IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR
PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI, YOGENDRA KUMAR PUROHIT, JJ.
Hari Ram s/o Adu Ram – Appellant
Versus
State of Rajasthan - Respondent
D.B. Spl. Appl. Writ No. 417 of 2012
Decided on : 19-12-2024
(A) Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 - Section 88 - Agricultural land dispute - The appellant challenged the dismissal of his writ petition against the Board of Revenue's judgment, which quashed the Assistant Collector's decree from 1975, citing lack of opportunity for the respondent to be heard - The court emphasized the principle of fair hearing and the finality of decrees not challenged for decades. (Paras 4, 10, 11)
(B) Administrative Law - No one should be condemned unheard - The court reiterated the necessity of affording a reasonable opportunity to all parties before passing judgments that affect their rights. (Paras 4, 11)
Facts of the case:
The appellant's father held khatedari rights over certain agricultural lands, which were mutated in the appellant's name after his death. The respondent claimed a share based on a disputed sale document, leading to a lengthy legal battle over the land's ownership.
Findings of Court:
The court found that the respondent was not afforded a reasonable opportunity of hearing, which led to the quashing of previous judgments and remanding the matter for fresh consideration.
Issues: The main issues were the adequacy of notice and opportunity given to the respondent in the original proceedings and the implications of the long delay in challenging the decree.
Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that the principles of natural justice must be upheld, and parties must be given a fair chance to present their case, especially in matters affecting property rights.
Result: Appeal dismissed.
JUDGMENT :
Per Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati, J.
1. By way of the instant appeal, the appellant (writ petitioner) has challenged the order dated 24.04.2012 passed by the learned Single Judge of this Hon’ble Court in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.603/2012 (Hari Ram Vs. Board of Revenue & Ors.) whereby the appellant’s writ petition, preferred against the judgment dated 06.09.2011 and order dated 13.01.2012 passed by the learned Board of Revenue for Rajasthan, Ajmer, was dismissed.
2. The bone of contention in the present case is an agricultural land (khatedari land) comprising Khasra No.454, 455, 456, 457, 738, 470, 175, 176 & 213 total measuring 158 bighas and 3 biswas situated at Village Bhundana, Tehsil Bhopalgarh, District Jodhpur. The said land was under the khatedari of the appellant’s (writ petitioner) father; after the death of the appellant’s father, the said land as a whole was mutated in the name of the appellant. However, as per the claim of the appellant (writ petitioner), half share in the said land has been wrongly entered in the name of respondent No.3-Smt. Keshi (since deceased, represented through her LRs herein).
3. Pertaining to his claim, as above, in the land in question, the appellant (writ petitioner) instituted a revenue suit before the Assistant Collector, Jodhpur seeking declaration and possession under Section 88 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955, while averring, amongst others that the said entry in the name of respondent No.3, was made on the basis of a forged sale document, and a year prior to filing of the suit, the private respondents (defendants) have illegally taken possession of the land in question. The said suit was decreed in favour of the appellant, vide the judgment and decree dated 16.08.1975.
3.1. Against the aforesaid judgment and decree, the respondent-defendant Smt. Keshi (since deceased represented through LRs herein) preferred an appeal before the learned Revenue Appellate Authority, Jodhpur, in the year 2006; alongwith the said appeal, an application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act was preferred by the respondent-defendant. The learned Revenue Appellate Authority vide judgment dated 31.12.2009, rejected the application under Section 5 of the Limitation Act moved by the respondent, thereby, the appeal also stood dismissed.
3.2. Being aggrieved by the judgment dated 31.12.2009, the respondent No.3 (since deceased, represented through her LRs herein), preferred an appeal before the learned Board of Revenue for Rajasthan, Ajmer, whereupon the said appeal was partly allowed vide the impugned judgment dated 06.09.2011, while quashing and setting aside the judgment of the learned Revenue Appellate Authority and the judgment & decree of the learned Assistant Collector and remanding the matter back to the learned Assistant Collector for deciding the same afresh after affording reasonable opportunity of hearing to the parties, in accordance with law. Thereupon, the appellant sought review of the impugned judgment dated 06.09.2011, by preferring a review application before the learned Board of Revenue, but that too, was dismissed vide the impugned order dated 13.01.2012.
3.2.1. As mentioned above, since the writ petition preferred against the said judgment as well as order of the learned Board of Revenue was dismissed by the learned Single Judge of this Hon’ble Court, therefore, the present appeal has been preferred by the appellant (writ petitioner).
4. Learned counsel for the appellant (writ petitioner) submitted that as the record would reveal, the learned Board of Revenue, vide the impugned judgment dated 06.09.2011, has quashed and set aside the judgment dated 31.12.2009 passed by the learned Revenue Appellate Authority, along with the judgment and decree dated 16.08.1975 of the Assistant Collector, Jodhpur, while castigating the determination of the learned Revenue Appellate Authority and truncating the rights of the appellant, which already stood crystallized in his favour way back in the y
The court emphasized the necessity of fair hearing in administrative proceedings, asserting that no party should be condemned unheard, particularly in property disputes.
Revenue authority had passed compromise decree in respect of lands then no cause of action or occasion can be said to have arisen to plaintiff for instituting subsequent suit.
The Board of Revenue exceeded its jurisdiction by reversing the Revenue Appellate Authority's well-reasoned findings based solely on the non-production of evidence, which was not a deliberate act of ....
The court established that ownership claims must be substantiated with clear evidence and that procedural errors in legal documents can significantly impact property rights.
Khatedari rights under the Rajasthan Tenancy Act are granted only to actual cultivators, not to those claiming through others without evidence of cultivation.
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