M.M.KUMAR, J. - (1.) THIS appeal filed by the plaintiff-appellant is directed against the concurrent findings of facts recorded by both the Courts below by invoking Section 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. Both the Courts have concurrently found that the plaintiff-appellant has failed to adduce any evidence showing that he is owner in possession of the property in dispute. The plaintiff-appellant has placed reliance on Ex. P1 the site plan and Ex. P2 a compromise entered into between the parties in proceedings undertaken under Section 107/151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(2.) MR . Bhag Singh, learned counsel for the plaintiff-appellant has argued that the nature of the land is abadi deh and no record is kept for proving the possession or the ownership. According to the learned counsel the statement made by the plaintiff-appellant along with the site plan Ex. P1 adequately establishes their case. Having heard the learned counsel, I do not feel persuaded to accept his submissions because even in respect of abadi deh land, proof could have been furnished with regard to possession and ownership. Paragraph 11 of Appendix VII of the Punjab Settlement Manual refers to the Village Sites popularly known as abadi-deh in the following words :- "The village site should be measured in one number, together with the small plots attached in which cattle are penned, manure is stored, and straw is staked and other waste attached to the village site. The entry in the column of ownership and occupancy will be simply Abadi Deh." In para 131 of the Punjab Settlement Manual expression 'abadi' has been defined, which reads as under :- "The abadi - The houses of the members of the brotherhood and of their dependents are usually built close together in some convenient part of the village. It may be noted that this inhabited site or abadi is excluded from the operation of the Land Revenue Act "except so far as may be necessary for the record, recovery and administration of village cesses." The houses of the village menials are usually placed on the outskirts of the abadi, and those occupied by men of impure castes sometimes occupy a separate site or sites at a little distance from it."
(3.) THE aforementioned paragraphs came up for consideration before a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Ishwar Singh v. State of Haryana and others, 1996(2) RRR 61 (P&H) : (1995-3) PLR 613. The Division Bench was considering the question of abadi-deh/lal lakir for the purposes of measuring the sites of stone crushers. The argument was that the stone crushers could be situated at the specified distance, which might be measured from abadi deh. Rejecting that argument and referring to the afore-mentioned two paras from the Punjab Settlement Manual, the Division Bench held as under :- "In other words, Abadi Deh would mean such land which is inhabited by villagers including plots of land in which cattle are penned, manure is stored and straw is staked and other waste attached to the village site which is not assessed to land revenue. In the Shajras such an area is inked in red and in common parlance abadi deh is known as area within the Lal Lakir. According to the instruction for the guidance of the consolidation staff issued under the East Punjab Holdings (Consolidation of Prevention and Fragmentation) Act 1948, it is provided that in every village after ascertaining the Shajras a provision shall be made for the passages and roads leading to the main highway, railway line and canals etc. The passages provided for going from one village to the other and the circular roads around the village are known as Phirni the width of which is required to be from 4 to 6 Karams. The properties, within Lal Lakir and Phirni are therefore well defined and properly understood by the revenue agencies." ;