Jiarul Haque v. The State of Assam and 8 Ors

ORDER Date : 04.03.2024

Heard Mr. B. Rahman, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. M. Bhattacharya, learned Addl. Senior Govt. Advocate for respondent Nos. 1 and 5 to 8; Mr. S. Dutta, learned standing counsel, Revenue Department for the respondent Nos. 2 and 4 and Mr. A. Phukan, learned standing counsel, GAD for Page No.# 3/4 the respondent Nos. 2 and 3.

¶2Pursuant to a Notice dated 26.05.2022, whereby, applications were invited for filing up 101 vacant posts of Gaon Pradhan under various Revenue Circle in Nalbari District, the petitioner applied for the post of Gaon Pradhan of Bhelakhaiti-Sobhamari-Baramara Lot under Madhyam Barkhetri Mouza in Nalbari District. The case of the petitioner is that he is the son of an Ex-Gaon Pradhan and that he has also discharged the duties of Gaon Pradhan in respect of Bhelakhaiti-Sobhamari-Baramara Lot under Madhyam Barkhetri Mouza in Nalbari District. The petitioner relies on Clause-12 of the Notice dated 26.05.2022, which provides that preference will be given to the candidates of gaon pradhan family and the opinion of mouzadar will be considered. It is also submitted that the Mouzadar of Madhyam Barkhetri Mouza, Mukalmua, Nalbari, Assam has also issued a Certificate to the petitioner on 08.06.2022, stating that the petitioner's father retired from the post of Gaon Pradhan and the petitioner had helped the Mouzadar during the tenure of his father in collecting tax.

¶3Petitioner is aggrieved by the result dated 09.02.2024, issued by the ADC (Gaon Pradhan) Nalbari, wherein, the name of the respondent No.9 has been selected for Bhelakhaiti-Sobhamari-Baramara.

¶4Mr. S. Dutta, learned standing counsel, Revenue Department, submits that the Revenue and Disaster Management (LR) Department has issued a Notification on 10-04-2018 amending the Executive Instructions No. 162-C of the Executive Instructions under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 Page No.# 4/4 (Amendment) 2024. He submits that under the Executive Instruction No. 162-C an appeal against the order of appointment, suspension and dismissal of a Gaon Pradhan by the District Commissioner or by the Principal Secretary of the Autonomous Council area shall lie to the Director of Land Records and Surveys, Assam, within a period of 60 (sixty) days from the date of receipt of the copy of the order of appointment, suspension or dismissal as the case may be.

¶5After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, this writ petition is disposed of directing the petitioner to file an appeal before the Director of Land Records and Surveys, Assam, under the Executive Instruction No. 162-C, within a period of 10 days from today. Thereafter, the Director of Land Records and Surveys, Assam, shall consider and dispose of the appeal as expeditiously as possible but not later than two months from the date of receipt of the appeal.

¶6With the above observations and directions, the instant writ petition is disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010042142024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1183/2024o JIARULoHAQUEo S/OoNAUSADoALI,oR/OoVILL-oBHELAKHAITI,oP.O.-KALPABARI,oDIST- NALBARI,oASSAM,oPIN-781138 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo8oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM oREVENUEoANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPTT oASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 3:THEoGENERALoADMINISTRATIONoDEPARTMENTo(GAD) oASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oGENERALoADMINISTRATIONoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 4:THEoDIRECTORoOFoLANDoRECORDo(DLR) oASSAM oRIHABARI oGUWAHATI-781008 5:THEoDISTRICToCOMMISSIONERo(D.C.)oNALBARI oDIST-NALBARI oASSAM Page No.# 2/4 PIN- 6:THE SELECTION BOARD REPRESENTED BY THE CHAIRMAN -CUM DISTRICT COMMISSIONER (D.C.) NALBARI ASSAM PIN- 7:THE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT COMMISSIONER (GAON PRADHAN) NALBARI ASSAM PIN 8:THE CIRCLE OFFICER BARKHETRI REVENUE CIRCLE NARAYANPUR-MUKALMUA P.O.-MUKALMUA DIST-NALBARI ASSAM PIN- 9:AKRAM HUSSAIN S/O LATE ALI AKBAR R/O VILL- BHELAKHAITI P.O.-KAPLABARI DIST-NALBARI ASSAM PIN-78113 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. B RAHMAN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LANUSUNGKUM JAMIR