Md. Abul Hussain and Anr v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 19-03-2024

¶1Heard Mr. H.R. Ahmed learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Ms. G Hazarika learned counsel for the respondent No.1, Mr. H Sarma learned counsel for respondent Nos.2, 3 and 4, Mr. M.M. Zaman learned counsel for respondent No.5, Mr. S.D. Purkayastha learned counsel for respondent Nos.6 and 7 and Mr. A Deka learned counsel representing respondent No.8.

¶2The grievance of the petitioners is that the petitioners are person interested so far it relates to acquisition of land under LA Case No.5/2021 and they claims compensation for the land acquisitioned. From the affidavit of the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup

(M), Guwahati, it is seen that an award for an amount of Rs.26,37,440.00 was passed in the aforesaid LA Case in favour of the recorded pattadar i.e., the predecessor in interest of the respondent Nos.6, 7 and 8.

¶3The claim of the petitioner was rejected by an order dated

15.07.2022 by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup Amingaon.

¶4Under the scheme of The Assam Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1964, the Collector is empowered to initiate the process for requisition and acquisition after adherence of due process as mandated under Section 6 and 9 of the Act. The Collector is Page No.# 4/5 empowered to pass an award under section 11(1) of the Act.

¶5In the case in hand, it is an admitted position that the award has already been passed in exercise of power under section 11(1) of the Act. section 12 of the Act further mandates that when any person is aggrieved by an award made under sub-section (3) of section 11 makes an application requiring the matter to be referred to the court or if there is any disagreement with the compensation payable under sub-section 4 of section 11, on the application of the person entitled to compensation requiring the matter to be referred to the court, the Deputy Commissioner is to refer the matter to the Referral Court. However, in the case in hand, the Collector himself has taken a decision as regards the entitlement of compensation made by the petitioner.

¶6The right course of action in the given facts of the present case is to treat the application filed by the petitioner as an application under section 12(1) of the Act of 1964 and refer the matter to the Referral Court.

¶7Law is well settled that the dispute as to the person entitled to receive the compensation is to be determined by the Referral Court and the Collector is not empowered to decide such dispute but to refer such dispute to the Referral Court.

¶8That being the position the impugned order dated

15.07.2022 is not sustainable under the scheme of The Assam Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1964, more particularly in view of the provisions of Section 12 of the Act,

¶9Accordingly the impugned order dated 15.07.2022 is set Page No.# 5/5 aside and quashed. The Collector is directed to treat the application filed by the petitioner dated 27.06.2022 and send the same to the Referral Court within a period of 60 (sixty) days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order to be furnished by the petitioner upon the Collector.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010146302022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4884/2022o MD.oABULoHUSSAINoANDoANR.o S/O-oLT.oMOHARoALI,o VILL.o2oNO.oJAMBARI,o P.O.-oJAMBARI,oP.S.oBOKO,o DIST.oKAMRUP,oASSAM,o PIN-o781123. 2:oTHUNUoBIBI oW/O-oLT.oAMIRoALI o VILL.o2oNO.oJAMBARI o P.O.-oJAMBARI oP.S.oBOKO o DIST.oKAMRUP oASSAM o PIN-o781123o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo7oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,oREVENUEo(oRoANDoR)oDISASTERo MANAGEMENToDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oKAMRUP oAMINGAON oASSAM oPINoNO.o781031. 3:THEoADDITIONALoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONERoANDoLANDoACQUISITIONo Page No.# 2/5 OFFICER KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 781301. 4:THE CIRCLE OFFICER CHHAYGAON REVENUE CIRCLE CHHAYGAON ASSAM PIN- 781124. 5:THE MANAGING DIRECTOR ASSAM INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ( AIIDC) INDUSTRIAL ESTATE BAMUNIMAIDAM GHY.- 21. 6:IBRAHIM ALI S/O. LT. AMIR HUSSAIN R/O.- VILL.- MAZ PARA CHHAYGAON P.O. CHHAYGAON P.S. CHHAYGAON DIST. KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 781124. 7:GOFFAR ALI S/O. LT. AMIR HUSSAIN R/O.- VILL.- MAZ PARA CHHAYGAON P.O. CHHAYGAON P.S. CHHAYGAON DIST. KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 781124. 8:IMRAN HUSSAIN S/O. LT. AMIR HUSSAIN R/O.- VILL.- MAZ PARA CHHAYGAON P.O. CHHAYGAON P.S. CHHAYGAON DIST. KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 781124 Advocate for the Petitioner : MD H R AHMED Advocate for the Respondent : SC, REVENUE Page No.# 3/5 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY