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TMI Blog1975 (8) TMI 135X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he Forest Settlement Officer under sec. 7 of the Act and evidence of the parties was concluded on February 19, 1955. The case was adjourned for local inspection to March 3, 1955. The local inspection was not however held on the due date and was made instead on May 3, 1955 when the Forest Settlement Officer further directed that the case would be put up for orders, but it was not stated when. The record of the case shows that on May 9, 1955 the Forest Settlement Officer recorded an order under sec. 11(1) of the Act that the appellant had proved his claim, and directed the Divisional Forest Officer to inform within 15 days whether he wants the land on payment of compensation or not . Sec. 11(1) reads : In the case of a claim to a right in or over any land, other than a right-of-way or right of pasture, or a right to forest-produce or a water-course, the Forest Settlement-officer shall pass an order admitting or rejecting the same in whole or in part. Sub-sec. (2) of sec. 11 states: If such claim is admitted in whole or in part, the Forest Settlement Officer shall either- (i) exclude such land from the limits of the proposed forest; or (ii) come to an agreeme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... om the date of the first order. On the merits the appellate tribunal found on a consideration of the evidence that claim of 'Sirdari' rights over the land in question had no basis and allowed the appeal by its order dated April 20, 1959. The tribunal also set aside another order releasing the disputed land in favour of the claimant which was passed by the Forest Settlement Officer during the pendency of the appeal. The claimant filed a writ petition in the High Court at Allahabad challenging the order of the appellate tribunal as without jurisdiction on two grounds: first, the order passed on May 9, 1955 was set aside though the appeal was directed not against that order but against the order dated April 24, 1956 which was not an appealable order under the Act and, secondly, assuming the appeal was also directed against the earlier order, it was barred by limitation. On the first point the High Court took the view that since the prayer made in the petition of appeal was for setting aside the 'orders' of the Forest Settlement Officer admitting the claim, the appeal must be held to have been preferred against both the orders. As regards limitation, the High Court o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... urther made a grievance that the order passed by the State Government on the revision application did not state the reasons for rejection. On the question whether the appeal presented under sec. 17 of the Act covered the order passed by the Forest Settlement Officer on May 9, 1955, it appears that the prayer made in the petition of appeal refers not only to 'orders' in the plural, but also describes them as orders admitting the claim of the respondent, though, of course, the order dated April 24, 1956 was not one admitting the claim and as such was not appealable. Thus though the date of the earlier order was not mentioned in the petition of appeal, there can be no doubt that the appeal was also directed against that order. The other question is whether the appeal was in time. Sec. 17 provides a right of appeal from an order passed by the Forest Settlement Officer under sec. 11 and lays down a time limit of three months from the date of the order for presenting the appeal. In this case the order under sec. 11 was recorded by the Forest Settlement Officer on May 9, 1955, and the appeal under sec. 17 filed on July 20, 1956 was obviously long out of time if the impugned ord ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... It is the making of the order which gives rise to the grievance. In this case it is the fixation of the new bus stand and the discontinuance of the old bus stand by which the bus operators claim to have been aggrieved. It is easy to see that there is no real cause for grievance till such fixation and discontinuance of bus stands have been made by a notified order. In other words, the order has not been made till the notification has been published. Before that it is only an intention to make an order that has been expressed. It is clear that the publication of the notification serves as notice to the aggrieved party and enables him to make an application under sec. 64A within the prescribed time limit. This case therefore does not support the appellant. The Act we are concerned with does not state what would happen if the Forest Settlement Officer made an order under sec. 11 without notice to the parties and in their absence. In such a case, if the aggrieved party came to know of the order after the expiry of the time prescribed for presenting an appal from the order, would the remedy be lost for no fault of his ? It would be absurd to think so. It is a fundamental princ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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