Allowed

Ramrao Bandurao Raut v. the Gram Panchayat Thru Village Devt Officer Kitti Adgaon Tq Majalgaon Dist Beed and Others

Bombay HC7 Feb 2019PIL/74/2018

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

PIL filed by retired employee seeking direction to remove encroachments on trust land in Beed district. The trust had no trustees and was defunct. Court allowed petition directing Collector to remove encroachments. This covers 12 hectares belonging to Shri Mahalaxmi Devi Sansthan. The court emphasized due process.

What did the court decide?

Direction issued to Collector District Beed to remove encroachments on trust land after following due process of law.

Ramrao Bandurao Raut Vs the Gram Panchayat Thru Village Devt… — Land Acquisition | Bombay HC (2019)

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PIL.74-2018.odt

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD

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PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO.74 OF 2018

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Ramrao s/o. Bandurao Raut,
Age : 66 years,
Occ. Retired Govt. Servant,
r/o. Samata Colony,
Majalgaon, Tq.Majalgaon,
Dist. Beed.
At present at Village Kitti Adgaon,
Tq. Majalgaon, Dist. Beed..Petitioner

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Vs.

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1. The Gram Panchayat,
 Through Village Development
 Officer, Kitti Adgaon,
 Tq. Majalgaon,
 Dist. Beed

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2. The Zilla Parishad, Through its Chief Officer, Zilla Parishad, Beed

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3. The Tahsildar, Majalgaon, Dist. Beed

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4. The Collector, Beed

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5. The State of Maharashtra, Through Chief Secretary, Rural Development Department and also Revenue and Forest Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai

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..Respondents

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PIL.74-2018

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Mr.Kishor Sant, Advocate for petitioner

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Mr.V.D.Salunke, Advocate for respondent no.1

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Mr.U.B.Bondar, Advocate for respondent no.2

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Mr.S.Y.Mahajan, APP for respondent nos. 3 to 5

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 CORAM : S.S. SHINDE AND
 R.G. AVACHAT, JJ.
 RESERVED ON: JANUARY 23, 2019
 PRONOUNCED ON: FEBRUARY 07, 2019

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ORDER (Per R.G.Avachat, J.) :-

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Heard learned Counsel for the petitioner,

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Mr.Salunke, learned Counsel for respondent no.1,
Mr.Bondar, learned Counsel for respondent no.2 and
Mr.Mahajan, learned AGP for respondent nos.3 to 3.

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2.The petitioner claims to be a public-
spirited person. He hails from village Kitti-Adgaon,
Tq.Majalgaon, Dist.Beed. Since his retirement from
Government Service, he has been taking interest in
the village activities. There is a temple of Shri
Mahalaxmi Devi. There is also a trust, “Shri
Mahalaxmi Devi Sansthan”. Land bearing Gat No.688

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3 PIL.74-2018

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(old survey no.772), ad-measuring 12.03 hectors,
belongs to Shri Mahalaxmi Devi Sansthan (trust). The
petitioner found that the entire land has been
encroached upon by villagers and even Gram Panchayat
as well. According to the petitioner, the Gram
Panchayat is, in fact, caretaker of the land
belonging to the trust. Although Shri Mahalaxmi Devi
Sansthan is public trust, is only on papers now-a-
days. There are no trustees. The petitioner,
therefore, started making correspondence with various
authorities with a view to ensure that the trust's
land is cleared of encroachment. The respondents –
authorities paid no heed. The petitioner has,
therefore, filed the present petition seeking
direction to the respondents to remove the
encroachment on the trust's land.

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3.Respondent no.1 – Village Development

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Officer, Gram Panchayat, Kitti Adgaon and respondent
no.2 – Block Development Officer, Panchayat Samiti,
Majalgaon, have filed their affidavits admitting the

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PIL.74-2018

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entire trust lands to have been under encroachments.

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According to respondent no.1, the encroachments took
place long before his term as Village Development
Officer, Gram Panchayat, Kitt Adgaon. Respondent no.1
has denied that the Primary Health Centre, offices of
Talathi and Circle Inspector, Gram Panchayat Office
and Post office are standing on the land of the
trust. According to him, only Anganwadi premises
stand on the trust's land. The other offices stand
on Gairan land. According to respondent no.1, since
the land belongs to the trust, he cannot interfere in
the administration of the trust's property. He has,
ultimately, urged for passing appropriate orders.

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4.It is the case of respondent no.2 that since

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land Gat No.688 is a trust property, it is a duty of
the trust or its trustees to protect the property of
the trust. The Village Panchayat was shown as
Caretaker of the said land before registration of the
said trust. According to respondent no.2, the
authorities of Zilla Parishad had, time and again,

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5 PIL.74-2018

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asked Gram Panchayat to take positive steps for
removal of the encroachment. The Zilla Parishad,
being a superior authority, has taken all possible
efforts in this regards.

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5.Admittedly, there is a temple of Shri
Mahalaxmi Devi at village Kitti-Adgaon. There is also
a trust viz.:- Shri Mahalaxmi Devi Sansthan. Land

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bearing Gat No.688 (old survey no.772), ad-measuring
12.03 hectors, belongs to Shri Mahalaxmi Devi
Sansthan (trust). Indisputably, the entire land has
been under encroachments. It was told that the trust
has become defunct. There are no trustees. The
petitioner, resident of village Kitti-Adgaon,
therefore, approached various authorities including

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the respondents, requesting them to see that the

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trust's land is cleared of the encroachments. The
affidavits filed by respondent nos.1 and 2,
undoubtedly, suggest that they expressed their
inability to remove the encroachments. Respondent

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no.4, Collector – District Beed, being the

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6 PIL.74-2018

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representative of the State and repository of the
administrative powers, therefore, need to be directed
to do the needful to remove the encroachments on the
trust's land in Gat No.688 (old survey no.772), ad-
measuring 12.03 hectors.

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6.In view of the above, the Public Interest
Litigation is allowed in the following terms :-

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The Collector – District Beed is hereby
directed to remove all the encroachments on
the trust's land, being Gat No.688 (old
survey no.772), ad-measuring 12.03 hectors,
situate at village Kitti-Adgaon, Tq.
Majalgaon, Dist. Beed, after following due
process of law.

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kbp

Ramrao Bandurao Raut v. the Gram Panchayat Thru Village Devt Officer Kitti Adgaon Tq Majalgaon Dist Beed and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Ramrao Bandurao Raut v. the Gram Panchayat Thru Village Devt Officer Kitti Adgaon Tq Majalgaon Dist Beed and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

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