Gurugram, Aug. 5 -- The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that over 274 acres (436 bighas and 18 biswas, according to the Haryana government) of disputed land in Wazirabad is shamlat deh (village common land) and restored its ownership to the Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG), setting aside a 2007 Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment that had recognised private ownership claims. A bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K. Vinod Chandran held that the disputed land was shamlat deh governed by the Haryana Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, and reaffirmed the September 13, 1955, mutation in favour of the Wazirabad gram panchayat, whose rights were subsequently inherited by the MCG following its formation in 2010. In its 85-page judgment, the apex court observed that land has become the "new gold", particularly in rapidly urbanising regions such as Gurugram, and cautioned against treating common village land as private property merely because revenue records carried the names of village pattis (co-sharers). It held that the high court had erred in accepting private ownership claims based solely on such revenue entries. The dispute pertains to 436 bighas and 18 biswas of land in the abandoned village of Haiderpur, adjoining Wazirabad. Claimants had argued that the land belonged to private pattis and never vested with the gram panchayat. However, the SC held that while the original proprietors had a right to seek partition before January 26, 1950, no such partition had taken place. Consequently, the land continued to remain shamlat deh and vested in the gram panchayat under the 1961 Act. The bench also held that the petitioners had failed to provide any valid legal basis to challenge the 1955 mutation. The litigation traversed multiple judicial forums over nearly three decades. While revenue courts and the Punjab and Haryana HC had ruled in favour of private claimants, the then commissioner held in 2005 that the land belonged to the gram panchayat. Challenging the HC verdict, the Haryana government and the MCG approached the SC. According to MCG, their team relied on original land records dating back to 1877 to establish that the land was village common property. Officials said it will conduct a drone survey before initiating action to remove encroachments and illegal structures. Speaking on the verdict, Gurugram Mayor Raj Rani Malhotra said, "For years, land mafias and illegal occupants have encroached upon valuable municipal land. Following this judgment, MCG will soon launch a drive to remove illegal structures from the Wazirabad land. Our next plan is to secure another 272 acres of disputed land in Bajghera." A senior MCG official alleged more than 250 sale deeds were fraudulently executed between 2003 and 2005 despite the land being common property....