– An Address by V.Srinivas IAS –
Member Board of Revenue,District Collector Kota,Revenue Appellate Authority Kota,Additional District Collector, Secretary UIT, All Sub-Divisional Officers and All Tehsildars
Kota is amongst the important districts of Rajasthan witnessing rapid Urbanization. It also faces the complex challenge of tenancies in Chambal Colonization lands. The Rajasthan Tenancy Act Section 15-AA Non-Accrual of Khatedari rights in Chambal Project Area governs tenancies of Chambal Command Areas. Khatedari rights in Colony areas shall accrue only in accordance with the provisions of the Rajasthan Colonization (Chambal Project Government Lands Allotment and Sale) Rules 1957.There are a number of Gair-Khatedar Tenants in Digod (1769), Pipalda (1790) and Ladpura (979) who are yet to accrue Khatedar rights despite being in possession for nearly 30 years. It would be preferable if the District Collector Kota were to make a formal reference to Government and seeks guidance on the modalities for conferring Khatedari rights on these tenants or whether ejection proceedings should be initiated.
SDO Kota has 8 Patwar circles in the urban limits where agricultural lands are being developed for urban needs with residential plots being developed. The number of cases for partition of holdings in the court of SDO Kota and ACM Kota reflect the trends of growing urbanization. Revenue courts must partition holdings by meats and bounds so that rights can be clearly delineated in the field. The challenge of ejectment of trespassers from charagah lands in urban limits has been identified as a major challenge. The Rajasthan Tenancy Act Section 16 Land in which Khatedari rights shall not accrue makes it clear that Khatedari rights shall not accrue in pasture land. The UIT is a party to several court cases in SDO Court, Kota. It would be worth setting up an institutional mechanism for interaction between the District Administration and the Urban bodies to avoid protracted litigation. This committee could be chaired by Additional District Collector with the Secretary UIT and Tehsildar Kota as land-holder.
Section 16 Rajasthan Tenancy Act also lays down that khatedari rights shall not accrue on land used for casual or occasional cultivation in the bed of a river and land covered by water and used for purpose of growing singhara or other like produce. I am informed that there exist some pending references to be filed from Kota district in the High Court case Abdul Rehmanvs State of Rajasthan wherein the Hon’ble High Court has ruled that all lands of river beds/ nallahs where khatedari rights have accrued shall be restored to the status of 15/8/1947. District Collector may kindly review the status of reference cases filed with the Board of Revenue.
I am informed by the Revenue Appellate Authority Kota that the Revenue Campaign for 2017 has resulted in a number of appeals being registered in his Court. It is likely that suits were decided in the Revenue Campaign without compliance of Order 21 Rule 5 Civil Procedure Code where it is mandatory to give issue based judgments. The Kota Revenue Bar association has also raised some concerns on the preponing of revenue suits as per the schedule of the revenue campaign. I would request the District Collector to meet the Revenue Appellate Authority to best address the situation.
Let me congratulate the District Administration on the successful launch of the Rajasthan Revenue Courts Grid. Further the process of monitoring of stage wise pendency of Court Cases in Revenue Courts needs to be monitored. The District Collector may also review the service of summons and launch a major campaign for service of summons in all cases where there are backlogs. The next step is linking of Sub-Registrar offices with Tehsils for faster mutations and entries in record of rights of the instruments registered. The current timeline of 45-60 days can be surely brought down.
I have heard from the members of the Revenue BarKota that there is considerable unpredictability about sittings of Revenue Courts. I would urge all of you to conduct Courts regularly. Today we have more officers and staff manning revenue courts than we ever had in the 70-year history of Rajasthan. These huge numbers must present disciplined and cohesive performances to yield optimal results. SDO’s must conduct Court work from 1030 am to 1.30 pm for 3 days in a week and Assistant Collectors must conduct Court work all 5 days in a week. Judgments must be delivered in time. Speaking orders interpreting each of the issues must be issued.I would be happy to conduct a workshop in Kota for the division’s SDO’s on the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code in the coming days as a confidence building measure for young officers working in Sub-Divisions confronted with huge case loads.
To conclude, please accept my good wishes in all your challenging policy endeavors.
Jai Hind.
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Address by V.Srinivas IAS, Chairman Board of Revenue at the Revenue Officers Meeting, Conference Hall, Collector’s Office, Kota Dated November 4, 2017
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About the author
V.Srinivas IAS
Senior Bureaucrats and Author
V.Srinivas is an IAS officer of 1989 batch, presently posted as Chairman Board of Revenue for Rajasthan
He had previously served in the Ministry of Finance and as Advisor to Executive Director (India) IMF, Washington DC. Also worked as Planning and Finance Secretary of Rajasthan.
Disclaimer : The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of INVC NEWS.
