Batgaon Nayapara Min Samabay Samiti Limited v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 20-07-2023 Heard Mr. N.C. Das, learned Senior counsel assisted by Mr. A. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. M. Chutia, learned Government Advocate appearing for all the respondents.

¶2In brief, the case of the petitioner is that the petitioner Society, namely, Batagaon Nayapara Min Samabay Samiti Ltd. was granted lease in respect of no. 1 Chaulkhowa River fishery for a period of 7 years commencing from

25.06.2015 to 24.06.2022 at an annual revenue of Rs.12,00,000/- per year. In this regard fishery lease dated 25.06.2015 was executed. The petitioner society claims that it could not run/operate the fishery smoothly because of lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic period, encroachment of the fishery and other factors for which they claim to have suffered a huge financial loss even than they claim to have paid their rent regularly.

¶3On 10.03.2022, a representation was submitted before the Joint Secretary to the Government of Assam, Fishery Department for extension of lease for the Page No.# 3/4 period of 3 years with an alternative prayer for granting remission on remedy. However, the said authority by order dated 17.12.2021, extended the period of lease only for 1 year. The petitioner projects that they could not operate the fishery for the said extended period of time because the fishery was not formally handed over to the petitioner and therefore the possession of the fishery could not been taken over. However, by the impugned notice dated

04.03.2023, the Secretary of the petitioner Society was directed to pay the kist amount of Rs.11,86,500/- for the extended period from 30.06.2022 to

29.06.2023. Therefore, the petitioner has approached this Court by filing this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, apprehending action against the petitioner society for recovery of the sum of Rs.11,86,500/- as kist amount for the period of 30.06.2022 to 29.06.2023.

¶4The learned Government Advocate has produced a copy of written instruction dated 07.06.2023 received from the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Fishery), Barpeta wherein it is stated that the fishery is in possession of the petitioner society since 30.06.2022 as per the field verification report. The correctness of the said report is disputed by the learned senior counsel for the petitioner.

¶5Be that as it may, the case of the petitioner is that they had submitted a representation dated 13.05.2023, addressed to the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Fishery), Barpeta with a copy to the Joint Secretary, Government of Assam, Fishery Department. The Court is of the considered opinion that this would be a proper case to relegate the petitioner to once again move the competent authority i.e Joint Secretary, Government of Assam, Fishery Department with a supplementary representation. The petitioner shall produce a certified copy of this order while submitting their supplementary representation Page No.# 4/4 preferably to the Joint Secretary, Government of Assam, Fishery Department within a period of 10 days from today. On receipt of the same, the said authority shall give an opportunity of hearing the petitioner and dispose of the said representation preferably within a period of 1(one) month from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order.

¶6Till the time the said representation of the petitioner is decided, the interim order passed on 29.05.2023, would stand extended.

¶7In view of the discussions made above, this writ petition stands allowed to the extent as indicate above.

¶8The Government Advocate has provided a photocopy of written instructions, which is retained on record.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010113522023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3023/2023o BATGAONoNAYAPARAoMINoSAMABAYoSAMITIoLIMITEDo REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoSECRETARY,o SRIoJOYDEVoDAS,oAGEDoABOUTo77oYEARS,o S/O-oLATEoNABADEEPoDAS,o R/O-oVILLAGE-oGANAKPARA,o P.O.-oCHENGA,oDISTRICT-oBARPETA,o ASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo THROUGHoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENTo OFoASSAM,o FISHERYoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,o GUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoJOINToSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oFISHERYoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006. 3:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oBARPETAo(FISHERYoBRANCH) oP.O.oANDoDISTRICT-oBARPETA o ASSAM oPIN-o781301. 4:THEoADDL.oDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oBARPETAo(FISHERYoBRANCH) oP.O.oANDoDISTRICT-oBARPETA oASSAM Page No.# 2/4 PIN- 781301. 5:THE DISTRICT FISHERY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER BARPETA P.O. AND DISTRICT- BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781301 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. N C DAS Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA