शिमला। हिमाचल प्रदेश हाईकोर्ट  ने कोआपरेटिव सोयाटीज की आड़ में हिमाचल में मुजारा कानून का उल्‍ल्‍ंघन कर जमीनों की खरीद फरोख्‍त व बाकी संपतियां बनाने के  प्रदेश भर में फैले  भारी घोटाले को छह महीने के भीतर खंगाल कर रिपोर्ट देने के निर्देश दिए हैं। हाईकोर्ट ने अपने आदेश में कहा है कि अब समय आ गया है कि प्रदेश में चल रहे इस तरह के जमीनी घाटालों को तबाह किया जाए। हाईकोर्ट के जस्टिस त्रिलोक चौहान ने सभी जिलों के जिलाधीशों को निर्देश दिए है कि वो ऐसी सभी सोसायटीज का पता लगाए जिनहोंने फर्जीवाड़ा कर टेनेंसी एक्‍ट का उल्‍लंघन किया है और प्रापर्टी बनाई है।जिन सोसायटियों ने इस तरह की खरीद फरोख्‍त की हैं उनके खिलाफ आपराधिक प्रक्रिया ही  नहीं  उनकी इन संपतियों को  भी सरकार में शामिल करने की प्रक्रिया शुरू करे। अदालत  ने कोआपरेटिव  विभाग के खिलाफ भी  टिप्‍पणियां की  हैं व  कहा  है  कि सारे कागजात उसके बाद पास आते  हैं  ऐसे  में  बिना  मिलीभगत के  इस  तरह के  घोटाले  नहीं हो सकते।

जस्टिस त्रिलोक चौहान  ने  अपने आदेश में  रजिस्‍ट्रार कोआपरेटिव  सोसायटी के  अलावा पुलिस विभाग को  इस  तरह  की  ऐसी  सोसायटियों, सदस्‍यों जिन्‍होंने टैनेंसी एक्‍ट की अवहेलना कर प्‍लाटों की  खरीद  फरोख्‍त की हैं, उनकी पहचान व कार्रवाई करने में जिलाधीशें को सहयोग करें।

मामला नालागढ़  की एक सोसायटी  का  हैं इस  सोसायटी  का  कायक्षेत्र नालागढ़ के गांव कत्‍था व बिल्‍लावली गांव के तहत हैं। इस सोसायटी के मेंबर इन्‍हीं गावों के होने  चाहिए  थे।  लेकिन अदालत  में  सामने  आया  कि सोसायटी  के  173 सदस्‍यों में केवल 14  इन गांवों के थे बाकी 159 सदस्‍य  बाहर के थे।  ये  लोग जाती पते  देकर  सोसायटी  के मेंबर बन  गए  और  यहां प्‍लाट  ले  लिए।

अदालत में याचिकाकर्ता  का  ये  सच  भी  सामने  आया  कि  उसने परवाणू  का  जाली  पता  दिया और  मेंबर बन  गया  हैं  जबकि जांच होने पर  सामने  आया  कि  वो  पंजाब  के  लुधियाना का  रहने  वाला था।  इसके  अलावा दूसरे याचिका  कर्ता एमआइजी  प्‍लाट नं 91, सेक्‍टर 4 परवाणू  का  पता  देकर मेंबरशिप ले  रखी  थी  लेकिन जांच में  सामने  आया  कि ये प्‍लाट  किसी कृष्‍ण  मलहोत्रा  का हैं।

प्रदेश में हुए  इस  जमीनी  घोटाले को लेकर हाईकोर्ट  के पूरे आदेश  को  पढ़ें यहां-:

 

 

IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA

 

CWP No. 2868 of 2008

Reserved on: 13.09.2017

Date of decision:  10.10 .  201 7

 

Raksha Gupta & Ors.                        … Petitioners

Versus

State of H.P.  & Ors.                 …Respondent s

 

Coram

The Hon’ble Mr. Ju stice Tarlok Singh Chauhan , Judge.

Whether approved for reporting?

1

Yes.

For the petitioners              :  Mr. Sanjeev Bhushan, Sr. Advocate,

with Ms.  Abhilasha Kaundal,

Advocate .

 

For the respondents   :  Ms. Meenakshi Sharma, Addl. A.G.

with Mr. Neeraj K. Sharma, Dy. A.G.

for respondents No. 1, 2, 4 and 5.

 

Mr.  R.P.  Singh,  Advocate,  for

respondent No. 3.

 

 

Tarlok Singh Chauhan,  Judge

 

This writ petition exposes an ingenious land scam where large scale illegal transfer of land is  being carried o ut in the State contrary to Section 118 of the H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972  (for  short  the  ‘Tenancy  Act ’ )  through  various C o -operative Societies registered in State.

 

  1. The petitioners ,  who  admittedly  are  the  non -agriculturists,   after becoming  members  of respondent No. 3  –  Society , were  allotted plots  by respondent No. 3 –   Society  in contravention to not only  the aforesaid  provisions  of the Tenancy Act but also the provisions of the bye -laws framed by  respondent No.  3 –  S ociety.
  2. Respondent No. 3-Society came to be registered under the provisions of H.P. Co -operative Societies Act, 1968 (for short the ‘Act’ ) on  12.07.1990  vide  registration  No.  554  with  the  following  objects  as enumerated in Clause 4 of the bye laws, which read s

thus:-

“4. The objects of the society shall be:-

(i)   To  purchase,  take  on  long  lease  or  acquire  by exchange or otherwise land for construction of houses or housing colonies.

(ii)  To construct, hire or acquire buildings for the individual and collective benefit of the members.

(iii)  To sell or to exchange house sites with members, rent out or lease buildings for common use, surrender or accept surrender of houses or house sites.

(iv)   To purchase and sell to members requisite material for construction and repair of houses.

(v)  To  establish  and  carry  sanitary,  social,  educational and  recreational  activities  for  the  benefit  of  the members.

(vi)   To raise funds and to give loans to members for the construction  of  houses  by  themselves  or  on  their behalf.

(vii)   To prescribe house plans.

(viii)   To undertake measure to s pread knowledge of co-operative principles and practices.

(ix)   To undertake such other activities as are conducive to the attainment of the above objects. ”

  1. As would be evident , the object of the society amongst other was to purchase, take on long lease o r acquire by exchange or otherwise land for construction of houses or housing colonies and then to sell or to exchange house sites with members, rent out or lease buildings for common use, surrender or accept surrender of houses or house sites.
  2. In ter ms  of  the  bye-laws  of  the  Society,  the  ar ea  of  operation as per Rule 11(1) of the H.P. Cooperative Societies Rules, 1971 (for short the ‘Rules’) in order to make one eligible for admission as member of the Society, apart from others was that one must be an  ordinary  resident  of  villages  Kattha  and  Billawalli  in  Tehsil Nalagarh.  Even  though  the  petitioners  did  not  reside  in  the  said villages within the area of operation of the Society, yet they were enrolled  memb ers  by  furnishing  fake  addresses,  for  example,  the petitioner No. 1 had furnished the Address: MIG plot No. 91, Sector -4, Parwanoo,  however,  on  enquiries  made  by  the  Society,  it  was revealed  that the plot belonging to one Krishna Malhotra   and not the petitioner No. 1.
  3. Even  otherwise,  it  is  not  in  dispute  that  none  of  the petitioners belong to the area of operation of the Society ,  rather out of 173 members only 14 members were found to be resident of area of  operation  of  the  Society ,  whereas  remaining  159  members including the petitioners herein were found to be belonging to areas outside the operation of the Society.

Therefore, their enrollment was illegal not only in terms of the bye laws of the Society but even the provisions of Section 118 of the Tenancy Act. Even otherwise ,  the addresses furnished by the petitioners of Parwanoo did not entitle them  to be enrolled as members as the same admittedly fell  outside the area of the operation of the Society.

  1. The petitioners by way of this petition have assailed the cancellation of their membership as  also the cancellation of plots which orders have been upheld by the authorities constituted under the   Act  and have been impugned herein . All the authorities have found the petitioners to have submitted fake affidavits  in order to get membership by furnish ing the address i.e. House No. 91, Sector -4, Parwanoo, whereas they are permanent residents of Ludhiana (Punjab).
  2. Rule 11 (1)  of  the  Rules  lays  down  the  condition  of membership, of an individual and one of the essential condition as per clause (e) is t hat  the  individual should be resident of area of operation of Society for the last more than six months. It is apt to reproduce Rule 11 (1) of the Rules, which reads thus:-
  3. Condition of membership of individuals –

(1) No person shall be eligible for adm ission as a member of the society if he: –

(a)  is  an  applicant  to  be  adjudicated  a  bankrupt  or  an insolvent or is an uncertified bankrupt; or is an undischarged insolvent; or

(b)  has  been  sentenced  for  any  offence  involving  moral turpitude and such sentence  has not been reversed, or has not been pardoned; or

(c) is a minor, except when he happens to be minor heir, or nominee of a deceased member; or

(d) is of unsound mind; or

(e) is not a resident of the area of operation of the society, for the last six mon ths; or

(f)  carries  on  business  similar  to  that  conducted  by  the society of which he wishes to become a member; or (g) does not fulfil such other conditions as specified in the bye – laws of the society.

 

 

  1. Whereas Section 118 of the Tenancy Act, reads th us:-

“118.  Transfer  of  land  to  non -agriculturists  barred.-   (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, contract,  agreement,  custom  or  usage  for  the  time being  in  force,  but  save  as  otherwise  provided  in  this Chapter, no transfer of land (including transfer by a decree of a civil court or for recovery of arrears of land revenue) by way  of  sale,  gift,  will,  exchange,  lease,  mortgage  with possession, creation of a tenancy or in any other manner shall be valid in favour of a person who is  not an agriculturist.

Explanation. –   For the purpose of this sub- section, the expression “transfer of land” shall not include, –

(i) transfer by way of inheritance;

(ii) transfer by way of gift made or will executed, in favour of any or all legal heirs  of the donor or the testator, as the case may be;

(iii) transfer by way of lease of land or building in a municipal area;  but shall include –

(a) a benami transaction in which land is transferred to an agriculturist for a consideration paid or provided b y a non – agriculturist; and

(b) an authorization made by the owner by way of special or general power of attorney or by an agreement with the intention to put non- agriculturist in possession of the land and allow him to deal with the land in the like manne r as if he is a real owner of that land.

(2) Nothing in sub- section (1) shall be deemed to prohibit the transfer of land by any person in favour of.-

(a) a landless labourer, or

(b) a landless person belonging to a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe ; or

(c) a village artisan; or

(d) a land less person carrying on an allied pursuit; or

(dd) a person who, on commencement of this Act worked and continues to work for gain in an estate situated in  Himachal  Pradesh;  for  the  construction  of  a  dwelling  house, shop, or commercial establishment in a municipal area, subject to the condition that the land to be transferred does not exceed:-

(i)  in case of dwelling house  –   500 square metres; and

(ii)  in the case of shop or commercial establishment  – 300 square metres:  Provided that such person does not own any vacant land or a dwelling house in a municipal area in the State;

(e) the State Government or Central Government, or a Government Company as defined in section 617 of the Companies Act,1956 or a Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 for which land acquired through the State Government under the Land Acquisition Act,1894, or a statutory body or Corporation or Board established by or under a statute and owned and controlled by the State or Central Government;

(f)  a  person  who  has  become  non- agriculturist  on account of-

(i) acquisition of his land for any public purpose under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894; or

(ii) vestment of his land in the tenants under this Act; or ;

(g) a non- agriculturist who purchases or intends to purchase land for the construction of a house or shop, or purchases  a  built  up  house  or  shop,  from  the  Himachal Pradesh State Housing and Urban Development Authority, established under the Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority Act,2004, or from the Development Authority constituted under the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country  Planning  Act,1977  or  from  any  other  statutory Corporation  set  up  for  framing  and  execution  of  house accommodation schemes in the  State under any State or Central enactment, or

(h) a non – agriculturist with the permission of the State Government for the purposes that may be prescribed:

Provided that that a person who is non- agriculturist but purchases land either under clause (dd) or clause (g) or with the permission granted under clause (h) of this sub -section shall, irrespective of such purchase of land, continue to non- agriculturist for the purposes of this Act:

Provided  further  that  a  non – agriculturist  who purchases  land  under  clause  (dd)  or  in  whose  case permission to purchase land is granted under clause

(h) of this sub – section shall put the land to such use for which the permission has been granted within a period of two years or a further such period not exceeding one year, as may be allowed  by  the  State  Government  for  reasons  to  be recorded in writing, to be counted from the day on which the sale deed of land is registered and if he fails to do so or diverts, without the permission of the State Government, the said use for any other purpose or transfer by way of sale, gift or  otherwise,  the  land  so  purchased  by  him  shall,  in  the prescribed manner, vest in the State Government free from all encumbrances;

(3) No Registrar or the Sub – Registrar appointed under the Indian Registra tion Act,1908 (16 of 1908), shall register any document pertaining to a transfer of land, which is in contravention of sub – section (1):

Provided that the Registrar or the Sub – Registrar may register any transfer –

(i) Where the lease is made in relation to a part or whole of a building; or

(ii) Where the mortgage is made for procuring the loans for construction or improvements over the land either from the Government or from any other financial institution constituted or established under any law for the time being in force or recognized by the State Government.

(3 – A) Where-

 

(a)  the  Registrar  or  the  Sub- Registrar,  appointed under the Indian Registration Act, 1908, before whom any document  pertaining  to  transfer  of  land  is  presented  for registration comes to know or has reason to believe that the transfer of land is in contravention of sub – section (1);   (b) a Revenue Officer either on an application made to him or on receipt of any information from any source comes to know or has reason to believe that any  land has been transferred or is being transferred in contravention of the provisions of sub – section (1);

Such  Sub- Registrar,  the  Registrar  or  the  Revenue Officer, as the case may be, shall make reference to the Collector of the District, in which land or any part thereof is situate, and the Collector, on receipt of such reference or where the Revenue Officer happens to be the Collector of the District himself, he either on an application made to him or on receipt of any information from any source comes to know  or  has  reason  to  believe  that  any  land  has  beentransferred or is being transferred in contravention of the provisions  of  sub- section  (1),  shall  after  affording  to  the persons  who  are  parties  to  the  transfer,  a  reasonable opportunity  of  being  heard   and  holding  an  enquiry, determine  whether  the  transfer  of  land  is  or,  is  not  in contravention  of  sub – section  (1)  and  he  shall,  within  six months from the date of receipt of reference made to him or such longer period as the Divisional Commissioner may allow  for  reasons  to  be  recorded  in  writing  record  his decision thereon and intimate the findings to the Registrar, Sub – Registrar or the Revenue Officer concerned.

(3 – B). T he person aggrieved by the findings recorded by  the  Collector  that  a  particular  trans fer  of  land  is  in contravention of the provisions of sub- section (1), may within a  period  of  30  days  from  the  date  on  which  the  order recording such findings is made by the Collector or such longer period as the Divisional commissioner may allow for reasons  to  be  recorded  in  writing  file  an  appeal  to  the Divisional  Commissioner,  to  whom  such  Collector  is subordinate,  and  the  Divisional  Commissioner  may,  after giving the parties an opportunity of being heard of the case from the Collector reverse, alter or confirm the order made by  the  collector  and  the  order  made  by  the  Divisional Commissioner shall be final and conclusive.

(3 – C). (a) The Financial commissioner may, either on a report of a Revenue Officer or on an application or of his own motion, call for  the record of any proceedings which are  pending  before,  or  have  been  disposed  of  by,  any Revenue Officer subordinate to him and in which no appeal lies thereto, for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality  or  propriety  of  such  proceedings  or  o rder  made therein and may pass such order in relation thereto as he may think fit.

(b) No order shall be passed under this sub- section which adversely effects any person unless such person has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard;    (3 – D) Where the Collector of the District under sub -section  (3A),  in  case  an  appeal  is  not  made  within  the prescribed period or the Divisional Commissioner in appeal under  sub- section  (3- B)  or  the  Financial  Commissioner  in revision, under subsection (3C), decides   that the transfer of land is in contravention of the provisions of sub – section (1), such transfer shall be void abinitio and the land involved in such  transfer  together  with  structures,  buildings  or  other attachments, if any, shall in the prescribed manner, vest in the State Government free from all encumbrances; and

 

(4)  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  State  Government  to make use of the land which is vested or may be vested in it under sub – section (2) or sub – section (3D) for such purposes as it may deem fit  to do so.

Explanation – I.  For  the  purpose  of  this  section,  the expression “land” shall include-

(i)  land  recorded  as  “Gair -mumkin”,  “Gair- mumkin makan” or any other Gair-mumkin land, by whatever name called in the revenue records, and

(ii) land which  is a site of a building in a town or a village  and  is  occupied  or  left  out  not  for  agricultural purposes or purposes subservient to agriculture, but shall not include a built up area in a municipal area;

Explanation – II. –   For  the  purpose  of  this  section  the expression “municipal area” means the territorial area of a Nagar Panchayat, Cantonment Board, Municipal Council or a Municipal Corporation constituted under any law for the time being in force.

  1. Evidently, Section 118 of the Tenancy  Act starts  with non obstante clause and it is well known that a non obstante clause is a legislative device which is usually implied to give overriding  effect s  to certain provisions over contrary provisions that may be found either in the same enactment or some other enactment, that is to say , to avoid operation and effect  of contrary provisions.
  2. In Chandavarkar Sita Ratna Rao vs. Ashalata S. Guram (1986) 4 SCC 447, the scope of non obstante clause was explained in the following words:

A  clause  beginning  with  the  expression “ notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in some particular provision in the Act or in some particular Act or in any law for the time being in force, or in any contract ”  is more often than not appended to a section in the beginning with a view to give the  enacting  part  of  the  section  in  case  of  conflict  an overriding  effect  over  the  provision  of  the  Act  or  the contract  mentioned  in  the  non  obstante  clause.  It  is equivalent to saying that in spite of the provision of the Act or any other Act mentioned in the non obstante clause or any  contract  or  document  mentioned  the  enactment following it will have its full operation or that the provisions embraced in the non obstante clause would not be an impediment for an operation of the enactment.

 

  1. It is otherwise elementary that a provision of the Act statutory enactment will override the provisions of the  Rules framed under any Act  and  thus  the  provisions  of  Section  118 of  the Tenancy Act  would essentially have an  overriding effect  over the provisions of Rule 11(1) of the Rules.
  2. While construing provisions of the Cooperative Act, the Court is not oblivious to the fact that more than 5000 different types of Societies registered as business entity under the  Act, some of which are ;   PACS, Thrift and Credit N/A, Urban Co -operative Banks, Housing  Coop.  Societies,  Consumer  Stores,  Weaver  Societies, Industrial  Societies,  Dairy  and  Animal  Husbandry,  Marketing  and Processing, Fisheries, Transport Societies, Labour and Construction, Other Non Agri.  Societies, State and Central Coop. Banks and Agri. & Rural Dev. Bank etc.
  3. In Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) and the Agricultural and Rural Development Banks, the membership is only given to the agriculturists or bonafide residents of Him achal Pradesh because  the  services  rendered  by  these  societies  are  directly related to agriculture and purposes subservient to agriculture. The ownership  of  land  is  one  of  the  basic  criteria  for  acquiring membership  in  these  societies  and  thus,  the  bye-law s  of  these societies provide for the same in view of the provision contained in clause (g) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 11 of the Rules.
  4. In Urban Co -operative Banks and Non- Agriculture Thrift and Credit  Societies  (NATC),  the  membership  consists  of business men,  salary  earners,  non -agriculturists,  etc.  For  their financial needs persons of these categories become members of such societies and get the services. In order to avail the services, it is necessary to become member in such societies. It is not required that salary earners and traders must be from out of the categories of agriculturists or bona fide residents for, a large number of these persons  belong  to  States  other  than  the  H.P.  Therefore,  the membership  in  these  type  of  societies  is  given  to  the  ordinary residents of the area of operation of the societies who have been residing there for the last six months and are in occupation of some legitimate  profession.

In  case  any  restriction  is  imposed  qua  the ordinary residence, a large number of individual would be deprived of the services rendered by these societies. It is also clarified that these societies cannot deal with non-members as for rendering or availing financial services it is imperative to make them members to bring them within the ambit of arbitration clause under the Act for securing safety of societies’ funds in case of default by any one of them.

  1. Likewise, in other categories of societies viz. transport,fisheries, industrial,  weaver,  labour  and  construction,  consumer stores, etc. ordi nary residents residing in the area of operation of the concerned society for the last six months are made members for  fulfilling  their  specific  needs  and  earning  livelihood.  As  the objects of these societies vary from society to society therefore, the class of membership and their requirement also differ. For example, the  labour  and  construction  societies,  weaver  societies,  fisheries societies,  transport  societies,  etc.  are  registered  with  a  specific object to earn livelihood. In case clause (e) supra is construed to mean  permanent  or  bona  fide  residents,  the  ordinary  residents intending  to  acquire  membership  of  such  societies  would  be discouraged and lose their right of livelihood.

17 .    Insofar  as  membership  in  housing  societies  is concerned,  if  a  housing  society  is  formed  by  agri culturists  and consists  membership  of  that  class  only,  it  can  allot  plots  to  its members.  But  in  the  case  of  other  House  Building  cooperative Societies where ordinary residents or non-agriculturist are enrolled as  members  such  societies  could  only  allot  flats  or houses  to  its members and not the plots.

  1. As already observed above, out of 173 members of the Society only 14 members were found the residents of the area of the operation  of  the  Society  whereas  remaining  159  members including  the  petitioners  were  found  outside  the  area  of  the operation of the Society.  This clearly proves the large scale land scam that is existing in the State.
  2. As per  Chapter  VIII  of  the  Act,  the  accounts  of  the respondent department is assigned a nd entrusted work of audit, inquiry, inspection and, therefore, it is difficult to imagine that the Society continue to enroll members contrary to the law when the officials of the Cooperative department being in  peridelicto  with those responsible for the  scam. After all despite there being large scale  bungling  and  manipulation,  there  i s  hardly  any  proper supervision.   Such malpractices and irregularities are  offence s  not only  against  the  Society  as  a  whole  but  against  the  system  established by law. The members of the Society have committed forgery by playing systematic fraud in a pre-planned scheme by inventing   a  novel  device  to  defy  the  law  i.e.  the  provisions  of Section 118 of the  Tenancy  Act.
  3. It is, therefore, high time that there is crack down on su ch land scam s . Accordingly, all the Deputy Commissioners of the State are directed to conduct a thorough probe and identify such societies and members who have blatantly violated the provisions of the Tenancy Act and ensure that not only criminal cases are registered agains t them but  appropriate proceedings for having  the properties vested  in the State are  also initiated .

The Registrar, Cooperative  Societies  as  also  the  other  government  agencies including  the  Police  Department  are  directed  to  ensure  all nec essary assistance for identifying such societies  /  members who have allotted plot s  or purchased plots contrary to the provisions of  the Tenancy Act. It is clarified that this order shall not apply to the societies or members who have purchased built up structure as is permissible under the provisions of the Tenancy  Act.

  1. Adverting to the facts, since the petitioners admittedly are not only non-agriculturists  but  are  not even the residents  of the area of the society and have themselves blatantly violated  the law, no relief or indulgence can be shown in favour of such litigants.
  2. Consequently, the  writ  petition ,  as  regards  reliefs claim ed  therein ,  merits dismissal and is accordingly dismissed. The Deputy Commissioners are directed to submit their repor ts within a period  of  six  months  and  for  that  purpose  case  be  listed  on 10.4.2018.

 

October  10, 2017                       (Tarlok Singh Chauhan)

(Sanjeev )                              Judge

 

 

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