- (1.) This order will dispose of Civil Writ Petition Nos. 6112 of 1975, 2861 of 1976, 489 of 1978, 1285 of 1976, 2572 of 1976 and 1908 of 1977 as common questions of law and fact are involved therein. For facility of reference however, we are noticing the facts of Civil Writ Petition No. 2861 of 1976 in this order.
(2.) Krishan Lal purchased 64 kanals 3 marlas of land in a restricted auction held on June 30, 1966 for Rs. 6,400/- in village Mand Chharhaudi, Tehsil and District Ludhiana. The sale was conducted by the Rehabilitation Department under Rule 5 of the "Package Deal Property Rules" (hereinafter called the Rules). The sale was confirmed in his favour on September 22, 1966 and on payment of the entire sale price the conveyance deed was executed on February 28, 1967. In the conveyance deed there was clause 7 to the following effect :- "7. I agree that I shall not be entitled to resell, transfer or mortgage the purchased land till final repayment with interest of the loan obtained from Government for the purchase of the said land, or till the expiry of 10 years from the date of purchase, which is later, and in the event of default of this condition, Government shall be empowered to resume the land and to forfeit the amount thus paid."
(3.) Later on Krishan Lal sold the aforesaid land in favour of Joga Singh a non-Harijan vide registered sale deed dated February 6, 1973. After the aforesaid sale when it came to the notice of the Rehabilitation Department, a reference was made under Rule 11 of the Settlement Commissioner for cancellation of sale under clause 7 of the conveyance deed as Krishan Lal had effected the sale within 10 years in violation of the aforesaid condition. Notice of this reference was given by the Settlement Commissioner to Krishan Lal as well as to Joga Singh vendee. After hearing both of them, the settlement Commissioner vide order dated May 25, 1976, (Annexure P-1) accepted the reference and set aside the sale in favour of Krishan Lal and forfeited the amount paid by him. As regards Joga Singh vendee, he was relegated to his remedy to seek redress before a Court of competent jurisdiction against Krishan Lal vendor. The ground for cancellation of the sale in favour of Krishan Lal was that it was a restricted auction in his favour as a Harijan under the Rules with special benefits and that is why condition No. 7 was incorporated in the conveyance deed so that the Harijans who are shown special treatment at the time of purchase continue to remain in possession as owners, the violation of which was liable to the cancellation of the sale. After the order of the Settlement Commissioner, setting aside the sale in favour of Krishan Lal, Joga Singh vendee alone has come to this Court in the present writ petition.;