Najir Islam@Nozrul Islam and 4 Ors v. The Commissioner and Secretary to the Govt. of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER

07.08.2024 Heard Mr. MU Mahmud, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners.

¶2Mr. P Bordoloi, the learned standing counsel appears on behalf of the P & RD Department, Government of Assam and Mr. BJ Talukdar, the learned Government Advocate appears on behalf of the District Administration, Goalpara.

¶3The petitioner herein claims that they are the owners of various plots of land measuring 02 bighas covered by Dag No.339 of Patta No.201; 1 bigha, 2 katha, 10 lechas covered by Dag No. 19 of patta No.182; 1 bigha of Dag No. 21 of patta No.68, totaling to 4 bighas, 2 kathas, 10 lechas situated at Revenue Village: Garopara Tari Mouza: Matia, Revenue Circle Matia in the district of Goalpara Assam. Page No.# 4/6

¶4It is the case of the petitioners that the petitioners are also in possession of another plot of land measuring 03 bighas 2 kathas 10 covered by Dag No. 326 (Eksona) of Revenue Village: Garopara Tari Mouza: Matia, Revenue Circle Matia in the district of Goalpara Assam. It is the further case of the petitioners that the respondent authorities are going ahead with the construction of a fishery/tank/pond and thereby illegally trying to take over the possession of 4 bighas, 2 kathas, 10 lechas of the patta land of the petitioners as well as 3 bighas 2 kathas 10 lechas, which is a government land, which the petitioners adversely had been possessing.

¶5Mr. P Bordoloi, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent P & RD Department submitted that one Nazir Islam, who is the petitioner No.1 had submitted an application for a fishery with plantation work in his land measuring 10 bighas covered by Dag No. 326. Upon such an application being received, the same was forwarded by the Block Development Officer to the Circle Officer, Matia Revenue Circle to make an inquiry as regards the land so offered by the petitioner No.1.

¶6It was mentioned that the land in Dag No. 326 is a Government land. It was also mentioned that vide the said communication dated 16.02.2023 of the Circle Officer that the land measuring 17 bighas 1 katha 9 lechas, covered by Dag No.2 has been identified by the concerned LR staff and the said land has been shown to the Officials of the Block Development Officer, Matia in connection with construction of the MGNREGA scheme, namely Development of Fishery Tank with Plantation near Singimari No.1 Masjid.

¶7Mr. P Bordoloi, the learned standing counsel appearing on behalf of the P & RD Department submits that the respondents are not going to construct any fishery or tank in the patta land of the petitioners. The construction of the Page No.# 5/6 fishery/tank would only be carried out in Dag No. 326 as well as Dag No.2 as mentioned in the communication dated 16.02.2023 issued by the Circle Officer, Matia Revenue Circle.

¶8I have heard the learned counsels appearing on behalf of the parties and have also perused the materials on record.

¶9This Court is of the opinion that the land belonging to the petitioners measuring 4 bighas, 2 kathas, 10 lechas in various Dags and patta numbers as referred to hereinabove cannot be used by the respondent authorities for the purpose of construction of the fishery /tank without acquiring the same in accordance with the provisions of law. However, the respondent authorities would always be at liberty to carry out the construction of the fishery/tank at Dag No. 326 as well as in Dag No. 2, which, as per the certification of the Circle Officer, is a Government land.

¶10It is also seen that it is an admitted case of the petitioners also that the said Dag No. 326 is a Government land. Under such circumstances, this Court, therefore, disposes of the instant writ petition, thereby directing the respondent authorities not to construct fishery/tank in the patta land of the petitioners, the details of which have been referred to in the previous segments of the instant order. However, the respondent authorities can very well go ahead with the construction of the fishery and tank in Dag No. 326 as well as Dag No.2.

¶11With the above, the instant writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Page No.# 6/6 Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010010612023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/289/2023o NAJIRoISLAM@NOZRULoISLAMoANDo4oORSo S/O.oLT.oKAFILoUDDIN, 2:oMIJANURoISLAM oS/O.oNAJIRoISLAM 3:oAKTARoHUSSAIN oS/O.oNAJIRoISLAM 4:oSAMINURoISLAM oS/O.oNAJIRoISLAM 5:oSAHANURoISLAM oS/O.oNAJIRoISLAM oALLoAREoR/O.oVILL.oBALAPARA oP.O.oSUTARPARA oP.S.oMATIA oDIST.oGOALPARA oASSAM oPIN-783125o(THEoPETITIONERoNOS.o3 o4oANDo5oAREoMINORSoANDoTHEYoAREoDULYoREP.oBYoTHEIRoFATHERoANDo NATURALoGUARDIANoNAMELYoNAJIRoISLAMo@oNOZRULoISLAM oI.E.oPETITIONERoNO.1o VERSUSo THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAMoANDo6o ORSo TOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oPANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENTo DEPT.,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06. PageoNo.#o2/6 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oGOALPARAoDISTRICT oASSAM oPIN-783101. 3:THEoPROJECToDIRECTOR oDISTRICToRURALoDEVELOPMENToAGENCY oGOALPARA oASSAM oPIN-783101. 4:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICERoOFoMATIAoREVENUEoCIRCLE oP.O.oANDoP.S.oMATIA oDIST.oGOALPARA oASSAM oPIN-783101. 5:THEoBLOCKoDEVELOPMENToOFFICER oMATIAoDEVELOPMENToBLOCK oP.O.oANDoP.S.oMATIA oDIST.oGOALPARA oASSAM oPIN-783125. 6:THEoNABAGATAoSIMLITOLAoGAONoPANCHAYAT oREP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoOFoTHEoPANCHAYAT oVILL.oANDoP.O.oSUTARPARA oP.S.oMATIA oDIST.oGOALPARA oASSAM oPIN-783125. 7:OSMANoGONI o(WARDoMEMBERoOFoNABAGATAoSIMLITOLAoGAONoPANCHAYAT) oS/O.oLT.oMAHALIoSHEIKH oVILL.oSINGRAMARI oP.O.oSUTARPARA oP.S.oMATIA oDIST.oGOALPARA oASSAM oPIN-783125o Page No.# 3/6 Advocate for the petitioner(s): Mr. MU Mahmud Advocate for the respondent(s): Mr. P Bordoloi Standing Counsel, P & RD Department Mr. BJ Talukdar, Government Advocate, Assam B E F O R E HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH