The amendment to the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 saved the transfer of Shamlat Deh land to the petitioner on a quasi-permanent basis, thereby rejecting the Gram Panchayat's claim to the property.

T.H.B. Chalapathi, J. (Oral) - The petitioner, who was a landless poor, was allotted the land under Government instructions issued vide Memorandum No. 7841-JN(M)-61/2699 dated 28th August, 1961. The property in dispute is situated in village Mahadipur which was inhabited by the Muslim community. During the communal disturbances, the villagers left the village and migrated to Pakistan. Thus all the properties including the Shamlat became the evacuee property and vested in the Central Government by virtue of the provisions of Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950. Thereafter those lands in the village which were not disposed of by the Central Government, were transferred to the Punjab Government. The Punjab Government transferred those lands to landless poor including the petitioners under the instructions of the Punjab Government referred to above. The lands which were allotted to the petitioners, were Shamlat Deh lands. Therefore the Gram Panchayat laid a claim to the said lands on the ground that the Shamlat lands will vest in the Gram Panchayat and the same cannot be transferred to any other person. The Gram Panchayat placed reliance on the provisions of Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961. The Supreme Court in Gram Panchayat of Village Jamalpur v. Malwinder Singh and others, AIR 1985 Supreme Court 1394 held that the provisions of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulations) Act, 1954 will prevail over the provisions of the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950. Subsequently, the Legislature amended the provisions of Section 2(g) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961. Though the writ petition is filed in the year 1982, it is pending when the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Amendment Act, 1995 came into force. Therefore, I am of the view that this writ petition has to be decided on the basis of the provisions as contained in Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Amendment Act, 1985. As the Court can take notice of the change of law and particularly when the amendment has been made retrospectively under the amended Act of 1995. Section 2(g) (ii-A) was included. According to the same, Shamlat deh does not include the land which was shamlat deh but has been allotted on quasi-permanent basis to a displaced person, or has been otherwise transferred to any person by sale or by any other manner whatsoever after the commencement of this Act, but on or before the 9th day of July, 1985.

2. Thus a reading of the above provisions clearly shows that any transfer made after the commencement of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 till 9th day of July, 1985 [the date on which the Supreme Court decided the Gram Panchayat of Village Jamalpurs case (supra)] will be saved even though it was Shamlat deh prior to 9th July, 1985. Admittedly the land in dispute which was Shamlat Deh at the time of the allotment, was transferred to the petitioner on a quasi-permanent basis. Therefore, according to amendment, it ceased to shamlat deh. Therefore, the Gram Panchayat cannot claim any right in the said land because of the amendment which was effected by the State Legislature in the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961. The transfer in favour of the petitioner was thus saved by the amending Act. In view of the above legal position, the Gram Panchayat cannot lay any claim to the property in dispute. The writ petition, therefore, deserves to be allowed.

The writ petition is accordingly, allowed, but without costs.

Petition allowed.