Land encroachment disputes require adjudication by competent revenue authorities under Section 250.

The petitioners, children of late Milap Nirmalkar, claimed rights over land bearing Khasra No. 675/3, measuring 227 square feet, situated at Nayapara, Sirgitti, Bilaspur.

Their late father had allegedly been granted an Abadi Patta over the land under a Government scheme in 2017–18.

After the death of their father in 2019 and mother in 2021, the petitioners shifted to Bhilai for livelihood.

Upon returning, they allegedly found that respondent Nos. 6 and 7, their adjoining neighbours, had dumped waste material on the land and were using it for parking vehicles.

The petitioners alleged that, despite requests to vacate the land and remove the waste, the private respondents threatened and misbehaved with them.

Their complaints to the revenue and other authorities allegedly did not result in effective action.

They therefore filed a writ petition seeking directions for removal of the alleged encroachment.

Whether the High Court should exercise its writ jurisdiction to direct removal of the alleged encroachment over the disputed land?

Whether the petitioners should be relegated to the remedy before the competent revenue authority under Section 250 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959, or any other applicable provision?

The Court applied the principle that disputes concerning possession, encroachment, and removal of encroachment over land should ordinarily be adjudicated by the competent revenue authority on the basis of revenue records and other relevant evidence, rather than directly through a writ petition.

The Court specifically recognised the petitioners’ remedy of filing an appropriate application under Section 250 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959, or any other applicable legal provision.

Where such an application is filed, the authority must provide due opportunity of hearing to all concerned parties and decide the matter in accordance with law.

The Court found that the substance of the petitioners’ grievance was a disputed claim of possession and alleged encroachment, coupled with a request for removal of the encroachment.

Determination of such a dispute would require examination of revenue records and other material produced by both sides, which was more appropriately undertaken by the competent revenue authority.

Since the petitioners had an efficacious statutory remedy under Section 250 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, the High Court declined to issue a direct mandamus for removal of the alleged encroachment.

However, considering that the writ petition had remained pending since 2022, the Court directed that any application filed by the petitioners should be considered expeditiously, preferably within 90 days.

The Court expressly refrained from deciding the merits of either party’s claim or defence.

The authority was directed to decide the application in accordance with law, after hearing all concerned parties, and preferably within 90 days of its filing.

No opinion was expressed on the merits of the petitioners’ claim or the private respondents’ defence.