Ramavtar Agarwal v. The Commissioner Of Land Administration
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED: 10.03.2025
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.B.BALAJI and W.M.P(MD)No.3388 of 2025 Ramavtar Agarwal ... Petitioner vs.
1.The Commissioner of Land Administration, Office of Commissioner of Land Administration, Ezhilagam, 2nd Floor, Chepauk, Chennai-600005.
2.The District Collector, District Collectorate, Madurai-625 020.
3.The District Revenue Officer, Office of the District Revenue Officer, District Collectorate Campus, Madurai-625 020.
4.The Revenue Divisional Officer, Office of Revenue Divisional Officer, Melur Taluk, Madurai.
5.The Tahsildar, Tahsildar Office, Melur, Madurai District.
... Respondents 1/6
PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of Writ of Mandamus, to direct the respondents to effect necessary amendments in all the revenue records such as Patta, Chitta, Village FMB, "A" Register and Adangal to show the petitioner's ownership for the properties pertaining to R.S.No.77/1 and R.S.No.79/2 in extent about 1 acre 78 cents and 21 cents respectively situated in Mukkampatti Village, Melur Taluk, Tamaraipatti Sub Registration District, Madurai District, on the basis of his representation dated 09.01.2025.
For Petitioner : Mr.R.Manoharan For Respondents : Mr.B.Saravanan Additional Government Pleader
ORDER
The petitioner is aggrieved by the classification of his lands as 'Panchami Tharisu lands', without even providing an opportunity to the petitioner to contest the said reclassification.
2.Heard the learned counsel on either side.
2/6
3.The case of the petitioner is that the property was originally assigned to one Shanmugam even as early as in the year 1970 by the Special Tahsildar (Assignment) and Patta Passbook No.221009 was also issued to the said Shanmugam. The petitioner is the subsequent purchaser and traces title to the said Shanmugam. The short contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the subject property is not panjamar lands and therefore, the reclassification was only erroneous. In any event, the said reclassification ought not to have been given effect to without giving an opportunity to the petitioner. 4.The learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the official respondents would invite my attention to the committee formed by the State Government in G.O.No.12, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare (LA2) Department, dated 04.03.
2022. In pursuance of the order of this Court in CONT.P(MD)No. 1174 of 2020 in W.P(MD)No.12331 of 2017, a special committee comprising of the Principal Secretary to Government, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department, being the chairman; Principal Secretary to Government, Revenue and Disaster Management Department; Commissioner of Adi Dravidar Welfare; and Commissioner of Land Administration as its members, has been constituted. Therefore, the learned Additional Government Pleader would submit that the grievance of the petitioner can only be looked into by the committee.
5.The petitioner has approached this Court after giving representation to the respondents. I find that the representation has been given to the Commissioner of Land Administration, who is a member of the committee constituted for the specific purpose.
6.In view of the above, the first respondent shall forward the said representation of the petitioner to the committee and it shall be taken up, enquired into, after giving an opportunity to the petitioner and decided on its own merits and in accordance with law, within a period of sixteen weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. There shall be a status-quo regarding the mutation as on date and it shall be maintained till a dinal decision is be taken by the committee.
7.With the above observations and directions, this Writ Petition is disposed of. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed. 10.03.2025 sji NCC: Yes/No Index : Yes / No 4/6
Internet : Yes / No To 1.The Commissioner of Land Administration, Office of Commissioner of Land Administration, Ezhilagam, 2nd Floor, Chepauk, Chennai-600005.
2.The District Collector, District Collectorate, Madurai-625 020.
3.The District Revenue Officer, Office of the District Revenue Officer, District Collectorate Campus, Madurai-625 020.
4.The Revenue Divisional Officer, Office of Revenue Divisional Officer, Melur Taluk, Madurai.
5.The Tahsildar, Tahsildar Office, Melur, Madurai District.
5/6
P.B.BALAJI , J.
sji 10.03.2025 6/6