Following the recent Supreme Court orders that village common land (‘shamilat deh’) can neither be repartitioned among the proprietors nor sold, the Haryana government has started the process of restoring illegally-sold land chunks back to the gram panchayats. All pending cases under Section 13(a) regarding adjudication of title of ‘shamilat deh’ will be decided by the district collector within six months (by October 31).
_________________________________________
Following the recent Supreme Court orders that village common land (‘shamilat deh’) can neither be repartitioned among the proprietors nor sold, the Haryana government has started the process of restoring illegally-sold land chunks back to the gram panchayats.
A deadline for it is being fixed by the revenue department. Thousands of acres of village common land in Haryana which was sold off by shareholders or gram panchayats for monetary gains will thus get freed.
As per the decision taken by the state government, mutations will be entered by the halqa patwari of land recorded as ‘shamilat deh’ in the revenue records – the latest ‘jamabandi’ or the first ‘jamabandi’ after revenue settlement or consolidation as per Section 29(G)(1) of the Punjab Village Common Lands Act, 1961, immediately in favour of the panchayat deh within a week by April 30.
The mutation will be compared by the field kanungo by May 7 and sanctioned within a fortnight by May 25 by the assistant collector (second grade).
If the ‘shamilat deh’was partitioned or alienated illegally previously, the mutation thereof will also be entered by the halqa patwari in favour of panchayat by May 10, compared by kanungo by May 17 and after hearing the third-party interest created illegally, the mutation may be treated as contested by the circle revenue officer by May 25. It will be decided by the assistant collector (first grade) within next two months (by July 31).
Chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal said keeping in view the gravity of the matter, the state government will implement the apex court’s directions on priority basis.
Officials said any person can subsequently take recourse to Section 13(a) of the Punjab Village Common Lands Act, 1961 before the collector for raising a dispute and claiming right, title or interest in the land vested in panchayat by filing a suit for adjudication.
All pending cases under Section 13(a) regarding adjudication of title of ‘shamilat deh’ will be decided by the district collector within six months (by October 31).
The ‘shamilat deh’ lands falling within municipal limits will continue to be shamilat deh and no partition or alienation can take place regarding the same, officials said.
Any proprietor of land entered as ‘jumla malkan’ or ‘mushtarka malkan’ lands on ground of taking of the permissible area under the ceiling laws can take the shelter of Section 13(a) of the 1961 Act before the collector in case of panchayat and before the competent civil court subsequently in case of municipal bodies and the necessary correction can be made in the revenue records by another mutation.
Additional chief secretary, revenue, PK Das said instructions for implementing the SC decision are being issued soon.
An apex court bench, headed by justice Hemant Gupta, had on April 7 held that the entire land reserved for common purposes by applying pro-rata cut had to be utilised by the gram panchayat for the present and future needs of the village community.
“No part of the land can be repartitioned among the proprietors and such land would not be available for sale,” the apex court had ruled.
The SC said the argument of the proprietors that the land which is not capable of being used for common purposes of the inhabitants of a village shall be reverted to the proprietors is untenable and unsustainable.
“The land has been put to common pool by applying pro-rata cut. Once pro-rata cut has been applied, the management and control of such land vest with the panchayat. There is no question of reverting the land to the proprietors,” the bench said.
Also, the panchayat will not have title over the land but as part of management and control, the panchayat is at liberty to put the land for the use for common purposes, the SC said.
“Neither the Punjab Village Common Lands Act, 1961 nor the Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1948 contemplates redistribution of land to the proprietors. It is an irrevocable act which cannot be undone. Thus, once land vests with the panchayat, it can be used for common purposes of the community and will never revert back to the proprietors,” the SC said, dismissing the appeals filed by proprietors.
It also ordered that writ petitions filed before the high court will also stand dismissed. The findings recorded by different benches of the high court are clearly erroneous and not sustainable, the SC said.
Link to access this article: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/sc-ruling-on-village-common-land-haryana-sets-timelines-for-restoration-of-illegally-sold-panchayat-land-101650568259460.html
Link to the original CfC post on the Supreme Court judgment: https://claim-for-commons.blogspot.com/2022/04/supreme-court-only-management-control.html
No comments:
Post a Comment