Mominur Islam v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

11.01.2024 Heard Shri M Khan, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Shri NK Dev Nath, learned Standing Counsel, Panchayat & Rural Development (P&RDA) Department, Assam.

¶2The subject matter pertains to the settlement of Ghugurakandi Parghat under the Fekamari Anchalik Panchayat in the district of South Salmara Mankachar.

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¶3It is submitted by Shri Khan, learned counsel for the petitioner that though a notice dated 04.05.2023 was issued notifying bids for various parghats, including the present one, as per the petitioner, nobody had submitted any bids. However, vide the impugned order dated 08.08.2023, the parghat in question has been settled in favour of the respondent no. 6.

¶4This Court vide the order dated 04.12.2023 had accepted the office note dated 01.12.2023 regarding completion of service upon the private respondent who has chosen not to appear and contest the proceeding.

¶5It is further submitted that settlement can be done only through a validly concluded tender process and accordingly, the impugned order of settlement dated 08.08.2023 is liable to be set aside.

¶6Per contra, Shri Dev Nath, learned Standing Counsel of the Department has raised two basic issues questioning the locus of the petitioner to maintain the present challenge. Firstly, it is contended on behalf of the Department that the petitioner in this case was himself the beneficiary of an illegality by which, he had operated the parghat in question from 13.02.2023 to 30.06.2023. Though as per the pleadings made in the writ petition, such settlement was done by the Executive Officer, Fekamari Anchalik Panchayat vide order dated

10.02.2023, this Court has been apprised that the order was issued by a fraudulent means. The learned Standing Counsel has, in fact placed on record a copy of the order dated 06.01.2024 by which, the concerned employee of the office of the Fekamari Development Block has been placed under suspension for fraudulently issuing such an order. Secondly, it is submitted that the petitioner Page No.# 4/4 did not even offer his bid pursuant to the NIT dated 04.05.2023 and therefore, he would not have the locus to raise any dispute with regard to the consequential settlement.

¶7Though distribution of State largesse is required to be done in a transparent and fair manner, in the instant case, the objection raised on behalf of the Department are substantial in nature whereby the petitioner himself was the beneficiary of an illegality having the benefit of the settlement for the period from 13.02.2023 to 30.06.2023. In the opinion of this Court, the aforesaid aspect is a relevant factor for a writ court which exercises powers of equity. Further, the fact that the petitioner was not even a bidder pursuant to the NIT dated 04.05.2023 will preclude him from raising any issue with regard to the subsequent settlement.

¶8In that view of the matter without going into the merits of the settlement in question, the instant writ petition is rejected on preliminary grounds.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010202052023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5390/2023o MOMINURoISLAMo S/O-oLATEoABUoTALEBoSK.,oR/O-VILL.-oFERANGIRCHARo(KHALISHAMARI), P.O.oPIAZBARI,oDIST.oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHAR,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,oPANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENTo DEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONER oPANCHAYAToANDoRURALoDEVELOPMENT oPANJABARI oJURIPAR oGUWAHATI-37. 3:THEoCHIEFoEXECUTIVEoOFFICER oZILLAoPARISHAD oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHARoAToHAT-SINGIMARI oP.O.oHATSINGIMARI oDIST.oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHAR oASSAM oPIN-o783135. 4:THEoGENERALoSTANDINGoCOMMITTEEoOFoZILLAoPARISAD oSOUTHoSALMARAoMANKACHAR oHATSINGIMARI oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHAIRMAN oP.O.oHATSINGIMARI Page No.# 2/4 DIST. SOUTH SALMARA MANKACHAR ASSAM PIN- 783135. 5:THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER FEKAMARI ANCHALIK PANCHAYAT FEKAMARI P.O. FEKAMARI DIST. SOUTH SALMARA MANKACHAR ASSAM PIN- 783135. 6:ANOWARUL ISLAM S/O- SHAHABUDDIN MONDAL VILL.- KHALISHAMARI (GHUGRAKANDI) P.O. PIAZBARI DIST. SOUTH SALMARA MANKACHAR ASSAM PIN- 783128 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M KHAN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI