' This is a revision petition against the order of the Commissioner, Multan dated 10-11-1982 whereby he did not consider it proper to refer the case of the petitioners for the allotment of land under Criminal Tribes Scheme to the Board of Revenue as the Board of Revenue has banned the allotment under this scheme.
2. The facts of the case are that Chak No,. 19/9-R and 16/9-R Tehsil Khanewal were reserved for allotment under Criminal Tribes Scheme. Special officer was appointed by the Provincial Government to select the tenants for this purpose from amongst the Criminal Tribes who had not been convicted, The allotment of 10 acres was to be made to each selectee by the Collector under the statement of conditions published with Punjab Government No,tification No,. 1429, dated 28-4- 1919 and amended subsequently. No, proprietary rights were to be granted to these allottees but only occupancy rights were to be conferred on them after 15 years from the date of allotment if they had fulfilled the conditions of allotment and had not committed any non-bailable offence. The land upon which the non-Muslim allotees under this scheme had acquired occupancy rights was to be treated as evacuee property and was to be allotted to Muslim refugees, but the land upon which the occupancy rights were not acquired was to revert to Government for utilizing it in such manner as it may deem fit. An area of 944 acres was reported to be non-occupancy after the migration of non-Muslim allottees. This area was illegally occupied by the refugees as well as by the Criminal Tribes persons. Sufficient applications from the criminal tribes were received by the Board of Revenue for allotment of land in these Chaks. The Board of Revenue vide its memo. No,.
98/63-1157-CV, dated 23-3-1963 decided that Khan Muhammad and other 75 persons should be allotted non-occupancy land in these chaks under the criminal tribes scheme. An area of 689 acres 1 Kanal 14 Marlas was allotted to criminal tribesman. The other persons filed appeals, writ petitions/civil suits, etc. And agitated upto the Supreme Court. The petitioners also applied that they may be allotted land under the Criminal Tribes Scheme, but their applications were rejected by the Deputy Commissioner on 15-10-1963. They filed appeals/revisions which were rejected and they then went upto the Supreme Court. The honourable Supreme Court vide its order dated 5-11- 1980 decided that "as the question of their eligibility has not yet been examined by the revenue authority, we consider that the best course to adopt would be that the Deputy Commissioner, Multan should examine the question of their entitlement to allotment of land under the Criminal Tribes Scheme out of the remaining 244 acres of land which is still said to be available in the two Chaks in question."
The Board of Revenue vide its Memo. No, 5840/69/4862-CIV, dated 16-10-1969 has stopped further allotment to ex-criminal tribes, as there is no "Special officer" for selection of criminal tribesmen. For the disposal of the application of Jamal Din, etc. Petitioners the Deputy Commissioner/ Collector, directed the Asstt. Commissioner/Collector, Khanewal to furnish the detail of non-occupancy area left by non-Muslim criminal tribes after allotment to Khan Muhammad and other 75 persons. The A.C./Collector reported that out of 944 acres,, 689 acres has been allotted to Khan Muhammad and others under the order of the Board of Revenue and 255 acres were available but on this land refugees as well as criminal tribesmen have illegal possession. The District Collector, summoned the petitioners for hearing and during the course of hearing 16 persons made applications to be imp-leaded as party on the ground that they were in possession of the land. The case was examined by the District Collector who observed that out of these 14 persons, 4 persons have obtained occupancy rights, 3 persons have obtained decree from the civil Court and the remaining 7 persons have neither obtained occupancy rights nor any decree to hold on. Yaqoob, etc. Also obtained decree from the civil Court on 12-10-1974. According to the report of the Patwari there were also some other persons who were unauthorised occupants of land. The District Collector after considering the case directed the G. A (R) to re-examine the case for sending a detailed report explaining the factual position to the Board of Revenue through Commissioner, Multan soliciting advice for taking further action on the applications of Jamal Din etc. Petitioners. He futher directed the Assistant Commissioner/Collector, Khanewal to prepare individual files of unauthorised occupants and initiate action against them under section 32 of the Colony Act. The petitioners went before the Commissioner who did not consider it advisable to refer the case to the Board. Of Revenue as the allotments under Criminal Tribes Scheme had since been banned under the order of the Board of Revenue. Hence this revision petition.
3. Khair Din, etc. Had submitted application through Muhammad Yaqoob to be impleaded as a party but none is present. The application is filed.
4. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners at length, gone through the grounds of revision and perused the record of the case as well as the comments received from the. Deputy Commissioner/Collector. The Criminal Tribes Act was abolished in year 1950 and after its abolishment, the action for the allotment of land was over as there was an officer to select the persons. With the abolition of that law, the concept of criminal tribes itself was not before Board of Revenue.
5. The result is that the allotment cannot be made. There is thus no force is the revision petition which is hereby dismissed. revisions by the competent authorities. Therefore, it is advisable to consult the official sources or legal professionals for the most up-to-date and accurate information.