Padmadhar Tea Company Pvt. Ltd and Anr v. Union of India and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 22.04.2024 Heard Mr. A.K. Das, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mrs. R. Devi, learned CGC for the respondent no.1; Mr. R. Boro, learned standing counsel for the respondent no.2; Mr. R.K. Talukdar, learned standing Page No.# 3/3 counsel for the respondent nos.3 and 4; and Mr. Mr. S. Baruah, learned Govt. Advocate for the State respondents.

¶2Aggrieved by the compensation awarded for acquisition of land for national highways, the petitioners had filed a protest, which was not acted upon and accordingly, this writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

¶3The learned standing counsel for the respondent nos.3 and 4 has produced a copy of the Gazette of India, Extraordinary dated 21.02.2024, by which vide notification no. S.O. 805(E) dated 21.02.2024, the Special Secretary to the Govt. of Assam has been appointed as Arbitrator for the District of Tinsukia under Section 3G of the National Highways Act.

¶4Although, it is not specified in the said Gazette Notification, the learned standing counsel for the respondent nos.3 and 4 has submitted that as per his instruction, the competent authority to act as Arbitrator is the Special Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Revenue and Disaster Management Department.

¶5Accordingly, this writ petition stands closed with liberty to the petitioners to move the said authority, if so advised.

¶6A copy of the Gazette Notification is kept as a part of record.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010078672024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2137/2024o PADMADHARoTEAoCOMPANYoPVT.oLTDoANDoANR.o DIGBOI,oASSAM,oPIN-o786171 2:oMR.oAPURBAoBORTHAKUR oMANAGINGoDIRECTOR oPADMADHARoTEAoCOMPANYoPVT.oLTD.oDIGBOI oASSAM oPIN-o78617o VERSUSo UNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo6oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARY,oMINISTRYoOFoROADoTRANSPORTo ANDoHIGHWAYS,oGOVERNMENToOFoINDIA 2:NATIONALoHIGHWAYSoAUTHORITYoOFoINDIAo(NHAI) oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHAIRPERSON oOFFICEoSITUATEDoAToG-5oANDo6 oDWARKA oDELHI oPIN-o110075 3:NATIONALoHIGHWAYoANDoINFRASTRUCTUREoDEVELOPMENTo CORPORATIONo(NHIDCL) oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoMANAGINGoDIRECTOR oHEADoOFFICEoSITUATEDoATo3RDoFLOOR oPTIoBUILDING o4oPARLIAMENToSTREET oNEWoDELHI oINDIA oPIN-o110001 4:DIRECTOR oNATIONALoHIGHWAYoANDoINFRASTRUCTUREoDEVELOPMENTo Page No.# 2/3 CORPORATION (NHIDCL) FIELD OFFICE SITUATED AT 2ND FLOOR CHIROTIA HAZARI LINK ROAD PULIBOR JORHAT ASSAM PIN- 785006 5:DISTRICT COMMISSIONER TINSUKIA OFFICE SITUATED AT BORGURI TINSUKIA ASSAM 786125 6:ADDITIONAL DISTRICT COMMISSIONER (LA) CUM COMPETENT AUTHORITY FOR LAND ACQUISITION (CALA) TINSUKIA ASSAM OFFICE SITUATED AT BORGURI TINSUKIA ASSAM 786125 7:THE CIRCLE OFFICER MARGHERITA DIST.- TINSUKIA ASSAM PIN- 78618 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A K DAS Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA