Rajendra Baitha v. The Secretary Department Of Revenue Registration And Land
Case at a glance
Outcome
Dismissed
the PIL accordingly, the writ application is dismissed
Key paragraphs
- Para 44. Thus, it appears that petitioner himself being landless person claims that some land has been settled in the name other persons. Now he claims that the land settled in the name of several others persons are being disturbed, while they are possessing the same.…
- Para 88. All pending Interlocutory Applications stand disposed of. No orders as to costs. Grant urgent certified copy of this order as per the Rules. (Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, C.J.) Anjali/ (Ananda Sen, J.)
Judgment
SRI SANJAYA KUMAR MISHRA, C.J. SRI ANANDA SEN, J. For the Petitioner: For the State: 03 /Dated: 24.07.2023 --------- Mr. Afaque Rashidi, Advocate Mr. Piyush Chitresh, AC to AG --------- Upon hearing the learned counsel for the parties, this Court passed the following, (Per. Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, C. J.) ORDER
By filing this PIL the petitioner has prayed for following relief:- “For issuance appropriate directing the respondent no.2 at redressal of genuine public harm or public injury causes to general to the landless villagers who are badly affected from illegal transfer of surplus land settled in the name of the landless villagers in connivance the concern Revenue Officers and Registering Authority and the possession and cultivation of the landless persons of the concern village is badly affected due to in action of the Respondent no.2 the Secretary, Department of Revenue, Registration And Land Reform, Govt. of Jharkhand, who has not taken final decision upon a joint application filed by the villagers on 23.8.2022 under Section 15 of the Bihar Land Reform (Fixation & Ceiling -2- Area & Acquisition of Surplus Land), Act, 1961 as amended upto date in regard to order dated 10.9.2003 passed in CWJC(R) No. 9368 of 1992 i.e Lal Manoj Nath Sahadeo Vs. State of Bihar arising out from order dated
25.8.1992 passed by the Additional Member Board of Revenue, Bihar, Patna in Case No. 51 of 1989 and the order dated 26.12.1988 passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Palamau in Case No.XV/29/86-87 vide order passed in Case No. XV/27/87-88 (Girija Devi & Ors. Vs. State) and the order dated 7.4.1986 passed by the Additional Collector, Palamau in L.C Case No. 51/1973-74 (Annexure- 4). And for issuance of an appropriate writ/s, order/s, direction/s, directing and commanding upon the respondent no.2 to pass an order, to constitute a high level inquiry on illegal transfer of land and to take necessary steps who stop clandestine activities and illegal transfer of land through registration. And further be pleased to take necessary legal action to prosecute erring officer and wrongdoer involve in illegal transfer of land. And further be pleased to direct to concern authority not to disturb right and possession of the person who are cultivating their land after settlement.”
From the pleadings of the petitioner especially at paragraph 3 (ii) it is apparent that he has been settled with 4.8 acres of land by the State Government. From the supplementary affidavit any special ground or reasons had not been made out to hold that he is public spirited person. Moreover from the pleadings itself especially referring to the synopsis it is seen that the petition revolves around the alleged redressel of the public harm or public injury caused to general landless villagers who are affected by the illegal transfer of surplus land settled in the name of the landless villagers in connivance with the concern Revenue Officers and Registering Authority. It is said that the possession and cultivation right of landless persons of the concerned village is badly affected due to inaction of respondent no.2 Secretary Department Of Revenue Registration And Land Reform, Project Bhawan, Dhurwa who has not taken any final decision upon a joint application filed by the villagers on 23.8.2002 under Section -3- 15 of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation & Ceiling Area & Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961, as amended up to date in regard to order dated
10.9.2003 passed in CWJC(R) No. 9368 of 1992 i.e Lal Manoj Nath Sahadeo Vs. State of Bihar arising out from order dated 25.8.1992 passed by the Additional Member Board of Revenue, Bihar, Patna in Case No. 51 of 1989 and the order dated 26.12.1988 passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Palamau in Case No.XV/29/86-87 vide order passed in Case No. XV/27/87-88 (Girija Devi & Ors. Vs. State) and the order dated
7.4.1986 passed by the Additional Collector Palamau in L.C Case No. 51/1973-74.
Thus, it appears that petitioner himself being landless person claims that some land has been settled in the name other persons. Now he claims that the land settled in the name of several others persons are being disturbed, while they are possessing the same. He is further claiming that the land was declared to be surplus while selling the land in the name of other persons. It appears that there is no element of public interest in this case and the petitioner infact is chasing his own cause. Thus, we are of the view that he does not have any credentials of being a public spirited person or public activist to maintain a W.P (PIL) in view of the Rule 4 & 5 of the Jharkhand High Court (Public Interest Litigation) Rules, 2010 and the ratio decided by Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Jharkhand Vrs. Shiv Shankar Sharma & Ors. reported in 2022 SCC Online SC 1541.
Operative part
In that view of the matter, we do not find any reason to entertain the PIL accordingly, the writ application is dismissed.
All pending Interlocutory Applications stand disposed of. No orders as to costs. Grant urgent certified copy of this order as per the Rules. (Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, C.J.) Anjali/ (Ananda Sen, J.)
Precedent status how later indexed judgments have treated this case
No known negative treatment found in the Courts & Cases corpus.
This is a result about the indexed corpus, not a finding that the judgment remains good law. Coverage may be incomplete.