Jagadish Doley and Anr v. The State of Assam and 11 Ors

ORDER Date : 21/09/2023

Heard Ms. M. Borah, learned counsel appearing for the writ petitioners. Also heard Mr. B.J. Talukdar, learned senior counsel assisted by Ms. N. Bordoloi, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue and DM Department, Assam, appearing for the respondent nos. 1 to 5. Mr. G. N. Sahewalla, learned senior counsel assisted by Ms. T.J. Sahewalla, learned counsel is present on behalf of the respondent no. 8. Mr. M.J. Quadir, learned counsel has appeared on behalf of the respondent no. 5 and Mr. R. Hussain, learned counsel is present on behalf of the respondent no. 7. Ms. K. Yadav, learned counsel is present on behalf of the respondent no. 12. The remaining respondents are absent. Page No.# 4/5 The 2 (two) writ petitioners herein claim to be landless persons affected by river erosion. Alleging that the private respondents herein have been allowed to illegally encroach upon "sarkari land" with connivance with the higher authorities of the State, as a result of which, the petitioners have been deprived of settlement of land, the instant writ petition has been filed inter-alia praying for a Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to rehabilitate the petitioners by making allotment of land in their favour after evicting the private respondents. Mr. Talukdar, learned senior counsel appearing for the State of Assam submits that the Government of Assam has produced a copy of the notification issued on 06/01/2021 inviting applications for allotment of land in respect of erosion affected persons and, therefore, if the petitioners make an application to that effect, their request will be considered in accordance with law. Mr. Sahewalla, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent no. 8, leading the argument on behalf of the private respondents submits that the allegations made in the writ petition are completely untrue and, therefore, the relief as prayed for, cannot be granted to the petitioners. It is also the submission of Mr. Sahewalla that the petitioners do not have any right that can be enforced in this writ petition. Be that as it may, since the petitioners are merely seeking allotment of land on account of the fact that they are river erosion affected persons and considering the fact that the State has come up with a scheme to rehabilitated river erosion affected persons, the other issues raised in the writ petition need not detain this Court. In view of the submission made by Mr. Talukdar, this writ petition stands disposed of by granting leave to the petitioners to submit proper application for allotment of land. If such application is submitted by the petitioners within three months from today, the same be considered by the authorities as per the "Rehabilitation Policy for Erosion Affected Families of Assam, 2020" as notified by the Government of Assam on 06/01/2021 and a decision be taken in Page No.# 5/5 respect thereof, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within six months from the date of receipt of the application along with a certified copy of this order. In so far as the private respondents are concerned, it would be open for the State to take appropriate action in the matter, if they are of the view that there has been illegal encroachment of "sarkari land" and this Court refrains from making any further observation on that behalf, in the present order. With the above observation, this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE

sukhamay Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010258852013 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3416/2013o JAGADISHoDOLEYoandoANR.o S/OoLATEoANJANoDOLEY,oR/OoVILL.oMATMORA,oP.O.oKHARKOTAMUKH,o DHAKUALUKHANA,oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR,oASSAM. 2:oABHIJIEToSONOWAL oS/OoSRIoGHANAKANTAoSONOWAL oVILL.MAINAoPARA oP.O.oKADAM oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM oPINo78703o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo11oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECY.oGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oDISPUR,o GUWAHATI-6 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoandoSECY. oREVENUEoANDoDISASTERoMANAGEMENToANDoCO-OPERATIONoDEPTT. oGOVT.oOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 3:THEoPRINCIPALoSECY. oREVENUEoANDoDIGESTERoMANAGEMENT oGOVT.oOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6 Page No.# 2/5 4:THE NORTH ASSAM COMMISSIONER TEZPUR DIST. SONITPUR 5:ASSAM THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER DIST LAKHIMPUR ASSAM. 6:M/S NARAH TEA PLANTATION PVT. LTD. REPRESENTED BY SMTI RANIEE NARAH NARAYAN BHAWAN JAPORIGOG GUWAHATI ASSAM PIN 781005 7:UPPER GANGES SUGER and INDUSTRIES LTD. REPRESENTED BY SHRI NOPANI NANDINI 14 ROWLAND ROAD KOLKATA PIN 700020 WEST BENGAL INDIA. 8:M/S BENGAL TEA and FABRICS LTD. REPRESENTED BY SHRI ADARSH KANORIA MANAGING DIRECTOR 23 BALLYGUNG PARK KOLKATA PIN 700019 WEST BENGAL INDIA. 9:M/S BISHNATH TEA COMPANY LTD. REPRESENTED BY MANAGING DIRECTOR 4 MANGOLANEK KOLKATA PIN 700001 WEST BENGAL INDIA. 10:PUNYA MILI R/O BOGINODI KHALIHAMARI Page No.# 3/5 P.O. BOGINODI P.S. BOGINADI PIN 78703 11:KAILASH BRAHMA VILL. TARIONI BERMAHPUR P.O. TARIONI BERBANGHA P.S. BOGINODI DIST. LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN 787032 12:BUDHINA BHATTACHARYA VILL. SIAJLI MAJGAON P.S. BOGINODI DIST. LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN 78703 Advocate for the Petitioner : MS.M BORAH Advocate for the Respondent : MRA HAWARI BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM