Landowner Told To Pursue Pending Civil Suit Over Alleged Encroachment As Chhattisgarh HC Declines To Interfere With Revenue Order

The petitioner claimed ownership of land bearing Khasra No. 375/2, measuring 0.19 hectares, and applied under Section 250 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code for relief concerning the land.

The Tehsildar dismissed the application, finding that private respondents had been in possession for 30–35 years; the petitioner’s appeals and revision were also dismissed, with the Board of Revenue concluding that the application had not been filed within two years of dispossession.

The petitioner challenged the Board’s order and sought, among other relief, removal of the alleged encroachment.

Respondent No. 5 informed the Court that the petitioner had filed a civil suit for declaration of title and possession on 12 September 2023.

Section 250 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code was the statutory basis for the petitioner’s application before the Tehsildar.

The petitioner could pursue the pending civil suit, and the observations of the revenue courts and the High Court would not bind the civil court, which must decide the matter independently on its merits and in accordance with law.

The Court noted that the petitioner’s challenge concerned the revenue proceedings and the Board’s dismissal of his revision, but that a civil suit for declaration of title and possession was already pending.

In view of that suit, the Court considered the civil court the appropriate forum for the petitioner to pursue his remedies and found no basis to interfere with the impugned order.

It left the civil court free to determine the dispute independently.

The petitioner was granted liberty to pursue the pending civil suit for declaration of title and possession; the civil court was directed to decide the matter on its own merits, uninfluenced by observations made in the revenue proceedings or in the High Court’s order.