KATHMANDU, March 27: The Supreme Court (SC) has explained that the land belonging to the Pashupati Mahasnan Pota Guthi land cannot be made Raitani Nambari land. “The SC upheld the decision made by Guthi Sansthan in 2070 BS that the land of Pashupati Mahasnan Pota Guthi should remain in the name of registered persons so that the ownership rights cannot be transferred to others.

The full text of the judgment passed by the full bench of Judges Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Phuyal, Manoj Kumar Sharma, Kumar Chudal, and Til Prasad Shrestha on April 30, 2023, was made public recently.

About 76 individuals, including Renuka Oli, a resident of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-4, had filed a writ petition at the SC. The court dismissed their writ petition. Although the writ was dismissed, the SC explained about the land of Guthi Sansthan.

A lawsuit was filed demanding the annulment of the decision of the Guthi Sansthan to withhold the land for which tiro (a kind of tax) equivalent to the required land revenue had been paid, arguing that property tax should be paid, thus preventing the transfer of ownership of that land. The writ petition sought the annulment of work conducted on Raitani land (Guthi land registered in the name of an individual) that doesn’t fall under Guthi jurisdiction, citing violations of the Guthi Corporation Act.

In this writ petition, the SC issued an interim order not to implement the decision made by the Guthi  Sansthan on March 4, 2014, stating that the fundamental rights mentioned in the Constitution had been violated. That interim order has now been annulled by the SC.

“There is no dispute that Pashupati Mahasnan Pota Guthi is Rajguthi (Guthis established by the people and the Guthi taken over by the government for various reasons). Rajguthi land cannot be maintained under Raitani land. In the absence of legal evidence, the land of Rajguthi cannot be said to be Raitani land based on the sole argument that the tax was paid,” said the SC. In the decision made by the then chairman of Guthi Sansthan on April 16, 1982, the SC explained that it should be considered natural to receive the tax in cash since the revenue provided by the donor has always been accepted in cash.

“In the course of recovering the property of Guthi land, while the Guthi Sansthan can take the property in cash or any form, there cannot be any change in the status, ownership, and type of Guthi land since the property was taken in cash or any kind.”

Those who have houses and those who are yet to build houses in Pashupati Mahasnan Pota Guthi areas have registered a writ petition. The writ petitioners are also the land ownership certificate holders of the Guthi Raitani numbered Land as defined by Section 2 of the Guthi Corporation Act, 2033. About 76 writ petitioners from Sukedhara, Kapan, Chabahil, Maijubhal, Kumarigal, Battisputli, Mitrapark, Jorpati, Tilganga, and other places had filed the case jointly.

The works related to land there seem to be carried out in the Guthi Sansthan. It is clear from the decision of the then chairman of Guthi Sansthan that the claimant's right to the claimed land is not ownership but under Guthi's subordinates.

“Since the land has been owned and controlled by Pashupati Mahasnan Pota Guthi after the investigation, it is not considered that the statutory and legal rights of the writ petitioners have been affected,” the SC said.

It is requested to transfer the ownership rights of the land of Pashupati Mahasnan Pota Guthi registered in the name of individuals to halt land transactions and send information immediately.

“Based on the letter issued on March 24, 2014, the action taken by the Land Revenue Office, Kathmandu, including the withholding of transactions of the land was as per the law so there is no need to do otherwise. As the petition is to be scrapped, the interim order issued by the court on March 27, 2016, and the order issued by this court on June 5, 2016, are null and void,” SC said.

 
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