Rajen Nath and 3 Ors v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER

08.02.2023 Both these writ petitions being connected with an analogous cause of action, the same are taken up for a common hearing to be disposed of by this common judgment and order.

¶2The issue in both the writ petitions pertains to payment of compensation. While there are 3 numbers of petitioners in WP(C)/6279/2021, in the other writ petition, viz, WP(C)/6281/2021, there are 4 numbers of petitioners.

¶3The projected facts are that the petitioners, in both the writ petitions, are joint tenure holders of various Estates covered by various Taluk numbers which were acquired by the Government of Assam under the State Acquisition of Zamindaries Act, 1951 (Act). After the acquisition of the lands, a Compensation Officer was appointed which had registered cases wherein, compensation was required to be paid. After hearing the petitioners and other concerned persons and after assessment of total compensation payable to the petitioners, the Compensation Officer had passed an Award. As no appeal was preferred under Section 17 of the Act, the Award passed under the Act had attained finality and therefore, the Government was bound to pay compensation in terms of the Award under Section 10 (1) of the Act which, however had not been done. Under those circumstances, the petitioners had earlier approached this Court by filing WP(C)/2892/2010 and 2902/2010 which were disposed of on

25.07.2016 and 24.08.2016, respectively whereby the respondent no. 1 was directed to examine the claims of the petitioners and pay the compensation, if not already paid. The said respondent, however did not comply with the order and the petitioners Page No.# 5/7 alleged that as and when, they had visited the office of the said respondent, the petitioners were not even treated properly. In the meantime, the option of filing of cases under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 has also exhausted by limitation and therefore, the writ petitions have been filed.

¶4I have heard Shri IH Saikia, learned counsel for the petitioners in both the writ petitions whereas the State of Assam is represented by Shri M Chetia, learned counsel. Also heard Shri R Borpujari, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department, Assam.

¶5During the pendency of these cases, affidavit-in-opposition has been filed in these matters whereby a pertinent issue has been raised. As per the said affidavit filed by the respondent no.4, it has been stated that a CID case is pending on the issue which was instituted as large scale anomalies were detected in the aforesaid acquisition process. The affidavit, however made it clear that though there were 57 numbers of such cases, the petitioners names do not figure amongst those names and therefore, there should not be any difficulty in consideration of the case of the petitioners. For ready reference, the averments made in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the affidavit-in-opposition dated 13.12.2020 is referred to and is extracted hereinbelwo:

"4. That the deponent state that the compensation cases no. KKL-46/83, KKL-90/84, KKL-72/83, KKL-88/84, KKL-10/78, KKL-64/88, KKL-8/78, BH-60/83, BH-44/83, BH-62/83, BH-64/83, BH-66/84, BH-72/84, BH-74/84, BH-35/75, BH-43/83, BH-70/84, KK-26/78, KK-62/83, KK-50/83, KK-30/78, KK-28-78, KK-29-78, KK-29/78, KK-40/78, KK-39/78, KK-36/78 AND KK-46/78 as mentioned by the petitioner are not found in the list of 57 nos. of Zamindari cases that are under the investigation of CID. However, the Govt. has taken a decision that no sanction will be made till the completion of investigation by CID in respect of the 57 nos. cases.

Page No.# 6/7

¶5That the deponent state that as per the direction of the Hon'ble Chief Minister, Assam, it was directed not to sanction any compensation amount till the completion of enquiry of CID, Assam, the investigation is yet to be completed for which the Revenue & DM Department is not in a position to decide for any payment of compensation to the petitioners."

¶6The learned Standing Counsel, Shri Borpujari fairly submits that apparently, there should not be any difficulty in consideration of the case of the petitioners. However, it is additionally submitted that since there is financial aspect, a verification exercise may be permitted to be done before releasing the compensation amount to the petitioners.

¶7This Court finds force in the submission of Shri Borpujari, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department. Accordingly and considering the fact that no embargo in any form of police case or whatsoever, is pending against the petitioners, the compensation entitled to by them be paid. However, as prayed for, a verification exercise may be done before such payment. However, it is made clear that such verification exercise needs to be completed within a timeframe of 45 days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.

¶8It is needless to say that in case of further delay in payment of compensation, the petitioners are at liberty to approach the appropriate forum for grant of interest on the late payment. Page No.# 7/7

¶9With the above observation and direction, the writ petitions are disposed of. No costs.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/7 GAHC010194512021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6279/2021o MONUoNATHoANDo2oORSo S/O.oLT.oSURESHoNATH,oVILL.oBEDRONG,oP.O.oKUSHIRARKUL,oDIST.o KARIMGANJ,oASSAM,oPIN-788009. 2:oRANJUoNATH oS/O.oLT.oABANTIoNATH oVILL.oTALTALA oP.O.oDEWADI oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM oPIN-788722. 3:oNIRENoNATH oS/O.oADHIRoNATH oVILL.oTIKARPARA oP.O.oUMARPUR oDIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM oPIN-788806o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoADDL.oCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o REVENUEo(REFORMS)oANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToDEPTT.,oDISPUR,o GUWAHATI-781006. 2:THEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPTT. oDIPUR oGUWAHATI-781006. 3:THEoDEPUTYoSECRETARY Page No.# 2/7 TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM REVENUE (BUDGET) DEPTT. DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006. 4:THE DEPUTY SECRETARY REVENUE (REFORMS) DEPTT. DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006. 5:THE COMPENSATION OFFICER KARIMGANJ P.O. P.S. AND DIST. KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN-788710 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. I H SAIKIA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, REVENUE Linked Case : WP(C)/6281/2021 RAJEN NATH AND 3 ORS S/O. LT. ABANTI NATH VILL. TALTALA P.O. DEWADI DIST. KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN-788710. 2: KANU NATH S/O. LT. DIGENDRA NATH VILL. BERDONG P.O. KUSHIARKUL DIST. KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN-788009. 3: NIDHU DAS S/O. LT. BANINDRA DAS VILL. DUTTAPUR Page No.# 3/7 P.O. CHAPGHAT DIST. KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN-788701. 4: SARAJIT NATH S/O. LT. ADHIR NATH VILL. TIKARPARA P.O. UMARPUR DIST. KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN-788806. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS REP. BY THE ADDL. CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM REVENUE (REFORMS) AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT DEPTT. DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006. 2:THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM FINANCE DEPTT. DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006. 3:THE DEPUTY SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM REVENUE (BUDGET) DEPTT. DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006. 4:THE DEPUTY SECRETARY REVENUE (REFORMS) DEPTT. DISPUR GUWAHATI-781006. 5:THE COMPENSATION OFFICER KARIMGANJ P.O. P.S. AND DIST. KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN-788710. ------------ Advocate for : MR. I H SAIKIA Advocate for : appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS Page No.# 4/7 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI