- (1.) This order will dispose of two Civil Writ Petitions i.e. Civil Writ Petition No. 11631 of 2009(Smt. Bhagwani and others Versus Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Department, Haryana, Chandigarh and others) and Civil Writ Petition No. 11632 of 2009 (Lal Chand Versus Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Department, Haryana, Chandigarh and others) as common question of law arises in these cases. The facts are being taken from C.W.P. No. 11631 of 2009.
(2.) The petitioners claim to have purchased an agricultural land measuring 32 Kanals comprised in Khewat No. 862/787 Min and Killas Nos. 175/1, 2, 9, 10 situated in the revenue estate of village Samer Gopalpur vide registered sale deed from the father of respondents No. 5 to 8 and respondent No. 9. The petitioners are small land owners. After the purchase made by the petitioners, land was declared surplus vide order passed by the Collector, Rohtak on 21.2.1959. The petitioners claim that they were neither given any opportunity of hearing nor they were ever associated with the proceedings in any manner. As per the petitioners, they came to learn about the order declaring the land in their possession to have been declared surplus only in the year 1994 when the respondents had tried to interfere in the possession of the land of the petitioners.
(3.) At that stage, the petitioners had made inquiries in this regard and came to know about the passing of the order dated 21.2.1959. The petitioners then filed an application before the prescribed authority for exclusion of the land in dispute from the surplus pool as mutations have been entered in their favour and was statedly in their cultivating possession. S.D.O.(Civil)-cum-Collector Agrarian, Rohtak dismissed the petition filed by the petitioners on 29.4.1999 on the ground that the land purchased by the petitioners was surplus under the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act, 1953 (for short 'Punjab Act') and had thus vested in the Government in view of Section 12(3) of the Haryana Ceiling of Land Holdings Act, 1972 (for short 'Haryana Act').;