Monu Singh vs The Land Acquisition Collector ...
2017 Latest Caselaw 5968 Del

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*       IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
%                    Judgment reserved on:26.10.2017
                    Judgment delivered on:30.10.2017

+       W.P.(C) 1461/2014 & C.M. No.3040/2014

        MONU SINGH

                                                                   ..... Petitioner

                           Through      Mr. Bhagwat Prashad Gupta and Mr.
                                        P. Rajan, Advs.

                           versus

        THE LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR & ORS

                                                               ..... Respondents

                           Through      Mr. Siddharth Panda, Adv for R-1.

                                        Mr. Ajay Verma, Sr. standing counsel
                                        with Ms. Diviani Khanna, Adv for
                                        DDA.

CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE INDERMEET KAUR

INDERMEET KAUR, J.

1 The petitioner is the owner of certain lands contained in khasra No.16,

Village Kotla. The total land comprised in khasra No. 16 was 37 bigha and

19 biswas. The dispute raised by the petitioner in the present case relates

only to 16 biswas of land. His submission is that this is a private land. It

belongs to the petitioner. The petitioner is in possession of the aforenoted

land.

2 Notification dated 05.01.1977 had been issued qua the aforenoted

village including the present khasra i.e. khasra No. 16. 23 bigha of land was

however excluded from the Award which included 2 bigha and 19 biswas

which was under road alignment and 9 biswas under temple/Qabristan.

Possession of this land could not be taken because it was built up. 16 biswas

of land which was always in possession of the petitioner was in fact a private

land. Learned counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance upon a

Notification dated 12.12.2007 issued by the Urban Development Department

and that part which relates to private land which inter-alia reads as under:-

"Private Land: All lands vested in the Gaon Sabha under Section 81 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954 where the physical possession is with the original landowners".

3 Submission being that the land which has vested in the Gaon Sabha of

which physical possession had not been taken from the original land owner

is a private land. This private land has now to revert back to the petitioner.

The stand of the respondent that this land has been put at the disposal of the

DDA is mis-placed. Accordingly a prayer has been made that this 16 biswas

of land which is still in possession of the petitioner be permitted to be

retained by him and the respondent be restrained from interfering with his

peaceful possession.

4 Counter affidavit has been filed by the respondents. The contesting

respondent is respondent No.2/DDA. The stand of respondent No.2 is that in

terms of a Notification dated 05.10.1989 issued by the Land and Building

Department of the Government of NCT of Delhi by virtue of operation

Section 150 (3) (a) of the Delhi Land Reforms Act (in short 'DLRA'), all

Gaon Sabha lands of the village have vested in the Central Government and

in terms of Section 22 (1) of the Delhi Development Act, 1957, the Lt.

Governor has placed these land at the disposal of the DDA. Attention has

also been drawn to the schedule attached to the Notification. This includes

the land in the present village i.e. land at village Kotla. Attention has been

drawn to the Notification dated 23.04.1982 mentioned in the present

Notification which was Notification under Section 507 of the Delhi

Municipalities Corporation Act. Learned counsel for the respondent points

out that this disputed land admittedly being Gaon Sabha land under Section

150 (3)(a) of the DLRA (in terms of the Notification dated 05.10.1989 read

with Section 22 of the Delhi Development Act) has now vested with the

DDA. In the counter affidavit of the respondent, the respondent has also

drawn attention to the suit which has been filed by the petitioner i.e. Suit No.

247/2011 titled Monu Singh Vs. MCD & Anr. This was a suit for permanent

injunction. The prayer made in the suit has been highlighted in the counter

affidavit. A perusal of this prayer shows that the prayer made in this suit is

identical to the prayer made in the present petition. This suit was withdrawn

by the petitioner on 04.02.2012 in view of the statement of the MCD which

was to the effect that the suit property pertains to the DDA.

5 Learned counsel for the respondent rightly points out that this suit had

been withdrawn by the petitioner also fully well knew that this property

belongs to the DDA. The petitioner by filing the present petition is in fact

espousing the same cause of action. If the petitioner in the year 2012 had

become aware of the fact that this suit property pertains to the DDA, it was

incumbent upon him to have impleaded the DDA in that suit and taken the

suit to its logical end. He however chose to withdraw this suit.

6 This Court endorses this submission of the respondent. This Court

notes that this land admittedly belongs to the Gaon Sabha. It is not the case

of the petitioner that land in khasra No. 16 was not Gaon Sabha land. The

khasra girdawri attached along with the present petition also substantiates

that this land in khasra No. 16 was with the Gaon Sabha. The case of the

petitioner however is that this land was in his possession and in terms of

Notification dated 12.12.2007, it has become a private land and its

possession cannot be disturbed. This Court is not in agreement with this

submission of the petitioner. Notification dated 05.10.1989 by virtue of

operation of Section 150 (3)(a) of the DLRA has placed all Gaon Sabha

Lands with the Central Government which includes the present land i.e. land

at village Kotla. In terms of powers under Section 22 (1) of the Delhi

Development Act, 1957, the Lt. Governor has placed this land at the disposal

of the DDA. All this forms part of Notification dated 05.10.1989. The

Notification dated 05.10.1989 is not under challenge. This Notification also

makes a reference to the earlier Notification dated 23.04.1982 which was a

Notification under Section 507 of the DMC Act by virtue of which the land

which had become urban would fall outside the purview of the DLRA. The

petitioner is even otherwise placing reliance upon a subsequent Notification

which is the Notification dated 12.12.2007 which speaks of land vested in

the Gaon Sabha under Section 81 of the DLRA. This land had not vested in

the Gaon Sabha under Section 81. The Notification dated 05.10.1989 has

spelt out the provisions of Section 150 (3)(a) of the DLRA. This land having

placed at the hands of the DDA and the petitioner fully knowing this fact in

2012 when he chose to withdraw the suit at a stage when he learnt that this

land was belonging to the DDA has now no legs to stand upon.

7 The case of the petitioner must necessarily fail. Petition is without

any merit. Dismissed.

INDERMEET KAUR, J

OCTOBER 30, 2017 A