Natun Kathmi Bazar Samity and Anr v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 06-11-2023 Heard Mr. S.C. Biswas, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. S. Dutta, learned Standing counsel, Revenue Department for the respondent no. 1; Mr. J. Handique, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 2 – 4; Mr. U. Sharma, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. S. Dutta, Page No.# 3/5 learned Standing Counsel, Panchayat and Rural Development Department for the respondent no. 5; and Mr. S. Islam, learned counsel for the respondent no.

¶6The petitioner no. 1, Natun Kathmi Bazar Samity ['the petitioner no. 1 samity', for short] has stated that it owns and possesses a plot of land measuring 2 Bighas 1 Katha 5 Lessas [2B-1K-5L], covered by Dag no. 269, Village – Natun Kathmi, Mouza – Sontoli, Chamaria Revenue Circle, District – Kamrup ['the subject-plot no. 1', for short] and it runs a daily/weekly market thereon in the name and style of Natun Kathmi Bazar. The market named Natun Kathmi Bazar is situated by the side of Chamaria to Sontoli via Kalatoli road. On the north side of the market, Natun Kathmi Bazar, there exists a plot of land belonging to the Government, measuring 3 Kathas 4 Lessas, covered by Dag no. 268 ['the subject-plot no. 2', for short], which is adjacent of Dag no. 269. As the subject-plot no. 2 is contiguous and adjacent to subject-plot no. 1, the petitioner no. 1 samity had submitted an application for allotment of the subject-plot no. 2 in its favour. On finding that the respondent no. 6 had also made application for allotment of the subject-plot no. 2, the petitioners including the petitioner no. 1 samity, have approached this Court by the instant wit petition seeking inter alia a direction to the respondent authorities, more particularly, the respondent no. 2 to make allotment of the subject-plot no. 2 in favour of the petitioner no. 1 samity and not in favour of the respondent no. 6 on the premise that the respondent no. 6 already owns sufficient land in his name. When the writ petition was listed on 24.07.2023, the learned State Counsel was requested to obtain instructions as regards the status of the applications submitted by the petitioner no. 1 samity and the respondent no. 6 in the matter of allotment of the subject-plot no. 2. Page No.# 4/5 Mr. Handique, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam has furnished a Communication bearing no. E-25871 LS-11/887/2023-KRS dated 10.08.2023, addressed to him by the Additional District Commissioner, Kamrup, Amingaon. A compliance report is found annexed to the Communication dated 10.08.2023. As per the compliance report submitted by the Circle Officer, Chamaria Revenue Circle, both the applications made by the petitioner no. 1 samity and the respondent no. 6 for allotment of the subject-plot no. 2 have been rejected as the subject-plot no. 2 falls within road side reserved land and is not eligible for settlement. In view of the rejection of applications of both the petitioner no. 1 samity and the respondent no. 6, the present writ petition is rendered infructuous. Both Mr. Biswas, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Islam, learned counsel for the respondent no. 6 have submitted that the orders rejecting the applications for allotment submitted by them have not yet been communicated to them. They have submitted that if the order[s] rejecting their applications are communicated to them, they would be at liberty to avail appropriate remedy under the law challenging such order[s] of rejection. Mr. Handique, learned Junior Government Advocate has submitted that the order[s] rejecting the applications for allotment of the subject-plot no. 2 of the petitioner no. 1 samity and the respondent no. 6 would be duly communicated to them, if not already communicated. With the observation that the order[s] rejecting the applications for allotment of subject-plot no. 2 by the petitioner no. 1 samity and the respondent no. 6 shall be communicated to them, if not already communicated till date, within a period of 30 [thirty] days from today, the writ petition is closed. As the subject-plot no. 2 is a road side reserved land as per revenue records, there shall not be any Page No.# 5/5 construction by any of the private parties. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010048662023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1370/2023o NATUNoKATHMIoBAZARoSAMITYoANDoANRo NATUNoKATHMI,oP.O.-KALATOLI,oP.S.-BOKO,oDIST-KAMRUP,oASSAM,o REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoPRESIDENToSAHEDoALIoAHMED,oAGEDoABOUTo52o YEARS,oS/OoLATEoAJGARoALI,oR/OoVILL-KANDULIMARI,oP.O.-KALATOLIo BAZAR,oP.S.-CHHAYGAON,oDIST-KAMRUP,oASSAM,oPIN-781136 2:oHASMAToALIoAHMED oS/OoLATEoABDULoGONI oR/OoVILL-NATUNoKATHMI oP.O.-KALATOLI oP.S.-BOKO oDIST-KAMRUP oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo THROUGHoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,oREVENUEo ANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI- 781006 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oKAMRUP oAMINGAON oDIST-KAMRUP oASSAM oPIN-781031 3:THEoBRANCHoOFFICER oSETTLEMENToBRANCHoANDoSUB-DIVISIONALoOFFICERo(S) oKAMRUP oAMINGAON Page No.# 2/5 DIST-KAMRUP ASSAM PIN-781031 4:THE CIRCLE OFFICER CHAMARIA REVENUE CIRCLE VILL AND P.O.-CHAMARIA DIST-KAMRUP ASSAM PIN-781136 5:THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER CHAMARIA ANCHALIK PANCHAYAT VILL AND P.O.-NAGARBERA P.S.-NAGARBERA DIST-KAMRUP ASSAM PIN-781127 6:GOPAL MIA S/O CHANDU MIA R/O VILL-NATUN KATHMI BAZAR P.O.-KALATOLI BAZAR P.S.-BOKO DIST-KAMRUP ASSAM PIN-78113 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S C BISWAS Advocate for the Respondent : SC, REVENUE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY