JUDGMENT

Mr. Kuldeep Tiwari, J.

The private respondents No.6 and 7, through a petition instituted before the learned Collector concerned, under Section 7 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act of 1961'), sought ejectment of the petitioners from the petition land(s). The above relief was claimed, inter alia, on the grounds that the petitioners have encroached upon a common passage of the village concerned, by merging it within the boundaries of their house(s), by constructing a roof over the said passage. It was further alleged therein, that the said passage, which was paved with cement tiles and blocks by Gram Panchayat concerned with its funds, indeed vests in the Gram Panchayat concerned and is being used by the general public since times immemorial.

2. Controverting the claim as raised in the petition (supra), the petitioners claimed the petition land(s) to be their ancestral property, by virtue of its falling under "Lal Dora", i.e. abadi deh, rather than its being a "shamlat deh" land, and thus, the maintainability of the petition was disputed.

3. The learned Collector concerned, during the pendency of the petition (supra), ordered for a demarcation of the site concerned, which resultantly was conducted by the Tehsildar, Bahadurgarh, on 05.11.2018 (Annexure P-5). Placing reliance upon the demarcation report (supra), the learned Collector concerned, vide order dated 14.06.2019, ordered for the eviction of the petitioners from the petition land(s).

4. Feeling aggrieved by the eviction order (supra), the petitioners made an unsuccessful effort to challenge the validity thereof, by filing a statutory appeal before the learned statutory appellate authority. However, the learned appellate authority, while extending concurrence to the order (supra) made by the Collector concerned and also by placing reliance upon the demarcation report (supra), proceeded to dismiss the appeal vide order dated 10.12.2019. Moreover, the subsequent thereto revision, as was filed against the order dated 10.12.2019, before the learned Commissioner concerned, also met the same fate and was dismissed vide order dated 11.10.2021.

5. It would be apt, at this stage, to note that since the question of title was neither raised nor adjudicated, during the eviction proceedings, therefore a revision, as was filed before the learned Commissioner concerned, thus was not maintainable. Nonetheless, since the final and aptly recoursable statutory remedy available against an order of eviction, is the filing of a statutory appeal only, which remedy was indeed recoursed by the petitioners and whereupon, a dismissal order was made on the appeal, on 10.12.2019. Therefore, considering the order (supra) as made by the appellate authority concerned, to be a final and conclusive verdict, while ignoring the order of the revisional court (although relief claimed by petitioners therein was also declined), this Court proceeds to decide the present writ petition.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioners has vociferously argued that the eviction order (supra) has been founded merely on the strength of the demarcation report (Annexure P-5), whereas, neither this demarcation report was lawfully tendered into evidence, nor its author ever stepped into the witness box to prove its authenticity and therefore, the petitioners did not have any opportunity to cross-examine him. Further, by drawing attention of this Court towards the demarcation report (Annexure P-5), he contended that a perusal thereof, clearly reveals that there was no document available with the Tehsildar concerned at the relevant time, rather he conducted demarcation on the basis of the document(s) supplied by