In Brief
The Zila Panchayat Etah challenged orders from a trial court and High Court that had decreed a suit filed by Om Prakash Shah and Vikram Singh seeking permanent injunction over disputed property. The respondents claimed the land as ancestral property where a school building had once stood. The Zila Panchayat produced revenue records (Nuzul Khasra No. 594) and municipal registers showing the property was handed over to the District Board in 1892 for school management. The Supreme Court held that the trial and appellate courts erred by discarding uncontradicted documentary evidence and relying on the respondents' oral testimony. Applying Section 60 of the Indian Easements Act, the Court ruled that once the District Board constructed permanent school structures on the land, the license became irrevocable. The respondents, having no documentary evidence of ownership, had no legal right to the property. The Court allowed the appeal and set aside the decrees below."
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