- (1.) The petitioners pray for issuance of a writ of certiorari quashing order dated 15.1.1988 passed by DDPO-cum-Collector, Jalandhar, order dated 23.8.2007 passed by the Divisional Deputy Director, Panchayat Lands, Jalandhar, and order dated 13.9.2007 passed by the Joint Development Commissioner (IRD), Punjab, (exercising powers of 'Commissioner') under the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the "1961 Act").
(2.) The petitioners filed an application for setting aside ex parte order dated 15.1.1988, whereby a petition filed by Charan Singh, under section 11 of the 1961 Act, seeking a declaration that the land, in dispute, does not vest in the Gram Panchayat, was dismissed. The application was dismissed on 23.8.2007 for failure to explain the delay of 19 years. The appeal filed by the petitioners was also dismissed.
(3.) Counsel for the petitioners submits that one Charan Singh son of Harnam Singh filed a petition under section 11 of the 1961 Act, in collusion with the then Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, praying that land measuring 203 Kanals-06 Marlas does not vest in the Gram Panchayat. The Gram Panchayat was impleaded as respondent no.1 and proprietors were impleaded as respondent nos. 2 to 73. The proprietors were proceeded against ex parte. The District Development and Panchayat Officer dismissed the petition on 15.1.1988. The Gram Panchayat, however, concealed this order. The proprietors, accordingly, continued to be recorded as owners in possession. The petitioners came to know about this order in the second week of August, 2007, when the Gram Panchayat started proclaiming its ownership. The petitioners applied for a certified copy of order dated 15.1.1988 on 14.8.2007 which was delivered on 20.8.2007 and thereafter filed an application, before the Divisional Deputy Director, Panchayat Lands, Jalandhar, exercising powers of the Collector for setting aside ex parte order dated 15.1.1988. The application was wrongly dismissed on 23.8.2007 for failure to explain the delay of 19 years. The petitioners, thereafter, filed an appeal along with an application for condonation of delay, before the Director, Rural Development and Panchayat, Punjab. The appeal was dismissed on 13.9.2007 on the grounds that delay in filing the application and the appeal have not been satisfactorily explained.;