JUDGMENT
Hemant Gupta, J.
1. The present Letters Patent Appeal is directed against the judgment of learned Single Judge dated 23.02.2005 passed in Civil Writ Petition No. 5115 of 1983.
2. The challenge in the aforesaid writ petition was to the order dated 12.10.1982 whereby the revision filed by the present appellants under Section 10(4) of the Punjab Package Deal Properties (Disposal) Act, 1976, was accepted and order dated 15.02.1983 whereby the petition filed by the private respondents for review of the said order was dismissed.
3. The dispute in the present appeal pertains to allotment of land measuring 5 Kanals 13 Marias comprised in Khasra No. 22/10 situated in village Rerwan, Tehsil Zira, District Ferozepur. The writ petitioner, respondent No.l in the present appeal, applied for allotment of said land in November, 1971 on the basis of possession since the year 1947. Tehsildar (Sales passed an order on 23.02.1972 for allotment of the said land along with other land to the writ petitioner for an amount ofRs.3750/-. The writ petitioner paid the said amount and thereafter conveyance deed dated 25.03.1980 was executed in his favour.
4. The appellant also made an application for allotment of said land which was decided by the competent authority on 20.12.1979. The claim for allotment of said land was declined on the ground that the land is under the ownership of the writ petitioner. The appellant challenged the said order in revision. However, without notice having been served, an ex parte order was passed on 12.10.1982 whereby the land was ordered to be allotted to the present appellant. The writ petitioner moved an application for review on deriving knowledge about the order, which application was dismissed on 15.02.1983. It was the stand of the appellant that when allotment was made in his favour, the land was reflected in the revenue record in the name of the Central Government and that in the Khasra Girdawari, the appellant is reflected in continuous possession of the property in dispute. Therefore, the learned Additional Commissioner was within his jurisdiction to pass the ofder of allotment of land to the appellant.
5. The learned Single Judge has found that the appellant moved an application for allotment of land after eight years of allotment made in favour of the writ petitioner. It has been found that even in Khasra Girdawari, on the basis of which allotment has been made in favour of the appellant, the writ petitioner is shown in possession in column No. 4 on the basis of sale in his favour. It was, thus, found that the land could not be allotted to the appellant on the basis of mistake on the part of revenue authorities. Consequently, the order passed by the learned Additional Commissioner was set aside.
6. Learned counsel for the appellant has vehemently argued that conveyance deed was executed only on 25.03.1980 whereas the writ petitioner was shown to be in possession of the disputed land in Khasra Girdawari even prior to such conveyance deed. Therefore, on the basis of Khasra Girdawari entries, the writ petition could not have been allowed. The said argument is not tenable in law. The land was allotted to the appellant on 23.02.1972. Once the land is allotted, the Central Government could not allot the said land again to the appellant. The land was not available for allotment after allotment to the writ petitioner. The conveyance deed, though executed on 25.03.1980, is only evidence of title and, therefore, it cannot be said that the writ petitioner became owner of the land only on the basis of conveyance deed.
7. The claim of the appellant for allotment of land is on the basis of entries in Khasras Girdwaries. It is well known that Khasra Girdawaris do not carry any presumption of correctness. Even in Khasra Girdawari, the possession is that of writ petitioner. Therefore, we do not find any illegality in the impugned order passed by the learned Single Judge finding the order passed by the learned Additional Commissioner as not sustainable in law.
8. Consequently, the appeal is dismissed with no order as to costs.
