Gram Panchayat Sammewali vs State of Punjab and Others

Ajit Singh Bain, J.—This is a petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India for the issuance of an appropriate writ direction or order to the Respondents to construct a direct link road from village Sammewali to Mandi Lakhewali.

It is alleged in the petition that the Punjab State Government announced a scheme which was published in the press that if right-holders of any village wanted a link road to be built, they should deposit Rs. 5,000/- per mile as their contribution, do all earth work and provide the area underneath the road. It was further provided in the said scheme that on fulfilment of these conditions by a village the link road for that village would be built in accordance with the priority on which the villagers completed the work assigned to them. It is further alleged in the petition that on the strength of the above assurance held out by the Respondents to the Petitioner, the latter paid Rs. 20,000/- as their contribution and also satisfied the remaining two conditions mentioned above so as to be eligible to have the said assurance carried out by the Respondents.

In the reply filed by the Respondents, the above assertions are admitted to the extent that the village roads are being constructed where the earth work is done by the villagers and Rs. 5,000/- per mile deposited but for every road, administrative approval of the Punjab Government has to be obtained before the construction is taken in hand It is also admitted in the return that the amount of Rs. 20,000/-has been paid by the Petitioner to the Respondents as required. The factum of mutation of the land provided by the Petitioner Gram Panchayat in the name of the Government is also admitted by the Respondents but it is pleaded that the mutation of land in the name of Government does not in self entitle any village for the construction of a link road.

The Petitioner having fulfilled all the requirements as stated above, it was obligatory on the part of Respondents to perform their part of the contract and build the link road in the village of the Petitioner and not to back out from their assurance. The Respondents had not carried out their assurance till the date of the filing of the return, viz., 23rd of December, 1970. Neither the Petitioner''s counsel nor the counsel for the State is in the know whether the link-road has been constructed by the Government so far or not. The Respondents are, therefore, directed to fulfil their assurance and construct the link road in question if not done so far by them. No order as to costs. This petition is accordingly disposed of.