Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 8: The High Court has ruled that the civil court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case pertaining to dispute arising out of the Agrarian Reforms Act and said only revenue courts are under domain to hear and settle such cases.
Justice Sanjay Dhar has held that civil courts cannot interfere in Agrarian Resumption cases when such disputes fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of revenue authorities. The court said that the matters arising out of Agrarian Reforms Act more particularly ‘resumption proceedings’ fall exclusively within the domain of revenue authorities.
The court said the civil courts lack jurisdiction to interfere with such disputes even at the stage of injunction. The court dismissed a petition challenging concurrent findings of the courts below. “Disputes rooted in resumption rights, mutation under Section 7 of the Act and claims of possession arising out from agrarian reforms fall strictly within the statutory domain of the Revenue Authorities”, read the judgment.
The facts of the case was that the petitioner Ghulam Mohammad Reshi with others approached the High Court challenging two orders passed by the civil courts viz Sub Judge Anantnag dismissing their case for prohibitory injunction claiming that they were tenants and later prospectively owners of land in question under Section 4 of the Agrarian Reforms Act and the order of District Judge Anantnag upholding the order of Sub Judge Anantnag.
It was contended that they had been cultivating possession of the land in question for over 50 years and the other party was seeking forcible entry in the land by misusing his official position. The opposite party however contended that his father was the owner in possession of the land but the opposite party had manipulated revenue records and fabricated a fraudulent mutation. He argued that the suit filed by them was barred under Agrarian Reforms Act as such came to be dismissed by the courts below.
The court after examining the record and considering the arguments made by the parties has held that the dispute falls within the exclusive domain of the Agrarian Reforms Authorities and civil courts are barred to entertain and settle such disputes.
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