Writ Petition Can't Be Entertained Seeking Deletion Of Deceased's Name From Record Of Rights, Tahasildar Enquiry Needed: Orissa High Court
The Orissa High Court has held that a writ petition seeking deletion of deceased person's name from Record of Rights (RoR) cannot be entertained as an enquiry by the jurisdictional Tahasildar is a necessary precondition before replacing a deceased person with his legal representatives.
Clarifying the jurisdictional issue, the Bench of Justice Ananda Chandra Behera held –
“It is the settled propositions of law that, for deletion of the name of a recorded tenant from a R.o.R on the ground of his/her death, a Mutation Case is to be registered on the basis of an application submitted by a interested party, who is interested for deletion of the name of such dead person from the R.o.R and then, an enquiry is to be conducted by the Tahasildar and thereafter, necessary order may be passed by the Tahasildar for deletion/exclusion of the name of the dead recorded tenant from the R.o.R and in his place, the names of his/her LRs be indicated.”
The petitioners knocked at the doors of the High Court by filing a writ petition seeking a direction to the Tahasildar, Kalimela to exclude the name of one Mr. Laxman Biswas (since deceased) from the RoR and to place their names as his legal representatives.
Justice Behera, however, was not satisfied as to the necessity of filing a writ petition for the above purpose. He held that exclusion/deletion of a name from the property records essentially requires filing of a Mutation Case upon which an enquiry is to be conducted by the jurisdictional Tahasildar. Pursuant to the enquiry, necessary orders may be passed by the Tahasildar for replacement of names of legal representatives in the RoR.
Accordingly, he partly allowed the writ petition by granting liberty to the petitioners to file an application before the Tahasildar, Kalimela praying for deletion of the deceased's name, upon which the latter shall register a Mutation Case and shall conduct an enquiry followed by passing of necessary orders.
Case Title: Jayanti Biswas & Ors. v. State of Odisha & Ors.
Case No: W.P.(C) No. 35230 of 2025
Date of Order: January 08, 2026
Counsel for the Petitioners: Mr. Niranjan Panda, Advocate
Counsel for the State: Mr. S. Nayak, Additional Standing Counsel
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ori) 5