Sakhi Khan @APPELLANT@Hash State of Rajasthan & Ors.

These two petitions under Section 482 CrPC are preferred by the respective accused persons with a prayer for quashing the FIR No.59/2017

registered at Police Station Lathi, District Jaisalmer for the offences under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 166, 167 and 120-B IPC.

I have heard the arguments advanced by Mr. Ranjeet Joshi, learned counsel representing the petitioners, learned Public Prosecutor and Mr. Ravi

Bhansali, learned Senior Advocate, assisted by Mr. Vipul Dharnia, appearing on behalf of the State of Rajasthan and the complainant respectively.Â

The facts relevant and essential for deciding these two petitions are referred to in brief. The respondent No.2 Chanesar Khan lodged a complaint in

the Court of ACJM, Pokaran against the petitioners alleging inter alia that he purchased agriculture land measuring 54 bighas from Khasras No.82/307

and 86/308 located in the Village Jawandh Juni from Khatedars Bhagwandas and Saroj Devi after making payment of consideration to the tune of

Rs.42,00,000/-. The sale deed was registered in the office of the Sub-Registrar, Jaisalmer upon payment of stamp duty to the tune of Rs.3,15,000/-

for purchasing the land. The disputed chunk of land had been purchased by Bhagwandas from the Khatedar Chandan Singh on 22.06.1988 through

a registered sale dated executed for a sum of Rs.30,000/-. Chandan Singh in turn had purchased the same from the petitioner Sakhi Khan on

04.05.1988. When the transaction between Bhagwan Das and Chandan Singh was undertaken, Sakhi Khan raised a dispute about the same, but

then took a sum of Rs.50,000/- and executed an agreement ratifying the transfers of land made by him to Chandan Singh and then by Chandan Singh

to Bhagwandas. Bhagwandas cultivated the disputed chunk of land till 08.12.2016 and then sold and handed over the possession thereof to the

complainant and his wife. The complainant further alleged that after he had purchased the land through registered sale deed, the accused No.1 and

2 tried to blackmail him by raising a dispute and tried to extract a sum of Rs.10,00,000/- from him. The complainant filed an FIR against the two

accused Sakhi Khan and Ummed Khan for the offences under Section 384 and 120-B IPC, wherein a charge-sheet was filed. After purchasing the

two chunks of land, applications were filed in the Gramdani Sabha for mutation thereof as per law. However, the Gramdani Sabha did not enter the

mutation. It was further alleged that the accused party was an integral part of the Gramdani Sabha of the village concerned. They conspired

together with the intention of fraudulently depriving the complainant from his lawfully purchased land. For this purpose, a proposal was passed in the

meeting of the Gramdani Sabha held on 19.06.2017 indicating that the mutation application may be dismissed because Chandan Singh had illegally

purchased the land from Sakhi Khan. Accordingly, the mutations made in favour of Chandan Singh and Bhagwandas were cancelled and the land

purchased by the complainant was recorded as Siwaichak. It was further alleged that the land in question was Revenue land allotted to Sakhi Khan

in the year 1971 by the Tehsildar, Jaisalmer. Village Jawandh Juni came into existence as a Gramdani village in the year 1982. Khatedar Sakhi

Khan did not surrender his land to the Gramdani Board and the rules and regulations of the Gramdani Board were not applicable thereupon.  In

the year 1988, the Gramdani Board entered mutation of the land in question in the name of Chandan Singh as per rules.   The complainant

alleged that the mutation made in favour of Chandan Singh was cancelled on a sheer fraudulent premise that he was not a resident of Gramdani

village, whereas the land itself was never allotted by the Gramdani Sabha. The complaint so submitted by the complainant was forwarded to the

Police Station Ladhi, District Jaisalmer under Section 156 (3) of the CrPC. Thereafter the FIR No. 59/2017 at Police Station Lathi, District

Jaisalmer came to be registered against the accused petitioner, who have approached this court through these two petitions under Section 482 CrPC

seeking quashing of the said FIR.Â

Mr. Ranjeet Joshi, learned counsel representing the petitioners vehemently urged that ex facie the impugned FIR does not disclose the ingredients of

any cognizable offence whatsoever. The land in question was Gramdani in nature. Chandan Singh purchased the same, even though he was a rank

outsider and was not entitled to purchase the land of Gramdani village. The complainants themselves applied for mutation of the land in question to

the Gramdani Sabha, which exercised its lawful jurisdiction and rejected the application for mutation. He urged that the order, whereby the

complainant’s application for mutation was rejected is quasi judicial in nature and if at all there is any fault or illegality therein, the aggrieved

person can challenge the same. He further urged that the complainant and his wife have already filed a Writ Petition No.6249/2017 for challenging

the rejection of their application for mutation by the Gramdani Sabha and thus, validity of otherwise of the order would be adjudicated therein. As per

Mr. Joshi, the complainant’s allegation that the land was not within the domain of the Gramdani Sabha is per se without foundation because it is

the complainant himself, who voluntarily applied for mutation to the Gramdani Sabha and once having submitted to its jurisdiction, he cannot be allowed

to raise a dispute regarding the Sabha not having power to decide the issue of mutation of the land in question. He, thus, urged that the petitions

deserve acceptance and the impugned FIR which amounts to a gross abuse of process of law may be quashed.Â

Per contra, learned Senior Advocate Mr. Ravi Bhansali, assisted by Mr. Vipul Dharnia and Mr. S.S. Rathore, vehemently opposed the submissions

advanced by the petitioners’ counsel. They drew the court’s attention to the allotment order dated 17.07.1971, whereby land measuring 75

bighas located in Khasra No.31 of Village Jawandh Juni was allotted to Sakhi Khan by the Deputy Collector, Jaisalmer. Mr. Bhansali urged that the

same Sakhi Khan being the petitioner herein, is an integral part and parcel of the Gramdani Sabha. He urged that the complainant had no option but

to apply to the Gramdani Sabha for mutation because the Revenue authorities have no jurisdiction to pass any order in this regard because their

jurisdiction has been ousted by law with the formation of the Gramdhani Villages. Thus, the complainant bonafide applied for mutation and the

Gramdani Sabha, which is controlled by Sakhi Khan and his associates, intentionally and fraudulently rejected the same with the sole purpose of

causing wrongful loss to the complainant. He urged that the fact regarding Sakhi Khan having acted with a fraudulent motive is writ large on the

face of the record because while selling the disputed land to Chandan Singh in the year 1988, he retained 25 bighas from the originally allotted land

measuring 75 bighas allotted to him by the Deputy Collector, Jaisalmer. He contended that the said remaining chunk of 25 bighas land was never

surrendered to the Gramdani village and still stands in the name of Sakhi Khan himself. Even while the first sale was made, Sakhi Khan raised an

objection and managed to extort an additional sum of Rs.50,000/- from the purchaser for verifying the sale. Thereafter taking undue and fraudulent

advantage of the powers vested in the Gramdani Sabha, the complainant’s application for mutation was rejected. He, thus, craves rejection of

the instant miscellaneous petition.

I have given my thoughtful consideration to the arguments advanced at bar and gone through the material available on record. Ex facie the

following facts are admitted from record :-

That Sakhi Khan was allotted the disputed chunk of land admeasuring 75 bighas by the Deputy Collector, Jaisalmer in the year 1971. By that

time, the Gramdhani Act had not come into force and the Gramdani Sabha Jawandh Juni was not in existence.

That the village Jawandh Juni was declared to be Gramdanivillage in the year 1982.

That Sakhi Khan sold 50 bighas of the said chunk of land toChandan Singh on 04.05.1988. However, he created hurdles thereafter and managed

to wrest an additional amount of Rs.50,000/- from the purchaser.

When the same land was re-transacted between the complainant and the land holder, Sakhi Khan and his companions, being at the helm of the

affairs of the Gramdani Sabha, clearly appear to have managed rejection of the complainant’s application for mutation fraudulently by apparent

and blatant misuse of the powers vested in the Gramdani Sabha.

The argument advanced by Mr. Joshi that the complainant voluntarily submitted to the jurisdiction of the Gramdani Sabha and hence, he cannot be

allowed to raise a grievance regarding the manner in which such jurisdiction was exercised is per se untenable for the simple reason that the powers

of the Revenue authorities have been expressly ousted from the areas, which have been brought under the Gramdani Sabha and thus, even for lands

which have not been expressly vested in the Gramdani Sabha, mutation would have to be carried out by the said body only.

In view of these facts and manifestly as Sakhi Khan and his companions prima facie appear to have managed to illegally deprive the complainant of

land purchased by him lawfully through a registered sale deed, this court is not persuaded to exercise its inherent powers so as to quash the impugned

FIR at the inception. The impugned FIR, without any doubt discloses the necessary ingredients of the offences alleged, thus, it cannot be quashed

by taking recourse of this court’s inherent powers under Section 482 CrPC. Hence, both the miscellaneous petitions are dismissed as being

devoid of merit.

A copy of this order be place in each file.