Back
1982 Supreme(Del) 204
High Court Of Delhi
TEK CHAND - Appellant
Versus
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONER, DELHI - Respondent
Civil 1517 of 1973
Decided On : 08/06/1982
D.S.Narula, O.P.Tyagi
The Gram Panchayat has the power to allot pasture land under Section 74 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954, provided that the procedure prescribed in the Rules is followed and the allotment is not arbitrary or mala fide.
Headnote:
LAND REFORMS - ALLOTMENT OF PASTURE LAND - VALIDITY - CONDITIONS - INTERPRETATION OF SECTION 74 OF THE DELHI LAND REFORMS ACT, 1954 AND RULE 47 OF THE DELHI LAND REFORMS RULES, 1954.
Fact of the Case:
The Gram Panchayat of Revla Khanpur, Delhi, allotted 260 Bighas and 16 Biswas of pasture land to 55 persons, one acre each, at the rate of Rs. 5.00 per acre for five years. The allotment was challenged by four persons on the grounds that the Gram Panchayat had no power to allot the land, that the land was not a waste land but a pasture land, that the allotment was not made in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Rules, that the allotment was arbitrary and mala fide, and that the allotment was violative of Article 15 of the Constitution.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the Gram Panchayat had the power to allot the land under Section 74 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954, that the land was a cultivable waste land and, therefore, allottable under Section 74 of the Act, that the allotment was made in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Rules, that the allotment was not arbitrary or mala fide, and that the allotment was not violative of Article 15 of the Constitution.
Issues: 1. Whether the Gram Panchayat had the power to allot the land under Section 74 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954? 2. Whether the land was a waste land or a pasture land? 3. Whether the allotment was made in accordance with the procedure prescribed in the Rules? 4. Whether the allotment was arbitrary or mala fide? 5. Whether the allotment was violative of Article 15 of the Constitution?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. Section 74 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954, confers powers on the Gaon Sabha to allot cultivable or uncultivable waste area of a village not included in a holding and which are vested in the Gaon Sabha under Section 7 thereof. 2. The definition of land given in Section 3 (13) of the Act includes lands for village pasture. Therefore, pasture lands are allottable under Section 74 of the Act. 3. Rule 47 of the Delhi Land Reforms Rules, 1954, requires that the Gaon Sabha shall announce by beat of drums in the Gaon Sabha area in which the land is situate, the number of plots, their areas and the dates on which admission thereto is to be made. The Gram Panchayat had complied with this requirement. 4. The allotment was made to landless Harijans in accordance with the policy of the Government. The Constitution itself envisages social preference for Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Therefore, the allotment was not arbitrary or mala fide. 5. The allotment was not violative of Article 15 of the Constitution because it was a case of valid classification.
Final Decision: The writ petition was dismissed.
( 1 ) IN Revla Khanpur, Delhi, 1290 Bighas5 Biswas of pasture land was lying vacant. The Gram Panchayat by its resolution dated 6-3-1973 made some allotment of land to 85 persons. This resolution could not be given effect to because the necessary permission from the Development Commissioner was not obtained. The Panchayat thereupon passed another resolution on 10-7-1973 by which 260 Bighas and 16 Biswas of land was allotted to 55 persons, one acre each, at the rate of Rs. 5. 00 per acre for five years. By this writ petition filed on 13-11-1973 these allotments were challenged by four persons) out of whom Chhotto at his request was deleted on 14-7-1982 from the array of the petitioners, leaving Tek Chand, Bale Ram and Bharat Singh as petitioners. The allottees were not made partics to this writ petion. On 15-11-1973, this court had stayed the operation of the said resolution.
( 2 ) THE first contention of Mr. 0. P. Tyagi, the learned counsel for the petitioners, is that under Sub-section (2) of Section 74 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954 (herein the Act), the Gaon Sabha alone has the power to admit any person as Asami on a five-years lease to any land which forms part of the cultivable or uncultivable waste area of the village which has vested in the Gaon Sabha under Section 7 of the Act. But instead of the Gaon Sabha, the Gram Panchayat has allotted the land. Under Clause (m) of Section 18 of the Delhi Panchayat Raj Act, 1954 it is one of the duties and functions of the Gram Panchayat to make reasonable provision within its jurisdiction inter-alia for establishment and care of a common grazing ground. The land in question being grazing ground, it was all the more reason that the Gram Panchayat could not and should not have distributed the pasture land contrary to its duties and functions. But it has to be noted that the Gram Panchayat has simultaneously also the duty and function to make reasonable provision for reclamation of waste land and bringing waste land under cultivation, vide clause (c) of the said Section 18. No doubt, Section 74 of the Act confers powers on the Gaon Sabha but Section 32 of the Delhi Panchayat Raj Act, 1954, provides that all the duties, powers and functions of the Gaon Sabha, shall be exercised, performed or discharged by the Gaon Panchayat and not otherwise. In Khazan Singh v. Development Commissioner and Others, C W. 1016 of 1971, decided on 144-1977, it was, however, held by a learned Judge of this Court that the decision to allot the land and in particular selection of the land is to be made by the Gaon Sabha in the manner set out in Rule 47 of the Delhi Land Reforms Rules, 1954, (herein the Rules ). But the actual letting out and selection of the persons to whom the land is to be allotted is to be made by the Gram Panchayat. The learned Judge further proceeded to say that when such a decision of the Gaon Sabha is implemented by the Gaon Panchayat, it will be a decision of the Gaon Sabha itself and will be open to cancellation under Section 75 (2) of the Act. If the decision is taken in any other manner, it will not be a decision of the Gaon Sabha and will be invalid under Sections 73 and 74. The learned Judge had found in that case that the decision was not taken by the Gaon Sabha, rather, it was taken against the wishes of the Gaon Sabha. Now, in the face of the wide wordings of Section 18 of the complementary provisions contained in the Panchayat Raj Act, the interpretation put upon Section 74 of the Act and Rule 47 of the Rules by the learned Judge appears to be a restricted one, but I do not wish to propound a different view and even accepting that position, I find that in this case except by way of a general allegation that the allottment was against law and Constitution, no averment has been made in the petition that no decision was taken by the Gaon Sabha of its intention to allot any land under the Act. Without a specific allegation, it is not possible to say that the Gaon
