STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS. versus KARNAL CO-OP. FARMERS SOCIETY LIMITED ETC. ETC.

Citation: [1993] 2 S.C.R. 193 · Decided: 04-03-1993 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: J.S. VERMA · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 5 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS. 
v. 
"'t-
KARNAL CO-OP. FARMERS' SOCIETY LIMITED ETC. ETC. 
MARCH 4, 1993 
[.l.S. VERMA AND N. VENKATACHALA, JJ.] 
The Punjab Village Common Lands( Regulation) Act, 1961/17ie Punjab 
Village Lands(Regulation) Haryana Amendment Act, 1980: ss. 2, 4, 5, 7, 
13/ss, 4, 5, 7-Village Common /ands-'Shamilat deh'-Vesting of in 
Panchayats-Exceptions-Civi/ Court decrees, orders allowing claims of per-
sons in possession of certain lands-Enactment by State Legislature abrogat-
ing Civil Court decrees/orders-Held, Legislature has no power to abrogate 
civil court decrees/orders by a mere declaration by an enactment to that effect. 
A 
B 
c 
A competent Legislature can make judicial adjudications ineffecting only by 
altering, removing or neutralising the legal basis in the unamended law on D 
which such decisions were founded. 
The Punjab Village Common Lands(Regulation) Act, 1961 which 
operated in the State of Haryana, provided for regulating the rights in 
village common lands popularly and colloquially known as 'Shamilat deh'. 
Section 13 of the Act barred jurisdiction of civil courts, over any matter E 
arising out of the operation of the Act. However, Sections 2(g) and 4(3) 
provided for exclusion of certain 'Shamilat deh' from their vesting in 
Panchayats. These provisions were utilised by innumerable persons to 
have recourse to civil courts and to obtain decrees against the panchayats 
concerned pleading that their lands and other properties were excluded 
F 
from 'Shamilat deh' either under clause(g) of s.2 or sub-section (3) of s.4. 
Several Panchayats had no objection for grant of decrees in favour of 
persons who were not legally entitled for the decrees. 
The State, in a bid to get rid of the decrees of civil court, enacted the 
Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Haryana Amendment Act, G 
1974 and substituted ss.7 and 13 of the Punjab Village Common Lands 
(Regulation) Act, 1961 (The Principal Act) and incorporated new ss.13-A 
and 13-B therein. The substituted s.7 empowered an Assistant Collector to 
eject any person in wrongful or unauthorised possession of land or orther 
immovable property in the 'shamilat deh' of the concerned village vested H 
193 
194 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1993) 2 S.C.R. 
A 
or deemed to have been vested in Panchayat under the principal Act and 
put the Panchayat in possession thereof. The appellate power was vested 
in the Collector. Section 13 barred jurisdiction of civil court to entertain 
or adjudicate upon any question as to whether any land or other immov-
able property vests or does not vest in a panchayat under the Act. Section 
B 
c 
13-A enabled the Assistant Collector, having jurisdiction over the village 
to set aside civil court decrees obtained by persons against Panchayats in 
respect of land or other immovable property on the ground of its being 
excluded from 'shamilat deb' under clause (g) of section 2 or any of the 
grounds mentioned in sub-section (3) of section 4 after examining the 
records and hearing the decree-holders. 
When the decrees obtained by several persons from civil courts were 
sought to be interfered with by the Assistant Collector and the Collector, 
purporting to exercise the powers conferred upon them as a result of the 
Amendment Act of 1974, writ petitions were filed in the High Court 
D challenging the constitutionality of the said provisions. 
E 
F 
The High Court held s.13A of the Amendment Act of 1974 as ultra 
vird, allowed the Writ Petitions and quashed the proceedings. The State 
filed civil appeals and special petitions before this Court. 
During the pendency of the civil appeals and special leave petitions 
before this Court which arise due to the Amendment Act of 1974, the State 
enacted the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Haryana Amend-
ment Act, 1980 (Amendment Act of 1981) to get over the judgments of the 
High Court. It amended s.7 and substituted ss.13, 13.A and 138 of the 
Principal Act which had been incorporated by Amendment Act of 1974 and 
further incorporated ss.13C and 130 in the Principal Act. The new 
provisions were made operative retrospectively from 4.5.1961, the date of 
commencement of the Principal Act, with the result that s.13 barred the 
jurisdiction of civil courts retrospectively from 4.5.1961 to entertain or 
adjudicate upon any question whether any land or immornble property was 
G 'sbamilat deb' or was not 'shamilat deb' whereas s.13A empowered the 
Assistant Collector 

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