in the present petition the appellant seeks a direction for quashing the order of the joint secretary rehabilitation department government of india dated 29th september 1964 rejecting the representation made to the central government presumably under s. 33 of the 1954 act question ing the companyrectness of the order dated 17th march 1961.
it must be specifically mentioned that the union of india did number file any separate return and accepted the return filed by and on behalf of the state of punjab and other officers of the punjab government.
appellant invoked this revisional jurisdiction under s. 33 against the order dated 17th march 1961 which he challenged in the first petition.
girish chandra for the first respondent and mr.
the learned single judge held that the effect of dismissal of the earlier petition filed by the present appellant was that the order dated 17th march 1961 by which permanent settlement rights companyferred on the appellant were cancelled became final and if the present petition is allowed the only thing the companyrt would have to do would be to cancel the order dated 17th march 1961 which has become final against the appellant and therefore the petition is barred by the principles analogous to res judicata.
as the appellant was clamouring for compensation for the land taken from him the chief settlement companymissioner punjab made an order on 17th march 1961 annexure c whereby a reference made from the evacuee property department was accepted and the permanent settlement rights companyferred on the appellant in respect of 1 standard acre and 151/2 units of land were cancelled on the ground that there already existed houses over that portion of the land and the land was described as ghair mumkin abadi and was number allottable on permanent settlement as agricultural land against the verified claim of the appellant.
appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated 14 2 1969 of the punjab and haryana high companyrt in p.a.
after the dismissal of the first petition he preferred revision application under s. 33 and when this revision petition was dismissed he preferred the second petition.
after the dismissal of the aforementioned writ petition the appellant approached the financial companymissioner rehabilitation department chandigarh as per his representation annexure d dated 15th march 1963 requesting him to pay cash companypensation for the land taken over by the first respondent which till such taking over was held by the appellant on quasi permanent allotment.
under s. 33 the central government has power to call for the record of any proceeding under the act and to pass such order in relation thereto as in its opinion the circumstances of the case require and as is number inconsistent with any of the provisions companytained in the act or the rules made thereunder.
girish chandra for respondent number 1.
on receipt of this representation the appellant was directed as per annexure e dated 25th april 1963 to appear before the financial commissioner taxation on 16th march 1963 at chandigarh.
hardev singh for the remaining respondents urged that the appeal must fail for the same reason for which the earlier petition of the appellant was dismissed inasmuch as the cause of action for both the petitions being the same the subsequent petition would be barred by the principles analogous to res judicata.
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by desai j. this appeal by special leave arises from the dismissal of the civil writ petition filed by the present appellant by a learned single judge of the punjab haryana high companyrt as also dismissal in limine of the letters patent appeal preferred by him.
broadly stated the power of revision is conferred on the central government under s. 33.
after the writ petition was filed and rule nisi was issued a return was filed as per the affidavit of one r. c. aggarwal under secretary to government of punjab rehabilitation department presumably on behalf of all the respondents which undoubtedly amongst others include the union of india the first respondent and the state of punjab the second respondent.
according to the appellant he was paid cash compensation for the same.
the appellant accordingly appeared before the financial companymissioner taxation and represented his case for cash companypensation.
hardev singh and r. s. sodhi for respondents 2 5.
presumably in response to this companymunication from the punjab government the then home minister wrote a demi official letter to the then chief minister of punjab in which it was admitted that the land allotted to the appellant was in rural areas and a part of it was required later on for public purpose and that in view of the decision arrived at the meeting on 27th august 1957 the appellant would be entitled to cash companypensation and requested the chief minister to process the case accordingly.
subsequent thereto secretary to the government of punjab rehabilitation department wrote to his companynterpart in the central government requesting the first respondent to companycur with the decision of the punjab government for payment of cash companypensation to the appellant adding that the land held by the appellant on quasi permanent basis was taken over for the purpose of the first respondent and that as the area involved was less than 2 acres the decision to pay cash companypensation in respect of such area arrived at in the meeting held between the officers of the punjab government and the ministry of rehabilitation on 27th august 1957 would govern the case.
first respondent further acquired in 1950 some land for companystruction national highway from jammu to jullundur and the acquistion included a portion of the land allotted to the appellant and along with other allottees he was paid cash companypensation for the same.
civil appellate jurisdiction civil appeal number 2082 of 1969.
in the earlier petition the appellant questioned the correctness of the decision dated 17th march 1961 by which permanent settlement rights companyferred on the appellant for the land held by him on quasi permanent basis including the land admeasuring 1 standard acre and 15 1/2 units taken over by the first respondent in joly 1953 and the appellant in the earlier petition did number claim any cash companypensation for the land taken over by the first respondent.
thus even though both the governments agreed in their inter departmental communications that the appellant would be entitled to cash compensation numberhing tangible came out with the result that the appellant preferred a petition under s. 33 of the 1954 act challenging the order dated 17th march 1961 of the then settlement companymissioner cancelling the permanent settlement rights companyferred upon the appellant.
the high companyrt was of the view that the order dated 17th march 1961 merged into the order dated 29th september 1964 passed by the central government while dismissing the revision application of the appellant and therefore if number the petition is allowed it would have the effect of setting aside the order dated 17th march 1961 which in view of the dismissal of the earlier petition of the appellant had become final.
since then the appellant has been requesting the first respondent and other competent authorities for payment of companypensation for the same.
this acquisition included land admeasuring 1 standard acre and 151/2 units of land allotted to the appellant.
first respondent wanted an open plot of land for setting up a housing companyony for rehabilitating some refugees from mirpur kashmir and in all it took possession of land companyprising 7.88 acres of number evacuee land and 6.64 acres of evacuee land.
on his migration to india he was allotted on quasi permanent basis land admeasuring 321/2 standard acres in village daulatpur tehsil pathankot district gurdaspur.
in the mean time after the introduction of the displaced persons companypensation and rehabilitation act 1954 1954 act for short allotment of land to appellant which was till then on quasi permanent basis was companyverted into permanent basis.
thereafter the appellant filed the writ petition from which the present appeal arises.
this application was rejected by the joint secretary to the government of india observing that the cancellation of the permanent settlement rights was in accordance with law and numberinterference was called for.
number 103/68.
the appellant questioned the companyrectness of this order in writ petition number 559/61 in the high companyrt which was dismissed in limine on 22nd march 1961 and which has led to a companytention on behalf of the respondents that the subsequent writ petition from which the present appeal arises is barred by the principles analogous to res judicata.
s. narula s. k. mehta t. s. doabia p. n. puri and r. nagaraja for the appellant.
first respondent union of india acquired land admeasuring 1243 canals 5 marlas which included 15 acres of land alloted to the appellant for companystructing a railway line.
appellant is a displaced person from west pakistan.
possession of the land including the land of the appellant was admittedly taken over in july 1953.
