New Delhi, Apr 13: The Supreme Court has passed severe strictures against UP government for not implementing the order of a sub divisional officer (SDO) allotting 2.45 acre land to a Scheduled Caste labourer under the UP Land Reforms law and instead challenging it at higher forums. "It is surprising that the state of UP had chosen to file an appeal against the order of the SDO, in tandem with the 'gaon sabha'. "It seems to be a clear case of non-application of mind on the part of the concerned authorities of the state who are supposed to effectuate the socio-economic objective of the legislation," a bench comprising Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Venkatarama Reddi observed. Setting aside the Allahabad High Court order, the bench restored the order of Konch SDO, who had recorded appellant Manorey alias Manohar's name as 'bhumidhar' in revenue records with non-transferable rights under the act on the ground that he was in continuous possession of the land since 1975. "It would be travesty of justice to deny relief to the appellant who is a scheduled caste agricultural labourer and relegate him to an unfortunate situation of being left without remedy though he has a statutory right to continue in possession and enjoyment of the land," the bench observed.

Manohar approached the SDO after the land was wrongfully leased out to others by the 'gaon sabha' of Tomra village and Jhansi additional commissioner upheld his order.

He appealed to the apex court as the order was reversed by the board of revenue and subsequently upheld by the High Court.

Bureau Report