Set Up 'Public Land Protection Cells' Across State To Check Encroachments: Madhya Pradesh High Court To State Govt

In order to provide a statewide solution to the problems related to encroachment, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has directed the Chief Secretary of the State to devise a permanent body designated as Public Land Protection Cell with District Collector as its Chairman and officer of the Rank of Tehsildar as its Member Secretary.

The Bench of Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice Sujoy Paul has also asked the state government to appoint such other Officers as the Members of the Cell, as the Government may deem fit to nominate.

The High Court was hearing two petitions filed by way of Public Interest Litigation against the encroachment over the Government's land.

The gram panchayat, Dhuma, had passed a resolution for removal of encroachments on public land and thereafter the matter was forwarded to the district collector, Seoni, and SDM, Lakhnadaun, however, they took no action, and resultantly,  the encroachments weren't removed as mentioned in the resolution and thus, the Gram Panchayat moved a PIL before the high court.

Importantly, the Court noted that that it is inundated with large number of writ petitions, styled as public interest litigation, from almost all the Districts of the State, with allegations of encroachment over the 'nistar land' / 'charnoi' / 'gocher' / 'pasture land' / land of 'pond', 'talab'/ 'river' / 'river bed' / 'public way' / 'shamshan' / 'kabristan' etc.

Further, the Court directed:

"The PLPC shall get the complaints about encroachment over above-referred lands and take necessary action for removal thereof in the light of the Supreme Court judgment in Jagpal Singh v. State Of Punjab & Ors"

It may be noted that in the matter of Jagpal Singh, the Supreme Court had given directions to all the State Governments in the country to prepare schemes for eviction of illegal/unauthorized occupants of Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat/Poramboke/Shamlat land.

The Court had also directed the State Governments that such lands must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village and for this purpose, the Chief Secretaries of all State Governments/Union Territories in India were directed to do the needful, taking the help of other senior officers of the Governments

Importantly, the Court had said:

"The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupant, after giving him a show-cause notice and a brief hearing. Long duration of such illegal occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon or political connections must not be treated as a justification for condoning this illegal act or for regularizing the illegal possession. Regularization should only be permitted in exceptional cases e.g. where lease has been granted under some Government notification to landless labourers or members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, or where there is already a school, dispensary or other public utility on the land."

Case title - Gram Panchayat Dhooma v. State Of MP along with Raghvendra Pratap Singh v. State Of M.P.

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