- (1.) Gram Panchayat of village Bishangarh, Tehsil and District Patiala has filed the instant writ petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India for quashing the order dated 15.2.2007 (Annexure P2) passed by the Commissioner, whereby the appeal filed by respondents No. 2 to 4 against the order dated 14.11.2005(Annexure P5) passed by the Collector, dismissing their title suit under Section 11 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'), was allowed and they were declared owners of the land in dispute. The brief facts of the case are that on 20.11.1981 the petitioner-Gram Panchayat filed an ejectment application before the Collector under Section 7 of the Act against respondent No. 2-Sadhu Singh for his ejectment from the land in dispute. The Collector held that the land in dispute is Shamlat Patti Nungrahan and is being used as a Cha-rand, a common purpose, therefore, this land comes under the definition of Shamilal Deh under Section 2(g) of the Act and vests in Gram Panchayat. It has been further held that the respondent neither produced any proof of his ownership nor produced any proof of his possession on the land in dispute before 26th January, 1950. Therefore, his possession on the land in dispute was held to be illegal and unauthorised. On coming to the said conclusion, the Collector allowed the application of the Gram Panchayat filed under Section 7 and ordered the eviction of respondent No. 2 from the land in dispute vide order dated 27.1.1983 (Annexure P3).
(2.) Feeling aggrieved against the aforesaid order, respondent No. 2 filed an appeal before the Joint Director, Panchayat (Exercising the powers of Commissioner) and the same was dismissed vide order dated 17.2.1984 (Annexure P4).
(3.) Later on, in the year 2003, respondents No. 2 to 4 filed a title suit under Section 11 of the Act to declare them owners of the land in dispute. The Collector dismissed the suit vide order dated 14.11.2005 (Annexure P5), while making the following observations:- After being perusal of the petition, reply, statements, evidence, arguments and record the court has come to the conclusion that the disputed land as per Khotani Pamaish is Makboozan Charand. The petitioners have failed to prove that they are in the possession prior to the year 26 January, 1950 and also they have not proved that they have separated their shares. Regarding these Khasra Numbers the Court Collector and Commissioner has already passed the orders of the dispossession against the petitioners. The Hon'ble Full Bench of the Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court has already decided about the disputed land in a case titled as Jai Singh v. State, stated that the land which is kept for the common purpose whether it is used or not, its rights is vest with Gram Panchayat. Whether the land is shown as Jumla Mustarka Malkan Wa Digar Haqdaran Hasad Rasad Arai Khewat, the disputed land is reserved for the common purpose and this land vest in the Gram Panchayat. So the petition of the petitioners is dismissed.;