BHAKTAPUR, Aug 19: The Search for Truth and Justice Campaign has demanded that the registration of around 16 ropanis of government land in Changunarayan Municipality-1, formerly Duwakot VDC-8 (Kha), be cancelled and the land restored to the name of the Government of Nepal.
The campaign submitted a letter to the Land Administration Office, Bhaktapur, claiming that around 16 ropanis of the 19 ropanis and 10 annas of land in former Duwakot VDC-8 (Kha), plot number 47, is public and government land.
A campaign delegation submitted the demand letter to Arjun Rai, chief of the Land Administration Office in Kamalbinayak, Bhaktapur, on Tuesday. The delegation included senior advocates Dhruvalal Shrestha, Yubaraj Koirala, Hari Katel and Nikesh Dhital; local resident Gaurimansingh Thapa; Nhuchhen Bhakta Phonju; and Changunarayan Municipality-1 Ward Chairperson Sijan Karki, among others.
The campaign has demanded that the registration record showing the land in an individual’s name be cancelled and the land restored to the Government of Nepal under Section 24(2) of the Land Revenue Act, 1977 (2034 BS).
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According to the campaign, the original survey map identified part of plot number 47 as “Parthi,” referring to barren or unregistered public land.
The demand letter states that the land had long been used for public purposes and contains structures and facilities including a water tank serving local residents, a Kal Bhairav temple, a public bus stop and an office of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation.
The campaign claims that the local community had been using the land for public purposes even before the land survey and that land of such a nature cannot legally be registered in an individual’s name.
It argues that under the Land Survey Act, 1962 (2019 BS), and the Land Revenue Act, 1977 (2034 BS), Parthi land falls under the category of government land and cannot be registered or occupied by private individuals.
According to the demand letter, plot number 47 was established during a land survey conducted in FY 1964/65 (2021/22 BS). In 1985 (2042 BS), a decision by the Land Revenue Office, Bhaktapur, allowed 16 ropanis of the land to be registered in the name of Kancha Suwal. The original plot number 47 was subsequently cancelled and plot number 375 was created.
The campaign has called for the nature of the land to be reassessed based on current surveys and records and, if public or government land is found to have been registered in an individual’s name, for the registration to be cancelled.
Section 24 of the Land Revenue Act, 1977, prohibits government, public or community land from being registered or occupied in the name of private individuals. Various Supreme Court rulings have also provided legal interpretations concerning the cancellation of registrations where public land is found to have been registered in private names.
The campaign has urged the Land Administration Office, Bhaktapur, to examine the relevant facts, survey maps and existing physical conditions and initiate the necessary process to protect the government land.
It has also called for government ownership of the land to be maintained while allowing its existing public use to continue, urging the concerned authorities to take the protection of public property seriously.
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