Writ Petition Under Article 227 Not Maintainable Against Mutation Proceedings : Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday (August 1) observed that a writ petition under Article 227 of the Constitution would not be maintainable against mutation proceedings.

The Court reasoned that the mutation proceedings are not final and do not confer any title over the property but are meant for fiscal purposes.

In the present case, the petitioner was aggrieved by the rejection of its Restoration Application against the mutation done by the Revenue Authority based on the Will produced by the Respondent.

The bench comprising Justice Rakesh Thapliyal observed that “if the mutation proceedings initiated by the respondent were concluded and if there was a subsequent Will, the only remedy available to the petitioners to approach to the Civil Court either to challenge the Will dated 26.10.1995 on the basis of which the mutation application was filed by the respondent or to file a regular suit claiming title over the property on the basis of the subsequent Will.”

On the basis of the subsequent Will, intervening by moving an application for recalling the order in a mutation proceeding initiated by the respondent herein is wholly unwarranted, the court said.

“Neither the Will dated 26.10.1995 was challenged nor any regular suit was filed by the petitioners for claiming title over the property pursuant to a subsequent Will. It is settled principle of law that mutation proceedings are summary in nature and it does not confer any title over the property and this is only for the fiscal purposes.”, the court added.

Thus, the court concluded that the writ petition was not maintainable since the order passed in mutation proceedings is not final on the question of title and title can only be decided by a competent Court of law, therefore, this Court was not inclined to interfere with the order passed by the Tehsildar.

Appearance:

Counsel for the petitioners : Mr. Piyush Garg, learned counsel

Counsel for the respondent : Mr. Sunil Khera, learned counsel along with and Mr. Lalit Sharma, learned counsel and Mr. Yogesh Kumar Sharma, learned counsel

Case Title: Ashutosh Sharma and Another Versus Madhav Samarpan Samiti, Writ Petition (M/S) No. 1448 of 2024

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (UTT) 22

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