SC terms wholly unwarranted manner in which HC dealt with land possession matter
New Delhi(PTI): The Supreme Court has termed as "wholly unwarranted" the manner in which the Rajasthan High Court dealt with a matter relating to possession of land to the widow of an ex-Sepoy of the Indian Army whose foot was amputated due to a mine blast in the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
The apex court observed that the high court had gone "out of the way" to order possession of land which was never proceeded with a letter of allotment in favour of the wife of the ex-serviceman, who died in July 1998.
A bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Vikram Nath set aside the order passed by the high court in the matter.
"The manner in which the matter has been dealt with by the high court under the guise of help to a disabled ex-serviceman is wholly unwarranted," the bench said in its verdict delivered on Tuesday.
The man, while serving as a Sepoy in the Army, had suffered an injury on the right leg due to the mine blast which led to amputation of his foot and he was thereafter invalidated out of service.
The state had framed the Rajasthan Special Assistance to Disabled Ex-Servicemen and Dependants of Deceased Defence Personnel (Allotment of Lands) Rules, 1963, and the man was a disabled ex-serviceman.
The top court noted it appeared that the man had applied for allotment of land in the category of disabled war personnel and the Soldier Welfare Section of the Revenue Department of the state sent a letter to the District Collector of Udaipur in March 1971 wherein it was conveyed that it has been decided to allot 25 'Bighas' in village Rohikhera.
The apex court also noted that there was no letter of allotment of land issued to the man or his wife on record in pursuance to the letter, which was an inter-departmental communication and not a communication to the disabled soldier.
The ex-serviceman's wife later filed a writ petition raising a grievance that possession of the land allotted in March 1971 has not been handed over to her husband or to her.
A single judge of the high court had found that the alternative land offered to her was located at a remote area and was not cultivable and therefore, a direction was issued to give possession of the land originally allotted.
The top court noted that an intra-court appeal preferred by the state in the high court remained unsuccessful and it has come on record that the land in question was allotted to the writ petitioner.
It noted that the high court order was challenged when an attempt was made to evict the appellants from the land which was cultivated by them allegedly for over 60 years.
"The high court had gone out of the way to order possession of land which was never proceeded with letter of allotment in favour of the writ petitioner. The approach of the high court is most unfortunate," the bench said.
The top court said it is well-settled that inter-departmental communications are in the process of consideration for appropriate decision and cannot be relied upon as a basis to claim any right.
It said the basis of claim of the writ petitioner was a letter written by the secretary of the Soldier Welfare Department to the District Collector of Udaipur in March 1971 for allotment of land.
The bench noted that the Rules contemplated that if the possession is not taken within six months, the allotment shall be deemed to have been cancelled.
"The disabled ex-serviceman had not taken any action for almost 27 years after the so-called letter of allotment during his life time," it said.
"The proceedings show an extra interest taken by the high court, and not in respect of mere allotment of land but also of the land which was once allotted and is now close to the national highway," it said.
While allowing the appeal, the bench said the writ petition filed by the woman was "wholly misconceived, mischievous with collateral motives and may be having the patronage of the officers/officials".
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Skipper Curran, bowlers lead PBKS to a five-wicket win over RR
Guwahati, May 15: Skipper Sam Curran played the lead act hitting a well-paced fifty and taking two wickets, as Punjab Kings consigned Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket defeat in their IPL match here on Wednesday.
The target was a mere 145, but Kings made heavy weather of it on a sluggish track here but Curran (63 not out, 41b, 5x4, 3x6) had a calm head and skills to lift them to their fifth win of the season. PBKS made 145/5 in 18.5 overs.
The Englishman received good support from Jitesh Sharma (22, 20b) as the pair added 63 runs in a fluent fifth wicket partnership.
For Royals, it was their fourth defeat on the trot, but they remained second on the table with 16 points with a qualification to the playoffs to boot with.
The Kings’ chase began on a shaky note as they lost Prabhsimran Singh in the first over itself to Trent Boult.
But bigger jolts were in store as an impressive Avesh Khan (2/28) scalped two wickets in the fifth over.
The right-arm pacer first plucked the important wicket of Rilee Rossouw, who played some strong shots in his 13-ball 22, and then jettisoned in-form Shashank Singh for a two-ball naught.
Shashank failed to connect a fuller, straighter one from Avesh while attempting a flick, and the 141 kmph delivery thudded on his bat. Shashank did not even bother to use DRS as he walked away.
Punjab gained some ground through the alliance between Curran and Jitesh, who smoked R Ashwin for two sixes.
Curran too gave a dose of punishment to the veteran offie, lofting him for a wonderful six over extra cover.
But the blossoming stand was snapped by Yuzvendra Chahal (2/31), leaving PBKS at 111 for five in the 16th over.
However, Curran and Ashutosh Sharma (17 not out, 11 balls) knocked off the remaining runs without further drama.
Earlier, despite a well-tuned 48 from local hero Riyan Parag, RR struggled against an array of accurate bowlers on a rather slow pitch, meandering to a sub-par 144 for nine.
R Ashwin (28, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) and Parag (48, 34, 6x4) tried to accelerate during their 50-run stand for the fourth wicket but it could only bring in a temporary momentum for RR.
In fact, lethargy had set in very early in the Rajasthan innings after the early loss of Jaiswal, who chopped a Curran (2/24) delivery back on to his stumps.
Sanju Samson (18), who went past 500-run in a season for the first time in his IPL career, and Tom-Kohler Cadmore (18, 23b) stitched 36 runs for the second wicket but took six overs for it.
But with Curran and Arshdeep finding a hint of swing and maintaining a good line, scoring was not an easy proposition for the RR batters.
Eventually, Samson, who tried a hopping cut off pacer Nathan Ellis, gave a simple catch to Rahul Chahar at point in the seventh over.
Cadmore too returned to the dugout in the next over, as his almighty heave off leg-spinner Chahar (2/26) could not progress beyond Jitesh in the deep.
Those twin dismissals actually paved the way for the best phase in the Royals’ innings as Ashwin and Parag pressed their foot on the right pedal.
Ashwin displayed his batting skills, smashing Chahar for 17 runs in the 12th over that included a sequence of 6, 4, 4 and the first four was a stunning reverse scoop over backward point.
But he could not further extend his innings, lofting Arshdeep to Shashank.
Parag, usually a free-flowing batter, had to curb his flair in front of a hugely adoring home crowd because of the regular fall of wickets at the other end.
But a late cut off Curran that sped to third man stood as a testament of his ability and timing as he also moved past the 500-run mark for the season, before getting trapped in front of the wicket by Harshal Patel.
However, apart from conquering those little peaks the RR batters failed to slip into the top gear consistently.
