Illegal occupation of Gram Panchayat land does not confer any right to claim ownership or regularization.

JUDGMENT

Augustine George Masih, J. - By this order, we propose to dispose of nine Civil Writ Petitions i.e. CWP Nos.21004, 21014, 21017 to 21020, 21022, 21023 and 21364 of 2021. Counsel for the petitioners has requested that the facts in these writ petitions are almost the same except for the finding that the area which has been found to have been encroached upon by the petitioners is different in each of these cases and rest of the pleadings and the facts including the orders are the same. Counsel for the petitioners has further submitted that CWP No.21004 of 2021, titled as 'Pawan Vs. Gram Panchayat Singhpura Kalan and others', may be treated as a lead case.

2. Briefly, the facts of CWP No.21004 of 2021 are that according to the petitioner, his forefathers were in possession of the Gram Panchayat land total measuring 508 square yards since more than 40/50 years and are in continuous and uninterrupted possession since then. One Shri Raghubir remained Sarpanch of the village Singhpura Kalan for approximately 30 years and he, after having received payment from the forefathers of the petitioner about 30 years back, had allotted the land in dispute to them. It is, on this piece of land, that the house has been built by the petitioner.

3. On 19.05.2009, because of there being political factionalism in the village, Gram Panchayat Singhapura Kalan, Tehsil and District Rohtak filed an application under Section 7 (2) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, for ejectment of the petitioner and other similarly placed persons including the petitioners in the connected writ petitions. The said application was allowed by the District Development and Panchayat Officer-cum-Assistant Collector 1st Grade, Rohtak - respondent No.4 vide order dated 08.08.2011 (Annexure P-2).

4. An appeal was preferred by the petitioner and the other similarly placed petitioners in the connected writ petitions challenging this order of eviction, which came up for consideration before the Collector Rohtak, District Rohtak - respondent No.3, on 23.02.2012, when the findings returned by the Assistant Collector 1st Grade, Rohtak, vide order dated 08.08.2011 (Annexure P-2) were upheld holding therein that the land was Panchayat Deh and therefore, the same is vested in the Gram Panchayat, which is its owner in the light of the jamabandi for the year 2003-2004 and the petitioner is in illegal possession thereof and therefore, has, rightly been ordered to be evicted leading to the appeal being dismissed vide order dated 23.02.2012 (Annexure P-4).

5. However, in the concluding paragraph, it was observed that the petitioner had constructed his house and was in possession thereof since long. Amenities like drinking water tap and street have been provided by the Gram Panchayat, a lenient and sympathetic view was taken and it was ordered that the petitioner can get the right to own this land by paying the cost thereof to the Gram Panchayat as per rules. The Block Development and Panchayat Officer was directed to send a case regarding fixation of the cost of the disputed land after considering it sympathetically in case request is submitted by the petitioner to pay the cost either to the Gram Panchayat or his office.

6. In pursuance to the said order, resolution was passed by the Gram Panchayat, dated 08.10.2016 (Annexure P-5), wherein Gram Panchayat decided that the amount at collector rate be got deposited from the persons who are in unauthorized possession of the Gram Panchayat land and names of 15 persons listed therein. Copy of the resolution was sent to the Deputy Commissioner, Rohtak, through Block Development and Panchayat Officer, with a request to grant permission to the persons mentioned therein to deposit the amount at collector rate.

7. When nothing turned out of the said resolution despite various requests sent by the petitioners, petitioner in the present writ petition as also the other petitioners in connected writ petitions preferred revision petit