Mere issuance of rent receipts does not confer title or possession over land; the burden of proof lies with the claimant to establish ownership.

CAV JUDGMENT

Date: 04-10-2024 The present writ petition has been filed for restraining the respondents from demolishing the house of the petitioner, as also preventing them from constructing the building of Panchayat Sarkar Bhawan on the raiyati land of the petitioner.

2. The brief facts, according to the petitioner, are that a piece of land, admeasuring 13 katha, pertaining to old Khata No.217/new Khata No.866, Old Khesra No.1142/New Khesra No.1559, situated at Mauja-Arga Usuri, Tauzi No.6553, Thana No.86, Thana-Biroul, District-Darbhanga, was settled in favor of one Bilat Mandal, son of late Hiraman Mandal at yearly rent of Rs. 2/- in 1355 fasli, by delivering actual physical possession of the land and by issuance of rent receipt by the ex-landlords, namely, Abdul Mazeed and Abdul Gaffar. The said Bilat Mandal died, leaving behind his four sons, namely, Bathu Mandal, Boven Mandal, Baleshwar Mandal and Keshwar Mandal. The eldest son of the said deceased Bilat Mandal is stated to have become Karta of the joint family and used to pay rent to the ex-landlords. It is further stated that an amicable partition took place amongst the aforesaid four brothers and separate jamabandies were created, including the one bearing Jamabandi No.494 in the name of one Boven Mandal, i.e. the father of the petitioner, who is also known as Bauan Mandal and he used to pay rent to the State of Bihar for which receipts were also being issued. Nonetheless, during revisional survey, new Khata No.866 was carved out of old Khata No.217 and old Khesra No.1142 was renumbered as new Khesra No.1559 to the prejudice of the jamabandi holders. 3. The learned Counsel for the petitioner has further stated that in the year 1997, when final publication was made, the land in question was illegally and wrongly recorded as ‘Dhanhar’ in the name of ‘Anabad Bihar Sarkar’ and in the remark column it was wrongly shown to be in the illegal possession of ‘Kakhan Mandal, Makhan Mandal and Mahendra Mandal. The father of the petitioner had then assailed the renumbering of khesra and khata number by filing a case, bearing case no. 6565 of 1991, under Section 106 of the B.T. Act, before the learned Settlement OfÏcer, Darbhanga on 10.06.1997. Thereafter, the petitioner had made an application before the Circle OfÏcer, Biraul, who requested the Sub-divisional OfÏcer to initiate a proceeding under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 , leading to initiation of Case No.334 of 2020, however, on account of Covid-19 pandemic, the functioning of the Court was adversely impeded and the statutory period had expired, hence the said proceedings were closed.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner has next contended by referring to Annexure-5 to the writ petition that rent receipt has been issued by the revenue ofÏcer in favor of the father of the petitioner, showing payment of rent for the period 2012-13, in connection with Jamabandi No.494 and Jamabandi No.494 still exists in the name of the father of the petitioner, hence it is submitted that the land in question is a raiyati land, thus, the possession of the petitioner over the afore-said land should not be disturbed, without first cancelling the jamabandi, existing in the name of the father of the petitioner.

5. Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondent-State has submitted by referring to the counter afÏdavit filed by the Deputy Development Commissioner, Darbhanga and the District Magistrate, Darbhanga that an enquiry committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of the Sub-divisional OfÏcer, Biraul, vide memo dated 26.10.2022, which conducted a spot enquiry, in presence of the petitioner and other villagers, by visiting the land in question, whereafter a report was submitted, vide memo dated 04.11.2022, wherein it has been stated that the land of Panchayat Sarkar Bhawan, situated at Mauja-Arga Usuri, Thana No.86, appertaining to Khata No.866, Khesra No.1559, admeasuring 96 decimals, is Anabad Bihar Sarkar cat