Hamida Khatun and 14 Ors v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 29.07.2024

Heard Mr. K. K. Dey, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioners and Ms. N. Bordoloi, the learned Government Advocate appears on behalf of the Respondent No.1. I have also heard Mr. S. Baruah, the learned Government Advocate appears on behalf of the Respondent Nos. 2 to 7.

¶2The Petitioners herein have approached this Court alleging that the Respondent No.7 is interfering with their possession without following due process.

¶3From a perusal of the materials on record, it is seen that the Petitioners herein were granted allotment of various plots of land by the Government of Assam. It is also seen that the lands which were allotted to the Petitioners are situated at a distance of 4 to 5 Kms. from the State of Meghalaya. Page No.# 5/6

¶4It is also noticed that there were certain alleged encroachments by third parties to the land for which proceedings under Section 144 under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was initiated but subsequently relaxed by the Executive Magistrate.

¶5The grievance of the Petitioners in the instant writ petition primarily is that the Respondent No.7 who is the Officer-in-Charge of Kalapani Out Post under Mankachar Police Station had verbally informed the Petitioners to vacate the land and as such the Petitioners have submitted representation to the concerned authorities including the District Commissioner, South Salmara, Mankachar however, no action was taken. It is under such circumstances, the instant writ petition has been filed.

¶6Pursuant to the filing of the instant writ petition, this Court vide an order dated 30.07.2022 while issuing notice directed that the Petitioners shall not be evicted from the land under their occupation pertaining to Dag No. 94/78 without serving prior notice upon them giving 15 days clear time to respond. The said interim order has been extended from time to time.

¶7Today, when the matter has been taken up, Mr. S. Baruah, the learned Government Advocate for the Respondent Nos. 2 to 7 submits on instructions issued by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, South Salmara, Mankachar that the claim of the Petitioners could not be verified as all documents of allotment of 2019 were seized by the CM's Special Vigilance Cell, Assam in connection with CM Vigilance P.S. Case No.05/2021. It has also been mentioned that the Circle Officer/Assistant Settlement Officer have been instructed not to carry out eviction without prior notice as directed by this Court.

¶8I have heard the learned counsel for the Petitioners as well as the learned Page No.# 6/6 counsels for the Respondents.

¶9There is no affidavit-in-opposition filed by the Respondent authorities in spite of the notice having been issued in the year 2022. There is no denial to the certificates of allotment which have been issued to the Petitioners enclosed to the writ petition as Annexure-1 to Annexure-15. From these documents, it is apparent that the Petitioners herein had been granted allotment by the Deputy Commissioner, Hatsingimari.

¶10Under such circumstances, it is the opinion of this Court that if any steps for eviction of the Petitioners are to be taken, the same has to be taken by following the due process as stipulated in the Settlement Rules framed under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulations, 1886. In that view of the matter, the Respondent No.7 who is the Officer-in-Charge cannot act independently to disturb the possession of the Petitioners.

¶11Accordingly, the instant writ petition therefore stands disposed of thereby directing the Respondents not to disturb the possession of the Petitioners without following the mandate as specified under the provisions of law. It is further made clear that the Respondent No.7 independently has no authority or jurisdiction to interfere with the possession of the Petitioners.

¶12With above observations and directions, the instant petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010133622022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4699/2022o HAMIDAoKHATUNoANDo14oORSo WIFEoOFoKABULoUDDINo 2:oSHAHERAoKHATUN oWIFEoOFoNEDUoSHEIKHo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-BAMUNPARAo PIN-783135. 3:oHABIJAoKHATUN oWIFEoOFoFOYZALoHOQUEo PIN-783135. 4:oSADDAMoHUSSAIN oSONoOFoNEDUoSKo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-BAMUNPARAo DISTRICT-oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHARo PIN-783135. 5:oREJIAoKHATUN oWIFEoOFoMURTUZoALIo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-CHATIBHUIo DISTRICT-oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHARo PageoNo.#o2/6 6:oMOMOTAZoBEGUM oWIFEoOFoHANIFoALIo 7:oHOBIBURoRAHMAN oSONoOFoFOYZALoHOQUEo 8:oJOSHMINAoKHATUN oWIFEoOFoAMIRoALIo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-CHATIBHUIo DISTRICT-oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHARo 9:oSELIMAoBEGUM oWIFEoOFoHOBIBURoRAHMANo 10:oHOBIJURoRAHMAN oSONoOFoFOYZALoHOQUEo 11:oNEDUoSHEIKH oSONoOFoCHANDUoSHEIKHo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-BAMUNPARAo 12:oKOBULoUDDIN oSONoOFoSHAHERoALIo PageoNo.#o3/6 13:oKAMALoHUSSAIN oSONoOFoSAHERoALIo 14:oEUNUSoALI oSONoOFoOPIYELoHOQUEo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-ASSAMKATAo 15:oROUSHANAoBEGUM oWIFEoOFoJOMERoALIo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-ASSAMKATAo PIN-78313o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYo DEPARTMENToOFoREVENUEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAMo DISPUR 2:DEPUTYoCOMMISSIONERoCUMoDISTRICToMAGISTRATE oDISTRICT-SOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHARo HATSINGIMARI 3:ADDITIONALoDISTRICToMAGISTRATEo(MAGISTRACYoBRANCH) oDISTRICT-SOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHARo HATSINGIMARI 4:ASSISTANToSETTLEMENToOFFICER oMANKACHARoREVENUEoCIRCLEo MANKACHAR 5:CIRCLEoOFFICER oMANKACHARoREVENUEoCIRCLEo MANKACHAR Page No.# 4/6 6:OFFICER IN CHARGE MANKACHAR POLICE STATION MANKACHAR 7:OFFICER IN CHARGE KALAPANI OUTPOST MANKACHAR POLICE STATION KALAPANI DISTRICT- SOUTH SALMARA MANKACHA For the Petitioner(s) : Mr. K. K. Dey, Advocate : Mr. V. K. Barooah, Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Ms. N. Bordoloi, Government Advocate : Mr. S. Baruah, Government Advocate BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH