REGISTERED
A/G-398, Shalimar Bagh,
Delhi-110088.
February 8, 2011.
The District Magistrate,
Bulandshahr, U.P.
Sir,
Kindly see the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgement dated 28th January, 2011 (copy enclosed) regarding gram panchayat lands.
About 40 bighas of gram panchayatlandofVil. Kurbal Banaras, Tehsil and District Bulandshahr had been allotted to ineligible persons. They are:
1. Smt. Gendo w/o Sh. Jaipal who is a government servant working in the Electricity Department of U.P. Government
1. S/Shri Nisar, Iqbal, Qamruddin.
They are neither resident of the village nor scheduled caste. Hence allotment of land to them was illegal. The land was subsequently converted in their names on permanent basis (seerdari) which is all the more illegal.
In view of the Supreme Court’s orders the said land may please be restored to the gram panchayat of village Kurbal Banaras.
Yours faithfully,
( H.C. Sharma )
Encl: As above.
________________________________________________________________
REGISTERED
A/G-398, Shalimar Bagh,
Delhi-110088.
April 15, 2011
The Chief Secretary,
Government of Uttar Pradesh,
U.P. Secretariat Complex,
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Sir,
There are many landless scheduled caste poor people in village Kurbal Banaras, tehsil and district Bulandshahr, U.P. As per law the gram panchayat land should be allotted/leased to such persons or used for community purposes. However, by bribing the gram pradhan and the district administration officials, some unscrupulous persons who are neither resident of the village nor scheduled caste or poor, have illegally grabbed large tracts (about 40 bighas) of gram panchayat land of the village. The district administration violating all norms and rules allotted this land to these well to do residents of other villages initially on lease and later converted it in their names on permanent basis. The location of this land is adjacent to the village abadi and between the railway line (Khurja –Meerut) and pucca coal tar road from Bulandshahr to village Jainpur which passes through village Kurbal Banaras and its value is now in crores of rupees. The allottees of this land are :
1. Smt. Gendo w/o Sh. Jaipal who is a government servant working in the Electricity Department of U.P. Government
1. S/Shri Nisar, Iqbal, Qamruddin.
None of them is resident of village Kurbal Banaras. Nor they are scheduled caste or poor. The allotment of gram panchayat land to them was, therefore, totally illegal and converting the land in their names permanently is still more illegal.
In this connection the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgement dated 28 January, 2011 in Civil Appeal No.1132/2011; Jagpal Singh & Ors Vs State of Punjab & Ors, may kindly be seen. The following observations of theHon’ble Court are noteworthy :
“ What we have witnessed since Independence, however, is that in large parts of the country this common village land has been grabbed by unscrupulous persons using muscle power, money power or political clout, and in many States now there is not an inch of such land left for the common use of the people of the village, though it may exist on paper. People with power and pelf operating in villages all over India systematically encroached upon communal lands and put them to uses totally inconsistent with its original character, for personal aggrandizement at the cost of the village community. This was done with active connivance of the State authorities and local powerful vested interests and goondas. This appeal is a glaring example of this lamentable state of affairs.”
“In Uttar Pradesh the U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1954 was widely misused to usurp Gram Sabha lands either with connivance of the Consolidation Authorities, or by forging orders purported to have been passed by Consolidation Officers in the long past so that they may not be compared with the original revenue record showing the land as Gram Sabha land, as these revenue records had been weeded out. Similar may have been the practice in other States. The time has now come to review all these orders by which the common village land has been grabbed by such fraudulent practices.”
“Before parting with this case we give directions to all the State Governments in the country that they should prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorized occupants of Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/Shamlat land and these must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village. For this purpose the Chief Secretaries of all State Governments/Union Territories in India are directed to do the needful, taking the help of other senior officers of the Governments. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupant, after giving him a show cause notice and a brief hearing. Long duration of such illegal occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon or political connections must not be treated as a justification for condoning this illegal act or for regularizing the illegal possession. Regularization should only be permitted in exceptional cases e.g. where lease has been granted under some Government notification to landless labourers or members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, or where there is already a school, dispensary or other public utility on the land. Let a copy of this order be sent to all Chief Secretaries of all States andUnionTerritories inIndia who will ensure strict and prompt compliance of this order and submit compliance reports to this Court from time to time. Although we have dismissed this appeal, it shall be listed before this Court from time to time (on dates fixed by us), so that we can monitor implementation of our directions herein. List again before us on 3.5.2011 on which date all Chief Secretaries inIndia will submit their reports.”
The above judgement is mutatis mutandis applicable in the instant case. It has been clearly laid down in the judgement that allotment of gram panchayat land to private persons is illegal. This order is applicable with retrospective effect. In view of the aforesaid it is requested that the gram panchayat land illegally allotted to the above mentioned persons (who are neither resident of the village nor Scheduled Caste or poor) may be ordered to be restored to the gram panchayat of village Kurbal Banaras to be allotted/leased to the landless scheduled caste/poor persons resident of the village or to be used for community purposes i.e. for the common use of the villagers as playground, grazing field, pond, establishing school or hospital etc.
A copy of the Supreme Court’s judgement is enclosed.
You can visit this link for the Supreme Court's judgement :
http://claim-for-commons.blogspot.in/search/label/Judgement
Yours faithfully,
( H.C. Sharma )
Encl: As above.
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