Rajasthan High Court – Jaipur
Jagdish Prasad Meena S/O Prabhati Lal … vs State Of Rajasthan … on 12 March, 2026
[2026:RJ-JP:10363-DB]
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
BENCH AT JAIPUR
D.B. Civil Writ Petition (PIL) No. 18984/2025
Jagdish Prasad Meena S/o Prabhati Lal Meena, Aged About 61
Years, R/o Gram Gopalpura Post Kesheri Tehsil Thanagazi District
Alwar.
----Petitioner
Versus
1. State Of Rajasthan, Through Chief Secretary, Govt.
Secretariat, Jaipur.
2. Tehsildar Alwar, District Alwar, Rajasthan.
3. District Collector, Alwar, District Alwar, Rajasthan.
----Respondents
For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Vivek Yadav for
Dr. Mahesh Sharma.
For Respondent(s) : Ms. Shikha Sharma for
Mr. G.S. Gill, AAG.
HON’BLE DR. JUSTICE PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE VINIT KUMAR MATHUR
Order
12/03/2026
1. This writ petition has been preferred under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India claiming the following reliefs:-
“a. May kindly issue directions the Respondents to conduct an
inquiry against the encroachment being done on Public land
designated as Gair Mumkin Rada and Gair Mukin Johdi.
b. May kindly issue directions the encroachers to dismantle
any structures built in violation of laws.
c. May kindly impose penalties on the encroachers for
violating the public rights of the villagers.”
2. A Division Bench of this Court in Jagdish Prashad Meena &
Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors., D.B. Civil Writ Petition
(PIL) No.10819/2018, vide order dated 30.01.2019, has
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[2026:RJ-JP:10363-DB] (2 of 4) [CW-18984/2025]
directed creation of Public Land Protection Cell(PLPC) for rural
areas in every district; the relevant portion of the order reads as
follows:-
“This Court is inundated with large number of writ
petitions, styled as public interest litigation, from almost
all the Districts of the State, with allegations of
encroachment over the pasture land/ land of ‘johad’,
‘talab’/ river/river bed/public way/ Shamshan/Kabristan
etc. In all such petitions, common allegation is that
despite repeated complaints/representations to the
concerned revenue officers, no steps are taken by them
to remove the encroachment. This results in number of
writ petitions being filed by the
complainants/representationists before this Court. This
Court has been passing orders in such matters requiring
the respective District Collectors to examine the factual
content of the allegations and take steps to remove the
encroachments so as to secure such land.
In order therefore to provide a pan-Rajasthan solution
to this ever persisting problem, we deem it appropriate
to direct the Chief Secretary of the State to devise a
permanent mechanism, which should be operational in
every District of the State where the concerned District
Collector should be required to periodically notify for the
information of the general public to lodge the
complaints/representations with regard to such
encroachments with a specially designated Public Land
Protection Cell (for short ‘PLPC’) for rural areas. The
PLPC should be headed by District Collector and
function under his direction and supervision. The PLPC
shall get such complaints/representations enquired into
by deputing concerned Sub Divisional Officer/Tehsildar/
Naib Tehsildar so as to verify whether or not such
encroachments have actually taken place on such land.
If the allegations are found to be substantiated,
appropriate steps in accordance with law be
immediately taken for removal of the encroachments
and appropriate penal action be also taken against the
trespassers. The complaints/representations received in
the PLPC should be decided by passing speaking order,
informing the respective complainant/representationist
about the action taken. This would obviate the necessity
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[2026:RJ-JP:10363-DB] (3 of 4) [CW-18984/2025]this Court directly by way of public interest litigation. If
this practice is put in place, this Court would not be
inclined to directly entertain such public interest
litigation or would do so only in the event of inaction on
the part of the concerned PLPC.
The PLPC aforementioned shall also keep in view the
guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in Jagpal
Singh & Others Vs. State of Punjab & Others,
(2011) 11 SCC 396 wherein all the State
Governments of the country were directed that they
should prepare schemes for eviction of
illegal/unauthorised occupants of the Gram Sabha/Gram
Panchayat/Poramboke/ Shamlat land and the same
must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat
for the common use of villagers of the village. The said
scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such
illegal occupants, after giving them a show cause notice
and a brief hearing. It was further held therein that long
duration of the illegal encroachment/occupation of land
or huge expenditure in making construction thereon or
political connections of trespassers are no justification
for regularising such illegal occupation. Regularisation
should be permitted only in exceptional cases where
lease has been granted under some government
notification e.g. to landless labourers or members of
Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes or where there is
already a school, hospital, dispensary, ‘shamshan’,
‘kabristan’ or other public utility of the like nature on
the land.
Observations of the Supreme Court in Jagpal Singh
(supra) thus leaves no manner of doubt that removal
of encroachment on all such land is a rule and
regularisation an exception and that too in extremely
limited number of cases, which only the Government
can do by appropriate notification of the government
and no other authority.
List this matter on 14.03.2019.
A copy of this order be sent to the Chief Secretary of
the State of Rajasthan, Government Secretariat, Jaipur,
who shall ensure compliance of this order and do the
needful for creation of Public Land Protection Cell
(PLPC) for rural areas. A copy of this order be also
provided to Mr. Anil Mehta, learned Additional Advocate
General for compliance. ”
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[2026:RJ-JP:10363-DB] (4 of 4) [CW-18984/2025]
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the
petitioner may be permitted to submit a representation before the
PLPC and respondents be directed to dispose of the same within a
period of two months.
4. Accordingly, the writ petition stands disposed of in view of
the directions issued by a Division Bench of this Court in Jagdish
Prashad Meena (supra) while giving liberty to the petitioner to
make a representation before PLPC and the respondents shall
decide the same within a period of two months, from the date of
receiving the certified copy of this order, strictly in accordance
with law. The instant order shall not prejudice the case on merits
in any manner. It is made clear that PLPC shall also give notice to
the private respondents before arriving at a considered conclusion.
(VINIT KUMAR MATHUR),J (PUSHPENDRA SINGH BHATI),J
6-Nitin/Shahenshah/-
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