Chandra Kanta Borsaikia and 20 Ors v. The State of Assam and 3 Ors

ORDER Date : 07-08-2023 07-08-2023 Heard Mr. N.N.B. Choudhury, learned counsel for the writ petitioners. Also heard Ms. G. Hazarika, learned standing counsel, Revenue & DM Department, Assam appearing for the respondent No. 1 and Mr. S. Baruah, learned Govt. Advocate, Assam appearing for the respondent Nos. 2 to 4. The twenty-one writ petitioners in this petition claim to be the residents of Dhemaji district. As per the case projected in this writ petition, they were cultivating different plots of agricultural land under their possession so as to eke out a living. According to the petitioners the plots of land under occupation of the petitioners were acquired by the district administration for construction of Sports Stadium complex in the district of Page No.# 6/8 Dhemaji. Mr. Choudhury submits that even if the land was required for any public purpose, even then, the petitioners were entitled to fair compensation under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rules and Resettlement Act, 2013. But no such compensation has been paid to them nor have the petitioners be allotted any alternative plot of land. The learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the respondents are duty bound to pay fair compensation to the petitioners under the provisions of the Act of 2013 or to provide them alternative land in the vicinity, but the respondents have failed to take any such action in the matter, notwithstanding the representations submitted by the petitioners on several occasions including on 11-01-2023 and 07-02-2023. Mr. Choudhury has, therefore, prayed for a direction upon the respondents to redress the grievance of the petitioners. Ms. Hazarika, learned standing counsel, Revenue and DM Department, Assam, on the other hand, submits that if the petitioners are erosion affected persons, then they would be entitled to apply for allotment of land under the "Rehabilitation Policy for Erosion affected families of Assam, 2020". Therefore, the grievance of the petitioners will be looked into if a proper application is filed. However, the learned departmental counsel has submitted that they do not have any instruction on the allegations made in the writ petition. If the land occupied by the petitioners have been acquired by the district Page No.# 7/8 administration for any public purpose then they may be entitled to fair compensation. This Court is, therefore, of the opinion that the Deputy Commissioner of the district must be directed to examine the claims of the petitioners on the basis of representations submitted by them and take appropriate steps as may be warranted under the law for redressal of the grievance of the petitioners. The learned departmental counsel have also agreed to such a recourse. In view of the above, this writ petition stands disposed of by granting 04 weeks time to the petitioners to submits fresh representations before the respondent No. 2, i.e. the Deputy Commissioner, Dhemaji along with supporting documents, establishing their claim over the land. If such individual representations are filed within 04 weeks from today by enclosing a certified copy of this order, the matter be examined and the respondent No. 2 may take appropriate measures, as may be warranted under the law, for redressal of the grievance of the petitioners. The aforesaid exercise be carried out and completed as expeditiously as possible, but not later than 06 months from the date of receipt of individual representations of the petitioners, in terms of the order passed by this Court. With the above observations, this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE GS Page No.# 8/8 Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/8 GAHC010057742023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1461/2023o CHANDRAoKANTAoBORSAIKIAoANDo20oORS.o S/O-oBISWANATHoBORSAIKIA,oR/O-oVILL-oCHENGELIoPATHAR,oJIADHALo CHARIALI,oP.O.oCHENGELIoPATHAR,oP.S.oANDoDIST.-oDHEMAJI,oPIN-787057,o ASSAM 2:oDURNAoKONWAR oS/O-oLATEoSASHIDHARoKONWAR 3:oNARENoGOGOI oS/O-oLATEoLEKHANoGOGOI 4:oRANJANoGOGOI oS/O-oLATEoTULANoGOGOI 5:oRANTUoGOGOI oS/O-oLATEoTULANoGOGOI PageoNo.#o2/8 6:oKARUNAoBORGOHAIN oS/O-oBULANoBORGOHAIN oR/O-oVILL-oKACHAITINGoNO.o1 7:oREKHAMONIoBORGOHAIN oW/O-oGAGANoBORGOHAIN 8:oTARUNoLECHUDHAR oS/O-oLATEoLECHUDHARoBHARDHARA oR/O-oVILL-oKACHAITINGoNO.2 oP.O.oKACHAITING 9:oDIPANKARoBORSAIKIA oS/O-oBISWANATHoBORSAIKIA oR/O-oVILL-oCHENGELIPATHER 10:oKHAGENoBORSAIKIA oS/O-oDHIRENoBORSAIKIA 11:oSARBESWARoBARSAIKIA oS/O-oBISHTURAMoBARSAIKIA PageoNo.#o3/8 12:oSABITRIoSONOWAL oW/O-oTITHESWARoSONOWAL oR/O-oVILL-oCHENGELIPATHER 13:oSONATIoSONOWAL oD/O-oMAHENDRAoSONOWAL oR/O-oVILL-oCHENGELIPATHER 14:oKUMUDoBARSAIKIA oS/O-oHRIDAYANANDAoBARSAIKIA oR/O-oVILL-oHATIGARHoDHUNAGURI 15:oSAILENoSONOWAL oS/O-oBHUBANoSONOWAL 16:oDEBAoBARSAIKIA oS/O-oMOHANoBARSAIKIA 17:oTILENDRAoBORSAIKIA oS/O-oTARASONoBORSAIKIA oR/O-oVILL-oHATIGARHoDHUNAGURI PageoNo.#o4/8 18:oLOHIToGOGOI oS/O-oLATEoLEKHANoGOGOI 19:oSHIBAoBARSAIKIA oS/O-oDHIRENoBARSAIKIA 20:oDIPALIoGOGOI oW/O-oDEBAKANTAoGOGOI 21:oKAMALPRABHAoBARSAIKIA oD/O-oBHOGESWARoBARSAIKIA oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo3oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oREVENUEoAND DISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006,oKAMRUPo (M),oASSAM 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oDHEMAJI oDISTRICT-oDHEMAJI 3:THEoCHAIRMAN oDISTRICToLANDoADVISORYoCOMMITTEE Page No.# 5/8 DHEMAJI THE OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OFFICE DHEMAJI DISTRICT- DHEMAJI PIN- 787057 ASSAM 4:THE CIRCLE OFFICER DHEMAJI REVENUE CIRCLE DISTRICT DHEMAJI PIN- 787057 ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. N N B CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM