Jabubhai Jandubhai Rathva vs State of Gujarat and Others

K.S. Jhaveri, J.—By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed to quash and set aside the order passed by respondent No. 1 in Revision Application No. 4/1993 dated 13.12.1993, whereby, the said application was rejected and the order passed by the Asst. Collector, Godhra dated 15.02.1993 in Case No. 53/1990 was confirmed.

The facts in brief are that the petitioner herein has purchased the land bearing Survey No. 17 of Village Mahudibor, Taluka Jambughoda, District Panchmahals from the father of respondent Nos. 4 to 6 by way of sale deed dated 13.06.1975. Pursuant thereto, the name of the petitioner was entered in the ''Pani Patrak'' as the cultivator of the said land.

The petitioner was served with a Notice dated 20.07.1991 issued by the Deputy Collector, Godhra to show cause as to why the sale in question should not be held to be invalid. Thereafter, vide order dated 15.02.1993, the Asst. Collector, Godhra declared the sale as null and void u/s 9(1) of the Bombay Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947 (for short, "the said Act").

Against the said order, the petitioner filed Revision Application No. 4/1993 before respondent No. 1. However, the same came to be rejected vide impugned order dated 13.12.1993. Hence, this petition.

Heard learned Counsel for the respective parties and perused the documents on record. It is not in dispute that the land in question was declared a fragment under the provisions of the said Act and that the said land was sold to the petitioner by its original owner by way of a registered sale deed dated 13.06.1975. Therefore, by entering into the sale transaction, the provisions of Section 7 of the said Act had been violated inasmuch as the prior approval of the competent authority had not been taken. Hence, the Asst. Collector passed the order declaring the sale to be null and void and also imposed a penalty of Rs. 250/- upon the original owner.

However, it appears from the record that the original owner has neither paid the amount of penalty nor has claimed possession of the land in question, as directed by the Asst. Collector, vide order dated 15.02.1993. In fact, the original owner has stated that he could not take possession of the land in question since he is not in a position to make payment of the sale price.

Now, since the original owner of the land in question has not paid the sale price and has also not made payment of the amount of penalty, the petitioner has been enjoying possession of the land in question for all these years. It appears from the record that the original owner is not interested in the property in question. Looking to the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and since the petitioner has been enjoying possession of the land in question for all these years, ends of justice would be met if the competent authorities consider the case of the petitioner sympathetically.

In view of the above, the impugned order passed by respondent No. 1 in Revision Application No. 4/1993 dated 13.12.1993 confirming the order passed by the Asst. Collector, Godhra dated 15.02.1993 in Case No. 53/1990 is upheld. Since the petitioner has been enjoying possession of the land in question for all these years and the original owner also seems to be not interested in the land in question, the petitioner shall make an application before the concerned authority for regularizing his possession in respect of the land in question, by making payment of the market price of the said land, on the basis of the price fixed by the concerned Land Acquisition Officer for the nearby land as on that date, within a period of four weeks from today. On receipt of such application from the petitioner, the authority concerned shall consider the case of the petitioner sympathetically, on the basis of the market price of the land in question that was fixed by the Land Acquisition Officer in respect of any adjoining land and if no such land has been acquired in that particular year, then on the basis of the market price of the land for the last five years, after giving increase of 10% for every year, in respect of such lands. After arriving at the market price of the land in question as above, the petitioner shall make payment of the said amount within a period of eight weeks from the date of communication of such order. On making such payment, the name of the petitioner shall be entered in the revenue records and he shall be treated as the owner of the land in question.

With the above observations and direction, the petition stands disposed of. Rule is made absolute to the above extent with no order as to costs.