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2010 DIGILAW 939 (HP)

Anjana Mahindroo v. State of H. P.

2010-07-09

SURJIT SINGH

body2010
JUDGMENT Surjit Singh, J. 1. Petitioners in this case, who are daughters of late Kundan Lal Mahindroo, are aggrieved by the order dated 4.1.2008, Annexure P-26 (Colly), by which a prayer made by one of them, namely Anjana Mahindroo, for allotment of an alternative piece of land in lieu of the land, allotted in the year 1970 to their father Kundan Lal, has been rejected. 2. Kundan Lal, father of the Petitioners, was granted land measuring 2 Bighas 17 Biswas and 14 Biswansi in village Sanayardi of Tehsil Sadar, District Mandi, under Nauto Rules, vide Patta, Annexure P-1. In the year 1974, one Sham Lal was also allotted Nautor land measuring 4 Bighas 2 Biswas and 15 Biswansi and the land allotted to said Sham Lal, included the entire land which was earlier allotted to Kandan Lal, father of the Petitioners. In the year 1986, on coming to know that the land allotted to Kundan Lal, who was by then dead, had subsequently been allotted to Sham Lal, widow of Kundan Lal made a petition to Deputy Commissioner, who passed order Annexure P-4 for review of Nautor grant and made a reference to Divisional Commissioner for permitting him to review the Nautor Grant and to allot some alternative piece of land to the legal heirs of Kundan Lal. Divisional Commissioner passed order, Annexure P-5, to the effect that once the land had been granted to Kundan Lal, it ceased to be government land and, therefore, it could not have been re-allotted to Sham Lal and order of allotment in his favour was bad. Sham Lal filed a revision petition against the order of Divisional Commissioner, which was dismissed, vide order dated 16.1.1988, Annexure P-6. 3. After losing the revision filed before Financial Commissioner, said Sham Lal filed a suit in Civil Court for declaration that he had become owner by way of adverse possession of the land which had been allotted to Kundan Lal. That suit was decreed. Appeals filed by the legal heirs of Kundan Lal in the Court of District Judge as also in this Court were dismissed. That suit was decreed. Appeals filed by the legal heirs of Kundan Lal in the Court of District Judge as also in this Court were dismissed. Thereafter, in the year 1998, Petitioner Anjana Mahindroo submitted a representation to the Chief Minister for allotment of some other piece of land, under Nautor Rules, in lieu of the land which was allotted to her father Kundan Lal, in the year 1970 and which had subsequently been allotted to aforesaid Sham Lal. Said representation was sent to Financial Commissioner, who sent it to the Deputy Commissioner. Matter remained pending with the Deputy Commissioner for too long. 4. Petitioner then filed a writ petition in this Court being CWP No. 1508/2002. That writ petition was disposed of with a direction to the competent authority to decide the representation within four months. Representation was rejected vide order dated 29.12.2003, copy Annexure P-18. Petitioner then filed another writ petition being CWP No. 719/ 2006. That was disposed of vide order dated 17.7.2007, with the following directions: Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the considered view that the entire material relied upon by the authority ought to have been supplied to Petitioner before arriving at the ultimate conclusion. In these circumstances, in the interests of justice the order dated 29th December, 2003, passed by Respondent No. 2 is set aside and Respondents are directed to take a decision after affording due opportunity to the Petitioner within a period of three months by passing a reasoned order. It shall be open for the Petitioners to place such other material as may be relevant. For taking the decision, the authority shall take into account the entire material as also the material placed before this Court as the decision is not based on the merits of the controversies raised by the parties. 5. Complying with the aforesaid directions, Financial Commissioner reconsidered the representation, but dismissed the same vide order dated 4.1.2008, Annexure P-26 (Colly). Financial Commissioner has observed that Petitioners lost land allotted to their father Kundan Lal, in the year 1970, because of their own and their father's laxity inasmuch as they kept sleeping till the year 1986, when they for the first time approached the Deputy Commissioner, complaining about the allotment of the same piece of land to one Sham Lal, in the year 1974. 6. 6. I have heard the learned Counsel for the Petitioner as also the learned Assistant Advocate General and examined the record. 7. Admittedly, land measuring 2 Bighas 14 Biswas and 17 Biswansi had been allotted to Kundan Lal in the year 1970. That very land, alongwith some other land, was subsequently allotted to one Sham Lal on 16.11.1974. Said Sham Lal occupied that land and developed the same, spending huge amount of money. Kundan Lal and after his death his legal heirs took no action for about 12 years to recover the possession from Sham Lal or even to complain to the revenue authorities that the very piece of land, which had been allotted to Kundan Lal, could not have been allotted to Sham Lal and that because of the wrong allotment in favour Sham Lal, they had been deprived of the land allotted to their father Kundan Lal, vide Patta, Annexure P-1. Orders were passed in their favour by the revenue authorities, holding that the land, in question, having ceased to be government land, could not have been allotted to Sham Lal in the year 1974. Petitioner still did not take any action. It was Sham Lal who knocked at the doors of Civil Court, after having lost his revision before the Financial Commissioner and succeeded in getting a decree, declaring him as owner of the land allotted to Kundan Lal, on his plea of adverse possession. Thus, the Petitioners and their predecessor Kundan Lal having lost the land because of their own laxity and inaction cannot now ask for an alternative piece of land. Consequently, writ petiton is dismissed.