This Division Bench disposed of a writ petition seeking removal of encroachment. The court directed the petitioner to submit a representation before the Public Land Protection Cell (PLPC), with respondents to decide within two months.
Petitioner permitted to submit representation before PLPC; respondents to decide within two months.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR
D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 19111/2023
Bhanvarlal Rajpurohit S/o Shri Uana Ram, Aged About 40 Years, House No 147 Bus Stand Pawti Jaswantpura Jalore Rajasthan 307515.
----Petitioner
Versus
----Respondents
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Ripudaman Singh a/w Mr. Sharwan Singh For Respondent(s) :
HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJENDRA PRAKASH SONI
Order
18/12/2023
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khasra No.424 Village Pawti tehsil Jaswantpura, District Jalore, Rajasthan.
2. By an appropriate writ, order or direction, the respondents may kindly be directed to restore the government land while removing the encroachments, and restore the government land.
3. By An Appropriate Writ Order Or Direction, The Respondents may kindly be directed to consider the application pending in PLPC Cell District Jalore Rajasthan. 4. Any other appropriate order which is deemed just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case may kindly be also passed in favour of the petitioner.
5. Cost of the writ petition may kindly be awarded to the petitioner."
"This Court is inundated with large number of writ petitions, styled as public interest litigation, from almost all the Districts of the State, with allegations of encroachment over the pasture land/ land of ‘johad’, ‘talab’/ river/river bed/public way/ Shamshan/Kabristan etc. In all such petitions, common allegation is that despite repeated complaints/representations to the concerned revenue officers, no steps are taken by them to remove the encroachment. This results in number of writ petitions being filed by the complainants/representationists before this Court. This Court has been passing orders in such matters requiring the respective District Collectors to examine the factual content of the allegations and take steps to remove the encroachments so as to secure such land.
In order therefore to provide a pan-Rajasthan solution to this ever persisting problem, we deem it appropriate to direct the Chief Secretary of the State to devise a
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permanent mechanism, which should be operational in every District of the State where the concerned District Collector should be required to periodically notify for the information of the general public to lodge the complaints/representations with regard to such encroachments with a specially designated Public Land Protection Cell (for short ‘PLPC’) for rural areas. The PLPC should be headed by District Collector and function under his direction and supervision. The PLPC shall get such complaints/representations enquired into by deputing concerned Sub Divisional Officer/Tehsildar/ Naib Tehsildar so as to verify whether or not such encroachments have actually taken place on such land. If the allegations are found to be substantiated, appropriate steps in accordance with law be immediately taken for removal of the encroachments and appropriate penal action be also taken against the trespassers. The complaints/representations received in the PLPC should be decided by passing speaking order, informing the respective complainant/representationist about the action taken. This would obviate the necessity of such complainants/ representationists approaching this Court directly by way of public interest litigation. If this practice is put in place, this Court would not be inclined to directly entertain such public interest litigation or would do so only in the event of inaction on the part of the concerned PLPC.
The PLPC aforementioned shall also keep in view the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh & Others Vs. State of Punjab & Others, (2011) 11 SCC 396 wherein all the State Governments of the country were directed that they should prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorised occupants of the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/ Shamlat land and the same must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupants, after giving them a show cause notice and a brief hearing. It was further held therein that long duration of the illegal encroachment/occupation of land or huge expenditure in making construction thereon or political connections of trespassers are no justification for regularising such illegal occupation. Regularisation should be permitted only in exceptional cases where lease has been granted under some government
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notification e.g. to landless labourers or members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes or where there is already a school, hospital, dispensary, ‘shamshan’, ‘kabristan’ or other public utility of the like nature on the land.
Observations of the Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh (supra) thus leaves no manner of doubt that removal of encroachment on all such land is a rule and regularisation an exception and that too in extremely limited number of cases, which only the Government can do by appropriate notification of the government and no other authority.
List this matter on 14.03.2019.
A copy of this order be sent to the Chief Secretary of the State of Rajasthan, Government Secretariat, Jaipur, who shall ensure compliance of this order and do the needful for creation of Public Land Protection Cell (PLPC) for rural areas. A copy of this order be also provided to Mr. Anil Mehta, learned Additional Advocate General for compliance. "
13-Sudheer/-
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the writ petition seeking removal of encroachment and restoration of government land should be disposed of in light of existing PLPC directions.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Jagdish Prashad Meena & Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors.Relied on¶28
Jagdish Prashad Meena & Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors., D.B. Civil Writ Petition (PIL) No.10819/2018, vide order dated 30.01.2019
Jagpal Singh & Others Vs. State of Punjab & OthersReferred¶35
Jagpal Singh & Others Vs. State of Punjab & Others, (2011) 11 SCC 396 · Who else cites this
Bhanvarlal Rajpurohit
State Of Rajasthan
District Collector Jalore
Public Land Protection Cell
Tehsildar, Jaswantpura
Rajaram
PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI
RAJENDRA PRAKASH SONI
As recorded by the court registry
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