Kolia Guswai Than Samiti and 2 Ors v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER

20.06.2024 Heard Mr. M.U. Mahmud, learned counsel for the petitioners, who submits that the petitioners have been running the Gerua Daily Bazaar since the year 1946 on the land of the Kolia Guswai Than covered by land measuring 3 Bigha under Dag No.137, Patta No.64.

¶2The petitioners are aggrieved by the notice dated 29.05.2024, whereby a number of Bazar/Ghat/Min Mahal are to be settled by the Lahorighat Anchalik Panchayat, including the Gerua Daily Market.

¶3The petitioners counsel submits that the respondent No.3 cannot settle the Gerua Daily Market, as it is standing on the land of the Than Committee.

¶4Mr. S. Dutta, learned counsel for the P&RD submits that if the Gerua Daily Market is standing on private land, the respondent No.3 will have no authority to settle the market. However, a verification needs to be undertaken by the competent authority, to verify whether the market being run by the petitioners Page No.# 4/5 is being run within the private land of the petitioners. He submits that the Circle Officer, Bhuragaon Revenue Circle may be directed to have a spot verification and make a report as to whether the Gerua Daily Market is being run on the land covered by Dag No.137, Patta No.64.

¶5The petitioners counsel submits that he has got no objection to the Circle Officer conducting a spot verification and making a report on the same.

¶6In view of the consent of the parties, the Circle Officer, Bhuragaon Revenue Circle is directed to cause a spot verification, to ascertain whether the Gerua Daily Market is being run on the 3 Bigha land covered by Dag No.137, Patta No.64 and submit a copy of the same to the respondent No.3, with a copy to be furnished to the petitioners also. The report should be made by the Circle Officer within a period of 15(fifteen) days from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. If the report is to the effect that the Gerua Daily Market which is being run on Dag No.137, Patta No.64 is in the petitioner's name, i.e., Kolia Guswai Than Samiti, the respondents shall not act upon the notice dated

29.05.2024, in so far as it relates to Gerua Daily Market. Till a decision is taken by the Circle Officer concerned, status quo shall be maintained on the Gerua Daily Market and the notice dated 29.05.2024 shall be kept in abeyance, in so far as it relates to Gerua Daily Market.

¶7The writ petitioner shall serve a copy of this order to the concerned Circle Officer (respondent No.5) as well as the respondent No.3 within a period of 5(five) days from today.

¶8Mr. S. Dutta, learned counsel shall communicate the order passed today to Page No.# 5/5 the respondent No.3.

¶9The writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010124562024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3203/2024o KOLIAoGUSWAIoTHANoSAMITIoANDo2oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoPRESIDENT,o NAMELYoUMARAMoBORDOLOI,o GERUAoCHARIALI,o P.O.-oGERUAGAON,o P.S.-oBHURAGAON,o DIST.-oMORIGAON,oASSAM,o PIN-o782121. 2:oUMARAMoBORDOLOI oPRESIDENT o S/O-oLT.oLAYRAMoBORDOLOI o R/O-oVILL-oJAMADARI o P.O.-oGERUAGAON o P.S.-oBHURAGAON o DIST.-oMORIGAON oASSAM o PIN-o782121. 3:oMADHABoCHANDRAoSAIKIA oCHIEFoSECRETARYoOFoKOLIAoGOSWAIoTHAN o S/O-oLT.oGANGADHARoSAIKIA o R/O-oVILL-oNIZ-oGERUA o PageoNo.#o2/5 P.O.-oGERUAGAON o P.S.-oBHURAGAON o DIST.-oMORIGAON oASSAM o PIN-o782121o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,o PANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENToDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI,oASSAM,oPIN-o781006. 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoPANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENT oPANJABARI oGUWAHATI oASSAM o PIN-o781037. 3:THEoLAHORIGHAToANCHALIKoPANCHAYAT oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHIEFoEXECUTIVEoOFFICERoCUMoCURRENTo SECRETARYoOFoLAHORIGHAToANCHALIKoPANCHAYAT o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oLAHORIGHAT o DIST.-oMORIGAON oASSAM o PIN-o782121. 4:THEoCHIEFoEXECUTIVEoOFFICER oMORIGAONoZILAoPARISHAD oANDoAUTHORIZEDoOFFICERoOFoLAHORIGHAToANCHALIKoPANCHAYAT o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMORIGAON o DIST.-oMORIGAON oASSAM o PIN-o782105. 5:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oBHURAGAONoREVENUEoCIRCLE Page No.# 3/5 DIST.- MORIGAON ASSAM PIN- 782121 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M U MAHMUD Advocate for the Respondent : SC, P AND R.D. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA