New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- The Supreme Court on Monday restored the ownership of over 274 acres (436 bighas and 18 biswas) of disputed land in Haiderpur, Gurugram, to the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG), holding that the land is shamlat deh (village common land) and cannot be treated as private property merely because revenue records mention the names of village proprietors.

The Court set aside a 2007 Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment that had recognised private ownership claims over the land.

A Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran held that the land is governed by the Haryana Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, and upheld the mutation dated September 13, 1955, in favour of the then Gram Panchayat, Wazirabad....