P L D (Rev (PLP)

NASIR AHMAD.‑The Collector, Multan District, has forwarded the record of an ejectment case Muhammad Amin and others versus Salih Muhammad and others under section 3 of the Punjab Protection and Restoration of Tenancy Rights Act, 1950 with the recommendation that the proceedings should be quashed and the order of ejectment passed against Salih Muhammad and others should be set aside. The facts briefly are as follows :‑ Muhammad Amin and twelve others, residents of village Ferozepur. District Multan, who claim to be landlords of certain lands, made an application for ejectment of their alleged tenants. They are entered in the revenue records as chakdar kasur khwar, a category akin to inferior maliks, so that above them there is another tier of landlords who may be termed as Ala maliks or zamindars. Under the Chakdar Kasur Khawars are Qadir Bakhsh etc., who are occupancy tenants. The land, however, is actually cultivated by Muhammad Amin one of the chakdars kasur khwars in partnership with Salihon, Murad and Muhammad Bakhsh, as tenants‑at‑will, presumably under the occupancy tenants. During the course of the proceedings before the Assistant Collector 2nd Grade a transfer application was made to the Collector who called for a report on 23rd March 1954. The Assistant Collector 2nd Grade instead of making a report passed on 6th April 1954 a somewhat peculiar ejectment order, which is not based on strict legal concepts but because he thought that tenants‑at‑will in this estate were becoming contumacious and needed to be taught a lesson. An application was then made for the execution of the order of ejectment before another Assistant Collector 2nd Grade and actual ejectment was carried out without due regard to the provisions of Section 3 (5) of the Protection and Restoration of Tenancy Rights Act. An appeal was lodged against the latter order but was dismissed by the Collector on technical grounds. Later on the tenants made a detailed application to the Collector, praying for interference. The records of the case were called for and after going into the matter, have been forwarded with the recommendation mentioned above. It would be apparent from the facts given above that of the three tenants Salih Muhammad is one of the occupancy tenants of the land in dispute and the other two tenants, Muhammad Murad and Muhammad Bakhsh do not hold the land under the chakdar kasur khwars but according to the revenue records they are doing so under the occupancy tenants. Quite obviously chakdar kasur khwars were not competent to bring this application for ejectment nor could one of the occupancy tenants be ejected summarily in the manner adopted by the Assistant Collector 2nd Grade. I need not go into the other minor reasons which have been mentioned by the Collector when making his order of reference, dated 30th May 1955. One of these has already been referred to, namely, the undue haste of the Assistant Collector 2nd Grade in passing the order of ejectment though an application for transfer was pending and a report had been called for from him. I agree that the proceedings are illegal and contrary to the provisions of law. These are accordingly quashed and both the orders passed by the Assistant Collectors 2nd Grade are set aside. This is a case which would require further enquiry into the conduct of both the Assistant Collectors ; one who entertained the application should not have passed the order of ejectment when a transfer application was pending and the other should not have entertained the second application made for carrying out the actual ejectment. It is also not clear to me why a jamabandi of this estate has not been prepared and the only document available is the khatauni. The Collector of the District will please look into these matters and make a report within a period of three months on these points. Parties should be informed. A. H. Orders set aside.