NEW DELHI: In a setback to the Haryana government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside its April 2022 decision directing village common lands be returned to gram panchayats, restoring land rights to proprietors.
The 2022 verdict had held that land taken from proprietors under permissible ceiling limits would vest in panchayats only for management and control, including leasing and use by non-proprietors, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes, for the benefit of the village community.
Allowing a review plea, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and K V Viswanathan upheld a 2003 full bench ruling of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The high court had ruled that land not earmarked for common purposes during consolidation vests with proprietors, not the panchayat or state.
“We find no error in the judgment of the full bench of the high court… lands which have not been earmarked for any specific purpose do not vest in the gram panchayat or the State,” the bench said, dismissing Haryana’s appeal.
The CJI-led bench noted that the 2022 verdict had upheld the validity of the 1992 amendment to the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, which required that land reserved for common purposes be utilised by gram panchayats for present and future village needs and not be repartitioned among proprietors. The bench set aside these findings, restoring proprietors’ ownership rights.
The 2022 decision had been delivered on appeals against the full bench verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which examined the legality of sub-section 6 of Section 2(g) of the 1961 Act. The Supreme Court clarified that while management and control of certain lands taken under pro-rata cuts remain with panchayats, these lands do not revert to the panchayat if not earmarked for specific purposes.