- (1.) Applications for restoration of both the cases are allowed and they are taken up for disposal.
(2.) Both the appeals address the same issue relating to the tenability of the order of ejectment passed by the appellate authority under Section 7 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulations) Act of 1961 (for short, ''the 1961 Act''). It was an admitted fact that the property had been described in the jamabandi as shamilat deh but in the action for ejectment, the contention by the respondent was that he and his predecessors had been in possession of the property over 12 years prior to the date of coming into force of 1961 Act. The Collector held that the respondents and the predecessors had been in possession of property and made reference to the revenue records of the year 1952-53, 1982 and 1983 referring to the property as being in the alleged possession of the petitioner and his predecessors. The appellate authority reversed the finding and held that the crucial period when the issue of possession was relevant, was cultivation in the hands of the petitioner or his predecessors before 26.01.1950 and the records themselves had been filed only subsequent to the said date and none of those documents helped the petitioner to contend that the property was one of the excepted categories under Section 2(g) of the 1961 Act.
(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioners has at least four objections to the tenability of the order impugned in both the writ petitions: (i) In an action for ejectment made by the Panchayat, when a question of title had been involved, it ought to have been referred for an adjudication under Section 11 and a summary ejectment could not have been passed. The learned counsel refers me to the language employed under Section 7 to say that whenever any person was claiming a right, title or interest of any land vested in the Panchayat, the Collector shall have jurisdiction to decide such claim in the manner prescribed. I cannot take this language as making it compulsory for the person before whom an application under Section 7 is filed. The proviso to Section 7, on the other hand, deals with a situation of how on the receipt of an application before him if a question of right, title or interest is raised by any person and a prima facie case is made thereof, the Collector shall then direct the person, who has raised such question to submit his claim under Section 11. The further proviso is that if the person that raises the question fails to submit a claim under Section 11 within the time stipulated, then the Collector shall proceed to put the Panchayat in possession of the property.;