Mohinder Pal And Others vs G. Mohan Kumar And Others
2021 Latest Caselaw 1679 j&K

                                                                           Sr. No. 4

      HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
                      AT JAMMU
CJ Court

Case: CPLPA No. 31 of 2016

Mohinder Pal and Others                                    .....Appellant/Petitioner(s)

                                   Through :- Sh. Vikram Sharma, Sr. Advocate with
                                              Sh. Jattan Singh Gill, Advocate.

                             v/s

G. Mohan Kumar and Others                                           .....Respondent(s)
                                   Through :- Sh. S. S. Nanda, Sr. AAG.
                                              Sh. L. K. Moza, CGSC


      CORAM:
      HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
      HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JAVED IQBAL WANI, JUDGE

                                      ORDER

01. The petitioners have initiated contempt proceedings on account of

disobedience of the judgment and order dated 17.03.2015 passed in LPAOW

No. 30/2014.

02. The Appellate Court by the aforesaid judgment and order affirmed the

judgment of the learned Single Judge holding that the land in question is under

occupation of the Army and the Army is liable for payment of rental

compensation which was paid upto the year 2003 and, therefore, compensation

from the year 2003 onwards upto March 2015 is liable to be paid. Accordingly,

direction was issued to the Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, to assess the rent of

the land and it was made clear that the disbursement of the said compensation,

so determined and deposited, shall be made to the rightful owners of the land

after proper verification.

03. In confirming the aforesaid judgment, the Division Bench directed that

the arrears of rent from 2003 upto 2015 be deposited within the extended

period of three months and that the Army shall continuously deposit the rent as

already directed as long as the land remains in its occupation.

04. An affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Army stating that the rental

compensation up to 31st March 2021 has been deposited with the Deputy

Commissioner, Rajouri.

05. The court vide order dated 07.07.2021 has required the Deputy

Commissioner, Rajouri, to furnish a detailed affidavit as to why the amount

deposited from the year 2003 to March 2020 has not been disbursed to the

owner till now. In pursuance of the above direction, the Deputy Commissioner

has filed affidavit indicating various reasons for not distributing the

compensation and one of the reasons is that part of the land falls in the Pakistan

Occupied Kashmir and for the land which is on the Indian side, it is not

possible to go on the spot as there is danger of mines being exploded and, as

such, it is next to impossible to verify the ownership of the land.

06. We fail to understand how the ownership rights of any party can be

verified by going on the spot or on the land. This can be done on the basis of

revenue records or by collecting the revenue documents from the various

parties including the petitioners or by demanding the title deeds.

07. In the facts and circumstances of the case, it is clear that Army is liable

for the payment of rental compensation for the land in question till the same is

in its occupation and that the Army has deposited the rental compensation upto

March 2021 but same is not being distributed by the Deputy Commissioner,

Rajouri, due to proper verification of the rightful owners entitled to receive the

compensation. The explanation forwarded by the Deputy Commissioner

appears to be an eye wash and not very convincing.

08. In view of the above, we direct the Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, to

personally attend the court on 15th March 2022 so that charge may be framed

against him for willful and deliberate disobedience of the orders of the court

causing interference in the administration of justice.

09. List on 15th March 2022.

                       (JAVED IQBAL WANI)                  (PANKAJ MITHAL)
                                  JUDGE                     CHIEF JUSTICE
JAMMU
14.12.2021
SUNITA