JUDGMENT :

M.A. CHOWDHARY, J.

1. The petitioners, through the medium of this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 103 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, seek quashing of Government Order No. 155-Rev (S) of 2018 dated 30.08.2018 (‘impugned order’ for short), insofar as the said order directs inclusion of Revenue Village Dhanmasta, presently forming part of Tehsil Pogal Paristan with headquarters at Ukhral, into Niabat Neel and Tehsil Ramsoo, the impugned action, alleging as being unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable, and without jurisdiction and to restrain the respondents from treating Village Dhanmasta as part of Niabat Neel of Tehsil Ramsoo and from shifting any revenue or official record relating to the said village from Niabat Ukhral, Tehsil Pogal Paristan to Patwar Halqa Neel, Niabat Neel, of Tehsil Ramsoo.

2. It is submitted that Revenue Village Dhanmasta comprises several hamlets/mohras, namely, Dhanmasta, Silli, Batroo, Dharni, Oglin, Dardanbat, Ahma, Kawalin, Khudmulla, Tajnihal, Rounigam, Kharwan and Dhak. It is further submitted that Niabat Ramsoo consists of one Patwar Halqa, namely Sarbagni, comprising of five villages, namely Ramsoo, Sujmatna, Khowra, Sarbagni, and Chaka, whereas Niabat, Ukhral (Khass), consists of one Patwar Halga Panchal with four revenue villages, namely Ukhral, Panchal, Phagmulla, and Dhanmasta.

3. Petitioners contend that previously their Village Dhanmasta formed part of Tehsil Banihal, District Ramban, however, subsequently, the respondents ordered creation of 56 new Sub-Divisions and 139 new Tehsils, including Tehsil Pogal Paristan with headquarters at Ukhral, by corresponding reduction of 35 Agrarian and 10 Settlement Tehsils and 301 Niabats including Niabat Senabathi Paristan, vide Government Order No. Rev (S) 169 of 2014 dated 18.07.2014. According to the petitioners, the aforesaid Government Order was merely in the nature of a proposal and required statutory sanction through issuance of a notification in the form of an SRO under Section 5 of the Land Revenue Act, 1996. As such, Govt. of J&K issued Notification (SRO 443) dated 21.10.2014, whereby administrative units were reorganized by creating new units and altering the jurisdiction of existing units; that as per this notification, petitioners’ village Dhanmasta was included in newly created Tehsil Pogal Paristan with its headquarters at Ukhral.

4. The petitioners contend that vide impugned Government Order, their village was ordered to be included into Patwar Halqa and Niabat Neel of Tehsil Ramsoo without jurisdiction, there being no provision under the Land Revenue Act enabling issuance of such directions contrary to an already notified statutory reorganization. It is also their case that geographically and administratively Village Dhanmasta is naturally aligned with Tehsil Pogal Paristan headquartered at Ukhral. It is asserted that inclusion of the village within the jurisdiction of Tehsil Ramsoo and Niabat Neel, would cause serious inconvenience to the inhabitants. In this regard, reliance is placed on distance certificates issued by the Public Works Department showing that the distance between Mohra Batroo and Ukhral is approximately 3 kilometers, whereas the distance to Ramsoo is about 7 kilometers. It is further reported that several hamlets of Village Dhanmasta lack road connectivity and the inhabitants have to first descend on foot to Mohra Batroo before accessing motorable road to reach Tehsil Headquarters at Ramsoo.

5. The petitioners further assert that for many hamlets, the effective travel distance to Ukhral is significantly shorter than that to Ramsoo or Neel. They also state that access to revenue officials, including the Patwari, Girdawar, and Naib Tehsildar, is more convenient, within Tehsil Pogal Paristan than at Ramsoo. According to them, the situation is aggravated during winter months when the area remains snow-bound and fair-weather roads frequently become inac