A previous ruling on the village common land, which is known as shamilat deh in Haryana, was overruled by the Supreme Court in a significant setback on Thursday, making it possible for villagers to sell or give the land to someone else. This decision has really significant effect for the state government as they cannot get back thousands of acres of the common land in the panchayats area or urban sites boundaries anymore. The situation under the previous ruling was that owners contributed to the land pool development according to a pro rata system, which meant every owner’s individual landholdings were reduced by a certain percentage.
The verdict delivered by the bench consisting of judges Bhushan R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta concluded that the judgment issued by the two-member bench in April 2022 overlooked precedent set by the larger constitution bench’s decision in the Bhagat Ram & Others vs State of Punjab & Others (1967) case. The bench identified dismissal of the precedent established by constitution bench thereby represented material error which can be taken from the look of the judgement and led to the unsoundness of the soundness of the judgment.
In the 2002 judgment, the angry people had been ordered to take over thousands of hectares of communal Deh land which shareholders or the gram panchayat units had sold for monetary benefits. The same resolution has it that land so set aside can only be put to services of the gram Panchayat to which the villagers can access both present and future times. The custody was assigned by the court i.e. if some land happens to be put in a common pool through a pro-rata qualification then this land will be vested in Panchayat forever hence it will be used by the whole community.
Nevertheless, the last Supreme Court decision brought into focus the fact that a plain deviation from the precedent Clarified in Bhagat Ram’s long-standing case of 1967 is the most recent case law. The previous verdict did not even take into consideration a fact which was clearly stated in the 1967 judgment, that is lands not being dedicated for a purpose common between villages, being assigned to be owned and enjoyed by the proprietor and not forming a part of either the gram panchayat or the state government.
Check here for the latest updates in Hindi!