Shree Guru Granth Sahib Nanaksar, Patti Bir Singh Bahadur vs State of Punjab

N.C. Jain, J.—This petition has been filed by the petitioner Shree Guru Granth Sahib Nanaksar, Patti Bir Singh Bhadaur, Tehsil Barnala, District Sangrur through Shri Harinder Singh, Secretary, against the order of the Additional Director Consolidation of Holdings, dated 6.1.1994. The counsel for the petitioner has pressed into service only one point before us. He argued that the Additional Director could not have dismissed the petition of the petitioner. On the other hand, the Additional Director was bound by the directions of the remand order dated 19.8.1991 passed by a Division Bench of this Court in Letters Patent Appeal No. 1958 of 1983. The operative part of the order is reproduced below :

"In so far as Jasmer Kaur is concerned, it is again reiterated that she, on her part, will lay no claim to the land belonging to Zorawar Singh, which had been gifted by him to the Gurdwara and as shown earlier the Gurdwara does not lay claim to any land belonging to Jasmer Kaur nor to that on which the house and toilets have been built by Zorawar Singh. No dispute between them thus survives. All that now remains to be done is to locate and determine the land belonging to Zorawar Singh out of the land gifted by him and that which belongs to Jasmer Kaur and thereafter the land to be mutated accordingly. For this purpose the matter is now remitted to the Additional Director Consolidation."

After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, we are of the view that the Additional Director was bound in law to comply with the directions in general as were issued by the Letters Patent Bench and in particular which have been so reproduced above. Instead of doing that he has recorded a finding that no person could transfer better title than what he possesses. A bare perusal of the entire order of the Additional Director makes it clear that he has tried to record finding beyond remand order. Consequently, this petition is allowed. The impugned order of the Additional Director is quashed. The case is again remanded to the Additional Director Consolidation, Punjab, Jalandhar. He is directed to be careful in complying with the directions issued by the Letters Patent Bench. He would pass the correct order at the earliest and if possible within a period of two months from the date the parties put in appearance before him.

The parties through their counsel are directed to appear before the Additional Director Consolidation, Jalandhar, on 15.10.1997.