A consent decree cannot be set aside after a long delay without condoning the delay and allowing the application under Order 41, Rule 27 CPC.

1. - The case comes up on an application being IA No. 2458/2013 seeking early hearing of the writ petition filed by the respondents.

2. By the agreement of the counsels, the application is allowed and the arguments are heard.

3. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner Roop Kanwar D/o late Sh. Udai Singh and sister of respondent No. 1-Sohan Singh aggrieved by the order of the Board of Revenue Annex.8 dated 7.9.2010 in Appeal No. 9490/2007/Udaipur, Smt. Roop Kanwar v. Sohan Singh as well as order of the Revenue Appellate Authority Annexure-7 dated 25.9.2007 passed in Appeal No. 199/2006, Sohan Singh v. Sint. Roop Kanwar , whereby these two Revenue Courts below reopened the consent decree in a suit filed by the petitioner-plaintiff Sint. Roop Kanwar under Section 88 of the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1956 on 19.5.1997 by the learned Court of S.D.O., Vallabh Nagar in Revenue Suit No. 202/1996, Roop Kanwar v. Sohan Singh .

4. The suit was filed by the plaintiff Roop Kanwar claiming that she had ⅓rd share in the ancestral and joint agricultural land total measuring 17 bighas and 18 biswas in Araji Nos. 3336 and 3302 etc. as mentioned in the said decree dated 19.5.1997 and on the written statement filed by the defendant-brother Sohan Singh and mother Sint. Chhagan Bai W/o Udai Singh admitting her plaint, the learned trial Court of S.D.O. after obtaining Commissioner's report and examining the PW-1 plaintiff herself, without any cross-examination by the defendants and on the basis of documents produced on record, namely, the consent terms between the plaintiff-sister and defendants No. 1 and 2, brother and mother, their respective affidavits and compromise between the parties marked as Ex.6, the learned S.D.O. passed the consent decree on 19.5.1997 giving ⅓rd share of land in question to the plaintiff sister Roop Kanwar.

5. On 1.8.2006 after about 9 years of the said consent decree, the responder appellant Sohan Singh (brother) filed an appeal against the said consent decrtc dated 19.5.1997 under Section 223 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act and claiming tL.at the land in question was in fact allotted in his personal name on 16.12.1976, the land in question could -not be said to be the joint and ancestral property of the parties and therefore, the consent decree was not sustainable and therefore, the same deserves to be set aside by the learned Revenue Appellate Authority , nd the said appeal was filed alongwith the application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of decree of 9 years in filing the said appeal, in Para 6 of which the appellant went to the extent of stating that the appellant carne to know of the said decree and judgment of the learned S.D.O. for the first time on 20.7.2006 when he enquired about the said 'khata' (entries in revenue record) from the Patwari and then the Patwari informed him that he has only ⅓rd share in the land in question. The learned Revenue Appellate Authority surprisingly without passing any order on condonation application or even condoning the delay as such despite opposition to this effect by the respondent-sister Roop Kanwar as noticed in Para 13 of the impugned order itself and without even allowing specifically application filed by the appellant Sohan Singh under Order 41, Rule 27 C.P.C. alongwith which the appellant Sohan Singh purportedly wanted to produce the allotment document of the year 1976 in his name before the learned Revenue Appellate Authority, the learned Revenue Appellate Authority set aside the consent decree dated 19.5.1997 and remanded the case back to the learned S.D.O. for fresh trial. Para 11 till end of the order dated 25.9.2007 of learned Revenue Appellate Authority is reproduced below for ready reference:

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