Bapu Ram Saikia and 4 Ors v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 26-05-2023 Heard Mr. L. Chandran, learned counsel for the petitioners; Mr. A. Bhattacharjee, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue and Disaster Management Department for the respondent no. 1; Mr. M. Chetia, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 2, 3 & 4; and Mr. S. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, Panchayat and Rural Development Department for the respondent nos. 5, 6 & 7.

¶2The petitioners, 5 [five] in nos., have described themselves in paragraph 2 of the writ petition as follows : - the petitioner was the then current lessee of Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market, a Panchayat Notified Market, under the Batadrava Anchalik Panchayat whereas the petitioner no. 2 – 6 were various shop keepers who were having their shops under the Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market. They had Page No.# 4/5 projected that they represented all other shop keepers who run their business in the said market from the shops under the control and authority of the lessee of the Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market i.e. the petitioner no. 1. In paragraph 2 of the writ petition, it is averred that the petitioner no. 1 was settled with the Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market up to 30.06.2018. The petitioners had approached this Court by instituting the instant writ petition with the grievance that the Circle Officer, Dhing Revenue Circle had contemplated an eviction process on the ground that a part of the Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market was in a plot of land which has been reserved as Government Grazing Reserve.

¶3When the writ petition was moved on 23.03.2018, the eviction process proposed by the letter under Memo no. D.C.O.2018/256 dated 12.03.2018 by the Circle Officer, Dhing Revenue Circle was stayed until further orders.

¶4From the averments made in the writ petition, it is clear that the period of settlement of the Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market made in favour of the petitioner no. 1 had expired as far back as on 30.06.2018. The other petitioners i.e. the petitioner nos. 1 – 5 had merely claimed protection through the petitioner no. 1. As the period of settlement of Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market made in favour of the petitioner no. 1 had expired on 30.06.2018, the very foundation on which the petitioner nos. 2 – 5 had claimed protection also stood removed after

30.06.2018.

¶5Mr. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, Panchayat and Rural Development Department has submitted that the Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market had thereafter been settled by issuing tender notices for every Panchayat Financial years by the Batadrava Anchalik Panchayat. By a Tender Notice dated 10.05.2022, the Batadrava Anchalik Panchayat invited bids for settlement of the Balisatra Bi-Weekly Market for the Panchayat Financial Year : 2022 – 2023 i.e. from Page No.# 5/5

01.07.2022 – 30.06.2023. As such, the subject-matter of the instant writ petition has become infructuous after 30.06.2018.

¶6In view of the above fact situation, this Court is of the view that the subject-matter of the writ petition has become infructuous. The same is accordingly dismissed as infructuous. The interim order passed earlier stands vacated.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010055562018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1701/2018o BAPUoRAMoSAIKIAoANDo4oORS.o S/OoLT.oNIDHIoRAMoSAIKIAo R/OoVILL-oBALISATRAo P.O.oBALISATRA,oP.S.oBATADRAVAo DIST.NAGAON,oASSAMo PINo-o782122 2:oABDULoKALAM oS/OLT.oASHANoALIo R/OoVILL-oRAMPURoPUMo P.O.oRAMPURoSALAPATHAR P.S.oBATADRAVAo DIST.NAGAON oASSAMo PINo-o782122. 3:oABDULoSAIDK oS/OoLT.oMEHARoALIo R/OoVILL-oBALIKATIAo P.O.oBALIKATIA oP.S.oJURIAo DIST.oNAGAON oASSAM oPINo-o782124. 4:oSADIDULoISLAM oS/OoFAIZUDDINo R/OoVILL-oBALIKATIAo P.O.oBALIKATIA oP.S.oJURIAo DIST.oNAGAON oASSAM oPINo-o782124. PageoNo.#o2/5 5:oDANTIoBORAH oS/OoOKANoBORAHo R/OoVILL-oBALISATRAo P.O.oBALISATRA oP.S.oBATADRAVAo DIST.oNAGAON oASSAM o PINo-o782122o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o REVENUEoANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,o GUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oNAGAON o oDIST.oNAGAON oASSAM oPINo-o782001. 3:THEoADDITIONALoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER o(REVENUE) oNAGAON o oDIST.oNAGAON oASSAM oPINo-o782001. 4:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oDHINGoREVENUEoCIRCLE o oDIST.oNAGAON oASSAM oPINo-o78782133. 5:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oPANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENToDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006. Page No.# 3/5 6:THE NAGAON ZILLA PARISHAD REP. BY ITS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER NAGAON ASSAM PIN - 782001. 7:THE BATADRAVA ANCHALIK PANCHAYAT REP. BY ITS EXECUTIVE OFFICER NAGAON ASSAM PIN - 782122 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A SARMA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY