P L D 1962 W (PLP)

(i) Rehmatullah Khan and Inayatullah Khan owned the land in dispute jointly with other co‑sharers and they had no right to sell the specific Khasra numbers mentioned in the registered deed ; and (ii) the respondents had kept quiet for 18 years and not taken steps to get the land mutated in their favour. As for point No. (i) the learned Additional Commissioner found that the respondents had been in possession of the land sold by Rehmatullah Khan (mutation No. 1103) and had been in possession paying no rent under colour of purchase according to the revenue records. In the case of mutation No. 1101 since the land is banjar qadim, the owners have been shown in possession. Since this is the prescribed practice during preparation of quadrennial jamabandis and unless the sale mutation had been decided, the banjar land was bound to be shown under all the owners, I agree with him, therefore, that the entry is not derogatory to the respondents. As for point (ii) section 37 (a) of the Land Revenue Act provides that mutation entries are to be made in accordance with the facts proved or admitted to have occurred. Paragraph 7.17 of the Land Records Manual lays down that a mutation of transfer by gift, sale or mortgage, should not be decided unless: ‑ (a) possession is proved to have actually passed ; or (b) all the parties agreed before the Attesting Officer that possession has passed ; or (c) all the parties have agreed in a registered document that possession has passed. The latter condition has been fulfilled in the present case and in accordance with the instructions the Revenue Officer had no option but to sanction the mutation. The fact that the entry of the mutation has been delayed for 18 years is regrettable in view of the fact that under section 7.32 of the Land Records Manual very detailed directions have issued under which Registrars, Sub‑Registrars send monthly particulars of all registered deeds which purport to transfer agricultural land to the Tehsildar. The Office Kanungo forwards these memos to the Field Kanungo of the Circle who in turn distribute them to the Patwaris and the latter are to make a note of this fact at once in the daily diary and enter up the mutation in the register vide [para. 7.32 (iii) of the Land Record Manual under paragraph 3.27 (ii) ibid] any Patwari who without sufficient excuse fails to enter up any transfer per registered deed within one month of the receipt of the registration memo. from the Field Kanungo shall be dismissed unless the Deputy Commissioner considers that there is special reason for limiting the punish ment. It is strange that despite all these precautions and directives, cases of this kind should keep on cropping up, in which people who have paid the heavy registration fees later find that mutations have not been entered up and they are put to trouble by being dragged in appeals and revisions. This being the position and it being settled law that mutations are summary proceedings in which revenue officers are neither qualified nor expected to go into intricate questions of title, I must uphold the orders of the Assistant Collector, 2nd Grade, and the Additional Commissioner. Both the revisions are, therefore, dismissed. If the petitioners wish to question the transactions they may, as the Additional Commis sioner has rightly held, do so in Courts of competent jurisdiction. K. M. A. Petitions dismissed.