Law:

Section:

Tawan---   Deliberate interference with outlets-Heavy tawans justified. ORDER   The Divisional Canal Officer imposed a Tawan of Rs. 5,057-10-0; equivalent to six times the crop rates, on the petitioners on 4-5-54. The Deputy Commissioner passed an order in appeal exercising powers of Commissioner on 28-11-54 and reduced the penalty to two times the crop rates:   The complaint against the petitioners was that their outlet No. 2 on the distributary No. 1-R was found damaged on 5-8-53 so that the `Y' had been increased from the authorised amount of .70 to .88 and the crest was also found damaged. The petitioners complained that this interference with the outlet must have been by some official of the Irrigation Branch (Probably a mate named Rehmat Ali) in order to do them harm. This story was accepted neither by the Divisional Canal Officer nor by the Commissioner. I am also not inclined to accept this defence.   There is some confusion about the date on which the checking was done. The' Divisional Canal Officer's order and the appellate order of the Commissioner both mentioned the date as 5-8-53. The first telegram which the Sub-Divisional Officer issued in this case is present on the file in the form of a copy and is dated 6-8-53. There is, however, a statement of two persons named Dilawar and Hanif, which tends to show that the checking was done and the damage found on 5-8-53. The likelihood, therefore; is that the telegram was drafted by the Sub-Divisional Officer on return from tour too late in the evening for despatch on that day.…