Panchkula DC decided shamlat land case without jurisdiction: MC Commissioner
Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Chandigarh, April 4
A controversial order concerning over 72 bighas of prime land in Panchkula is under the scanner of the authorities as the MC Commissioner, Panchkula, Sachin Gupta, has told the Director, Urban Local Bodies Department (ULBD), that Panchkula DC Sushil Sarwan had decided a case of shamlat land in favour of M/s Polo Hotels without “jurisdiction”.
Facts were ignored
The respective court (Collector’s court) had decided the case on January 16 in favour of M/s Polo Hotels Pvt Ltd without its jurisdiction and ignored the judgments, facts, and laws referred to by the MC Panchkula. Sachin Gupta, MC Commissioner, Panchkula
No evidence produced by MC
The DC, while declaring M/s Polo Hotels Limited as owners of the land, said in its order that the Panchkula MC had not produced any evidence to prove that the land in question was “ever possessed, used or reserved for any common purpose”. As per record, the panchayat never remained in possession of the same either before 1950 or thereafter, the order added.
The shamlat land in question is at Chowki village of Panchkula. The MC had later filed an appeal against the DC’s order before the Ambala Divisional Commissioner, Renu Phulia, who put a stay on February 27. The next date before her court is April 10.
Hotel North Park is being run from the shamlat land.
Sachin Gupta intimated the ULBD Director, vide a letter dated March 5, that the shamlat land fell in MC limits. M/s Polo Hotels had filed the suit under Section 13 A of the Punjab Village Common Land Act (Regulation) Act, 1961, through its legal representative, for a decree for the declaration that he was the owner in possession of the total land measuring 72 bighas, 3 biswa and 6 biswani, in the court of the Collector-cum-DC.
The Panchkula MC defended the case, giving reasons that the Punjab Village Common Lands Act, 1961, was not applicable to Haryana since by the Haryana Act No. 15 of 2021, the provisions of the Haryana Village Common Lands Act, 1961, was applicable. It was also submitted that Chowki village had merged with the Panchkula MC vide a notification dated March 17, 2010, and as such, the suit was not maintainable based on the ruling of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Amar Singh vs Commissioner, Rohtak Division, delivered in 2013.
In his letter, the Panchkula Commissioner also cited Somnath and others vs Gram Panchayat Naggar Tehsil, decided by the court of Financial Commissioner Sudhir Raj Pal, which dismissed a revision, saying that after the inclusion of Naggal village in the MC, the Panchkula Collector had no jurisdiction to enter and decide the cases by exercising powers under Section 13 AA of the Punjab Village Common Lands Act.
He also cited the Supreme Court’s order in State of Haryana vs Jai Singh, decided on April 7, 2022, which clarified that shamlat land couldn’t be partitioned or its status be changed. Once the land is vested with the panchayat, it can be used for common purposes of its community and will never revert to its proprietors, the judgment had clarified.
“But the respective court (Collector’s court) had decided the case on January 16 in favour of M/s Polo Hotels Pvt Ltd without its jurisdiction and ignored the judgments, facts, and laws referred by the MC Panchkula,” said Sachin Gupta.
After the order, the MC even requested the Panchkula tehsildar not to amend the revenue record of the land in question as they preferred an appeal and sought an explanation from Building Inspector Sanjeev Kumar for making unauthorised statements in the Collector’s court.
