Afzalur Rahman and 18 Ors v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 24.09.2024 (Vijay Bishnoi, CJ)

This writ appeal has been filed on behalf of the appellants being aggrieved with the order dated 02.02.2024, passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C)/8101/2017. The appellants have approached the writ Court being aggrieved with the notice dated 06.12.2017, issued by the Anchalik Forest Officer, Madhya Reserve Forest, district Goalpara, Assam. Page No.# 4/5 The notice dated 06.12.2017 is a general notice, wherein, it has been mentioned that the persons who had illegally occupied the land of Reserved Forest

(RF), or Proposed Reserved Forest (PRF) by constructing dwelling houses, they are directed to release (left) the forest land within 31.12.2017 to make the forest land completely free with a caution that otherwise, appropriate action would be taken against the illegal land occupier as per the department's rule. The appellants have challenged the validity of the said notice on the ground that the same is illegal and without jurisdiction. The learned Single Judge has held that no rights can be created or approved in the RF of PRF lands; and therefore, there is no illegality in the notice dated

06.12.2017. At the same time, the learned Single Judge had also clarified that the Forest authorities can only exercise its jurisdiction in the RF or PRF lands and not in respect of the revenue lands. The appellants have filed this Intra Court appeal apprehending that since the learned Single Judge has held that there is no illegality in the notice dated 06.12.2017, the Forest authorities may act against the appellants, who are not occupying the RF or PRF lands and are only in possession of the revenue lands. Having heard the learned counsel for the appellants and after taking into consideration the impugned Judgment dated 02.02.2024, passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C)/8101/2017; as well as the materials placed on record, we make it clear that though the learned Single Judge had opined that there is no illegality in the notice dated 06.12.2017, but, had also made clear that the Forest authorities can only exercise its jurisdiction in the RF and PRF lands and not in respect of the revenue lands, we hereby clarify that before taking any actions against the appellants or similarly situated persons, pursuant to the notice dated 06.12.2017, the Forest authorities are required to ascertain that the lands so occupied by the appellants or similarly situated persons, falls within the RF or PRF lands and after ascertaining the Page No.# 5/5 same, the Forest authorities can take any action against only those persons who have illegally occupied the RF or PRF lands. With the above observations, the writ appeal stands disposed of.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010052292024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWA/333/2024o AFZALURoRAHMANoANDo18oORSo S/OoHUSSENoALI 2:oABUoBOKKARoSIDDIQUE oS/OoNURULoISLAM 3:oHANIFoALIoMIAH oSONoOFoLATEoHAZRAToALI. 4:oABDULoBAREK oS/OoIZZOToALI 5:oSAHARoALI oSONoOFoABDULoRAHMAN 6:oAKBARoALI oS/OoHAZRAToALI 7:oMINHAJoUDDIN oS/OoABDURoRASHID 8:oISOBoALI oS/OoHAZRAToALI 9:oISMAILoHUSSAIN oS/OoSITALoSK. 10:oSOFIORoRAHMAN oS/OoNOSHADoALI 11:oSRIoABDULoJALIL oS/OoMAJOMoALI PageoNo.#o2/5 12:oSRIoNURULoISLAM oS/OoMOHAMMADoALI 13:oSRIoWAJADoALI oS/OoKAJIMUDDINoMUNCHI 14:oSRIoROWSHANoALI oS/OoIMANoALI 15:oSRIoRAHIJoUDDIN oS/OoSARFULLAoSK. 16:oSRIoCHANoMIAH oS/OoSUMORoALI 17:oSRIoREZZAoHASSANoALI oS/OoSUKURoALI 18:oSRIoABDULoKHALEQUE oS/OoMAJOMoALI 19:oONoTHEoDEATHoOFoHAFIJDDUDDINoAHMED oREPRESENTEDoBYoHISoWIFEoNAMELYoTARAoBHANUoBIBI oW/OoLATEoHAFIJUDDINoAHMED o ALLoAREoRESIDENToOFoASHUDUBI oPOoANDoPSoKRISHNAI oDISToGOALPARA oASSAMo78312o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.andoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oFORESToDEPTT.,o DISPUR,oGHY.-06. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAMoREVENUEoDEPARTMENT oDISPURoGUWAHATIo781006 3:THEoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFOREST oGOVToOFoASSAM oREHABARI oGUWAHATIo781008 4:THEoANCHALIKoFORESToOFFICER oMADHYAoRESERVEDoFOREST Page No.# 3/5 KRISHNAI DIST GOALPARA DIST GOALPARA ASSAM 783126 5:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER GOALPARA ASSAM 6:THE SETTLEMENT OFFICER GOALPARA ASSAM 7:THE CIRCLE OFFICER MATIA REVENUE CIRCLE PO AND PS MATIA DIST GOALPARA ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A A R KARIM, MR M HOQUE,MS G.PURI,Ms. R. R. BORAH,MR. M ALI,MR J. ISLAM,MR K K MAHANTA (Sr. Advocate),MR. M U MAHMUD Advocate for the Respondent : SC, FOREST, GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR