Samiran Dey v. The Union of India and 6 Ors

O R D E R

21.08.2024

Heard Mr. S. D. Purkayastha, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner. Mr. N. Goswami, the learned counsel appears on behalf the District Administration; Mr. R. K. Talukdar, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the NHIDCL; Ms. K. Phukan, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the CGST and Ms. G. Hazarika, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the Revenue Department of the Government of Assam.

¶2The grievance of the petitioner in the instant writ petition is that in the notification which was published in the English Daily, namely, Eastern Chronicle and Bengali Daily, namely, Jugashankha there was discrepancy in the area of land which has been said to have been acquired from the petitioner in as much as in the English Daily it was shown at 0.029 hectares whereas in the Bengali Daily it was shown at 0.0029 hectares. In that regard, the petitioner has approached the various authorities for the purpose of making necessary correction by issuance of corrigendum. However, as nothing was done, the petitioner has approached this Court.

¶3This Court vide an order dated 12.08.2024 directed the learned Government Advocate who was representing the District Administration as well as the Competent Authority to provide instructions as regards the discrepancy in the two newspapers in so far as the notification under Section 3D of the National Highways Act, 1956 is concerned.

¶4Today, Mr. N. Goswami, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the District Administration submitted that in the Gazette Notification No.S.O.1386 Page No.# 4/5

(E) 15.03.2024, the quantum of land mentioned is 0.029 hectares against the name of the petitioner. This notification was rightly published in the English newspaper, viz. Eastern Chronicle on 23.03.2024. However, it is duly admitted that the quantum of land shown in the Bengali newspaper, viz. Jugashankha was 0.0029 hectares. It was mentioned that it was a printing error. It has also been mentioned that after the petitioner intimated the authorities, a communication was issued to the petitioner on 05.08.2024 by the Competent Authority clarifying that the land which has been acquired from the petitioner in terms of the notification under Section 3D of the Act of 1956 dated 15.03.2024 is 0.029 hectares and there was an inadvertent mistake in the newspaper, namely, Jugashankha published on 23.03.2024 which may be ignored. It is also mentioned that this aspect of the matter was also informed to the NHIDCL by another communication dated

09.07.2024. In addition to that, in the Bengali news daily 'Jugashankha' dated 18.08.2024, this corrigendum has also been published.

¶5Taking into account the above, this Court is of the opinion that the land which has been acquired from the petitioner vide the Gazette Notification No.S.O.1386 (E) 15.03.2024 is the land admeasuring 0.029 hectares under Dag No.295.

¶6Mr. S. D. Purkayastha, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner further submits that although it has been notified that land measuring 0.029 hectares under Dag No.295 has been acquired from the petitioner, but the respondent authorities have made survey in respect to

0.0357 hectares. This Court is of the opinion that if the acquisition has been made only in respect of 0.029 hectares, the respondent authorities unless they take appropriate steps under the provisions of law, cannot take over the possession over a larger plot of land than what has been acquired. Under Page No.# 5/5 such circumstances, this Court observes and directs the respondent authorities to take possession of the area of land admeasuring 0.029 hectares in terms with the notification under Section 3D of the Act of 1956 issued on 15.03.2024. It is however observed that the above observations and directions would not act as a bar to the concerned Respondent Authorities to acquire further land from the petitioner however subject to the procedure established by law.

¶7With the above observations and directions, the instant writ petition stands disposed of.

¶8The instructions so placed is kept on record and marked with the letter "X".

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010158942024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4015/2024o SAMIRANoDEYo SONoOFoLATEoSUDHANYAoKUMARoDEY,o AoRESIDENToOFoVILL.-oKALINAGARoPART-III,o P.O.-KALINAGAR,o P.S.-PANCHGRAM,oPIN-o788801,o DISTRICT-oHAILAKANDI,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo6oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoINDIA,o MINISTRYoOFoROADoTRANSPORToANDoHIGHWAYS,o TRANSPORToBHAWAN,o1,oPARLIAMENToSTREET,o NEWoDELHI,oPIN-o110001. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM o REVENUEoANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPARTMENT o DISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006 oASSAM. 3:NATIONALoHIGHWAYSoANDoINFRASTRUCTUREoDEVELOPMENTo CORPORATIONoLTD. oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoEXECUTIVEoDIRECTORo(P)oCUMoHIGHWAYo ADMINISTRATOR o REGIONALoOFFICE oGUWAHATI Page No.# 2/5 2ND FLOOR AGNISHANTI BUSINESS PARK GNB ROAD AMBARI GUWAHATI ASSAM PIN- 781001. 4:THE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER HAILAKANDI PIN- 788151. 5:THE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT COMMISSIONER (REVENUE)-CUM- COMPETENT AUTHORITY FOR LAND ACQUISITION HAILAKANDI PIN- 788151. 6:THE CIRCLE OFFICER ALGAPUR REVENUE CIRCLE ALGAPUR DISTRICT- HAILAKANDI PIN- 788801. 7:THE DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER NHIDCL PMU- SILCHAR SITE OFFICE PESKAR LANE SONAI ROAD KANAKPUR PART I SILCHAR CACHAR ASSAM PIN- 788006 For the petitioner (s) : Mr. S. D. Purkayastha, Advocate For the respondent (s) : Mr. N. Goswami, Govt. Advocate Mr. R. K. Talukdar, Advocate Ms. G. Hazarika, Advocate Ms. K. Phukan, Advocate Page No.# 3/5 BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH