Mahendra Prasad Kushwaha and Another Vs State of U.P. and 8 Others — Allahabad HC (2023) — LawSathi Research

Mahendra Prasad Kushwaha and Another Vs State of U.P. and 8 Others — Allahabad HC (2023) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of with directions: petitioners to file a representation before the concerned Assistant Collector regarding the alleged encroachment over Arazi No.510 Kha and 841 M; the Assistant Collector to register and enquire into proceedings under Section 67 of the U.P. Revenue Code, 2006 read with Rules 66 and 67 of the U.P. Revenue Code Rules, 2016, array the alleged encroachers as parties with specific details, afford them full opportunity of hearing, and pass appropriate orders within six months, in consonance with the ratio in Rishipal Singh (2023 (1) AWC 4) and Leellu (2023 (3) ADJ 97); merits of the claim left unadjudicated.

Issue for consideration

Whether the State-respondents ought to be directed to remove alleged encroachments said to have been made by the private respondents over land covered by Arazi No.510 Kha and 841 M, recorded as pond (talab) in the revenue record at Village Kunwa, Post Akoda, Pargana Arail, Tehsil Karchhana, District Prayagraj.

Court's answer

The petitioners were permitted/directed to submit an application/representation before the concerned Assistant Collector bringing the relevant facts regarding the alleged encroachment over the aforesaid plots to his notice.

Ratio / Principle

If no proceedings under Section 67 of the U.P. Revenue Code, 2006 are already registered in relation to the encroachment, the Assistant Collector, on receiving the representation, shall enquire into the allegation after registering the proceedings.

Key takeaways

The Assistant Collector concerned shall ensure that the alleged encroachers are arrayed as parties to the representation with specific details.ratio¶8
The Assistant Collector shall follow the procedure prescribed under Section 67 of the Code and Rules 66 and 67 of the U.P. Revenue Code Rules, 2016 and pass appropriate orders within six months of the filing of the representation.ratio¶9
Full opportunity of hearing shall be provided to the concerned alleged encroachers in the entire proceedings.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Allahabad High Court (Kshitij Shailendra, J.) disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL No. 455 of 2023) seeking removal of alleged encroachments over land covered by Arazi No.510 Kha and 841 M, recorded as pond (talab) in the revenue record at Village Kunwa, Post Akoda, Pargana Arail, Tehsil Karchhana, District Prayagraj. Rather than adjudicating the merits, the Court directed the petitioners to submit a representation to the concerned Assistant Collector, who, if no proceedings under Section 67 of the U.P. Revenue Code, 2006 are pending, shall register and enquire into the matter in accordance with Section 67 of the Code and Rules 66 and 67 of the U.P. Revenue Code Rules, 2016, array the alleged encroachers as parties with specific details, grant them full opportunity of hearing, and pass appropriate orders within six months, strictly in consonance with the ratio in Rishipal Singh Vs. State of U.P., 2023 (1) AWC 4 and Leellu Vs. State of U.P., 2023 (3) ADJ 97. The Court clarified that it had not adjudicated the merits of the petitioners' claim.

Court No. - 52

Case :- PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 455 of 2023

Petitioner :- Mahendra Prasad Kushwaha And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 8 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Mithilesh Kumar Ojha,Diwakar Kumar Tiwari Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Azad Rai

Hon'ble Kshitij Shailendra,J.

Heard Sri Mithilesh Kumar Ojha, learned counsel for the petitioners, learned Standing Counsel for the State-respondents and Sri Azad Rai, learned counsel for the respondent-gaon sabha.

The petitioners have filed this writ petition praying for a direction upon the State-respondents to remove alleged encroachments allegedly made by the private respondents over land covered by Arazi No.510 Kha and 841 M, which is recorded as pond (talab) in revenue record situated at Village Kunwa, Post Akoda, Pargana Arail, Tehsil Karchhana, District Prayagraj.

It would serve no purpose to keep the writ petition pending and, therefore, it is directed that the petitioners may submit an application/representation before the Assistant Collector concerned bringing the relevant facts regarding encroachment over the aforesaid plots to the notice of the concerned Assistant Collector, who, if no proceedings under Section 67 of U.P. Revenue Code, 2006 have already been registered in relation to the encroachment over the aforesaid plots, on receiving said representation, shall enquire into the allegation made by the petitioners, after registering the proceedings.

The Assistant Collector concerned shall ensure that the alleged encroachers are arrayed as parties to the representation with specific details.

The Assistant Collector concerned shall follow the procedure prescribed under Section 67 of the Code as well as Rules 66 and 67 of the U.P. Revenue Code Rules, 2016 and pass appropriate orders within a period of six months when the aforesaid representation is filed by the petitioners.

In the entire proceedings, full opportunity of hearing shall be provided to the concerned alleged encroachers and the matter shall be dealt with strictly in consonance with the ratio laid down by this Court in Rishipal Singh Vs. State of U.P. and others: 2023 (1)

AWC 4 and in Leellu Vs. State of U.P. and others: 2023 (3) ADJ 97 .

It is clarified that this Court has not adjudicated upon the merits of the claim as raised by the petitioners in the present writ petition.

With the aforesaid directions, the writ petition is disposed of .

Order Date :- 6.4.2023 AKShukla/-

Digitally signed by :- ANIL KUMAR SHUKLA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad