Ambar Bahadur Pradhan and 2 Ors v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER

31.07.2023 Heard Shri R Dhar, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Ms. S Sarma, learned State Counsel, Assam for the respondent nos. 2, 3 and 4 as well as Shri A Bhattacharjee, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department, Assam. Shri PK Das, learned counsel appears for the respondent no. 5.

¶2Respondent nos. 2, 3 and 4 as well as the respondent no.5 have filed affidavits-in-opposition, respectively on 17.11.2022 and 03.05.2023 which, however, have been replied to by the petitioners by filing rejoinder-affidavit.

¶3The controversy in question revolves around a Next of Kin (NoK) certificate Page No.# 3/5 which has been applied by the petitioners. It is the claim of the petitioners that their sister, Surya Pradhan had passed away on 14.10.2020 and had left behind certain immovable and movable properties and upon such death, a NoK certificate was applied for and was furnished on 29.12.2020.

¶4However, as projected by the petitioners, the respondent no. 5 had also obtained a NoK certificate subsequently on 30.01.2021 in which, the said respondent no. 5 was described to be the husband of the deceased.

¶5Shri Dhar, learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that subsequent NoK certificate has been obtained by the respondent no. 5 by misrepresentation as, at no point of time, their sister was married to the respondent no. 5. He has submitted that the respondent no. 5 was the driver in the family and was never married to their sister.

¶6On the other hand, Shri Das, learned counsel for the respondent no. 5 by referring to the affidavit-in-opposition filed on 03.05.2023 has submitted that the said respondent no. 5 had married the deceased in the year 2008 in a temple and thereafter had started residing at Subhashpally at Kokrajhar in a rented house. For ready reference, the relevant pleadings made in paragraph 3 of the said affidavit-in-opposition are extracted hereinbelow:

"3. That with regard to statements made in paragraph 2 of the writ petition as a matter of record it is true that Lt. Surya Pradhan expired on 14.10.2020. The death certificate showed clearly the name of respondent No. 5 as the husband of respondent no. 5. However, while denying the contentions made therein begs to state that Lt. Surya Pradhan married the respondent no. 5 in 2008 in a temple and thereafter started residing in Subhashpally, Kokrajhar in a rented Page No.# 4/5 house of one Ashish Bhattacharjee."

¶7Ms. S Sarma, learned State Counsel has, however, referred to the affidavit-in-opposition of the respondent nos. 2, 3 and 4 dated 17.11.2022 and has submitted that as per the report of the Circle Officer, Kokrajhar Revenue Circle dated 26.07.2022, the status of the respondent no. 5 is not conclusive.

¶8Shri Dhar, learned counsel has, however, submitted that the averments made by the respondent no. 5 regarding marriage are not categorical and that would not establish a valid marriage. In any case, he has referred to the rejoinder-affidavit wherein such averments have been denied.

¶9After considering the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties, this Court is confronted with a situation wherein, there are factual disputes that too, regarding the status of the respondent no. 5 as to whether the deceased was the legally married wife of the said respondent no. 5. The said question which has arisen is necessarily a question of fact which would be required to be proved by adducing evidence by both the parties in accordance with law and such exercise would not be within the ambit of this Court in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. This Court has also noted that the report of the Circle Officer is also not conclusive which has again fortified the aforesaid conclusion of this Court.

¶10In view of the above, the issue is directed to be raised before the competent court with regard to the fact whether the married was actually solemnized and thereafter the Deputy Commissioner would take a final decision with regard to the NoK to be issued to the parties. In the event, the parties approaches the competent court/authority, the said court/authority shall not be influenced by any observation made by this Court in this case and shall decide the matter as per its own merits. Page No.# 5/5 The writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010101372022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3507/2022o AMBARoBAHADURoPRADHANoANDo2oORS.o S/O-oLATEoLOKoBAHADURoPRADHAN,oR/O-oJ.D.oROAD,oKOKRAJHAR,o WARDoNO.o5,oP.O.oANDoDISTRICT-oKOKRAJHAR,oBTAD,oASSAM,oPIN-o783370. 2:oSMTI.oJYOTIoPRADHANo(DHAR) oD/O-oLATEoLOKoBAHADURoPRADHAN oR/O-oJ.D.oROAD oKOKRAJHAR oWARDoNO.o5 oP.O.oANDoDISTRICT-oKOKRAJHAR oBTAD oASSAM oPIN-o783370. 3:oSMTI.oPUNAMoPRADHANo(PODDAR) oD/O-oLATEoLOKoBAHADURoPRADHAN oR/O-oJ.D.oROAD oKOKRAJHAR oWARDoNO.o5 oP.O.oANDoDISTRICT-oKOKRAJHAR oBTAD oASSAM oPIN-o783370o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY,oTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,oDEPARTMENToOFoREVENUEoANDoDISASTERo MANAGEMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oKOKRAJHAR oDISTRICT-oKOKRAJHAR Page No.# 2/5 ASSAM. 3:THE ADDITIONAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KOKRAJHAR KOKRAJHAR ASSAM. 4:THE CIRCLE OFFICER KOKRAJHAR REVENUE CIRCLE KOKRAJHAR. 5:SAJAL DEY S/O- LATE SAMBHU CH. DEY R/O THANAPARA WARD NO. 9 P.S. AND P.O. - KOKRAJHAR DISTRICT- KOKRAJHAR BTAD- 783370 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR R DHAR Advocate for the Respondent : SC, REVENUE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI