Home Case Index All Cases Indian Laws Indian Laws + HC Indian Laws - 2014 (4) TMI HC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2014 (4) TMI 1263 - HC - Indian LawsDocuments determine title and ownership to land - title of goods - Sale of land - presumption of title to properties - eviction proceedings - What documents constitute title for lands? - HELD THAT:- Under BSO-15, both assessed and unassessed lands are available for assignment and the lands which are classified as 'poramboke' and 'reserved lands'-assessed and unassessed, are not available for assignment. All arable lands are assessed. There may be cases where, after assessment of land, a ryot may have left it uncultivated for one or more Faslies. In such cases, the lands are shown as 'waste' in the records. However, in the RSR, the word 'waste' is not generally used and it only contains a column 'whether the land is assessed or unassessed'. In case of 'unassessed waste' as assignment is permissible, the entry in revenue record describing the land as 'unassessed waste' cannot be treated as conclusive, an assignment may have been made and not recorded or in the absence of such assignment, the same may be under the cultivation of ryots. Therefore, there cannot be a presumption that all waste lands, assessed, or unassessed, continue to be vested in the Government. When a dispute in this regard arises, such disputes need to be settled based on the patta, if produced by the claimants, and in its absence, based on the relevant revenue record. Thus, the assessed and unassessed waste lands do not fall within the expression of 'poramboke' or 'reserved' which are generally used for communal purposes. Para-4(ii) of BSO-15 prohibited assignment of various categories of lands. These lands are therefore vested in the Government and no one can claim right over the same unless there is evidence to show that these lands are subsequently converted into assessed waste lands and assignments have been granted. While there is a presumption that all porambokes and lands reserved for communal purposes vest in the Government, no such presumption arises in respect of waste lands, assessed or unassessed. Whether the entries in the revenue records constitute conclusive proof of title and if not, whether they have evidentiary value in determination of title? - HELD THAT:- The following record could be held to constitute the core revenue record in Andhra area prior to the integration of the revenue record of both areas: Diglot or A-Register, Ledger/Chitta constituting settlement record, No. 2 Account, otherwise known as Adangal/Annual Settlement of occupation and cultivation, No. 3 Account which reflects changes in respect of land held by way of transfer by sale, relinquishment etc., and the Register of Holdings maintained under BSO-31 and No. 10 Account which is an individual chitta or personal ledger of each cultivator - In Telangana area, Sethwar Register, Supplementary Sethwar, Wasool Baqui Register, Khasra Pahani (prepared under the Land Census 1954 under the provisions of the A.P. (Telangana Area) Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950), Pahani, Chowfasla and Faisal Patti constitute the core revenue record. Whether multiple registered sale transactions reflecting long standing possession give rise to a presumption of title to the property? - HELD THAT:- The presumption envisaged under Section 6 of the 1971 Act is evidently based on the principle contained in Section 35 of the Evidence Act, 1872 - Whether the entries in Resurvey and Resettlement Register (RSR) and Town Survey Land Register (TSLR) are conclusive in determining title? - HELD THAT:- The entry in the TSLR does not constitute conclusive proof of one's title. Whether eviction proceedings under the 1905 Act can be initiated when there is a bonafide title dispute? - HELD THAT:- The settled legal position therefore emanating from the above noted Judgments is that where there is a bonafide dispute regarding title of a person over the lands other than public roads, streets, bridges or the bed of the sea, or the like, summary proceedings under the 1905 Act cannot be initiated and that in all such cases, the Government which claims title shall approach the competent Civil Court for declaring its title. Petition disposed off.
|