- (1.) The petition is filed at the instance of the person who claims that the 3rd respondent, who is characterized as a property dealer, has been attempting to get possession of the prime land worth Rs. 300 crores situated in the heart of the Ludhiana City with the active connivance of the State. The petitioners would declare that there is an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) run by the Government at the property and the 1st petitioner has been the chairman of the Institute of the Managing Committee (IMC) constituted by the Directorate of the Technical Education and Industrial Training that oversees the technical institutes run in the Punjab. At the time of filing of the petition, the 1st petitioner has had an apprehension that he was likely to be replaced from the Committee with a new set up of people owing allegiance to the 3rd respondent family and the petitioner would seek, therefore, relief that he shall not be dispossessed from his position. He wants a CBI inquiry to be conducted for the land dealing of the 3rd respondent and the transactions of forged and fictitious documents that 3rd respondent was attempting to create by taking power of attorney from the original owner of the property.
(2.) The State would file a reply denying that there is any overture on its part to remove the petitioner from the Committee and has not joined issues on the ownership claims attributed to it by the petitioner. The 3rd respondent has entered the principal contest denying the claim made by the petitioners that the property belonged to Government and that he is usurper of the property attempting transactions to favour himself. The contention is that this property where Government was running a Girls' Technical School was an evacuee land and it was purchased in an auction held on 22.9.1957. The 3rd respondent would rely on "saleable acquired evacuee property" as entered in the performa drawn up on 3.6.1957 that was antecedent to the actual sale to gather the details of property that had been notified for sale. The property has been described as per the Block number in the municipality at the relevant time as B-XIII/282 at Ludhiana Jagraon Road, describing the property to be of the evacuee owner, Abdul Hafee. The property was sold for Rs. 96,100/- on 22.9.1957 and after the purchase the property had been held by the Government on lease from the auction purchaser at the monthly rent of Rs. 125/- and was continued to be paid upto the date of the petition. The respondents would further contend that there had been some attempts of some persons in securing documents from the legal heirs of Dewan Chand and there had been a complaint by his daughter Urmila Sachdeva to the police and later she had herself filed a suit in 110/1994 before the Civil Judge (Junior Division), Ludhiana, seeking for declaration of her 1/3rd interest in the property, described specific khasra No. 497/499 of an extent of 4 bigha 4 biswas and 1 biswasi equivalent to 12100 square yards. The other co-owners were the another daughter of Dewan Chand and the son having pre-deceased his widow and daughter were also parties in the said suit. Several persons who had claimed as purchasers through some persons claiming to be power of attorney-agents of the owner were also parties in the suit. The suit ended in a compromise admitting to the ownership of Dewan Chand's legal heirs and also conceding that all the sale deeds had been got cancelled by registered instruments and the title of the plaintiff and defendants 14 to 16 in that suit was admitted by all concerned.
(3.) The 3rd respondent would refer to the fact that Urmila Sachdeva had herself directly entered in the transaction of sale in favour of the 3rd respondent and other legal heirs had also executed the sale deeds, copies of all of which have been filed as Annexure R3/7. The contention is that the entire property is the property purchased directly from Urmila Sachdeva and other sisters and in respect of the transaction for the widow and daughter of pre-deceased son the same had been carried out through her own brother as a power of attorney.;