HC quashes illegal land deal

The Bench has also directed the district collector,Mohali,to “take immediate action against the company as per sections 7 and 9 of the Act and conclude proceedings within three months from today”. The Bench made it clear that if no action is taken within the time fixed by the court,the petitioner,Rajinderpal Singh Athwal,would be at liberty to approach the court.

Earlier,vide an agreement,the Punjab government had allowed M/s Fauja Singh Infrastructure Private Limited,Sector 35,Chandigarh to hold 1,200 acres of land beyond the permissible limit,in gross violation of the Punjab Land Reforms Act,1972. The petitioner had alleged that despite making umpteen representations,no action was taken by the Revenue authorities against the company.

In a detailed judgment,the Bench ruled: “Permitting the company to own or remain in possession of the land beyond the permissible area would amount to depriving the weaker sections of the society from the surplus land,which ought to have been allotted to them as per provision of Section 11 of the Act and as per the government policy”.

Rubbishing the arguments raised by the Punjab government on the ground of territorial jurisdiction,the High Court ruled: “If this Court while exercising jurisdiction under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India comes to the conclusion that any action or order does not stand in the scrutiny of law and is ipso facto illegal and without jurisdiction,then this court cannot shut its eyes on technical ground that the same order is not challenged before this court,as mentioned herein before. Hence,any order or action,which in the opinion of this Court is void and illegal and outcome of illegal exercise of jurisdiction,which never vested in the authority passing the order,then this Court can certainly quash that order or action.”

Observing that the “present case has very interesting history and involves substantial questions of law of vital importance”,the Bench remarked that the court will decide the question “as to whether the state government can grant exemption to any company or person to hold land beyond the permissible area in violation of the Punjab Land Reforms Act,1972”. After the petition was filed,a notice under Section 5 of the Act was issued by the Deputy Commissioner,Mohali exercising the power of Collector under the Act.