The Allahabad High Court has quashed a series of ex parte administrative orders that threatened the land on which Sunbeam School in Varanasi is situated, holding that revenue authorities cannot nullify judicial and quasi-judicial orders through administrative action or without affording an opportunity of hearing to affected parties.
Justice Prakash Padia allowed two writ petitions filed by Sunbeam School, setting aside orders dated December 15, 2012, November 21, 2012 and December 20, 2012, by which revenue authorities had recalled earlier revenue entries, declared the land as a pond and sought to interfere with the school’s possession. The Court also restrained the authorities from interfering with the functioning of the school.
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The dispute concerned land in Village Lahartara, Varanasi, over which the petitioner claimed rights through a registered lease executed after a 1988 appellate decree declaring its predecessor-in-interest the absolute owner. Following the decree, the land was mutated in the revenue records, declared ‘Abadi’ in 2002 and the Varanasi Development Authority sanctioned construction of the school after the Nagar Nigam issued a No Objection Certificate.
The High Court held that the 1988 decree had attained finality and had never been set aside by any competent court. Therefore, the authorities could not recall consequential revenue entries or treat the land as a pond through administrative orders passed decades later on the application of a third party and without notice to the affected persons. The Court further observed that the proceedings were without jurisdiction and violated the principles of natural justice.
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Accordingly, the Court quashed all the impugned orders and restrained the respondents from interfering with the running of Sunbeam School on the disputed land.
