Law: Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958

Section: 15(3)

  Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act (XLVII of 1958) Ss. 15(3) & 16-Permanent settlement could only follow lawful allotment-Displaced person not entitled to retain excess land by reference to S. 16-[Sardar Muhammad and others v. The Deputy Commissioner and others Law Notes 1968 Lah. 205 dissented from]. Where the argument was that land once permanently settled under section 16 of the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958, vests absolutely in the allottee and, therefore, any excess land could not be taken away after it bad been perma nently settled. Held : The intention of the provisions of sections 15 and 16 of the Displaced Persons (Land Settlement) Act, 1958, is to grant permanent rights to displaced persons in land which has been validly allotted to them either under a Settlement or Rehabilitation Scheme or under the provisions of the Act itself, and once that land has been permanently settled in terms of subsection (3) of section 15, then it shall vest absolutely in the displaced person concerned under section 16 of the Act. If the allotment has not been validly made in accordance with the terms of the Scheme or the provisions of the Act, then it is clear that no question of permanent settlement of such land would arise. To put it differently, it is a necessary condition for permanent settlement that the allotment in favour of a displaced person must be in accordance with the terms of the scheme or the Act. No permanent rights accrue on the basis of an allotment obtained by fraud or in violation of the terms of the scheme or the statute or in excess of the displaced person's entitlement for such an allotment would be a nullity in the eye of law. Sardar Muhammad and others v. The Deputy Commissioner and others Law Notes 1968 Lah. 205 dissented from. ORDER ANWARUL HAQ, J.-This appeal under clause 10 of the Letters Patent has arisen out of an order made by our learned brother Muhammad Fazle Ghani Khan, J. on the 21st of January` 1970 whereby the question of the verification of the claim of the appellant has been left to be decided by the relevant Rehabilitation Settlement Authorities in the light of the obser vations made by the…