An unregistered sale deed for immovable property valued over Rs. 100 does not constitute a valid transfer of title under Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, and thus cannot exempt a land transaction from the operation of Section 170-B of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959.

C.A.V. Order

1. The present petition has been preferred by the petitioner assailing the legality, validity and propriety of the order dated 06.01.2014 passed by the Additional Commissioner, Bilaspur Division, Bilaspur in Revision Case No. 120/A-23/2011-12, whereby the revision preferred by the petitioner against the order dated 28.01.2011 passed by the Additional Collector, Bilaspur has been dismissed, and the order passed by the Additional Collector has been affirmed.

2. The case of the petitioner, in brief, is that the respondent/applicant initiated proceedings under Section 170-B of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959 (for short, ‘the Code, 1959’) before the Sub- Divisional Officer, Pendra Road (for short, “the SDO”), claiming that the lands bearing Khasra Nos. 917/2 and 1206, admeasuring 1.49 acres and 0.64 acres respectively, situated at P.H. No. 25, R.I. Circle Gourela, Tahsil Pendra Road, were ancestral lands recorded in the name of Nansai, son of Ramdayal Bhariya, a member of Scheduled Tribe, and that the respondent was in possession thereof. He alleged that the lands had never been sold to the petitioner or his family members and that the petitioner had fraudulently got his name entered in the revenue records on 25.10.1989. On such application, Revenue Case No. 196/A-23/2000-2001 was registered, and statements of the parties were recorded. The petitioner had taken a defence that he had acquired the disputed land pursuant to a transaction dated 30.03.1958, evidenced by a non-judicial stamp paper of 50 paise, and that he was in possession thereof. The concerned Patwari also submitted a possession report showing the possession of the petitioner. It was further pointed out that a civil suit bearing Civil Suit No. 03-A/1990 had also been decided on 30.11.1990. The SDO, Pendra Road, by order dated 25.09.2001, rejected the application under Section 170-B of the Code, 1959, holding that the transaction in question was before 02.10.1959 and, therefore, the provisions of Section 170-B were not attracted.

3. The respondent challenged the order dated 25.09.2001 before the Additional Collector, Pendra Road, in Appeal Case No. 8/A-23/2001- 02, which was initially dismissed on 23.08.2003, affirming the order of the SDO. Thereafter, in Revision Case No. 56/A-23/2003-04, the Chhattisgarh Board of Revenue, Bilaspur, by order dated 02.01.2008, partly allowed the revision and remanded the matter to the Additional Collector for reconsideration. Upon remand, the Additional Collector, Pendra Road, by order dated 28.01.2011, reversed the order dated 25.09.2001 and partly allowed the respondent’s appeal insofar as Khasra No. 917/2 was concerned, directing restoration of the said land to the respondent, while the claim relating to Khasra No. 1206 was rejected on the ground that the petitioner had failed to produce any documentary evidence establishing purchase of the land before 02.10.1959. The Additional Collector also proceeded on the premise that the burden of establishing the respondent’s non-tribal status was upon the petitioner and that the petitioner had failed to discharge such burden. Aggrieved by the said order dated 28.01.2011, the petitioner preferred Revision Case No. 120/A-23/2011-12 before the Additional Commissioner, Bilaspur Division, Bilaspur, which came to be dismissed by the impugned order dated 06.01.2014, affirming the order of the Additional Collector. The petitioner has, therefore, assailed both the orders dated 06.01.2014 passed by the Additional Commissioner, Bilaspur, and dated 28.01.2011 passed by the Additional Collector, Bilaspur, in the present petition.

4. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that the impugned order dated 28.01.2011 passed by the Additional Collector, Pendra Road, whereby the order dated 25.09.2001 passed by the SDO, Pendra Road was reversed to the extent of Khasra No. 917/2, area 1.49 acres, and the land was directed to be restored in the name of the respondent/a