Abdul Kadir and 2 Ors v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010259982023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/73/2023o

1.oABDULoKADIRoANDo2oORSo S/O-oGIASoUDDIN,o R/O-oVILLAGE-oCHATIAN,oP.S.oJURIA,o DISTRICT-oNAGAON,oPIN-o782124 2:oHASMAToALI oS/O-oSIRAJoALI oR/O-oVILLAGE-oCHATIAN oP.S.oJURIA,oDISTRICT-oNAGAON 3:oRAHIMAoKHATUN oW/O-oRAMJANoALI oR/O-oVILLAGEoKENDUGURI oP.S.oJURIA,oDISTRICT-oNAGAOo ooooooooooooooVERSUSo

1.oTHEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo TOoBEoREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,oGENERALoADMINISTRATIONoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006 2:PRINCIPALoPRIVATEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoHONBLEoCHIEFoMINISTER oASSAM, oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006 3:DEPUTYoCOMMISSIONERo(DISTRICToCOMMISSIONER),oNAGAON oASSAM,oPIN-o782001 4:CIRCLEoOFFICERo(REVENUE) oRUPAHIoREVENUEoCIRCLE oP.O.oRUPAHI,oP.S.oJURIA oNAGAON,oASSAM oPIN-o782124 Page No.# 2/3 5:NAZRUL ISLAM S/O-ABDUL BARIK R/O-VILLAGE-CHATIAN P.O. TINSUKIA, P.S. JURIA NAGAON, ASSAM PIN-78212 For the Petitioner(s) : Ms. L. Wajeeda, Advocate.

For the Respondent(s) : Mr. R.K. Borah, Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam.

– BEFORE – HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. VIJAY BISHNOI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM

13.02.2024 (Vijay Bishnoi, CJ)

This writ petition is filed by the petitioners in the design of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) essentially raising a grievance against the respondent No.5 who is working as the Government Gaon Burah of villages Chatian, Nagarbandha and Kenduguri under the Rupahi Revenue Circle in the district of Nagaon, Assam. Allegation has been levelled that the respondent No.5 has brought all the economic and official of the villages under his grip by illegal means and let loose extreme corruption and hooliganism organizing a group of hooligans, anti-social elements, criminals, land mafias and started a rule of anarchy in the locality. It is also alleged that the respondent No.5 has formed a nexus with the local revenue, police and other officials and made himself as the solitary ruler of the area controlling all the activities and if anybody protests his misdeeds, is entrapped in criminal cases. We have gone through the contents of the writ petition and have also Page No.# 3/3 perused the material available on record. Essentially the writ petition is filed by the petitioners levelling allegations against the respondent No.5 who is a Government official but in support of the said allegations, no material is placed on record except a copy of the representation said to have been submitted by the villagers to Hon'ble the Chief Minister, Assam. We are of the opinion that a writ petition levelling certain allegations against a Government official cannot be termed as a petition in public interest in strict sense. If the villagers have any grievance against the Government official, they can avail appropriate remedy available to them under the law such as filing complaint to the higher officials and if any individual is involved in criminal activities, complaint can be filed with the police also. Mr. R.K. Borah, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam appearing for the respondent State has informed that acting on the complaint filed by the villagers, the respondent No.5 has already been placed under suspension vide order dated 28.04.2023 issued by the Deputy Commissioner & Disciplinary Authority, Nagaon. Be that as it may, we have already expressed out opinion that this writ petition cannot be entertained as a Public Interest Litigation. Hence, we are not inclined to interfere in this matter. The writ petition (PIL) is, therefore, dismissed.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant