AMOL RATTAN SINGH, J.

1. The present letters patent appeal challenges the judgment of the learned Single Judge, dated 20.11.2012, passed in CWP No. 10525 of 2000, whereby the appellant, a Punjab Civil Services Officer and former Sub Divisional Magistrate of Ajnala, along with the then Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, have been burdened with compensation of Rs. 4,00,000/- (with Rs. 1,00,000/- to be paid to each of the petitioners of CWP No. 10525 of 2000, i.e. the present respondents No. 1 to 4).

2. The facts leading to the filing of the writ petition and the consequent judgment are as follows:-

CWP No. 10525 of 2000 was filed by four petitioners, residents of Abadi Ram Tirath, Village Kotla Doom, Tehsil Ajnala, District Amritsar, seeking action against the present appellant (respondent No. 3 in the writ petition), for allegedly committing offences punishable under Sections 452, 247 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, by causing demolition of their residential houses.

The history of the litigation, briefly, is that, at a historical place known as Ram Tirath, located at a distance of 11 kms from Amritsar, the ancestors of the petitioners are stated to have come and settled in 154