Nagarjhar Nau Juwan Club and Library and 2 Ors v. The State of Assam and 10 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010251312024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/73/2024o NAGARJHARoNAUoJUWANoCLUBoANDoLIBRARYoANDo2oORSo AoREGISTEREDoSOCIETYoREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoSECRETARYoSHARFULo ALOM,oS/OoLATEoSOHRABoALI,oRESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoNAGARJHAR,oPOo ANDoPSoHOWLY,oDISToBARPETA,oASSAMo,oASSAMo781316 2:oANISURoRAHMAN oS/OoLATEoMAHMUDURoRAHMAN RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoNAGARJHAR oPOoANDoPSoHOWLY oDISToBARPETA oASSAMo oASSAMo781316 3:oHAFIZURoRAHMAN oS/OoLATEoALIoAJGARo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoJAYPUR oPOoANDoPSoHOWLY oDISToBARPETA oASSAMo oASSAMo78131o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo10oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,oSECONDARYoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT,oJANATAoBHAWAN,o DISPURoASSAM,o781006 2:THEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oSPORTSoANDoYOUTHoWELFAREoDEPARTMENT oJANATAoBHAWAN oDISPURoASSAMo781006 Page No.# 2/4 3:THE DIRECTOR SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI 781019 4:THE DIRECTOR SPORTS AND YOUTH WELFARE RUDRA SINGH SPORTS COMPLEX SUPER MARKET DISPUR ASSAM GUWAHATI 781006 5:THE CHIEF ENGINEER PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT BUILDING CHANDMARI GUWAHATI 781003 6:THE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER BARPETA ASSAM 781301 7:THE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT COMMISSIONER (EDUCATION) BARPETA ASSAM 781301 8:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS BARPETA ASSAM 781301 9:THE DISTRICT SPORTS OFFICER GANDHINAGAR BARPETA ASSAM 781301 10:THE PRINCIPAL HILAPAKRI HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL JAYPUR HOWLY BARPETA ASSAM 781316 11:THE PRESIDENT SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITEEE HILAPAKRI HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL JAYPUR HOWLY BARPETA ASSAM 78131 For the petitioners : Mr. S. Borthakur, Advocate For the respondents : Mr. R. Mazumdar, S.C., Education Mr. D. Nath, S.C., PWD Ms. S. Sarma, Govt. Advocate, Assam Page No.# 3/4 – B E F O R E – HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. VIJAY BISHNOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KAUSHIK GOSWAMI 02-12-2024 (Vijay Bishnoi, C.J.) By way of this PIL petition, the petitioners have approached this Court challenging the action of the State Government of constructing a permanent structure RCC building (G+1) in the premises of Hilapakuri Higher Secondary School in the revenue village of Jaypur, Howly, District-Barpeta, Assam. The petitioners are claiming that the land, where the respondents have proposed to raise construction of a G+1 RCC building, is being used as play ground since last more than 50 years. It is also contended that enough alternate land is available with the respondents to construct the new building but despite the said fact they are bent upon to raise construction of the new building on the land being used as play ground since long. On a query, learned counsel for the petitioners has failed to satisfy this Court that the land, on which the new RCC building is proposed to be constructed, is earmarked or recorded as play ground in the government records. It is contended by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the play ground was developed by the concerned local authority with the fund received under MNREGA and the Government of Assam also organised some sports events at the said play ground earlier. Having heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and after going through the material available on record, this Court is of the view that if the respondents are proposing to raise some new construction over the plot of land in question with the intention to improve the infrastructure, the same cannot be Page No.# 4/4 interfered with without there being any proof that the land on which the new building is proposed to be constructed is reserved for some other purposes, such as, play ground or park etc. Be that as it may, it is within the domain of the administrative authorities to raise infrastructure over the government land. However, at the same time, if the land is being used as play ground or for other social activities since long, the concern of the residents has also to be taken into consideration. Taking into consideration the above facts and circumstances of the case, we deem it appropriate to allow the petitioners to move a fresh representation to the District Commissioner, Barpeta raising their grievance regarding the construction of the new building over the land, which is stated to be used as play ground, within a period of 10 (ten) days from today. The District Commissioner, Barpeta, after receiving the said representation and after inviting the views from the respondent Education Department, who has proposed to construct the new building, shall consider and decide the representation of the petitioners, strictly in accordance with law, expeditiously, preferably within a period of four weeks thereafter. With these observations, this PIL petition is disposed of.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant