J.V. Gupta, J. - (1.) THIS petition is directed against the order of the trial court, dated 9th January, 198G, whereby the issue of jurisdiction of the Civil Court which was treated to be preliminary was decided in favour of the Plaintiffs.
(2.) THE Plaintiffs/Respondents filed the suit for declaration that the Plaintiffs and proprietors of Village Mehal Kalan were the owners of the suit land jointly, and owners in possession, in accordance with the Jamabandi for the year 1979 -80; that the Gram Panchayat has no connection with it; that the entries of Mutation No. 624, dated 13th June, 1964, in view thereof in the revenue records were against the rights of the Plaintiffs and the proprietors of Village Mehal Kalan Patwar Halqa A, and the same were ineffective, the Plaintiffs being not bound by it. It was also prayed that the Plaintiffs and proprietors were entitled to get the entries made in the revenue records as joint owners in possession, and, consequently the Defendant be restrained from getting the possession of the land and giving it on lease to anybody; else. In the Written Statement, an objection was raised as to the jurisdiction of the Civil Court in view of the provisions of Section 13 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (for short, the Act). Consequently, the issue of jurisdiction was treated as preliminary, and the trial court came to the conclusion that the present suit was simply a suit for declaration; that the Plaintiffs were owners of the suit property, and that the entries in the revenue record showing the Defendant -Gram Panchayat as the owners were wrong. According to the trial court, the question involved in the present suit was simply a question of title with respect to the suit property; that it was not to be determined whether the suit property was Shamlat or not and whether it validly vested in the Gram Panchayat or not, being Shamlat. On this view, the trial court found that the Civil Court did have the jurisdiction to try the suit.
(3.) LEARNED Counsel for the Defendant -Gram Panchayat submitted that Section 11 of the Act provides that any person claiming right, title or interest in any land vested or deemed to have been vested in a Panchayat under this Act, or claiming that any land has not so vested in a Panchayat, may submit to the Collector, a statement of his claim in writing, and the Collector shall have the jurisdiction to decide such claim in such manner as may be prescribed. Thus, argued the learned Counsel, that being the remedy available under the Act, the jurisdiction of the Civil Court was barred under Section 13 thereof which provides that no civil court shall have the jurisdiction in respect of any matter which the Commissioner or the Collector is empowered by or under this Act to determine. In support of his contention he referred to a Division Bench judgment of this Court in Gram Sabha Balad Kalan v. Sarvian Singh, 1981 RLR 479, Rakha Singh v. Babu Singh, 1985 RLR 434, and Gram Panchayat Sadhrawar v. Baldev Singh, 1983 (1) L.L.R. 602.;