As per case facts the respondent village sought recognition but the State Government kept their application in abeyance citing a pending inter-district boundary dispute and the appellant village's objection that ... the respondent village was established on their ancestral land without a 'No Objection Certificate ' The High Court directed the State to issue a formal recognition order finding all conditions met and the boundary dispute irrelevant leading to the appellant who was not impleaded in the High Court appealing The question arose whether the conditions for village recognition were fulfilled considering the appellant's objection to the public notice and whether the inter-district boundary dispute was a valid reason to indefinitely keep the recognition in abeyance Finally the Supreme Court allowed the appeal in part setting aside the High Court's findings on compliance The Court held that the procedure was not complied with as the State failed to conclusively decide the merits of the appellant's objection to the public notice Furthermore the inter-district boundary dispute was now found to have no nexus with the recognition Given the systemic delay and the gravity of land-related customary law under Article A the State was directed to re-issue a public notice exhaustively consider all objections including the appellant s and make a final decision within six months

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