- (1.) Gram Panchayat of village Ladhpur, District Fatehgarh Sahib impugns the orders dated 11.05.2006 [P-11] and 23.01.2008 [P-12] passed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner [Development] exercising the powers of Commissioner under the Punjab Village Common Lands [Regulation] Act, 1961. Vide the first order, the Collector has dismissed the petition of Gram Panchayat filed under Section 11 of the Act to declare it the owner of subject land measuring 266 Bighas 4 Biswas [equivalent to 443 kanals] situated within the revenue estate of village Ladhpur. Vide the second order, the Commissioner has dismissed the petitioner's appeal against the above mentioned order of the Collector. The case of the Gram Panchayat is that the land in dispute was recorded in the revenue record as "Shamlat-deh Hasab Rasad Raqba Khewat' prior to the year 1956 and was consequently mutated in its favour on 05.12.1956 in accordance with Section 3 of the Punjab Village Common Lands [Regulation] Act, 1953. Since then the Gram Panchayat was consistently shown to be owner of the subject land in the Jamabandi entries up to the year 1999-2000.
(2.) 10 Proprietors-cum-right-holders of the village filed a petition under Section 42 of the East Punjab Holdings [Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation] Act, 1948 [in short '1948 Act'], in the year 1994 claiming themselves to be the owners of a part of the land in dispute, i.e., to the extent measuring 182 kanals 19 marlas [110 Bighas] and sought its partition. The petition was filed almost 38 years after the consolidation had taken place in the village in the year 1950-51. It was claimed that the land in dispute was owned by Khewatdars [right-holders] of the village and it was erroneously mutated in favour of the Gram Panchayat as shamlat-deh. It was averred that the illegally entered mutation did not confer any title in favour of Gram Panchayat not it could affect the ownership rights of proprietors.
(3.) The petitioner - Gram Panchayat contested the claim of the proprietors and raised a specific objection re: inordinate delay of 30 to 35 years in filing of the petition.;