Sakla M E Madrassa v. The State of Assam and 11 Ors

ORDER

19.04.2024

Considering the nature of the grievances and as agreed to by the learned counsel for the parties, this writ petition along with the connected I.A. which has been filed for vacation of the interim order dated 19.10.2023 are taken up for disposal at the admission stage.

¶2The facts projected is that the petitioner-School has been allotted a plot of land measuring 3 Katha 15 Lechas from which the same has been functioning. An Anganwadi Centre is located adjacent to the school campus on Government Land and as per prescription, the said Centre is being converted into a Model Anganwadi Centre. Page No.# 4/6

¶3The allegations made in the petition is that the aforesaid Model Anganwadi Centre of which the respondent nos. 10, 11 & 12 are the Office-Bearers is being constructed by encroaching upon the land of the petitioner - School. Since no action was taken on the representation submitted by the petitioner, the instant writ petition has been filed in which an interim order was passed on

19.10.2023.

¶4I have heard Shri D.P. Chaliha, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Shri A. Ali, the learned counsel for the petitioner. I have also heard Shri H. Sharma, learned Addl. Senior Government Advocate for the official respondents and Shri T. Ahmed, learned counsel for the respondent nos. 10, 11 & 12.

¶5Shri Chaliha, the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner does not have any objection with the existence of an Anganwadi Centre adjacent to the school campus which in fact is requirement. However, the grievance is with regard to the encroachment upon the land of the petitioner. In this connection, reference has been made to the Land Holding Certificate dated 08.08.2023 issued by the Circle Officer, Barkhetri Revenue Circle as per which, 3 Katha 15 lechas of land covered by Dag No. 1415 under Kharaj Myadi No. 618 is in the name of the President / Secretary of the petitioner-School. The learned Senior Counsel has also referred to the pleadings made in paragraph 15 of the writ petition wherein it has been stated that the construction of the 30 Model AWC was done on the land of the petitioner-School.

¶6Per contra, Shri Ahmed, the learned counsel for the respondent nos. 10, 11 & 12, by referring to the pleadings in the connected I.A.(Civil)/3519/2023 has submitted that constructions of the Model AWC is being done on the land allotted to the Centre and not on the land of the School. He further submits that Page No.# 5/6 the allegations are incorrect and the interim order accordingly is required to be vacated.

¶7Shri H. Sharma, learned Addl. Senior Government Advocate, who appears for the official respondents was directed to seek instructions on the earlier occasions.

¶8Shri Sharma, by referring to the instructions including a communication dated 04.03.2024 has submitted that out of 2 Katha 10 lechas of land covered by Government Dag No. 101, 1 Katha appears to be in the possession of the Anganwadi Centre and 1 Katha 10 lechas under the possession of the petitioner –School.

¶9He has however further submitted that the aforesaid instructions may be required to be re-verified and upon such re-verification, the matter may be resolved by demarcating the land of the petitioner - School so that any issue of encroachment can be ruled out.

¶10Shri Chaliha, the learned Senior Counsel, in his rejoinder has however disputed the factual aspect as contained in the communication dated

04.03.2024 which was transmitted to the learned State Counsel.

¶11The dispute involved in this writ petition is a factual one in which no conclusive findings can be given by exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. However, it appears that the allegations of the petitioner and the version of the private respondents are conflicting and are in connection with the respective plots of land allotted to them. It is not in dispute that an area of 3 Katha 15 lechas covered by Dag No.1415 has been allotted to the petitioner as would reflect from the Land Holding Certificate dated

08.08.2023. It is also not in dispute that the Angawadi Centre of which the Page No.# 6/6 respondent nos. 10, 11 & 12 are the Office Bearers is also situated on an adjacent Government land.

¶12The dispute regarding the area allotted to the respective parties to the lis can be resolved if a demarcation exercise is carried out by the competent authority. This Court has also taken into consideration that the Anganwadi Centre in question has been transformed to No. 30 Model Anganwadi Centre. The importance of both the institutions cannot be undermined.

¶13Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of by directing the office of the District Commissioner, Nalbari to cause a demarcation exercise by the authorised officer and to demarcate the boundaries of the petitioner - School as well as the Anganwadi Centre in question. Such exercise may be carried out within a period of 60 days from the certified copy of the order.

¶14The petitioner as well as the private respondents are directed to render all necessary cooperation including submissions of all connected documents and testimonials before the competent authority to facilitate completion of the demarcation exercises as directed above.

¶15Writ petition accordingly stands disposed of.

¶16It is clarified that the interim order would be in operation till completion of the demarcation exercise.

¶17Both the writ petition and I.A. accordingly stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

Page No.# 1/6 GAHC010269712023 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : I.A.(Civil)/3519/2023 TAIJUDDIN AHMED, S/O LATE HUSSAIN ALI, R/O NO. 2 KANDDHBARI, P.O.-MERUATTARY, P.S.- MUKALMUA, DIST-NALBARI, ASSAM VERSUS SAKLA M E MADRASSA, REPRESENTED BY ITS HEAD MASTER NAMELY MAKBUL HUSSAIN (50 YEARS), S/O MAJIBAR RAHMAN, R/O NO. 2 KANDHBARI, P.O.- MERUATTARY, P.S.-MUKALMUA, DIST-NALBARI, ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A R BHUYAN Advocate for the Respondent : MR. A ALI Linked Case : WP(C)/6117/2023 SAKLA M E MADRASSA REPRESENTED BY ITS HEAD MASTER NAMELY MAKBUL HUSSAIN (50 YEARS) S/O MAJIBAR RAHMAN R/O NO. 2 KANDHBARI P.O.-MERUATTARY P.S.-MUKALMUA DIST-NALBARI PageoNo.#o2/6 oASSAM oVERSUS THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo11oORS. REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYo(WOMENoANDo CHILDoDEVELOPMENT)oDEPARTMENT oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoWOMENoANDoCHILDoDEVELOPMENT oASSAM UZANBAZAR oGUWAHATI-01 o3:THEoDIRECTORoOFoSOCIALoWELFAREoDEPARTMENT oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM GUWAHATI-06 o4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oNALBARI ASSAM o5:THEoDISTRICToSOCIALoWELFAREoOFFICER oNALBARI ASSAM o6:THEoDISTIRCToSOCIALoCOMMISSIONERoCUMoCHAIRMAN oDISTRICToLEVELoMONITORINGoCOMMITTEE oNALBARI ASSAM o7:THEoCHILDoDEVELOPMENToPROJECToOFFICERo(CDPO) oINTEGRATEDoCHILDoDEVELOPMENToPROJECTS P.O.oANDoP.S.-MUKALMUA oDIST-NALBARI oASSAM oPIN-781126 o8:THEoBLOCKoDEVELOPMENToOFFICER oBARKHETRIoDEVELOPMENToBLOCK MUKALMUA oP.O.oANDoP.S.-MUKALMUA oPIN-781126 o9:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oMUKALMUAoREVENUEoCIRCLE P.O.oANDoP.S.-MUKALMUA oPIN-781126 o10:TAIJUDDINoAHMED S/OoLATEoHUSSAINoALI oR/OoNO.o2oKANDDHBARI oP.O.-MERUATTARY Page No.# 3/6 P.S.-MUKALMUA DIST-NALBARI ASSAM 11:HUSSAIN ALI S/O LATE SANU ALI R/O NO. 2 KANDDHBARI P.O.-MERUATTARY P.S.-MUKALMUA DIST-NALBARI ASSAM 12:ABUL HUSSAIN S/O LATE MAJAM MUNSHI R/O NO. 2 KANDDHBARI P.O.-MERUATTARY P.S.-MUKALMUA DIST-NALBARI ASSAM ------------ Advocate for : MR. D P CHALIHA Advocate for : GA ASSAM appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 11 ORS. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI