M/S Orang Brick Factory and 3 Ors v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 07.02.2024

Heard Mr. R. S. Chauhan, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. M. Chetia, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 5 & 8. Also heard Mrs. R. Devi, learned counsel for the respondent No. 1 and Mr. B. Choudhury, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 3 & 7 as well as Mr. N. Kalita, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 2 & 6.

¶2The petitioners are aggrieved by an order dated 16.03.2023, passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Udalguri (BTR), whereby Brick Kilns Industries of the two petitioners have been ordered closure on the basis of an enquiry caused pursuant to a public complaint.

¶3The impugned order dated 16.03.2023 states that on perusal of the detailed enquiry report, it is evident that the Brick Kilns Industries operating at Gorubandha village under Mazbat Revenue Circle have been functioning without necessary authorization from the concerned authorities, in violation of the Assam Brick Kilns Establishment & Regulation Rules, 2013. Further, there is no pollution clearance certificate from the Pollution Control Board, Assam.

¶4The petitioners' counsel submits that at the time the impugned order dated 16.03.2023 was issued by the Deputy Commissioner's office, the petitioners did not have the required documents for running the Brick Kilns Page No.# 4/5 Industries. However, the petitioners have now acquired all the necessary documents for running the Industries and have submitted the same to the District Commissioner, Udalguri vide forwarding letter dated 04.10.2023. However, no decision has been taken by the District Commissioner, Udalguri to allow the petitioners to run the Brick Kilns Industries. He accordingly prays that a direction may be issued to the District Commissioner to take a decision on the petitioners' application dated

04.10.2023 to run the aforesaid Industries.

¶5The counsels for the respondents submit that they have got no objection to the prayer made by the petitioners' counsel.

¶6On perusing the pleadings and after hearing the learned counsels for the parties, it is quite clear that there is no infirmity with the impugned order dated 16.03.2023 passed by the District/Deputy Commissioner, Udalguri in ordering closure of the petitioners' Brick Kilns Industries. However, the last sentence of the impugned order dated 16.03.2023 also provides as follows:- ".... this Industries are moreover directed to submit to the office of the undersigned all requisite clearances, NOC and permissions as per the relevant Rules from the concerned authorities, within a time period of four weeks."

¶7As the petitioners have allegedly submitted the required documents for running the Brick Kilns Industries, the District/Deputy Commissioner, Udalguri, is directed to take a decision on the petitioner's application dated

04.10.2023 and communicate the same to the petitioners. The entire Page No.# 5/5 process should be concluded within a period of 1 (one) month from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

¶8This writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010242312023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6273/2023o M/SoORANGoBRICKoFACTORYoANDo3oORSo HAVINGoITSoREGISTEREDoOFFICEoAToGARUBANDHA,o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oORANG,o DISTRICT-oUDALGURIo(BTR),oASSAM,o PIN-o784112.o REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoPROPRIETOR-oSRIoPRADYOSHoKUMARo BORAH. 2:oPRADYOSHoKUMARoBARUAH oSONoOFoSRIoKESHABoBARUAH oRESIDENToOFoCHAMUAPARA oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAZBAT oMOUZA-oORANGoDISTRICT-oUDALGURIo(BTR) oASSAM.oPIN-o784112. 3:oM/S.oORANGoBRICKoINDUSTRY oHAVINGoITSoREGISTEREDoOFFICEoAToGARUBANDHA oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oORANG oDISTRICT-oUDALGURI(BTR)oASSAM oPIN-o784112.o REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoPROPRIETOR-oSRIoKESHABoBARUAH. 4:oKESHABoBARUAH oSONoOFoLATEoSARAToBARUAH oRESIDENToOFoCHAMUAPARA oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAZBAT oMOUZA-oORANGoPIN-o784112 oDISTRICT-oUDALGURI(BTR)oASSAMo VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARY,o MINISTRYoOFoMICRO,oSMALLoANDoMEDIUMoENTERPRISES,o PageoNo.#o2/5 NEWoDELHI-o110001. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oINDUSTRYoANDoCOMMERCEoDEPARTMENT oDISPURoGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoBODOLANDoTERRITORIALoCOUNCIL oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY oKOKRAJHARoP.O.oANDoP.S.-oKOKRAJHAR oDISTRICT-oKOKRAJHARo(BTR) oASSAMoPIN-o783370. 4:THEoPOLLUTIONoCONTROLoBOARD oASSAMooREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoMEMBERoSECRETARY oBAMUNIMAIDAMo P.O.-oBAMUNIMAIDAM oP.S.-oCHANDMARI oDISTRICT-oKAMRUP(M) oASSAM. 5:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oUDALGURI oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oUDALGURI oDISTRICT-oUDALGURI(BTR) oASSAM.oPIN-o784509. 6:THEoGENERALoMANAGER oDISTRICToINDUSTRIESoANDoCOMMERCEoCENTRE oUDALGURIo(BTR) oP.OoANDoP.S.-oUDALGURI oPIN-o784509 oDISTRICT-oUDALGURI(BTR) oASSAM. 7:THEoAGRICULTURALoDEVELOPMENToOFFICER oROWTAoAGRICULTURALoCIRCLE oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oROWTA oDISTRICT-oUDALGURI(BTR) oASSAMoPIN-o784509. 8:THEoCIRCLEoOFFICER oMAZBAToREVENUEoCIRCLE oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oORANG oPIN-o784112 oDISTRICT-oUDALGURI(BTR) oASSAMo Page No.# 3/5 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR R S CHAUHAN Advocate for the Respondent : DY.S.G.I. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA