- (1.)By the present Writ Petition instituted under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners have invoked the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Court, seeking to impugn the judgment and order dtd. 7/3/2013, passed by respondent No.1 in Application No.DEV-1012/P.K.130/L4, whereby respondent No.1 has withdrawn the exemption earlier granted from payment of land revenue in respect of the land in question, and has withheld the privilege of exemption from payment of land revenue as contemplated under Clause 66 of the Joglekar Law Manual.
(2.)The facts and circumstances giving rise to the filing of the present Writ Petition, briefly stated, are as under:
The land bearing Revision Survey No.1052/2, situated at Village Vita, Taluka Khanapur, District Sangli, admeasuring 14 Acres and 28 Gunthas (hereinafter referred to as "the said land") belonged to a religious institution, namely, Mhaswad Sidha Devasthan. The said land was classified as Devasthan Inam Class III land in the Land Alienation Register prepared by the Inam Commission, and the corresponding Sanad number of such Inam grant is recorded as 8673. The petitioners have placed on record a copy of the Inam Patrak obtained from the Pune Archives Office, which describes the said land as Devasthan Inam land. Furthermore, the Dumala Land Register (Gaon Namuna No.3), maintained in the village Chawdi by the Talathi under the supervision of the Tahsildar, reflects that the said land is recorded as Devasthan Inam land. The said register further evidences the existence of the Deity (Devasthan Institution), the continuance of religious rites and rituals associated therewith, and the utilization of profits and income generated from the land for the benefit of the Deity.

(3.)According to the petitioners, their predecessor-in-title, one Ganapati Vithu Gurav, was a priest (Gurav) who was performing the religious rituals and managing the affairs of the said temple. It is the case of the petitioners that the land bearing Revision Survey No.1052 was part and parcel of the Inam land pertaining to the said Deity and temple. In or about the year 1930, the name of Dadu Rama Gurav came to be recorded in the revenue records in respect of the said land, and subsequently, the name of Govind Dadu Gurav was recorded. The Land Alienation Register, the Dumala Register, Mutation Entry No.4669, and the Record of Rights pertaining to the said land, as well as the Inam Patrak, consistently describe the said land as Class III Devasthan Inam land.