IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
G.S. Ahluwalia, J.
Sardar Singh v. State of M.P. and Another
Writ Petition No. 24448 of 2022 (Gwalior); Decided on 11.11.2022
¼1½ uxj Òwfe ¼vfèkdre lhek v©j fofu;eu½ vfèkfu;e] 1976 & èkkjk 10 & jkT; }kjk vfèk'ks"k Òwfe dk dCtk fy;k x;k & jktLo vfÒys[k esa çfof"V dh xbZ & ,slh dk;Zokgh vk{ksfir djus dk vfèkdkj & Òwfeèkkjd }kjk ,slh dk;Zokgh d¢ fo#) d¨Ã dkjZokbZ ugha dh xà & ;kph@Òwfeèkkjd d¢ iq= }kjk çLrqr vihy [kkfjt & vc ;kph ,slh dk;Zokgh vk{ksfir ugha dj ldrkA ¼iSjk 6½
¼2½ uxj Òwfe ¼vfèkdre lhek v©j fofu;eu½ fujlu vfèkfu;e] 1999 & èkkjk 3 & uxj Òwfe & ¼vfèkdre lhek v©j fofu;eu½ vfèkfu;e] 1976 & èkkjk 10 & fujlu vfèkfu;e d¢ ço`Ùk g¨us ls iwoZ dk;Zokgh yafcr g¨us dk ç'u & jkT; }kjk vfèk'ks"k Òwfe dk dCtk fy;k x;k & dCts dh jlhn rFkk bl vk'k; dk iapukek & fujlu vfèkfu;e d¢ ço`Ùk g¨us d¢ iwoZ d¨Ã dk;Zokgh yafcr ugha & ;|fi 1986 d¢ rqjar i'pkr~ jkT; ljdkj dk ukekarj.k ugha gqvk] rFkkfi o"kZ 2001&2002 esa jktLo vfÒys[k esa çfof"V dh xà & jktLo vfÒys[k esa o"kZ 2001&2002 rd ewy Lokeh dk uke cuk jgk g¨ rc Òh blls vfèkd varj ugha iM+sxk & jktLo çfof"V;ksa ls d¨Ã vfèkdkj l`ftr ugha gksrk & fujlu vfèkfu;e dh èkkjk 3 vkdf"kZr ugha g¨rhA vkb ,y vkj ¼2008½ ,e ih 2513 voyafcrA ¼iSjk 8 ,oa 9½
(1) Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 -- S. 10 -- possession of excess land taken by State -- entry made in revenue record -- right to challenge such proceedings -- no action taken by holder of land against such proceedings -- appeal filed by petitioner/son of holder dismissed -- now petitioner cannot challenge such proceedings. [Para 6]
(2) Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Act, 1999 -- S. 3 -- Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 -- S. 10 -- question of pendency of proceedings prior to enforcement of Repeal Act -- possession of excess land taken by State -- receipt of possession and panchnama to that effect -- no proceeding pending prior to enforcement of Repeal Act -- though State Government not mutated immediately after 1986 but entry was made in revenue record in year 2001-2002 -- even if name of original owner continued to remain in revenue record till 2001-2002, it would not make much difference -- revenue entries do not create any right -- section 3 of Repeal Act not attracted. ILR (2008) MP 2513 relied on. [Paras 8 & 9]
ORDER
1. This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed seeking following reliefs :
i) The order annexure P-1 passed by the respondent No.2 and notification herein and the order annexure P-2 the notice as contended therein and the possession receipt and the order passed by the Collector annexure p-3 may kindly be quashed and it is may be declared that the petitioner being physical possession of the land and is entitled to hold the same and the order passed by Collector Gwalior/competent authority is not binding upon the petitioner and ineffective against the interest of the petitioner and respondents 1 & 2 be directed to correct the entries recorded in the record;
ii) Cost of this petition may kindly be awarded
iii) Any other relief which this Hon'ble Court deem fit in the facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be granted to the petitioner.
2. It is submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that Jangjeet Singh, the ancestor of the petitioner, was the owner of the land bearing survey Nos.113, 114, 115, 122, 123, 124, 166, 204 and 236 situated in Village Mau, Tehsil and District Gwalior. The proceedings under Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 were initiated and order dated 21.5.1985 was passed and 16150 square meter of land was declared as surplus land. Thereafter, the proceedings under section 10(1) of Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 were initiated and the matter was fixed for further proceedings under section 10(3) of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976. Till 7.1.1992 the matter remained pending for taking possession. Thereafter, it was observed that on 7.1.1992 the possession receipt has been obtained and by order dated 30.6.1992 it was observed that since the possession has been taken, therefore, there is no need and requirement for further proceedings. It is submitted that in spite of the fact that a possession receipt was issued, the name of the petitioner continued in the revenue record. It is submitted that an ex parte possession was taken and no notice in this regard was served and, therefore, the receipt of an ex parte possession is a void document. It is also claimed that while declaring land in excess of the ceiling limits, several aspects were not taken into consideration and, therefore, the order declaring the land in excess of ceiling limit dated 21.5.1985 is also bad. It is submitted that when the petitioner applied for issuance of Kisan Credit Card at that time he came to know about the proceedings, therefore, he applied for grant of certified copy of order and received the same on 14.3.2016 and 21.3.2016. Thereafter, it appears that the petitioner preferred an appeal under section 33 of Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 along with an application for condonation of delay. By order dated 21.3.2016, the application under section 5 of Limitation Act was rejected on the ground that the appeal has been preferred after 31 long years and no sufficient cause has been shown to condone the delay. It appears that the said order was never challenged by the petitioner. Thereafter, the petitioner filed an application under Section 4 of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation), Repeal Act, 1999 (in short "Repeal Act, 1999") alongwith the stay application. Since that application remained pending, therefore, the petitioner filed Writ Petition No.17841/2020, which was disposed of by order dated 25.11.2020 with a direction to decide the application as expeditiously as possible within a period of three months. Accordingly, the impugned order has been passed. It is submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that no notice was given and a forged receipt has been prepared to show that the possession of the land has been taken on 6.11.1986. It is submitted that not only the petitioner continued to remain in possession, but his name also continued to remain in the revenue records till 2011-2002.
4. Per contra, the petition is vehemently oppose
Section 11(3), the State Government has to take further action for taking possession of the land, if land owner or any person in possession refuses or fails to surrender or deliver possession of the ....
The court established that proceedings under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act abate if possession is not taken before the Repeal Act, but claims can be dismissed on grounds of delay.
(1) Existence of an alternative remedy is not an absolute bar on exercise of writ jurisdiction.(2) Factum of possession is essentially a question of fact – Although there is no hard and fast rule tha....
The court ruled that the State must provide evidence of actual possession for land recorded as surplus; mere vesting does not confer ownership rights post-repeal without taking possession.
Writ petitions challenging long-concluded land ceiling proceedings are barred by the doctrine of delay and laches. Revenue records reflecting the vesting of land, maintained for decades without chall....
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