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Judgment
14 paragraphs · 571 wordsAvneesh Jhingan, J
Aggrieved of dismissal of the suit filed under Sections 88, 89 and 91 of the Rajasthan Tenancy Act, 1955 (for brevity ‘the Act’) and against dismissal of both the appeals, the present petition has been filed.
The brief facts are that the petitioners/plaintiffs (hereinafter referred as ‘petitioners’) filed a suit pleading that Khasra No.32 measuring 19 bigha 12 biswa in Village Bambori Gata, Tehsil Chippabarod was owned by their ancestors and is in possession of the petitioners. The land was allotted to father & husband of petitioner vide allotment letter dated 28.07.1959 but the land was shown in the khata of the respondents/defendants (hereinafter referred to as ‘respondents’). The prayer was that the petitioners be declared as tenants and tenancy be recorded in the revenue record. The respondents raised a defence that the land was allotted to their ancestors on 08.09.1958 and their khatedari is entered in the revenue records. Counter-claim was filed for seeking possession of the land. It was further pleaded that respondents belonged to Scheduled Caste category. The Additional Collector considered that:-
(i) the allotment of the land to the respondents was prior in time and remained unchallenged;
(ii) the petitioners were seeking declaration as tenants only on the basis of the possession, and
(iii) as per Section 42 of the Act, the land allotted to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe cannot be transferred to Non SC/ST.
The first appeal and the second appeal filed by the petitioners were dismissed on 11.08.2016 and 29.09.2022 respectively. Hence, the present petition.
Learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners submits that Section 42 of the Act was not applicable as the land was allotted to ancestors of petitioners by the State Government and it was not case of sale or gift by SC/ST.
No other point has been raised.
The suit was dismissed considering that the allotment of land in question in favour of ancestors of the respondents was on 08.09.1958 i.e. prior to the allotment relied upon by petitioners. The allotment of land to ancestors of the respondents remained unchallenged. There was no allegation of allotment to ancestors of respondent being forged and fabricated. The names of the respondents were being shown in revenue record as khatedars. The petitioners were seeking declaration of being tenant only on the basis of possession of the land. In addition to the above, it was taken into account that the respondents belonged to SC/ST category and under Section 42 of the Act the land allotted to SC/ST cannot be transferred to non-SC or non-ST member.
The sole ground of challenge to the impugned judgment is that Section 42 of the Act is not applicable. The issue raised need not be dilated upon as suit was dismissed for failure to prove valid allotment of the land in favour of father/husband of petitioners. The respondents were successful to establish the allotment of the land to their forefathers prior in time and that the khatedari of the respondent is recorded in the revenue record.
The decision of one of the issues in favour of the respondents relying upon Section 42 of the Act even if reversed shall not affect the conclusion arrived at by the Additional Collector and the Appellate Authorities.
No case is made out for interference in writ jurisdiction and the concurrent findings recorded by the Authorities below.
The writ petition is dismissed.