Gurugram: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Surveyor General of India to study the changing course of the Yamuna River and its impact on the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
The HC has said the Surveyor General should investigate the shifting trajectory of the river with the assistance of revenue agencies from both states to resolve the ongoing land disputes along its banks.
The court observed that the river’s course has changed over time, affecting areas in both Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
It has also ordered the installation of boundary pillars between the two states and the updating of all relevant records. The court remarked that while this is a significant exercise, it is essential to accurately determine land ownership rights.
The high court order comes amid a long legal battle over land ownership and jurisdiction between the two states.
The case in which the directions were laid out earlier this month is linked to landowners from Manjhawali village in Haryana, who possess 300 bighas of land along the Yamuna. The petitioners, Ishwar Singh and others, were seeking correction of revenue records concerning the land’s ownership status.
Initially, this land was within Haryana’s territory, but due to changes in the river’s course, it shifted into Uttar Pradesh. However, under a settlement of 1984, Uttar Pradesh transferred the revenue records of the said land to Haryana, but state officials allegedly failed to update them accordingly.
This legal dispute dates back several decades. According to old records, the land in question originally belonged to one Pandit Gauri Shankar but due to the Yamuna’s shifting course, the land fell in the jurisdiction of Tehsil Sikandrabad, District Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh.
Revenue records in Uttar Pradesh had identified the area as Chak Manjhawali as early as 1946. Its registered sale deed also records it in Haryana’s Manjhawali, according to the court order.
Pandit Gauri Shankar executed a lease of the land in favour of Shiv Charan, Bisheshar Das and Ram Gopal in the year 1948.
In 1950, the legislature of the state of Uttar Pradesh enacted the UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act. In terms of the said enactment, the aforesaid lessees (Shiv Charan and others) deposited ten times of the land revenue with the state of Uttar Pradesh in the year 1959 and accordingly became bhoomidars of the land in question.
The said bhoomidars and their successors sold the said land in favour of the present petitioners (Ishwar Singh and others) and thereafter the land in question remained in physical possession of the petitioners.
The controversy intensified after the UP government transferred the land’s revenue records to Haryana in 1984 under the Dixit Award settlement.
However, discrepancies in updation of records led to confusion and multiple legal disputes.
After a series of legal battles before the revenue authorities in Faridabad and the divisional commissioner at Gurugram, the petitioners sought judicial intervention from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, dissatisfied with the previous orders passed in the matter.
The division bench comprising Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Vikas Suri examined extensive historical documents, revenue records and legal arguments presented by both states.
The court acknowledged the lack of clarity in demarcation due to Yamuna’s changing course and noted that administrative decisions over the years had failed to resolve the issue conclusively.
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Court intervention
Issuing directives for survey by the Surveyor General of India, the high court has now ordered him to conduct a scientific analysis of Yamuna’s historical and current trajectory, assess the impact of alluvial deposits on jurisdictional shifts between Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, verify the authenticity of revenue records, including the existence of Chak Manjhawali, and identify the validity of land claims affected by the river’s natural course changes.
The court also ordered Haryana and UP revenue departments to submit all relevant historical records, including maps and settlement reports.
“The final revenue records must reflect the accurate ownership status based on the survey’s findings,” the court order states.
To prevent future disputes, the court has directed the installation of permanent boundary markers along the disputed areas.
The HC has mandated periodic progress reports from the Surveyor General’s office and set a deadline for the completion of the study. Based on the findings, further legal and administrative action will be taken to resolve the conflict permanently.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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