HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU Case No.: WP(C) No. 1588/2026 Om Parkash ..... Petitioner(s)/Appellant (s) Through :- Mr. Koshal Parihar, Advocate. v/s UT of J&K and Ors. .....Respondent(s) Through :- Ms. Sagira Jaffer, Assisting counsel to Ms. Monika Kohli, Sr. Advocate (Sr. AAG.) CORAM: HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE (ACTING) ORDER 04.06.2026 (ORAL) 01. Impugned in this petition filed by the petitioner invoking Article 226 of the Constitution of India is an order dated 17.09.2022 passed by the Deputy Commissioner Rajouri (with Power of Collector under Land Revenue Act) whereby the Collector has cancelled and set aside the Mutation nos. 3208 and 3214 attested in favour of the petitioner-Om Parkash by the Tehsildar Suderbani. 02. The impugned order is challenged primarily on the ground that the Collector Revenue does not have jurisdiction to review an order on Mutation passed by the Tehsildar without first obtaining the sanction from the immediate Senior Revenue Officer. The impugned order is also challenged on the ground that same has been passed without putting the petitioner to notice and providing him an opportunity of being heard. 03. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 04. It is necessary to set out Section 13 of the Land Revenue Act which confers upon the Revenue Officer(s) power of review: Sr. No. 6 13. Review by Revenue Officers.––(1) A Revenue Officer may, either of his own motion or on the application of any party interested, review and on so reviewing modify, reverse or confirm, any order passed by himself or any of his predecessors in office: Provided as follows: — (a) when [the Board], a [Divisional Commissioner] or Collector thinks it necessary to review any order which he has not himself passed, and when a Revenue Officer of a class below that of Collector proposes to review any order, whether passed by himself or by any of his predecessors in office, he shall first obtain the sanction of the Revenue Officer to whose control he is immediately subject ; (b) an application for review of an order shall not be entertained unless it is made within ninety days from the passing of the order, or unless the applicant satisfies the Revenue Officer that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within that period ; (c) an order shall not be modified or reversed unless reasonable notice has been given to the parties affected thereby to appear and be heard in support of the order; (d) an order against which an appeal has been preferred shall not be reviewed. (2) For purposes of this section the Collector shall be deemed to be successor in office of any Revenue Officer of a lower class who has left the district or has ceased to exercise powers as a Revenue Officer, and to whom there is no successor in office. (3) An appeal shall not lie from an order refusing review or confirming on review a previous order.] 05. From reading of Section 13 of the Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, Svt.1996 (for short ‘the Act’) it is evident that the Revenue Officer is empowered either suo moto or on an application by any party interested, to review its own order or order passed by any of his Predecessor in office, provided further that in case order sought to be reviewed is passed by the Predecessor of such Revenue Officer, a sanction from the immediate Senior Revenue Officer, would be required. 06. In the instant case, from the perusal of the impugned order, it clearly transpires that the Collector has reviewed the order of Tehsildar Suderbani and not an order passed either by himself or by his Predecessor in Office. 07. That apart, it is also writ large from the reading of the impugned order that the petitioner herein, who is a beneficiary of the Mutation Nos. 3208 and 3214, has not been heard in the matter. 08. For the aforesaid reasons, the petition is allowed. The impugned order is set aside. However, it is left open to the Competent Authority under the Act to initiate appropriate proceedings and issue directions that are required in the facts and circumstances of the case. 09. Disposed of accordingly. (SANJEEV KUMAR) CHIEF JUSTICE (A) JAMMU 04.06.2026 Sunita