Land grabbed by municipality
Kumarsirik
(Querist) 24 February 2012
This query is : Resolved
My grandfather was awarded 15acres land in 2 stretches (10 acre and 5 acre) for his services as a political sufferer in freedom movement.
When he was alive few land grabbers troubled him to usurp the land. He filed a case in local magistrate and obtained injunction orders. Despite the orders they continued to torment him by destroying the crop and killing cattle. He went to High court and made the injunction order absolute in 1976.
He was left without any money to invest on further crops. He left to heavenly abode in 1992 and the property is inherited by my father. Despite no agriculture we paid up tax up to 1994. Now when we wanted to dispose the land we could manage to liquidate 10 acres land which.
We found that the local RDO was reluctant to help us survey the land as the land was accidentally aloted to municipality for garbage dump. The municipality have taken up construction in 1 acre of the land at cost of 35 lakhs. They are not willing to move out and give us back our land. The RDO threatens that the land has been forfeited from us on account of violation of conditions. We are not sure what he really meant by that. He explains that our we have not been residing in the village and therefore government as authority to take back awarded lands.
We represented the case to the district Joint Collector. The Joint Collector chided the RDO and instructed him, orally, to hand over our land as there is no support to his claims on violation of conditions.
He agreed to help us and offered to provide 0.13 acre of land which acts as a path to the main piece of cultivable land in lieu of the 1 acre lost in the municipal dump. What is sinister is that he did not give us any letter on this adjustment. When the land surveyor conducts a survey for the rest of the land he did not give us any letter on the land surveyed. He gave us only a field map that shows demarcation of the original land. I, being a common man, feel that a completion of survey should be conducted in presence of other witnesses and a letter authorizing the use of land should be issued to us. We did not consent for the .13 land compensation.
We are interested in enjoying full benefits of this land, though, it does not have good market value. Our intent is accentuated more due to the hardships faced for last 40 years, ever since my grandfather battled on legal grounds with the encroachers.
Please advise where we stand as far as regaining complete possession on the land and also what should be the next course of legal action to restore our rightful possession.
Thanks and Regards
SKP
Raj Kumar Makkad
(Expert) 24 February 2012
You shall have to work on many sides at the same time. You take the help of local media which may highlight the fate with the family of a freedom fighter. You also go to high court against the State govt. and demand the land with its ownership documents and possession and action against all encroachers. You also make a representation to Freedom Fighter Cell, Ministry of Home, Govt. of India, Khan market, Delhi for this purpose who in turn shall pressurize the local administration to do the needful. You also gain local support of socially awakened persons and political leadership so that administration may be made highly pressurized to feel apology and your demand may be fulfilled with full grace.
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 25 February 2012
DOING ALL that Mr.Makkad has advised shall work.On law front a writ in High Cort should be filled.
Deepak Nair
(Expert) 25 February 2012
You have been sufficiently advised by Mr.Rajkumar. Act as advised by him for desired results.
Kumarsirik
(Querist) 27 February 2012
Dear Lawyers!! I thank you for the prompt response and also filling me with all this information.
The problem was highlighted in local news paper. There are influential people in the village who helped sympathize us. I will try and reach for the department in the home ministry. We have filed Writ yesterday.
I really wonder how the RDO can say we have violated conditions. Of course no agriculture was performed from 1977 onwards. For that we have also paid tax in 1994.
Is there a rule that states that my father's absence, on account of job pursuits, from the village for 30 years, leaving the land unattended attracts empowers the government to forfeit the assignment?
Kumarsirik
(Querist) 28 April 2012
Dear Sirs
In continuation to your valuable suggestions I approached a reputed advocate, through a close friend of mine, who was known for his clout in political circles.
He informed me in the month of March that a Writ Petition is filed against the local Municipality and the RDO. I paid him INR 25000 and he accepted it with apparent contentment.
He later gave few updates, for the first 2 weeks, on the case such as the respondents' GP not arriving, Judge not reaching the case, argument started and not ended, case in our favor, et al.
For last 3 weeks he was not picking up my phone and not available for a meeting even.
I inquired with the common friend who introduced us. This friend of mine had an update on the case, however, when I called him this morning. He told me that this competent advocate consciously deferred the argument as he had to club multiple cases of his filed with the judge, representing my case, only to ensure favorable results for a bunch of his cases.
At this point I do not want to go with mistrust owing to the reputation of the advocate and also knowing my friend.
I have been searching for the case details on NIC site and do not find the name of my father, who happens to be original petitioner, nor the respondents against who the advocate claimed to have filed the case.
I only see a grocery list of writ petitions on this advocate belonging to other cases except mine when I do a search on the web.
When this advocate was contacted few weeks back he assured me that I need not search on the web for case information and also it is not possible for him to recollect the case number as he was, at that point of time, on travel.
I started wondering why he did not seek signatures of my father nor mine before filing the case. He said he signed it instead on behalf us.
I just want to know if I am confronting an issue of mistrust and deceit or am I precociously assuming too many aspects.
I only hope that not all writ petitions are transparent on web, that the usual amount charged by an advocate for a case of this scale is 25k, that the usual time for such writ petitions would take time.
I need your advice. Please help me gauge the intentions of the advocate.
Thanks in advance for your invaluable advice.
Kumarsirik
(Querist) 16 October 2014
Dear Sirs,
A matter I am bringing up after a long gap. The lawyer whom I hired proved to be a man of low integrity and wasted my precious time in pursuing the case. He has so much clout that none of the lawyers in Hyderabad are willing to take up the case unless this gentleman permits them to do so.
While the Writ filing is now in limbo, I thought I will take up the case through RTI. The Municipal dump yard, apparently, sans any authorization neither from the Revenue nor the ministry of Environment and forests.
No norms and procedures were followed, as such, in acquisition of land nor any involvement of environment ministry was taken up. This is an attitude of complacency and negligence causing hardships to land owners affected by dump yard
This dump yard is about 100 yards away from an important river. I therefore, take this as a case to highlight certain environmental issues through RTI.
I drafted an RTI letter addressed to Revenue department on the alienation procedure in this context.
I would send an RTI to Municipal Administration on what Sanction, NOC, renewal, authorization letters they received
I shall send an RTI to the SEIAA to furnish details of NOCs issued and details of inspections conducted
Similarly, to Central Pollution control board on what reports and updates they received about the construction and continuity of the MSW plant, which poses an environmental hazard by potentially poisoning abutting river.
While my land issue seemed to be a pretext, I thought the issue has wider implications after I interacted with landowners who were similarly affected.
They are now virtually, indisposed to carry on any agriculture due to the pollution caused by the dump yard.
Please guide me if the approach is correct.
Moreover, I am having trouble in deciding to whom the respective RTIs to be sent.
1. Revenue - Is it to RDO, MRO, Collector or Chief Commissioner Land and Survey
2. Municipality - Is it to Local Municipal Office or to the Principal Secretary
3. SEIAA - I am clear
4. State Pollution control Booard - I am clear
5. Central Pollution control Board - I am clear
