THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT v. THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS

BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY

21.07.2023 ORDER Heard Mr. H.R. Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioners; Mr. B. Talukdar, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. A. Chetri, learned counsel for the respondent nos. 1, 4, 5 & 6; and Ms. N. Bordoloi, learned standing counsel, Revenue Department, for the respondent nos. 2 & 3.

2. As agreed by the learned counsel for the parties, the writ petition is taken up for final disposal the stage of admission.

3. The petitioners, 78 in nos., have claimed that they are inhabitants within the areas falling under Nilambazar Revenue Circle, District - Karimganj. The case of the petitioners, in Page No.# 17/20 brief, is that they are poor people living below the poverty line having no land in their names. Considering the extant policy of the State Government, the petitioners submitted applications before the respondent no. 6 i.e. the Circle Officer-cum-Assistant Settlement Officer, Nilambazar Revenue Circle as well as before the respondent no. 4 i.e. the Sub-Divisional Land Advisory Committee, Karimganj represented by its Chairman-cum-the Deputy Commissioner, Karimganj seeking allotment of plots of land from Government khas land, etc. The applications of the petitioners for land allotment came to be considered in a meeting of the Sub-Divisional Land Advisory Committee, Kamimganj, held on 22.11.2017 in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Karimganj. A number of resolutions were passed in the said meeting. In so far as the applications for land allotment by the petitioners were concerned, it was the Resolution no. 30, which has relevance.

4. For ready reference, the contents of Resolution no. 30 is extracted hereinbelow: “Resolution No.30 : - As raised by Sri Aziz Ahmed Khan, Hon’ble M.L.A., Karimganj South Constituency and Member, S.D.L.A.C., Karimganj, the matter of allotment of Govt. acquired Ceiling Surplus Land acquired from the Eraligool T.E. under Fixation of Ceiling on Land Holding Act 1956 to the landless deserving indigenous people was discussed in the meeting and it was resolved that the land allotment proposals so far received from the concerning Revenue Officer(s) vide (1) Letter No.NC.140/2013/Pt/191, Dated 09.02.2016 (2) NC.140/2013/Pt/193, Dated

05.01.2016 (3) NTSM.4/2009-2010/1647, Dated 24.04.2017 (4) NTSM.4/2009- 2010/1646, Dated 24.04.2017 (5) NC.140/2013/Pt/194, Dated 09/02/2016, (7) No.NC.140/2013/Pt/2711, Dated 04.05.2017, (8) No.NC.140/2013/2843, Dt.31.05.2017, (9) NC.140/2013/Pt/192, Dated 09/02/2016, (10) NC.140/2013/Pt/9538, Dt.

28.03.2014, (11) NC.140/2013/Pt/9273, Dated 15/02/2014, (12) NC.140/2013/Pt/9271, Dated 15/02/2014, (13) NC.140/2013/PT/9274, Dated 15/02/2014, (14) NC.140/2013/Pt, Dated 30.01.2014, (15) NC.140/2013/9500, Dated 21.03.2014 & (16) NC.140/2013/Pt/3429 (A) Dated

18.11.2017 would be verified and the D.C. & Chairman, SDLAC, Karimganj would take necessary steps to approve those land allotment proposals, which would be found in order in terms of Govt. Rules in force. The MLA, L.A-4 South Karimganj LAC and other members also agreed that genuine landless persons should get land. So, a detail Page No.# 18/20 enquiry should be made before any individual allotment.”

5. In the counter affidavit filed by the respondent no. 4, it has been averred that the proposals for allotment of Government khas land in respect of persons/families of different mouzas including Nilambazar Mouza, had been received from the respondent no. 6. But, pursuant to Resolution no. 30 [supra], the proposals were returned to the respondent no. 6 for enquiry on different relevant points for re-submission of the report with necessary corrections. It has been averred that as per Government instructions under the project named ‘Mukkomontri Bagan Ghar Achoni’, Assam, some Government khas lands have been allotted to Tea Garden labourers and Government institutions/departments, as per the proposals made in the Sub-Divisional Land Advisory Committee meeting, held on 22.11.2017. Since the land allotment proposals pertaining to the petitioners were found containing anomalies and not fulfilling the criteria for allotment of Government land, their cases were not considered. Mr. Talukdar, learned senior counsel for the respondent nos. 1, 4, 5 & 6 has submitted that as per the Communication bearing no. KRCL.14/73/Vol-IV/702 dated

06.06.2023 received by him, proposals as regards allotment of lands in favour of the petitioners would be placed again in the next meeting of the Sub-Divisional Land Advisory Committee. In the counter affidavit, it is also averred that the petitioners are the unauthorized encroachers and encroached the Government khas land covered by various Dags of Paragana Pratapgarh, Mouza – Eraligool Part-1 Eraligool Part-10 and fines for encroachment in the form of ‘Bedakhali Jarimana’ have been collected from the unauthorized encroachers in the year 2018 i.e. 1425B.S. It has also been averred that no Government land were allotted to any individual though Government institutions were allowed land for public utility purpose. It has also been averred that on re-verification of the allotment proposals of the petitioners, it has been found that necessary/related papers/documents were not furnished by the petitioners and the allotment proposal could not be furnished in time. It has been reported that the petitioners had thereafter, submitted some papers/documents for consideration of their allotment proposal and the same are reportedly under process at the end of the Circle Officer, Nilambazar Revenue Circle.

6. Mr. Talukdar, learned senior counsel for the respondent nos. 1, 4, 5 & 6 and Ms. Bordoloi, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department have submitted that the Page No.# 19/20 applications conjointly submitted by the petitioners for allotment are reportedly under process and there is necessity of a fact finding inquiry for ascertainment of many facts on the basis of field inspections and supporting documents vis-à-vis the extant policy of the State Government on land allotment. The respondent authorities would require some more time to arrive at a final decision as regards the applications submitted by each of the petitioners after taking all the relevant facts including the eligibility of the petitioners to be allotted land. Since such fact finding inquiry is already in progress, the writ petition can be disposed of, at this stage, with a direction to the respondent authorities, more particularly, the respondent nos. 4 to 6 to complete the fact finding inquiry qua the petitioners herein within a definite time frame.

7. Mr. Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioners has also agreed to the said submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the State respondents.

8. Having regard to the above submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties; as well as broad consensus arrived at; and considering the fact that a fact finding inquiry has already been undertaken for the purpose of considering the applications of the petitioners requesting allotment of land in their favour, I am of the considered view that instead of keeping this writ petition pending, the same can be disposed of with a direction to the concerned respondent authorities to complete the fact finding inquiry, which is already underway, and to place the same thereafter, before the Sub-Divisional Land Advisory Committee within a definite time frame in respect of the applications, stated to have been submitted by the petitioners, requesting allotment of lands in their favour within a time frame. It is accordingly ordered.

9. Considering the nature of exercise to be undertaken by the fact finding inquiry under process, the learned counsel for the State respondents have submitted that a period of 6 [six] months would be a reasonable time period to enable the State respondents to complete such exercise. Therefore, taking note of the same, it is observed that the entire fact finding exercise qua the eligibility or entitlement of the petitioners for land allotment shall be considered as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of 6 [six] months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order at the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Karimganj and the office of the Circle Officer, Nilambazar Revenue Circle. In order to facilitate Page No.# 20/20 the fact finding inquiry, the petitioners are directed to render all necessary assistance and cooperation to the respondent no. 6 by appearing before him in person and by depositing all necessary documents at their disposal.

10. With the observations made and the directions given above, the writ petition is disposed of. No costs.

11. A copy of the Communication bearing no. KRCL.14/73/Vol-IV/702 dated 06.06.2023 is kept with the case records. JUDGE Comparing Assistant