Dulendra Chandra Das v. The State of Assam and 13 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010162352022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/55/2022o DULENDRAoCHANDRAoDASo S/O.oLT.oDEBENDRAoCHANDRAoDAS,o PERMANENToR/O.oVILL.oSRIPURoPART-I,o P.O.oFULBARI,oP.S.oKATIGORAH,o DIST.oCACHAR,oASSAM,oPIN-788802. VERSUSo

1.oTHEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo13oORSo TOoBEoREP.oBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o PANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENToDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONER oPANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENT oJURIPARoPANJABARIoGUWAHATI-37. 3:THEoSUPDT.oOFoPOLICE oCHIEFoMINISTER/SoSPECIALoVIGILANCEoCELLoASSAM oSWATANTRAoSENANIoBHAWANoRUPNAGARoGUWAHATI-32. 4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONERoCACHAR oP.O.oANDoP.S.oSILCHARoDIST.oCACHAR oASSAMoPIN-788006. 5:THEoCHIEFoEXECUTIVEoOFFICER, oCACHARoZILLAoPARISHAD, oP.O.oP.S.oSILCHARoDIST.oCACHAR, oASSAMoPIN-788001. 6:THEoBLOCKoDEVELOPMENToOFFICER oKATIGORAHoDEVELOPMENToBLOCK oP.O.oKATIGORAHoDIST.oCACHARoPIN-788805. PageoNo.#o2/4 7:THEoSECRETARY oFULBARIoGAONoPANCHAYAT oP.O.oFULBARIoP.S.oKATIGORAH oDIST.oCACHARoASSAMoPIN-788802. 8:THEoGRAMoROJGARoSAHAYAKo(GRS) oFULBARIoGAONoPANCHAYAT oP.O.oFULBARIoP.S.oKATIGORAH oDIST.oCACHARoASSAMoPIN-788802. 9:IKBALoAHMEDoBARBHUIYA oPRESIDENToOFoFULBARIoGAONoPANCHAYAT oP.O.oFULBARIoP.S.oKATIGORAH oDIST.oCACHARoASSAMoPIN-788802. 10:ATARoALI oTHEoTHENoG.P.oSECRETARYoOFoFULBARIoGAONoPANCHAYAT oC/O.oOFFICEoOFoTHEoSECRETARY oFULBARIoGAONoPANCHAYAT oP.O.oFULBARIoP.S.oKATIGORAH oDIST.oCACHARoASSAMoPIN-788802. 11:DEBASISHoDAS oTHEoTHENoG.P.oSECRETARYoOFoFULBARIoGAONoPANCHAYAT oC/O.oOFFICEoOFoTHEoSECRETARY oFULBARIoGAONoPANCHAYAT oP.O.oFULBARIoP.S.oKATIGORAH oDIST.oCACHARoASSAMoPIN-788802. 12:SUJAoHUSSAINoMAZUMDER oTHEoTHENoI/CoBLOCKoDEVELOPMENToOFFICERoOFoKATIGORAHo DEVELOPMENToBLOCK,oPRESENTLYoPOSTEDoASoEXTENSIONoOFFICERo (CREDIT)oSAPEKHATIoDEVELOPMENToBLOCKoCHARAIDEO. 13:AJOYoPRASADoKANOO oTHEoTHENoRDoACCOUNTANT C/O.oBLOCKoDEVELOPMENToOFFICERoOFoKATIGORAHoDEVELOPMENTo BLOCKoP.O.oKATIGORAHoDIST.oCACHARoASSAMoPIN-788805. 14:NIZAMoUDDINoLASKAR oTHEoTHENoRDoACCOUNTANT oC/O.oBLOCKoDEVELOPMENToOFFICERoOFoKATIGORAHoDEVELOPMENTo BLOCK,oP.O.oKATIGORAHoDIST.oCACHAR oASSAMoPIN-788805o Page No.# 3/4 For the Petitioner : Mr. N.H. Barbhuiya, Advocate. For the Respondent(s) : Mr. S. Dutta, Standing Counsel, Panchayat and Rural Development Department. : Ms. S. Konwar, Junior Government Advocate, Assam for respondent Nos.3 & 4. : Mr. F.U. Barbhuiya, Advocate for respondent Nos.13 & 14. – BEFORE – HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. VIJAY BISHNOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR

08.05.2024 (Vijay Bishnoi, CJ)

Office has reported that no steps have been taken for service of notice upon the respondent Nos.10 and 11. Mr. N.H. Barbhuiya, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner has submitted that the respondent Nos.10 and 11 have now been retired and he is not aware about the present address of the said respondent. This writ petition in the design of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is filed by the petitioner raising a grievance that the respondent authorities are doing several irregularities in conducting the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee ACT) works for the financial years 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 under Katigorah Development Block of Cachar District. It is the allegation of the petitioner that the respondents are misappropriating the Government funds. Having gone through the contents of the writ petition, it appears that earlier also the petitioner has filed PIL No.8/2021, raising same concern and this Court vide order dated 22.02.2021 has disposed of the said PIL petition with a direction to the Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, Panchayat and rural Development Department (PNRD) to take cognizance of the matter, and after hearing the petitioner Page No.# 4/4 and other concerned persons take appropriate action by way of passing speaking order. As per the petitioner, when the said direction has not been complied with despite a representation is filed on behalf of the petitioner, he moved a contempt petition in which the Principal Secretary has submitted that an enquiry was conducted and six officials were involved in the misappropriation of funds against whom appropriate action is being taken in accordance with law. From the record, it appears that the Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell, Assam has also issued direction for registration of FIR against the guilty persons. Having taken note of the above facts, we are of the view that if the grievances of the petitioner still has not been redressed, he is free to approach the concerned authority for redressal of his grievances. It is expected that if any such representation is filed by the petitioner, the concerned authority shall take cognizance of the same and initiate appropriate proceedings in accordance with law. With these observations, this writ petition (PIL) is disposed of.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE

Comparing Assistant