Hotel North Park Land Dispute: 25 Years, Three Chief Ministers, One Unresolved Hotel: The Shamlat Land Saga of Panchkula Hotel
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: A divisional commissioner has partly upheld Polo Hotels’ claim over 72 bighas of prime Panchkula land — but sent the case back for fresh adjudication. The dispute that began in the Bansi Lal era shows no signs of ending.
Arvind Chhabra
Chandigarh, June 16
On May 13, 2026, the Commissioner, Ambala Division, passed a 19-page order in a land case that has outlasted governments, survived multiple court jurisdictions, and defied resolution for over a quarter century. The subject: 72 bigha 3 biswa 6 biswasi of land in erstwhile village Chownki, now within the municipal limits of Panchkula, on which Hotel North Park — run by M/s Polo Hotels Limited — stands near Ghaggar Bridge in Sector 32.
The Commissioner’s order is the latest chapter in one of Panchkula’s longest-running land controversies. It is neither a clean win for the hotel nor for the Municipal Corporation that has been fighting to reclaim the land as shamlat — common land historically vesting in the gram panchayat, and by succession, in the civic body. What it is, unambiguously, is another remand. The District Collector, Panchkula, has been asked to take a fresh look.
After 25 years, the matter remains open.
What is Shamlat Land — and Why Does It Matter
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: Shamlat deh is revenue land recorded as common land in a village, historically used for collective purposes — grazing, community functions, common access. Under the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, such land vests in the gram panchayat. Crucially, the Supreme Court has held that once land vests in a panchayat, it cannot be partitioned, its status cannot be changed, and it can never revert to private proprietors.
The significance of this legal framework is straightforward: if the Chownki land is shamlat, it belongs to the state. If it is not — if the proprietors or their successors were in cultivating possession as per their share before January 26, 1950 — then it falls outside the definition of shamlat under Section 2(g)(i) of the Act, and private ownership is tenable.
This is precisely the question that has been litigated, appealed, reviewed, and remanded across three decades.
The Bansi Lal Era: When the Controversy First Erupted
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: The origins of the dispute trace back to the late 1990s, when Abhay Ram Dahiya — who would later become the authorised signatory and legal representative of Polo Hotels — purchased the land in Chownki and obtained a Change of Land Use (CLU) from the Department of Town and Country Planning, Haryana, to convert it from agricultural to hotel use.
The CLU triggered an immediate political storm. Om Prakash Chautala, then leading the Indian National Lok Dal in opposition, went on the offensive. His central charge was pointed: how could land recorded as shamlat deh be granted a change of land use for private commercial purposes? The very act of granting CLU, he argued, amounted to the privatisation of community land — a scam involving prime real estate in a fast-developing satellite city of Chandigarh.
The governments changed. The controversy quietened. Hotel North Park opened and began operating. But the underlying legal question was never resolved. It was only deferred.
2024: The Dispute Resurfaces Under Khattar
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: Three chief ministers later, the matter exploded again in early 2024 — this time within the revenue and municipal administration under Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
On January 16, 2024, District Collector and DC Panchkula Sushil Sarwan passed an order under Section 13-A of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, decreeing the suit filed by Polo Hotels in their favour. The hotel had claimed ownership and possession of the 72-bigha land, arguing its vendors were co-sharers in the shamlat khewat and had been in cultivating possession as per their share before 1950 — which would exclude the land from vesting in the gram panchayat.
The MC Panchkula was not willing to accept this. MC Commissioner Sachin Gupta fired off a letter to the Director, Urban Local Bodies Department, in March 2024, calling the DC’s order legally untenable. His argument was jurisdictional: since Chownki village had merged into Panchkula Municipal Corporation via a state government notification dated March 17, 2010, the Collector no longer had jurisdiction under the Village Common Lands Act to adjudicate title over this land.
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: Gupta cited a series of legal precedents to back his position. The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s ruling in Amar Singh vs Commissioner, Rohtak Division (2013) had held that once an area comes within municipal limits, authorities under the Village Common Lands Act lose jurisdiction to decide questions of title — that power vests exclusively with the civil court. The Financial Commissioner’s order in Somnath and others vs Gram Panchayat Naggar had similarly dismissed a revision, ruling that after Naggal village’s inclusion in the Panchkula MC, the Collector had no jurisdiction under Section 13-AA.
Most significantly, Gupta invoked the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in State of Haryana vs Jai Singh, which had categorically held that shamlat land, once vested with a panchayat, cannot be partitioned or have its status changed, and will never revert to proprietors.
The MC also took action internally — instructing the Panchkula tehsildar not to amend revenue records pending their appeal, and seeking an explanation from Building Inspector Sanjeev Kumar for allegedly making unauthorised statements in the Collector’s court.
The Municipal Corporation filed an Executive Appeal before the Commissioner, Ambala Division. That appeal has now been decided.
The Commissioner’s Order: A Partial Finding, A Fresh Remand
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: The Commissioner’s May 13, 2026 order, passed after extensive arguments and two revenue reports from the District Collector, makes one significant factual finding and leaves one critical question open.
The finding: The predecessors and vendors of Polo Hotels were indeed co-sharers in the shamlat khewat of erstwhile village Chownki and were in cultivating possession of the land as per their share prior to January 26, 1950. This is confirmed by revenue records going back to the 1905-06 settlement, Jamabandi records from 1918-19 through 1942-43, and a detailed Tehsildar’s report.
The Commissioner explicitly affirms the trial court’s finding on this point: the entitlement of Polo Hotels and its co-respondents in the shamlat land has been proved. The land, therefore, does not vest in the erstwhile gram panchayat of Chownki — and consequently cannot be treated as an asset of Municipal Corporation Panchkula.
The open question: Mutation No. 249, dated June 14, 1990, reveals that land measuring 15 bigha 13 biswa from this khewat was acquired by the state government vide notification/award dated March 24, 1987 / October 31, 1988. Of this acquisition, 4 bigha 12 biswa came from Khasra numbers 68 and 73 — the very khasra numbers that appear in the sale deeds executed by the vendors of Polo Hotels’ respondents.
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: The MC contends that Polo Hotels’ predecessors received compensation for this acquired land, which means that area must be deducted from their share of the excluded shamlat land.
The Commissioner has found force in this contention. The exact deduction, he holds, requires examination of revenue records, acquisition proceedings, and other relevant documents — a task that must be performed by the District Collector.
The appeal is accordingly disposed of and the case remanded to the DC, Panchkula, for fresh adjudication in light of these observations.
Timeline: 25 Years of the North Park Land Dispute
Late 1990s — Abhay Ram Dahiya purchases land in village Chownki; obtains CLU from DTCP Haryana for hotel use on land recorded as shamlat. Om Prakash Chautala alleges scam; political storm follows.
Early 2000s — Hotel North Park begins operations near Ghaggar Bridge, Sector 32, Panchkula.
March 17, 2010 — State Government notification merges erstwhile village Chownki into the limits of Municipal Corporation, Panchkula. Gram Panchayat ceases to exist; MC becomes successor in interest.
Pre-2024 — Polo Hotels files suit under Section 13-A of Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act before DC Panchkula, claiming ownership and cultivating possession of 72 bigha 3 biswa 6 biswasi of land.
January 2024 — DC Panchkula Sushil Sarwan decrees suit in favour of Polo Hotels. MC Panchkula challenges the order.
March 2024 — MC Commissioner Sachin Gupta writes to Director, Urban Local Bodies, calling DC’s order without jurisdiction; cites HC and Supreme Court rulings.
February 2024 — MC Panchkula files Executive Appeal of 2024 before Commissioner, Ambala Division.
December 2025 – February 2026 — Commissioner calls for revenue reports from DC; Tehsildar and Deputy Commissioner Panchkula submit detailed reports confirming cultivating possession of Polo Hotels’ predecessors.
May 13, 2026 — Commissioner, Ambala Division passes final order: affirms Polo Hotels’ entitlement in shamlat land; remands case to DC Panchkula to determine deduction on account of state land acquisition under Mutation No. 249.
What Happens Next
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: Hotel North Park continues to operate. The Commissioner’s order settles one question — the hotel’s predecessors did have a legitimate share in the shamlat khewat — but opens another. The DC must now determine how much of that share must be adjusted against land already acquired by the state, for which compensation was apparently received.
Until that exercise is completed, the legal status of the full 72 bighas remains in flux. The Municipal Corporation, having lost the primary argument on cultivating possession, may still contest the final share computation at the DC level — and whatever emerges there will likely be appealed again.
Hotel North Park Land Dispute: A dispute born in the Bansi Lal years, carrying the fingerprints of the Chautala agitation, the Khattar administration, and now two years of appellate proceedings, has found its way back to where it began: the District Collector’s court in Panchkula.
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