Land Recorded as ‘Gair Mumkin Nala’ Cannot Be Diverted for Road or Crematorium Even for Public Purpose: Rajasthan High Court

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has held that land recorded in revenue records as ‘Gair Mumkin Nala’ — a natural water channel — cannot be diverted for construction of a road or crematorium even on the plea of public utility, ruling that administrative convenience and developmental pressures cannot legitimise an action that destroys ecological balance and breaches the State’s obligation as trustee of natural resources.

A division bench of Dr. Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur observed that the doctrine of public trust obligates the State to act as a trustee of natural resources and mandates their preservation for the benefit of the general public and future generations, holding that any obstruction or alteration of a natural water channel, particularly by the State itself, deserves strict judicial scrutiny and cannot be countenanced.

The Court remarked:

“Public utility cannot be achieved at the cost of destruction or impairment of natural resources which the State is constitutionally and legally bound to preserve. Administrative convenience or developmental pressures cannot legitimise an action otherwise impermissible in law.”

The bench was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by one Ramji Lal Saini, a resident of Village Khatwa in Tehsil Lalsot of District Dausa, seeking a writ of mandamus to direct the State authorities to remove a gravel road constructed over land bearing Khasra No.717/444 admeasuring 2.03 bigha, recorded in revenue entries as ‘Gair Mumkin Nala’. The petitioner contended that the land in question being a natural water channel, no construction or utilisation thereof for any purpose other than its recorded nature was legally permissible, and that the action of the respondents in constructing a road and permitting use of part of the land for crematorium purposes was wholly contrary to law and violative of the constitutional mandate relating to environmental protection and preservation of natural resources.

Counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on the division bench decision in Abdul Rehman v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. (D.B. Civil Writ Petition No.1536/2003), in which the Court had emphasised that the Constitution (Forty-Second Amendment) Act, 1976 made it a fundamental duty of the State and citizens to protect and improve the environment, and on Gulab Kothari v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. (D.B. Civil Writ Petition No.1554/2004), in which the doctrine of public trust and the imperative necessity of protecting natural resources such as rivers, lakes, nalas and catchment areas was reiterated, with directions issued for removal of encroachment in the catchment areas of water bodies and against allotment of land falling in catchment areas of water reservoirs in defiance of Section 16 of the Rajasthan Land Revenue Act, 1955.

Per contra, the Additional Advocate General appearing for the respondent-State submitted that the road and crematorium had been developed for public utility purposes and that no interference was warranted in the exercise of the Court’s extraordinary writ jurisdiction.

The bench noted that the State’s reply itself admitted that the land bearing Khasra No.717/444 measuring 2 bigha 3 biswa was ‘Gair Mumkin Nala’ in the revenue record, and that as per the Patwari Halka’s report, parts of it had been used for a road, crematorium canopies and a kachcha way, although there was no encroachment by any individual. “Once the nature of the land as a natural water channel stands admitted, the consequential legal position becomes self-evident,” the Court observed.

A ‘Gair Mumkin Nala’, the bench said, constitutes a natural drainage and water flow channel forming an integral part of the ecological framework and hydrological system of the area concerned, and such lands cannot be permitted to be diverted, obstructed or altered for any non-conforming purpose merely on the ground that the utilisation is for a public purpose. The constitutional scheme under Articles 48-A and 51-A(g) of the Constitution of India, the Court added, casts a corresponding duty upon the State as well as citizens to protect and improve the natural environment, and the right to a clean and sustainable environment has repeatedly been recognised as an inseparable facet of Article 21.

The Court further held that preservation of water bodies, natural drains, catchment areas and traditional water channels assumes even greater significance in a State like Rajasthan, where ecological conditions and water scarcity render conservation of every natural water resource indispensable, and that any obstruction or alteration of a natural water channel has the potential of adversely affecting drainage patterns, groundwater recharge and environmental equilibrium.

Recording that despite the binding pronouncements in Abdul Rehman (supra) and Gulab Kothari (supra), the respondents had failed to discharge their statutory and constitutional obligations and had instead sought to justify the utilisation of the natural water channel for purposes alien to its recorded character, the bench allowed the PIL on 7 May 2026.

The respondents were directed to “remove forthwith any road, crematorium structure, encroachment or any other construction” existing over the land bearing Khasra No.717/444 (718/444), admeasuring 2.03 bigha, situated at Village Khatwa, Tehsil Lalsot, District Dausa, and to restore the land to its original recorded nature. The bench further directed that no portion of the said land, or any adjoining land recorded as ‘Gair Mumkin Nala’ in the revenue records, shall be utilised for any purpose inconsistent with its recorded character, and ordered compliance within a period of three months.

Title: Ramji Lal Saini v. State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Case No.: D.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 6614/2021

Citation: [2026:RJ-JP:19286-DB]

Counsel for petitioner: Mr. Dharmendra Pareek

Counsel for respondents: Mr. G.S. Gill, AAG with Ms. Shikha Sharma, Ms. Rashmi Kaushik and Ms. Divya Rathore, AAAG; Mr. K.P. Mathur, AAG