SMT. SHANTI DEVI AND ORS.  v.  

STATE OF RAJASTHAN AND ORS.  

AUGUST 31, 1994  

[K. RAMASWAMY AND N. VENKATACHALA, JJ.]  

Practice and Procedure-Constitution of India, Article 136-New plea  in appeal on the basis of fabricated document made part of record for the  first time in the Supreme Court-Held, a case of blatant abuse of the process.  of court-Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 Order 41 Rule 27.  

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B  

c  Costs-Writ Petition and Civil Appeal questioning land acquisition  

proceedings after notification already finally upheld by the Supreme Court  earlier-Held, blatant abuse of process of the court deserving dismissal with  exemplary costs of one lakh each to be paid to the Supreme Coult Legal Aid  Committe~Supreme Coult Rules, 1966-Constitution of India, Articles 32, D  142.  

Pursuant to a notification in 1960 under S.4 of the Rajasthan Land  Acquisition Act, 1953, an award was niade arid the lands of B were acquired  and posession handed over to the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) in E  April, 1971. B sold the lands to A and his partner S who in tum sold it to  Appollo Co-operative Housing Society in February, 1970. In May, 1971  Appollo sold the plots to the Appellant. S's Writ Petition challenging the  acquisition failed before the High Court and the notification wa~ upheld  finally by the Supreme Court in 1975. ·  

F  Claiming that the Chairman, Urban Improvement Trust, Jaipur had  

offered the land for sale to Appollo which had been accepted, unauthorised  construction was started on the land. When .JDA resisted this, appellants  unsuccessfully moved the civil court for a perpetual injunction. Observing  that Appollo did ·not have title, the High Court also dismissed the Civil G  Revision Petition in February, 1986. ln.1988, when JDA began demolishing  the structures, the appellants filed a writ petition which was dismissed by  the High Court.  

In the Supreme Court the Appellants produced for the first time an  order dated November 4, 1985 whereby the Additional Collector (South) H  

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2 . SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1994] SUPP. 3 S.C.R.  

purported to convert agricultural lands to a non- agricultural. It was urged  that since the plots had not been handed over to JDA yet, it continued to  vest in government. The Collector had regularised the construction by  receiving conversion charges and thereby the title in the land stood vested  

in the appellants. In a separate writ petition under Article 32, the Appel- ' lants challenged the S.4 notification.  

Dismissing the Appeal and Writ Petition with exemplary costs, this  

Court  

HELD : 1. The order of regularisation purported to have been made  on November 4, 1985 appears to be a propped up document brought on  record for the first time. Not only a new case has been set up on the basis  of a fabricated document but it is also pressed into service for considera- tion by the Court. The case, therefore, is absolutely a case of blatant abuse  of the process of the court. [6-G, 7-B]  

2.1. The appeal is liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs of  rupees one lakh. [7-C]  

2.2. The writ petition is also a blatant abuse of process of the court  and stands dismissed with exemplary costs of rupees one lakh. [7-D]  

2.3. The costs should be paid to the Supreme Court Legal Aid  Committee. In case of non-payment, the Legal Aid Committee is free to  have it recovered by execution of the order. [7-D]  

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 5802 of  

1994.  

From the Judgment and Order dated 26.11.88 of the Rajasthan High  Court in D.B.C.W.P. No. 2956of1988.  

WITH  

Writ Petition (C) No. 423 of 1989.  

(Under Article 32 of ·the Constitution of India.)  

P.R. Kumaramangalam, Vipin Gogia, Pavan Kumar, G.L. Parikh and  H S.K. Jain for the Petitioners.  

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SHANTI DEVI v. STATE [K. RAMASWAMY, J.] 3  

Mrs. Pratibha Jain for the Petitioner/Respondent.  

V.R. Reddy, Additional Solicitor General, B.D. Sharma and  Aruneshwar Gupta for the Respondents.  

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by  

K. RAMASWAMY, J. Leave granted.  

Notification under section 4 of the Rajasthan Land Acqmsition Act  24 of 1953 (for short 'the Act') was published in the State Gazette on May  

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13, 1960 acquiring large tracts of land including the land in Khata Nos. 261,  263-267, 269, 270, 272, 273, 520 and 52{ situated in Bhojpura village which C  is now part of Jaipur city for planned developm~!lt. Declaration under s.6  was published on May 11, 1961. Following the pr~cedute, an award was  made on January 9, 1964. Possession was taken on Apn i 6, 1971 and was  handed over to the Jaipur Urban Development Aulhorit>' n1 the same day  under a duly drawn panchnama. Thus the title in the pwpe1ty of BllJJ.dal, D  the original owner was divested and stood vestec in the J~pur Urban  Development Authority free from all encumbrances. Bansi..'.l:.:u Agg:.r-.val  and his partner Surajmal purchased the lands from the Khatedar Bhurelal  who in turn sold on February 28, 1970 to Appolfo Cooi:.e1ative Hcr:sing  Society. A writ peittion was filed by Surajmal questioning the acqui'.,ition. E  The Single Judge by his judgment dated March 31, 1971 &;mis:,ed the writ  petition which was confirmed in appeal on April 12, 1 ) 73, rtpcrted in AIR  (1974) Raj. 116. On further appeal to this Court, thi.: Court cli-,inissed the  appeal on September 17, 1974 reported in Indrapuri (];iha Ninnun Sahkari  Samiti Ltd. v. The State of Rajasthan & Ors., (1975: -~ SCC 2~::. Thus the  notification under s.4(1) stood confirmed. The AyJ-1lio Nag-. · Housing F  Society said to have sold the plots to the appellan~ , ar1d ~!otted the same  on May 31, 1971. It would appear that during the p~ndency 1 ~ the writ  petition and writ appeal stay of dispossession ··.; ·' obtcinec! a.n·i it was  claimed that the Chairman U.I.T., Jaipur had offered allotment of tlie lands  to the Appollo Nagar Housing Society on January 5, 1972@ Rs. ~ per sq. G  yard which Appollo was claimed to have accepted on J anua;y 11, J )"'2 and  started construction on the land. When the Munsif Magistr<Jte was :noved  for stay of unavthorised construction, ultimately petition was disdssed.  But when the Urban Development Authority resisted their construction  they invoked the jurisdiction on the Civil Court by filing a suit for perpetual  injunction. Ultimately in Civil Revision No. 769 of 1985 dated February 14, f{

4 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1994) SUPP. 3 S.C.R.  

A 1986, the High Court dismissed the revision with certain observations to  wit that Appollo Nagar Greh Nieman Sehkari Samiti. had neither prima  facie nor had balance of convenience been proved nor had irreparable loss  that would be caused been established.  

On August 30, 1988 when the Jaipur Development Authority started  B demolition of the structures, the appellants filed Writ Petition No. 2956 of  

1988 and sought for declaration that the land in question stood acquired  or construction regularised in their favour and for perpetual injunction to  restrain the respondents from interfering with their constructions in respect  of their plots. It may be relevant to mention at this juncture that the  

C appellants amended the writ petition and also filed additional affidavit. In  the writ petition the case set up was that the government invited, by public  notice, applications for conversion of the agricultural lands into urban  lands and regularisation of the construction made thereon and pursuant  thereto they had deposited the total sum of Rs. 91006.58 p. The government  

D had accepted the same. A letter in proof thereof was issued by the Addi.  Collector (South) on November 22, 1985 and marked in the High Court as  Annexure-8. And it was also pleaded that the appellants were hopeful that  the government would deacquire the property and regularise the un- authorised construction they had made. Instead, the respondents had  chosen to demolish part of their construction on August 30, 1988 and  

E repeated the demolition of the remaining construction by August 31, 1988.  The Division Bench of the High Court in the impugned judgment dated  November 26, 1988 dismissed the writ petition. Thus this appeal by special  leave. ·  

F Sri Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, the learned counsel for the appel- lants contended that the Addi. Collector in his proceediiig dated November  4, 1985 converted the agricultural lands into non-agriculatural lands and  allotted the lands to the appellants under Rajasthan Land Revenue Allot- ment, Conversion and Regularisation of Agricultural Lands Rules, 1981 for  

G short 'the Rules'. Under s. 17A of the Act, unless by an order, possession  is transferred to J .DA, the land remains to be the property of the  government, though the Collector had acquired the land and taken posses- sion under s. 16 or 17 and make over to the local authority upon payment  of the cost of the acquisition. So the land did not vest in the J.DA., local  authority. There is no evidence placed on record that J.DA. had paid the  

H cost of the acquisition to the state and an order of transfer was made by

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SHANTIDEVlv. STATE[K.RAMASWAMY,J.] 5  

the Collector in its favour. The land, therefore, continues to vest in the A  government. The Adell. Collector as a delegate of the Collector under the  Rules had regularised the construction by the receiving conversion charges  etc. Thereby the title in the land stood vested in the appellants and that  

they are the owners. The action taken by the respondents in demolishing  

their house3 or attempt of demolition of part thereof is illegal, unwarranted B  and unauthorised. The High Court, the~efore, committed error of law in  dismissiqg the writ petition in. this behalf. It is also contended that the  appellants are challenging the very notification issued under s.4(1) in the  writ petition.  

Having given our anxious consideration to the contention, our prima C  f acie view was that the contention is unexceptionble and that the appellants  have a case for interference. But, when we went deep. into the facts it  shocked our conscience to notice that the order of regularisation by the  Addl. Collector, Jaipur (South) puported to have been made on November  4, 1985 appeared to be a propped up document brought on record for the D  first time in this Court. That document had never seen the light of the day  when proceedings in two stages were pending in the High Court and a new  case, for the first time, has been advanced before us on its foundation. It  is seen that in the High Court, though the appellants had opportunity which  they availed of and to amend the pleadings and file additional affidavit, \Ji='  had not pleaded that the Addl. Collector had converted the agricultur.;tl E  lands into urban lands regularised the ·authorised constructions and that"'  allotment of the government plots of land was made in their favour nor was  it argued before the division bench. Though we have doubt whether Addl.  Collector could allot government land after regularisation under the Rules,  we need not go into nor record any findings in the view we are taking on  the facts. The intrinsic evidence on r~cord falsifies the stand and leads us F  to an irresistible interference that the said order of the Addl. Collector  must have been a document brought up subsequent to the dismissal of the  writ petition by the High Court. The Addl. Collector in his letter dated  June 17, 1985 to the J .DA. stated that Appollo Nagar Greh Nirman Coop.  Society made an application on July 21, 1974 for conversion. The J.D.A. G  'had not recommended for transfer of the land to that society and, there- fore, their letter was rejected on October 31, 1984. This letter is made part  of the record as Annexure R-1. In the order dated ~ovember 4, 1985, the  Addl. Collector has .purported to note that a total sum payable towards  transformation fee and penalty for construction area and land allotment  fee would be Rs. 92189.48 p. and the amount deposited was Rs. 91006.58p. H

6 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1.994] SUPP. 3 S.C.R.  

A and direction was given to deposit the balance amount of Rs . .:.182.90 p. In  the letter dated October 15, 1985 addressed by Appello Nagar Ho'Jsing  Coop. Society, he requested the Addi. Collector to issue receipt Jor a  deposit of Rs. 91006 and also requested for allotment of the land in  accordance with the government decision dated September 1, 1984. l n the  Jetter addressed by the AddJ. Collector to the Senior Town Planner of  

B J.D.A. while intimating of the letter it was stated as November 22, 1985 i.e.  after the date of the purported regularisation that the appellants bad  deposited only Rs. 91006.58 ·p. In other words as on November 22, 1985  there is no mention of either deposit made by the appellants for the balance  amount of Rs. 1182.90 p. or of the order dated November 4, 1985 of the  

C alleged regularisation and allotment. Moreover, there is no reference in  that letter to the letter dated November 4, 1985 regularising the illegal  construction by converting agricultural lands into non-agricultural lands  and collection of the total amount and calling upon the appellant to pay  the balance amount of Rs. 1182.90 p. It is not the case of the appellants  that they had ever deposited the balance amount pursuant to the letter of  

D allotment dated November 4, 1985. The High Court dismissed civil revision  petition on February 14, 1985 (2nd stage of the litigation) holding that there  is no prima f acie title established for issuance of an injunction order in their  favour. One would legitimately expect the production of the purported  order dated November 4, 1985 and pressed the appellants' case on its basis  

E as title for claiming an injunction. As seen the admission in the pleadings,  the writ petition (3rd stage) is that the gov~rnment have not chosen to  regularise the conversion and that the relief was for the declaration of  deemed regularisation. During the course of the arguments when the  counsel for the J.D.A. asserted that the land stood vested in them, no  attempt was made even at that stage of the assertion of the · alleged  

F regularisation and conversion of the land into urban area and adjustment  of deposit amount towards the conversion charges, allotment charges and  penalty and allotment of the land. Thus it is clear that as on date of disposal  of the writ petition in the High Court, the alleged regularisation order  dated November 4, 1985 did not see the light of the day. Obviously it must  

G be a fabricated document propped up thereafter and for the first time it  was made part of the record in this court and a new plea was found for  the relief on its basis. Thus not only a new case has been set up in this  Court on the basis of fabricated document but also the fabricated docu- ment is pressed into service for conside:-ation by tliis Court. The case thus  clearly indicates the need for the amendment of the Supreme Court Rules  

H to insist upon raising grounds only on the case set up and argued in the  

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SHANTI DEVI v. STATE [K. RAMASWAMY, J.] 7  

courts below on the basis of the pleadings and the evidence placed before A  the High Court or the Courts below unless leave of th.is court is sought and  obtained. If any additional evidence is to be made part of the record, an  application in this behalf under the Rules and Order 41, Rule 27 C.P.C.  should be made. Until then they cannot be looked into. Lest the party gets  scot free introducting new documents which have no foundation or fabri- cated documents find free passage into the record of this court for which B  no one takes responsibility. The respondents would have no opportunity to  properly verify the authenticity of the documents etc. The case, therefore,  is absolutely a case of blatant abuse of the process of the court. The appeal  is, therefore, liable to be dismissed with exemplary costs of rupees one lakh.  The Govt. of Rajasthan shall get investigation made into the fabrication of C  the order purported to be issued by the Addl. Collector, Jaipur (South)  and said to be dated November 4, 1985 and to take appropriate steps in  that behalf. The writ petition is also a blatant abuse of the process of the  court. The acquisition proceedings have become final and the notification  was upheld by this Court, as stated already. Therefore the writ petition also  stands dismissed with exemplary costs of Rs. 1,00,000. The appeal is D  accordingly dismissed with costs of rupees one lakh. Cost should be paid  to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee. In case of non-payment, the  Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee is free to have it recovered by  execution of th.is Order.  

S.M. Appeal and Petition dismissed.