Central
Information Commission
Room
No. 5, Club Building, Near Post Office
Old
J.N.U. Campus, New Delhi - 110067
Tel
No: 26161997
Case
No. CIC/SS/A/2010/000778
Name
of Appellant : Sh. Sudhir Singh Rana (The Appellant was present along
with Sh.
V. S. Rana and Sh. Azad Singh)
Name
of Respondent : Delhi Police, Outer Dist., Pushpanjali
(Represented by Sh. Rajesh Kumar, ACP,
Sh. Dilip Kumar, Insp. Sh. Madan Lal,
S.I., Sh. Dharmvir Singh and sh. Rajender
Singh, ACP)
The
matter was heard on : 2.02.2011
ORDER
Sh. Sudhir Singh Rana, the Appellant, vide application dated 7.06.2010, sought to know the action taken by the Police on references received from the BDO, Alipur Block, Delhi regarding unauthorized construction on Gram Sabha land near Samshan Ghat of Khera Garhi in village Kera Kalan. The BDO had, though the following letter requested the police to stop the construction work and to take action against the encroachers.
S.
Particulars Letter No. Date No
1
Unauthorized Construction upon F.2823(90)/2005/BDO 11.04.2008
Gram Sabha land near Samshan Ghat NW/9596 of Khera Garhi
in village Khera Kalan.
2.
Unauthorized Encroachment upon 23(90)/2009/BDO(NW) 2.09.2009
Gram Sabha land bearing Kh. No. /Part/96869 50/17,
50/18 in village Khera Garhi
in Khera Kalan near Cremation
Ground of Khera Garhi Colony.
3.
Unauthorized Construction upon 144648 4.01.2010 Gram
Sabha land bearing Kh. No. 50/16,
17, 18 and 25 in Khera Garhi
Colony near shamshan (Ghat 20point
Colony) in village Khera Kalan.
4.
Unauthorized construction upon F.23(90)/2005/BDO(N 24.02.2010
Gram Sabha land bearing Kh. No. W)/Part/1730031
50/16, 17, 18 and 25 in Khera Garhi
Colony near Shamshan (Ghat 20
points Colony) in village Khera Kalan.
The
PIO, replied to the Appellant that the complaints were pending
enquiry with the local police, due to the fact that necessary reply
/ information has not been received from the BDO, Alipur, Delhi to
the letter sent by SHO / Samaypur Badli.
Not
satisfied with the reply of the PIO, the Appellant filed an appeal
before the First Appellate Authority (FAA). Not getting information
to his satisfaction even after filling the first appeal, the
Appellant has filed the present appeal before the Commission.
During
the hearing the Appellant submits that he has been
requesting for information with regard to the unauthorized
encroachment on Gram Sabha Land in his village Kheda Kalan and
action taken by the police in reference to various
letters regarding the illegal encroachment of Gram Sabha land sent
to the police by the BDO, Alipur. The Respondent, on the other hand,
though they admit that several references have been received by them
from the BDO, Alipur, Delhi, state that the concerned SHO could not
take any action because the BDO, Alipur, Delhi did not provide
necessary information like encroachment removal programme, the name
and address of the persons who have encroached the Grand Sabha land,
measurement of the plot which has been encroached and the
area, the time and date on which the Gram Sabha
Land was encroached, separate complaint for each plot, ownership
of land encroached, etc.
After
hearing the parties and on perusal of the relevant documents on file
and having regard to the facts and circumstances of the
present case, the Commission is surprised at the attitude of the
concerned SHO. The Commission finds that the BDO, the concerned
officer dealing with the village panchayat land, had informed the
police about the illegal encroachment of village land. Instead of
seeking details like the name of the encroacher, date on which Gram
Sabha Land, encroached property, measurement of plot encroached and
separate complaint for encroachment of which plot etc., the SHO,
should have effectively coordinated with the
concerned BDO and taken action for removing the illegal encroachment
from the Gram Sabha Land, as per the law. The Commission observes
that the SHO unnecessarily tried to cause delay in
the matter. Though literally the Respondent have tried to show to
the Commission that necessary information has been furnished to the
Appellant, the Commission cannot lose sight of the basic purpose of
the RTI Act, i.e. transparency and accountability in the
administration. Here, the observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court
regarding encroachment on Gram Sabha Land in Sh. Jagpal Singh &
Ors. Vs State of Punjab & Ors., Civil Appeal NO. 1132 of 2011
are relevant:
"Since
time immemorial there have been common lands inhering in the village
communities in India, variously called gram sabha land, gram
panchayat land, (in many North Indian States), shamlat deh (in Punjab
etc.), mandaveli and poramboke land (in South India), Kalam, Maidan,
etc., depending on the nature of user. These public utility lands in
the villages were for centuries used for the common benefit of the
villagers of the village such as ponds for various purposes e.g. for
their cattle to drink and bathe, for storing their harvested grain,
as grazing ground for the cattle, threshing floor, maidan for playing
by children, carnivals, circuses, ramlila, cart stands, water bodies,
passages, cremation ground or graveyards, etc. These lands stood
vested through local laws in the State, which handed over their
management to Gram Sabhas/Gram Panchayats. They were generally
treated as inalienable in order that their status as community land
be preserved. There were no doubt some exceptions to this rule which
permitted the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat to lease out some of this
land to landless labourers and members of the scheduled
castes/tribes, but this was only to be done in exceptional cases.
4.
The protection of commons rights of the villagers were so zealously
protected that some legislation expressly mentioned that even the
vesting of the property with the State did not mean that the common
rights of villagers were lost by such vesting.
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. 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 villagers of the village.
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." [
In
view of the above the Commission deems it fit to bring the matter to
the notice of Ms. Chhaya Sharma, Dy. Commissioner of Police / FAA.
She may depute some senior officer to take appropriate action on the
several complaints of illegal encroachment on the Gram Sabha Land
and provide complete action taken report / enquiry report to the
Appellant, within 30 days of receipt of this order.
[
With these directions the matter is disposed of on the part of the
Commission.
(Sushma Singh)
Information
Commissioner
4.02.2011
Authenticated
true copy
(S.
Padmanabha)
Under
Secretary & Dy. Registrar
Copy to:
[
1.
Sh. Suidhir Singh Rana
President
Yuva Chetna Samaj Sudhar Sangthan
Khera
Kalan
Delhi110082
2.
Ms. Chhaya Sharma
Dy.
Commissioner of Police & FAA
Police
Headquarters,.
M.S.O.
Building,
New Delhi110
002
3.
The Public Information Officer
Addl.
Dy. Commissioner of PoliceI
Outer
Dist., Pushpanjali
Road
No. 43
Delhi34
[
4.
The Appellate Authority
Dy.
Commissioner of Police
Outer
Dist., Pushpanjali
Road
No. 43
Delhi34
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