HC asks litigants to approach DMs on encroachment issues

 TNN / Aug 9, 2020

Jodhpur: With a view to discourage the trend of filing petitions in matters pertaining to encroachment on gochar (village grazing land), aagor/johad (land around water ponds), orans (sacred village forests), river or riverbed, public way or routes and cremation or burial grounds in villages, the high court has advised litigants to first approach the district magistrates. 

Disposing of three such petitions and advising petitioners to file a detailed representation to the district magistrate of Jodhpur, division bench comprising chief justice Indrajit Mahanty and justice Vijay Bishnoi directed the grievance to be resolved in three months from the date of filing the representation. Citing an order of January last year, the bench said the directions had been given to the chief secretary to set up an effective Public Land Protection Cell (PLPC) in every district headed by district collectors to resolve such matters of encroachments. 

“District collectors should be required to periodically notify for information of general public to lodge complaints/representations with regard to such encroachments with a specially designated PLPC for rural areas,” the order read.

The court observed if the cells play an effective role, the necessity of such complainants approaching this court directly by way of public interest litigation could be done away with.

The court had mandated that the PLPC shall get such complaints/representations inquired into by deputing subdivisional officer/tehsildar/naib tehsildar so as to verify whether or not such encroachments have actually taken place on such land.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/hc-asks-litigants-to-approach-dms-on-encroachment-issues/articleshowprint/77439214.cms