Chand, Aged About 59
Years, By Caste Mundara Maheshwari, Resident Of 14
Gole Baazar, Ward No. 22, Raisinghnagar, District Sri
Ganganagar (Rajasthan).
2. Nakshtra Singh S/o Shri Hamir Singh, Aged About 63
Years, By Caste Kumhar Sikh, Resident Of Ward No. 8,
Raisinghnagar, District Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan).
----Petitioners
Versus
1. The State Of Rajasthan, Through The Deputy Secretary,
Department Of Home, Government Of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
2. The District Collector, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan).
3. The Director General Of Police, Rajasthan, Jaipur.
4. The Inspector General Of Police, Range Bikaner
(Rajasthan).
5. The Superintendent Of Police, Sri Ganganagar
(Rajasthan).
6. The Additional Superintendent Of Police (Public
Information Officer), Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan).
7. The Station House Officer, Police Station Raisinghnagar,
District Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan).
8. The Municipal Board, Raisinghnagar Through Its Executive
Officer.
9. The Secretary, Municipal Board, Raisinghnagar, District Sri
Ganganagar (Rajasthan)
10. The Project Director, Rajasthan State Road Development
And Construction Corporation Limited, 6-U-27, Jawahar
Nagar, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan).
11. The Raajasthan State Road Development And
Construction Corporation Limited, Setu Bhawan, Opposite
Jhalana Doongri, Jaipur (Rajasthan).
----Respondents
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Trilok Joshi
For Respondent(s): HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI
Order
16/02/2021
1. In wake of onslaught of COVID-19, abundant caution is being
taken while hearing the matters in Court.
2. The Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court in D.B. Civil Writ
Petition (P.I.L.) No.10819/2018- Jagdish Prasad Meena & Ors.Vs.
State of Rajasthan & Ors. vide order dated 30.01.2019 has
directed as under:-
"In order therefore to provide a pan-Rajasthan solution to this ever persisting problem, we deem it appropriate to direct the Chief Secretary of the State to devise a permanent mechanism, which should be operational in every District of the State where the concerned District Collector should be required to periodically notify for the information of the general public to lodge the complaints/representations with regard to such encroachments with a specially designated Public Land Protection Cell (for short 'PLPC') for rural areas. The PLPC should be headed by District Collector and function under his direction and supervision. The PLPC shall get such complaints/ representations enquired into by deputing concerned Sub Divisional Officer/Tehsildar/Naib Tehsildar so as to verify whether or not such encroachments have actually taken place on such land. If the allegations are found to be substantiated, appropriate steps in accordance with law be immediately taken for removal of the encroachments and appropriate penal action be also taken against the trespassers. The complaints/representations received in the PLPC should be decided by passing speaking order, informing the respective complainant/representationist about the action taken. This would obviate the necessity of such complainants/representationists approaching this Court directly by way of public interest litigation. If this practice is put in place, this Court would not be inclined to directly entertain such public interest litigation or would do so only in the event of in action on the part of the concerned PLPC.The PLPC aforementioned shall also keep in view the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh & Others Vs. State of Punjab & Others,(2011) 11 SCC 396 wherein all the State Governments of the country were directed that they should prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorised occupants of the GramSabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/ Shamlat land and the same must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupants, after giving them a show cause notice and a brief hearing. It was further held therein that long duration of the illegal encroachment/occupation of land or huge expenditure in making construction thereon or political connections of trespassers are no justification for regularising such illegal occupation. Regularisation should be permitted only in exceptional cases where lease has been granted under some government notification e.g. to landless labourers or members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes or where there is already a school, hospital, dispensary, 'shamshan','kabristan' or other public utility of the like nature on the land. Observations of the Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh(supra) thus leaves no manner of doubt that removal of encroachment on all such land is a rule and regularisation an exception and that too in extremely limited number of cases, which only the Government can do by appropriate notification of the government and no other authority. List this matter on 14.03.2019. A copy of this order be sent to the Chief Secretary of the State of Rajasthan, Government Secretariat, Jaipur, who shall ensure compliance of this order and do the needful for creation of Public Land Protection Cell (PLPC) for rural areas."
3. After arguing for sometime, counsel for the petitioners in the
light of the directions contained in the matter of Jagdish Prasad
Meena (supra) wants to withdraw this petition with liberty to file
representation/application before the Public Land Protection
Cell/District Collector-Sri Ganganagar with regard to the
encroachments of which reference has been made in the present
writ petition. On doing so, the Public Land Protection Cell/District
Collector-Sri Ganganagar is directed to decide the said
representation/application within a period of three months,
keeping in view, the directions contained in the matter of Jagdish
Prasad Meena (supra). The stay application as well as all
pending applications stand disposed of.
(DR. PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI),J.
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