The state High Court made it clear that hiring a local commissioner to gather evidence is not permitted. The purpose of the local commissioner is to be aware of the facts as they actually stand. The court ruled that gathering evidence on behalf of any party is not its responsibility. The court has made the crucial rule that no party has the inherent right to have a local commissioner appointed by the court to conduct a local fact-finding inquiry or gather information in support of their position in civil suit proceedings. Judge Ajay Mohan Goyal issued this ruling in response to Chuni Lal’s plea being denied.
The lawsuit states that in relation to the contested encroachment, the petitioner has filed a civil claim. The petitioner had approached the Gram Panchayat to request a delineation of the contested area rather than the tax official. According to established law, the burden of proof is with the person making the claim, the court explained. The court stated that as the plaintiff had claimed at the lower court that the defendant had intruded on the contested territory, the plaintiff is also responsible for establishing this claim.
In order to prevent the respondents from constructing on the contested land, the petitioner has filed a lawsuit for a permanent injunction. The lawsuit was brought in 2018. The petitioner submitted an application to appoint a local commissioner to demarcate the contested territory while this civil litigation was pending. According to the replies, the revenue authorities had already drawn boundaries on the contested territory twice. Since no encroachment was discovered on the contested area in the aforementioned delineation studies, there was no need to hire any revenue experts.
