- (1.) Raghubir Singh, the then Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, in the Union Territory, Chandigarh, filed a petition under Section 7 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Village Common Lands Act), on 25.1.1984 before the Assistant Collector, Ist Grade, Chandigarh, seeking appropriate directions for restraining Hari Singh, Amar Singh and Bhag Singh (sons of Kabul Singh), Sarup Singh and Piara Singh (sons of Jyoti Ram) and Shiv Ram (son of Swaran), residents of village Raipur Khurd, from filling up the village pond, and for encroaching upon the same. It was x alleged in the aforesaid petition, that the pond site was reserved for common use for the village community. On the same day itself i.e. on 25.1.1984, the Assistant Collector, Ist Grade, Chandigarh, inter-alia, passed the following order:- "Presented today by B.D.P.O. along with E.O. Panchayat Samiti and Sarpanch Panchayat. Issue notice to both parties for appearance on 14th February. Ad interim stay meanwhile evicting the respondents to stop filling work forthwith." It is apparent from the documents enclosed with the instant writ petition, that on 25.1.1984, the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Chandigarh, directed the Station House Officer, Police Station, Sector-26, Chandigarh, to stop filling work from being carried out, and also, to help the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, in erecting a fence around the pond area. The Station House Officer, Police Station East, Chandigarh, submitted a report of compliance dated 25.1.1984, inter-alia, noticing the fact that the pond area near the land of Bhag Singh, had been fenced and the possession thereof had been handed over to Raghubir Singh, Sarpanch.
(2.) The petitioners herein filed a reply (dated 22.3.1984, Annexure P-2) to the petition filed by the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, on 25.1.1984 (Annexure P-1). In their reply, the petitioners asserted that they were owners of the land in dispute being in possession thereof since times immemorial. It was also asserted that the petition filed by the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, on 25.1.1984 (Annexure P-1) was not maintainable because the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, had not passed any resolution for filing any such petition. In the reply filed on behalf of the petitioners, it was also asserted that there was no pond reflected in the record, or even on the spot, and that, the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, had procured orders passed by the Assistant Collector, Ist Grade, Chandigarh, by mis-stating the facts. In their reply, the petitioners additionally mentioned that they had filed a civil suit before the Sub Judge, Ist Class, Chandigarh, wherein the Sub Judge, Ist Class, Chandigarh, had passed an order of "status quo", and as such, further proceedings in the matter deserved to be stayed, through an interim direction.
(3.) The Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, filed an application on the subject matter noticed hereinabove, on 26.6.1991 (Annexure P-3), requesting the Assistant Collector, Ist Grade, Chandigarh, to re-commence the proceedings on the petition filed by the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, under Section 7 of the Village Common Lands Act. In the instant application filed by the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, it was explicitly and expressly asserted, that the petitioners were in unauthorised and illegal possession of the land in question, and that, the respondents had raised construction over the same during the pendency of the proceedings before the civil Court. It was, accordingly, prayed that the petition filed by the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, on 25.1.1984 (Annexure P-1) be accepted and the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, be put into possession of the area of the pond which vested in the Gram Panchayat. It would be interesting to mention, that in the aforesaid application, the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, expressly referred to an entry in the wazib-ul-urj of the Jamabandi for the year 1954- 55, showing a pond on the northern side of the village, adjacent to the house of the petitioners within abadi deh which was reserved for the benefit of the village community. It is also pertinent to notice that in paragraph 2 of the aforesaid application dated 26.6.1991 (Annexure P-3), the Gram Panchayat, Village Raipur Khurd, had expressly recorded that it had enclosed a site plan along with the petition filed under Section 7 of the Village Common Lands Act, depicting the land over which the petitioners herein had effected encroachments.;