Ranjit Dutta v. The State of Assam and 12 Ors

ORDER Date : 18.01.2023

Heard Mr. A. Lahkar, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, Page No.# 4/5 Mr. T.R. Gogoi, the learned Junior Government appearing for the respondent Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 and Mr. P.K. Roy, the learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. S. K. Chakraborty appearing for the respondent No. 13. None appears for the respondent Nos. 3,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 on call. The instant application under Article 227 of the Constitution has been filed challenging the order dated 15/6/2018 whereby the Trial Court had rejected the prayer of the plaintiff seeking further time for appearance of the PW-3 for further cross-examination. It is the case of the petitioner that on 15/6/2018 the PW-3 could not appear for facing the further cross-examination on account of his illness and this aspect of the matter was not taken into consideration by the Court below while passing the order dated 15/6/2018 and thereby fixing the matter on 22/6/2018 for DWs. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that if an opportunity is being granted, the plaintiff would make sure that the PW-3 appears before the Trial Court on such date as may be fixed by the Trial Court without fail. Taking into account that the PW-3 was partly cross-examined, this Court is of the view that the interest of justice would be met, if one further opportunity is granted to the PW-3 to be present on such date as the Trial Court may fix. Accordingly, this Court disposes off this petition by interfering with the order dated 15/6/2018 and thereby grants one final opportunity to the plaintiff to produce the PW-3 for further cross-examination on such date as the Trial Court may fix. It is made clear that if on such date as fixed by the Trial Court, the PW-3 does not appear, the entire evidence of the PW-3 shall stand expunged. In view of the above observations and directions, the instant petition stands disposed off. The interim order dated 3/9/2018 passed by this Court stands vacated. Page No.# 5/5 The parties are directed to appear before the Trial Court i.e. the Court of the Civil Judge, Sivasagar on 1st of February 2023 on which date, the Trial Court shall fix a specific date for appearance of PW-3 to face his cross-examination. It is reiterated that if the PW-3 fails to appear on such date as may be fixed by the Trial Court, the entire evidence of PW-3 shall stand expunged.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010187722018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oCRP(IO)/291/2018o RANJIToDUTTAo S/O.oSRIoBHADRESWARoDUTTA,oR/O.oGARKAKHARIAoGAON,oP.O.o MOGORAHAT,oDIST.oSIVASAGAR,oASSAMo-785666 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo12oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoDY.oCOMMISSIONER,oSIVASAGARoDISTRICT,oP.O.oSIVASAGAR, P.S.oSIVASAGAR,oDIST.oSIVASAGAR,oASSAM-785640. 2:THEoSECRETARY oTOoTHEoMINISTRYoOFoHOMEoAFFAIRS oSTATEoOFoASSAM oP.O.oASSAMoSACHIVALAYA oDISPUR oDIST.oKAMRUPo(M) oASSAM-781006. 3:HEMANTAoBARUAH oTHEoTHENoOFFICERoINoCHARGE oSIVASAGARoPOLICEoSTATION oP.O.oSIVASAGAR oP.S.oSIVASAGAR oDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAM-785640. 4:THEoCOMMANDENT oOFFICEoOFoTHEoHOMEoGUARD oNEARoOFFICEoOFoTHEoSUPDT.oOFoPOLICE PageoNo.#o2/5 oJORHAT oP.O.oJORHAT oDIST.oJORHAT oASSAM-785001. 5:THEoINoCHARGE oOFFICEoOFoTHEoHOMEoGUARD oP.O.oANDoDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAM-785640. 6:PRABHAToDAS oS/O.oSRIoBHUBANoDAS oWORKINGoASoHOMEoGUARDS oOFFICEoOFoTHEoHOMEoGUARD oSIVASAGAR oP.O.oANDoDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAM-785640. 7:MUNINoGOGOI oS/O.oLT.oPUNESWARoGOGOI oWORKINGoASoHOMEoGUARDS oOFFICEoOFoTHEoHOMEoGUARD oSIVASAGAR oP.O.oANDoDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAM-785640. 8:KAMALoBARUAH oS/O.oLT.oBHUGRAMoBARUAH oWORKINGoASoHOMEoGUARDS oOFFICEoOFoTHEoHOMEoGUARD oSIVASAGAR oP.O.oANDoDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAM-785640. 9:SUJIToHAZARIKA oS/O.oJOYoCHANDRAoHAZARIKA oWORKINGoASoHOMEoGUARDS oOFFICEoOFoTHEoHOMEoGUARD oSIVASAGAR oP.O.oANDoDIST.oSIVASAGAR oASSAM-785640. 10:ANILoGOGOI Page No.# 3/5 S/O. SRI GANESH GOGOI WORKING AS HOME GUARDS OFFICE OF THE HOME GUARD SIVASAGAR P.O. AND DIST. SIVASAGAR ASSAM-785640. 11:ASHAN ULLAH S/O. UNKNOWN WORKING AS HOME GUARDS OFFICE OF THE HOME GUARD SIVASAGAR P.O. AND DIST. SIVASAGAR ASSAM-785640. 12:M/S SHIV-VANI OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION SERVICES LTD. REP. BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR F-213/C 3RD FLOOR LADO SARAI M.B. ROAD NEW DELHI-110030. 13:THE OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORPORATION LTD. REP. BY ITS COMPANY SECRETARY JEEVAN BHARATI TOWER-II INDIRA CHOWK NEW DELHI-110001 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M DUTTA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH