Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC-LKO:36888 Court No. - 7 Case :- PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 655 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sonu Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Revenue Lko. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Hemant Kumar Mishra,Abhishek Mishra,Arti Ganguly Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Dilip Kumar Pandey Hon'ble Pankaj Bhatia,J. 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel and Shri Dilip Kumar Pandey, learned counsel for respondent No.4. 2. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner alleging that on the Abadi land, certain measures for leveling the land are being taken up, which according to the petitioner are in violation of mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It is argued that the pond land cannot be disturbed in the manner in which it is proposed to be disturbed, as such the present PIL. 3. Learned Standing based upon the instructions states that admittedly even as per the petitioner, the land in question is an Abadi land and on account of water logging, after passing of the resolution by the Gram Sabha, steps were being taken for leveling the land, so that the water logging does not cause any inconvenience to the residents. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner places reliance on Section 61 of the U.P. Revenue Code, 2006 and the explanation to the said section 61 to argue that even the Abadi land would be covered with the term "Tank" and thus, no interference can be caused in the tank. For the reference, Section 61 of the U.P. Revenue Code, 2006 is being recorded herein-below:- "61 Management of village tanks- Where a tank in any village is entrusted or deemed to be entrusted to any Gram Panchayat under section 59, then, notwithstanding anything contained in any contract or grant or and law for the time being in force, its management by such Gram Panchayat shall be regulated by the following conditions, namely:- (a) where the area of the tank measures 0.5 acre or less, it shall be reserved for public use by the inhabitants of the village; (b) where the area of the tank exceeds 0.5 acres, the Bhumi Prabandhak Samiti shall, with the previous approval of the Sub-Divisional Officer, let it out in the manner prescribed. Explanation. Explanation. - For the purpose of this section, the term 'tank', includes talab, pond, pokhar and other land covered with water." 5. The word "Tank" is not defined under the Act. By virtue of Section 61 of the U.P. Revenue Code, 2006 the management of village tanks is entrusted on the Gram Panchayat under Section 59 of the U.P. Revenue Code. The reliance placed upon the explanation to Section 61, is wholly misplaced inasmuch as the phrase "Tank" used in Section 61 of the Code, 2006 has relevance with the purpose of storage of water and its use by the public. Merely because some water gets collected in the Abadi land area on account of water logging, etc, calling the same and defining the same as "Tank" would be clearly against the statutory intention. 6. Considering the fact that work is being done for leveling of the water logged area to avoid any inconvenience to the residents, no good ground for interference is made out. 7. The petition lacks merits and is, accordingly, dismissed. Order Date :- 1.7.2025 Ashutosh Digitally signed by :- ASHUTOSH PANDEY High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench Digitally signed by :- ASHUTOSH PANDEY High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench