Gram Panchayat village Budhlada vs State of Punjab and others

S.S. Sodhi, J.—The revenue estate of village Budhlada falls partly within the area of Gram Panchayat Budhlada and partly within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Committee Budhlada. On August 11, 1972, the limits of the Municipal Committee, Budhlada were extended by the State Government by a notification issued under Section 5(3) of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911. Some land forming part of the Gram Panchayat Budhlada came to be included therein. No action appears to have been taken thereafter by the Municipal Committee to take over control and possession of the shamlat land falling within the area until after the issuance of the letter by the Government on April 30, 1976 (Annexure P1), whereby a direction was issued to all Municipal Committees to take immediate steps to acquire control of shamlat land situated within Municipal Limits.

It is the case of the Gram Panchayat, Budhlada that in pursuance of the above letter of Government the Municipal Committee, Budhlada as also the Deputy Commissioner and the State Government had through their officials started taking steps to take possession and control of the area of Gram Sabha which came to be included within the municipal limits Budhlada. This action and the instructions of the Government under which it had been taken were sought to be challenged on the ground that by the inclusion of this area within municipal limits Shamlat land which formed part of it, could not, according to the provisions of law, vest in the Municipal Committee. In other words, the Gram Panchayat could not be divested of the shamlat land falling in this area. This contention is indeed well founded and must consequently be upheld.

The relevant provision of law to take note of here are those of subsection (3) of Section 4 of the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1952 which are in the following terms :

Section 4(3) "If whole of the Sabha area is included in an urban estate to which the provisions of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, are applicable or in a city, municipality, cantonment or notified area under any law for the time being in force, the Sabha and the Gram Panchayat for that area shall cease to exist and the assets and liabilities of the Gram Panchayat shall be disposed of in the prescribed manner."

Next to note in subsection (5) of Section 5 of the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, which reads as under :

Section 5(5) "When any local area included in a municipality under subsection (3) is a Sabha area, or a part thereof under the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act, 1952, representation to the inhabitants of the local area so included on the committee of the municipality in which local area is included, shall be given in the prescribed manner.''''

A combined reading of the two provisions referred to above would show that it is only when the entire area of the Gram Sabha is included within the limits of a Municipal Committee, that the Gram Panchayat for the area ceases to exist and the assets and liabilities thereof are then to be disposed of in the manner prescribed by the Punjab Gram Panchayat Act. In the instant case, as has been mentioned above, only a part of the area of the Gram Sabha was included within the limits of the Municipal Committee, Budhlada. By the inclusion of this area the inhabitants thereof are required to be given the representation under the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911, but no vesting of Shamlat Deh land in such area in the Municipal Committee follows.

The stand taken by the respondentMunicipal Committee was that a Municipal Committee of the IIIrd Class came within the definition of "Panchayat" as contained in Section 2(e) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 and consequently this was merely a case of the transfer of the Sabha area of one Gram Panchayat to another. No such contention is admittedly now available to the Municipal Committee in view of the fact that as from July 3, 1970, Budhlada had ceased to be a Municipal Committee of the IIIrd Class. It has since then been upgraded to Municipal Committee IInd Class and consequently the provisions of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 are no longer applicable to it.

For the foregoing reasons the impugned letter of the Punjab Government of April 30, 1976, is not applicable to the land of the Gram Panchayat, Budhlalda, which came to be included in the limits of the Municipal Committee, Budhlada and consequently the Gram Panchayat cannot be dispossessed of the Shamlat Deh land comprised therein. This Writ Petition is thus accepted. In the circumstances, however, there will be no order as to costs.