GANGTOK, India, June 15 -- Sikkim High Court issued the following judgment/order on May 15:

1. The questions that this Court is called upon to determine in this Appeal are;

(i) Whether the land claimed by the Respondent, bearing Plot Nos.311, 312 and 313 measuring a total area of 1.7560 hectares belongs to him;

(ii) Whether the Appellant No.1 and the Appellant No.2 have established that, the land claimed by the Respondent vide the aforementioned documents is in fact reserved forest and has been encroached upon by the Respondent?

2. Before the Court of the Learned District Judge, South Sikkim, Namchi, the Appellant No.1 was the Defendant No.1 [The Divisional Forest Officer (T), Department of Forest, Environment and Wildlife Management];

The Appellant No.2 was the Defendant No.2 [The PCE-cumSecretary, Department of Forest, Environment & Wildlife Management];

The Appellant No.3 was the Defendant No.3 [The Secretary, Energy and Power Department, Government of Sikkim];

The Appellant No.4 was the Defendant No.4 [The SubRegistrar/SDM, Office of the District Collectorate, Namchi]; and

The Respondent was the Plaintiff. To prevent obfuscation the parties shall hereinafter be referred to as per their litigative status before this Court.

3. In order to arrive at a finding, on the two questions settled for determination hereinabove, it is necessary to delve, briefly into the facts of the Respondent's case.

(i) The Respondent filed a suit for declaration, injunction and other consequential reliefs before the Court of the Learned District Judge, South Sikkim, Namchi, claiming to have purchased three plots of land, being plot no.311 measuring 0.5960 hectares, plot no.312 measuring 0.0460 hectares and plot no.313 measuring 1.1140 hectares, viz., a total area of 1.7560 hectares/4.33 acres, at Samardung, District Namchi, Sikkim, from one Jhumki Doma Bhutia, on 09-10-2012. Consequent upon necessary verification, the lands were registered in his name on 17-01-2013, which he then demarcated and fenced. It is claimed that his ownership of the land's was fortified by a letter dated 01-12-2016, addressed to the Appellant No.3, by the Appellant No.4, informing that, land measuring 1.7560 hectares, vide khatiyan No.116, was found recorded in the Respondent's name. Exbt 21, dated 08-12-2012 and Exbt 23, dated 27-05-2015 -No Objection Certificates, issued by the Department of the Appellant No.1 and Appellant No.2 further certified respectively that, the land claimed by the Respondent was not forest land nor was there encroachment into forest land by the Respondent.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcs.gov.in/hcs/hg_orders/200100000092020_32.pdf)

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