Pramod Kalita and 2 Ors v. The Union of India and 17 Ors

ORDER Date : 05-04-2024

(Vijay Bishnoi, CJ)

This I.A. is filed on behalf of the PIL petitioner with a prayer to issue a direction to the concerned authority not to do land fill up in the Deepor Beel area and not to allow any type of construction activities in and around the Deepor Beel site till the demarcation notification of Ramsar Site of Deeper Beel is made along with the notification for its Eco-sensitive Zone as required under the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 and place the record pertaining to the Cabinet decision taken or pending approval of the Eco-sensitive Zone of Deepor Beel.

¶2It appears that during the pendency of this I.A. the counsel for the petitioner has informed this Court that on 27-03-2024 that the State Cabinet has already taken a decision to de-notify the Deeper Beel Wildlife Century. The learned Advocate General, Assam Mr. D. Saikia on 03-04-2024 has submitted that though the State Cabinet has decided to de-notify the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century, however, no formal notification has Page No.# 5/7 been issued till date and he prays for some time to file response on behalf of the State Government.

¶3Today an additional affidavit is filed on behalf of the State Government wherein it is stated that the Cabinet in its meeting has decided to de-notify the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century while taking into note of the fact that at the time of notifying the Deepor Beel area as Wildlife Century in the year 2009, certain formalities, which are mandatory in nature, has not been carried out. It is also submitted that though the Cabinet has taken a decision to de-notify the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century but no formal notification has been issued till date in the absence of certain formalities such as to seek prior permission from the State Board of Wildlife and National Board of Wildlife and also prior approval from the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It is stated in the affidavit that only after getting approval from the State Board of Wildlife and National Board of Wildlife as well as from the Supreme Court, the notification for de-notifying the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century will be issued.

¶4Having heard the learned Advocate General, Assam and after taking into consideration the fact that the State Government had declared the Deepor Beel as Wildlife Century by issuing a notification in the year 2009, the said notification was challenged before this Court by way of filing W.P.(C) No. 4113/2009 and the fact that the learned Single Judge of this Court has set aside the said notification dated 21-02-2009 vide decision dated 21-12-2017. The said decision of the learned Single Judge was challenged before the Division Bench of this Court by the State of Assam and the Division Bench of this Court vide judgment dated 24-03-2023 passed in W.A. No. 02/2018, has reversed the judgment of the learned Single Judge by allowing the appeal filed by the State. Now Page No.# 6/7 suddenly the State Government has come up with the stand that in the year 2009, when the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century was notified, certain formalities, which was mandatory in nature, had not been carried out. It is informed that against the decision of the Division Bench of this Court on 24-03-2023, passed in W.A. No. 02/2018, a SLP is pending adjudication before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.

¶5Be that as it may, once the notification declaring the Deepor Beel as Wildlife Century has been affirmed by the Division Bench of this Court and a SLP filed against the decision of the Division Bench is pending consideration in the Hon'ble Supreme Court, we are of the view that any decision to de-notify the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century is not warranted at this stage. Hence, we direct the State Government not to issue any notification de-notifying the Deepor Beel Wildlife Century.

¶6This order would, however, be subject to any further order(s) passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the above subject. The I.A. is accordingly disposed of. List the PIL No. 18/2023 on 27-05-2024. On the next date, the District Commissioner, Kamrup (Metro) may file his response regarding issuance of Wildlife Management Rules.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE GS Page No.# 7/7 Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/7 GAHC010058202024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oI.A.(Civil)/924/2024o PRAMODoKALITAoANDo2oORSo S/OoUTTAMoKALITA,oBYoOCCUPATION-CATTLEoFARMER,oR/OoVILL- CHAKARDO,oNEARoDEEPORoBEELoRANGEoOFFICE,oP.O.-AZARA,oDIST- KAMRUPo(M),oASSAM-781017 2:oSONESHoTERON oS/OoLATEoBINANoTERON oBYoOCCUPATION-FARMER oR/OoVILL-PAMOHI oP.O.oANDoP.S.-GARCHUK oDIST-KAMRUP(M) oASSAM-781035 3:oDIPAKoTERANG oS/OoLATEoRADHARAMoTERANG oBYoOCCUPATION-SELFoBUSINESS oR/oOVILL-PAMOHI oP.O.oANDoP.S.-GARCHUK oDIST-KAMRUPo(M) oASSAM-78103o VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo17oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoINDIA,o MINISTRYoOFoENVIRONMENT,oFORESToANDoCLIMATEoCHANGE,oINDIRAo PARYAVARANoBHAWAN,oJORBAGHoROAD,oNEWoDELHI-110003 2:THEoMINISTRYoOFoINDIANoRAILWAYS oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoSECRETARY oRAILoBHAWANoHEADoQUARTERSo1oRAISINAoROADoNEWoDELHI 3:MINISTRYoOFoENVIRONMENT oFORESToANDoCLIMATEoCHANGE PageoNo.#o2/7 oNORTHoEASTERNoREGIONALoOFFICE oLAW-U-SIB oLUMBATNGEN oNEARoMTCoWORKSHOP oSHILLONG-7930211 4:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENTo OFoASSAM oENVIRONMENToANDoFORESToDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 5:THEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oREPRESENTINGoTHEoCOMMITTEEoAPPOINTEDoBYoTHEoNATIONALoGREEN TRIBUNALoKOLKATTAoEASToZONEo(TOoMONITORoACTIVITIESoINoDEEPORo BEELoAREAoWITHoSPECIFICoTOR)oDISPURoSECRETARIAToCOMPLEX oGUWHAATI-6 6:THEoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFORESTSoANDoHEADoOFo FORESToFORCE oH-BLOCK o2NDoFLOOR oJANATAoBHAWAN oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 oASSAM 7:THEoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFORESTSo(WILDLIFE) oH-BLOCK o2NDoFLOOR oJANATAoBHAWAN oDISPUR oGUWHAATI-781006 oASSAM 8:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoGUWAHATIoMUNICIPALo ADMINISTRATION oGUWAHATI 9:THEoGUWHAATIoMUNICIPALoCORPORATION oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHAIRMAN oGUWAHATI 10:THEoGUWAHATIoMETROPOLITANoDEVELOPMENToAUTHORITY oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHIEFoEXECUTIVEoOFFICER oBHANGAGARH oGUWAHATI Page No.# 3/7 11:STATE BOARD FOR WILDLIFE REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN DISPUR SECRETARIAT COMPLEX GUWAHATI-781006 12:THE NORTH EASTERN FRONTIER RAILWAY REPRESENTED BY ITS CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER HEAD QUARTERS MALIGAON GUWAHATI 13:THE ASSAM STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY GUWAHATI 14:CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER NORTH EASTERN FRONTIER RAILWAYS MALIGAON GUWAHATI ASSAM 15:THE ASSAM TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR GUWAHATI 16:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KAMRUP (M) GUWAHATI 17:CENTRAL WETLAND REGULATORY AUTHORITY REPRESENTED BY PCCF AND HOFF ASSAM ARANYA BHAWAN PANJABARI GUWAHATI-781037 18:THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES DISPUR GUWAHATI-78100 For the Petitioner : Mr. D.K. Das, Advocate Mr. M. Khataniar, Advocate Mr. H. Betala, Advocate For the Respondents : Mr. D. Saikia, AG, Assam Page No.# 4/7 Ms. P. Baruah, Advocate Mr. S. Baruah, SC, PCB Mr. C. Sarma, Advocate Mr. S.K. Medhi, CGC Mr. B. Chakraborty, Advocate BEFORE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM