Paresh Lahkar and 17 Ors v. Union of India and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 31-03-2023 Heard Mr. M.H. Choudhury, learned counsel for the petitioners, who submits that the Notification dated 31.12.2022 issued by the Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, General Administration Department, by which 10 villages under Ghorgrapar Revenue Circle of Nalbari District, which were outside the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR in short) have now been included in Baksa District under the Bodoland Territorial Region, should be set aside.

¶2The petitioners' counsel submits that the 10 villages, which have been put under the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR in short) is closer to Nalbari Town, which is in Nalbari District and as such, the petitioners, who are living in those 10 villages will lose various rights including political rights, if they are transferred from a non-BTR to a BTR area.

¶3The petitioners' counsel submits that the petitioners have also submitted a representation dated 10.01.2023 against the transfer of the 10 villages from the non-BTR area to the Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari. However, no decision has been taken on the same till date. Page No.# 6/7

¶4Mr. M. Goswami, learned counsel appears for respondent Nos. 2 & 4, Mr. S.R. Raba, learned counsel appears for respondent No. 6, Ms. R. Devi, learned counsel appears for respondent No. 1 and Mr. A. Phukan, learned standing counsel GAD also appears for respondent No. 3.

¶5The learned counsels for the respondents submit that the writ petition should be dismissed, as the inclusion of 10 villages from non-BTR area to a BTR area is a Policy and Administrative decision of the Government and as such, this Court should not interfere in the said decision, particularly when there is nothing to show that any legal or Fundamental Rights of the petitioners have been violated.

¶6I have heard the learned counsels for the parties.

¶7On perusing the impugned Notification dated 31.12.2022, it is seen that the placing of the 10 villages mentioned in the said notification within the administrative jurisdiction of Baksa District from Nalbari District has been done for better administrative convenience.

¶8Without going through the merits of the said Notification dated 31.12.2022, it is seen that the petitioners have not give any representation to the State Government against the impugned Notification dated 31.12.2022. Instead, the petitioners have submitted a Representation /Memorandum dated 10.01.2023 to the Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari, to include the 10 villages mentioned in the impugned notification within the Nalbari District.

¶9In view of the fact that the petitioners have not availed of the alternative remedy available by first approaching the State Government with regard to their Page No.# 7/7 grievance, this Court is not inclined to entertain this writ petition and/or exercise it's discretion in this case.

¶10The writ petition is dismissed, with liberty being given to the petitioners to approach the State Government with their grievance in the first instance.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/7 GAHC010038732023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1786/2023o PARESHoLAHKARoANDo17oORSo S/OoLT.oBASISTHA,oVILL-PANIMAJKUCHI,oP.S.-GHOGRAPAR,oP.O.-BARAJOL, DIST-NALBARI,oPIN-781369 2:oKANUoSARKAR oS/OoPRAFULLA oVILL-BARALKUCHI oP.O.-TINIPUKHURI oPIN-781367 3:oMANOJoDAS oS/OoMAHINDRA oVILL-BARALKUCHI oP.O.-TINIPUKHURI oPIN-781367 4:oDWIJENoSARKAR oS/OoDINESH oVILL-BARALKUCHI oP.O.-TINIPUKHURI oPIN-781367 5:oALIoAHMED oS/OoKHANMAMUD oVILL-BARALKUCHI oP.O.-TINIPUKHURI PageoNo.#o2/7 oPIN-781367 6:oABUBAKKARoSIDDIKoAHMED oS/OoLT.oKUDRAToALIoAHMED oP.O.-BARAJOL oPIN-781369 7:oMD.oGAMIRoALI oS/OoLT.oMESERoALI oVILL-BALIPARA oP.S.-GHOGRAPARA oP.O.-BARAJOL oPIN-781369 8:oABDULoMAZIDoKHAN oS/OoLT.oLALMAMUDoKHAN oVILL-SONKURIHA oP.S.-GHOGRAPARA oP.O.-BARAJOL oPIN-781369 9:oHIRANoBARMAN oS/OoLT.oHEMATA oVILL-SONKURIHA oP.O.-BARAJOL oPIN-781369 10:oDILWARoHUSSAIN oS/OoLT.oABDULoHUSSAIN oVILL-ARARA oP.O.-ALLIA oPIN-781369 11:oABDULoAWALoAHMED oS/OoLT.oABDULoHALIM oVILL-ARARA oP.O.-ALLIA oPIN-781369 PageoNo.#o3/7 12:oMAHENDRAoKALITA oVILL-ARARA oP.O.-ALLIA oPIN-781369 13:oDHIMANoKALITA oVILL-ARARA oP.O.-ALLIA oPIN-781369 14:oNURMAHAMMADoALI oVILL-CHOTOoALLIYA oP.O.-ALLIA oPIN-781369 15:oSAFIKULoISLAM oS/OoHAMEDoALI oVILL-CHOTOoALLIYA oP.O.-ALLIA oPIN-781369 16:oMUZAFFARoHUSSAIN oS/OoBAHARoULLA oVILL-NAMATI oP.O.-ALLIA oPIN-781369 17:oPABANoADHIKARIo@oPABANoDUTTA oS/OoKARANIoKANTA oVILL-NARAYANGAON oP.O.-TINIPUKHURI oPIN-781367 18:oRAMENoSALOI oS/OoRUHINI PageoNo.#o4/7 oVILL-NARAYANGAON oP.O.-TINIPUKHURI oPIN-78136o VERSUSo UNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARY,oMINISTRYoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS,o NORTHoBLOCK,oCENTRALoSECRETARIAT,oNEWoDELHI-110001 2:STATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHIEFoSECRETARY oBLOCK-C o3RDoFLOOR oASSAMoSECRETARIAT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 oASSAM 3:GENERALoADMINISTRATIONoDEPARTMENT oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENTo OFoASSAM oGENERALoADMINISTRATIONoDEPARTMENT oASSAMoSECRETARIAT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 4:HOMEoANDoPOLITICALoDEPARTMENT oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oASSAMoSECRETARIAT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 5:WELFAREoOFoBODOLANDoDEPARTMENT oREPRESENTEDoBYoSECRETARY oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oASSAMoSECRETARIAT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 6:BODOLANDoTERRITORIALoCOUNCIL oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARY oBODOFAoNWGWR oBODOLANDoTERRITORIALoCOUNCILoSECRETARIAT oKOKRAJHAR Page No.# 5/7 BODOLAND TERRITORIAL REGION (BTR) ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M K CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA