The main legal point established in the judgment is that the Sub Divisional Officer had the authority to exercise the powers of the Collector in appointing and dismissing Patwaris, as conferred by the M.P. Land Revenue Code, 1959 and relevant notifications.

R.S. Jha, J.

1. The Petitioner, who is a Patwari of Revenue Circle Bahoriband, Patwari Halka No. 23/38 of Village Udaipur, by way of the instant petition has assailed the legal validity of order dated 10-7-2006 passed by the Sub Divisional Officer, Sihora by which the Petitioner's services as Patwari have been terminated and order dated 16-10-2007 passed by the Collector dismissing his appeal.

2. It is stated by the learned Counsel for the Petitioner that the Petitioner has failed a second appeal before the Commissioner, Jabalpur Division which is pending adjudication but as the very initiation of proceedings and the order of termination of the Petitioner is without jurisdiction and authority of law, as held by this Court in the case of Vinod Kumar Khare v. State of M.P. and Ors. reported in ILR (2008) MP 1436, and the judgment in the case of Phulloo Ram Kol v. State of M.P. and Ors. W.P. No. 8777/2003, decided on 25-9-2008, the Petitioner has tiled the present petition during the pendency of the appeal before the Commissioner.

3. It is further submitted by the learned Counsel for the Petitioner that the Petitioner is a Patwari whose Appointing/Disciplinary is the Collector as prescribed in Section 104(2) of the M.P. Land Revenue Code, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Code') and the notification issued under Section 24 of the Code does not confer any power or authority upon the Sub Divisional Officer, in spite of which the impugned order of termination in respect of the Petitioner dated 10-7-2006 has been passed by the Sub Divisional Officer, Sihora which perse is without authority or jurisdiction. The learned Counsel for the Petitioner has relied upon the judgment of this Court rendered in Vinod Kumar Khare (supra) and Phulloo Ram Kol (supra) to submit that the aforesaid legal position has already been settled by this Court and, therefore, the impugned order of termination of the Petitioner be quashed.

4. I have heard the learned Counsel for the parties at length. Section 104 (2) of the Code reads as under:

(2) The Collector shall appoint one or more Patwaris to each Patwari Circle for the maintenance and correction of land records and for such other duties as the State Government may prescribe.

Section 22 of the Code, which is relevant for the purpose of decision of the issue, raised by the Petitioner, is in the following terms:

Sub-Divisional Officers.- (1) The Collector may place one or more Assistant Collectors or Deputy Collectors-in- charge of a Sub-Division of a District or In-charge of two or more Sub-Divisions of a District.

(2) Such Assistant Collector or Deputy Collector shall be called a Sub-Divisional Officer and shall exercise such powers of a Collector as the State Government may, by notification, direct.

5. In exercise of powers conferred by Section 22, sub- section (2) of the Code, the State Government issued notification No. 11429-CR-653-VII-N-2, dated 1-10-1959, which was published in the M.P. Gazette, dated 9-10-1959 which is in the following terms:

In exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section (2) of Section 22 of the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code, 1959 (No. 20 of 1959), and in supersession of all previous notifications on the subject, the State Government hereby directs that all Sub-Divisional Officers shall exercise powers of a Collector under Sub-section (2) of Section 57, Sub-section (5) of Section 59, Section 87, Sub-section (2) of Section 104 and sub- section (2) of Section 110 of the said Code, within their respective jurisdictions.

6. A conjoint reading of the provisions of Section 22 and Section 104 (2) of the Code and the notification issued under Section 22 of the Code, makes it abundantly clear that the power of appointment of Patwaris for each Patwari Circle has been conferred upon the Collector under Section 104 (2) of the Code and that under Section 22 (2) of the Code the Sub Divisional Officer has been empowered to exercise such powers of the Collector as the State Government may by