- (1.) Harnama, the petitioner, has impugned the validity and legality of the notice dated 31st December, 1966, Annexure 'C' to the petitioner, issued suo motu by Assistant Collector First Grade under sub-section (2) of Section 7 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) calling upon him to show cause as to why he should not be ejected from the land in question, the order of the Assistant Collector First Grade dated 3rd April, 1967, Annexure 'E' and that of Collector dated 23rd May, 1967, affirming the order of the Assistant Collector in appeal, on the grounds : (i) that the Collector ought not to have moved into the matter suo motu when the Panchayat in which the land in khasra No. 112 vested did not make any grievance; (ii) that he had no competency to review his order dated 31st December, 1966, under Section 13 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, in case titled Chet Ram v. Harnama. Annexure 'C' is in the following terms :- "While deciding the case Chet Ram v. Harnama of village Katli, Tehsil Rupar, it has come to my notice that Shri Harnama son of Bhandu r/o Village Katli has constructed a wall in Khasra No. 112 which is Ghair Mumkin Rasta (share-i-am) unauthorised and is in wrongful possession of the land. Notice should, therefore, be issued to Harnama as to why he should not be ejected from the land in question u/s 7(2) of the Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961. The notice should be issued for 30.1.1967."
(2.) Before dealing with the contentions advanced on behalf of the petitioner, a few relevant facts which are not in dispute, may be noticed at the very outset. These may be stated thus ; Petitioner is the owner of Khasra No. 111. A path was provided from village Phirni for Khasra No. 111 and Khasra No. 113 which was also purchased by the petitioner from its original owner. That path stands recorded in the papers as Khasra No. 112. The petitioner on the western side of this path constructed a wall along its entire length. That wall abutted Khasra Numbers 107 and 108 one of which was owned by one Chet Ram. This Chet Ram made an application under sub-section (1) of Section 150 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, requiring the encroachment allegedly made by Harnama on a land reserved for common purposes, to be removed. Sub-section (1) of Section 150 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act is in the following terms :- 150. (1) "Where land which has been reserved for the common purposes of the co-sharers therein has been encroached on by any co-sharer, a Revenue Officer may, on the application of any other co-sharer, eject the encroaching co-sharer, from the land and, by order proclaimed in manner mentioned in Section 22, forbid repetition of the encroachment." Naib Tehsildar Assistant Collector IInd Grade vide his order dated 24th September, 1966, Annexure 'A' to the petition, dismissed the application of Chet Ram. An appeal against that order was dismissed by the Collector vide order dated 31st December, 1966, Annexure 'B', holding that according to the jamabandi of village Katli for the year 1960-61 khasra No. 112 was shown in the column of ownership as "Panchayat Deh" and in the cultivating column as "Share-e-Am" and, therefore, the said land was different from the one which was reserved for the common purposes of co-sharers in the particular village and, therefore, application under Section 150(1) was not competent.
(3.) Sub-section (2) of Section 7 of the Act is in the following terms :- "An Assistant Collector of the first grade having jurisdiction in the village may either suo motu or on an application made to him by a Panchayat or an inhabitant of the village or the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, or Social Education and Panchayat Officer, or any other officer authorised by the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, after making such summary enquiry as he may deem fit and in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed, eject any person who is in wrongful or unauthorised possession of the land or other immovable property in the Shamilat deh of that village which vests or is deemed to have been vested in the Panchayat under this Act and put the Panchayat in possession thereof and for so doing the Assistant Collector of the First Grade may exercise the powers of a Revenue Court in relation to the execution of a decree for possession of land under the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1887.";