Gauhati High Court
Page No.# 1/7 vs The State Of Assam And 19 Ors on 4 October, 2021
Bench: N. Kotiswar Singh, Manish Choudhury
Page No.# 1/7
GAHC010153272021
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : PIL/63/2021
KALIMOHAN ROAD DURGA PUJA COMMITTEE AND 6 ORS
REPRESENTED BY ITS GENERAL SECRETARY,
SHRI KALIKA PRASAD BHATTACHARJEE, AGED 38YEARS
S/O LATE PULENDRA BHATTACHARJEE,
R/O KALIMOHAN ROAD, TARAPUR, SILCHAR 03,
P.O. AND P.S. SILCHAR
DIST CACHAR, ASSAM.
2: KALIKA PRASAD BHATTACHARJEE @ KANCHAN BHATTACHARJEE
S/O LATE PULENDRA BHATTACHARJEE
R/O KALIMOHAN ROAD
TARAPUR
SILCHAR 03
P.O. AND
P.S. SILCHAR
DIST CACHAR
ASSAM
3: SRI HARENDRA CH. DAS
S/O
LATE GIRINDRA CH. DAS
R/O KALIMOHAN ROAD
TARAPUR
SILCHAR 03
P.O. AND
P.S. SILCHAR
DIST CACHAR
ASSAM
4: DR. RAJIB KAR
S/O LATE RAMENDRA KAR
Page No.# 2/7
R/O KALIMOHAN ROAD
TARAPUR
SILCHAR 03
P.O.
P.S. SILCHAR
DIST CACHAR
ASSAM
5: RANAJIT KR. KAR
S/O LATE RAKESH KR. KAR
R/O KALIMOHAN ROAD
TARAPUR
SILCHAR 03
P.O. AND
P.S. SILCHAR
DIST CACHAR
ASSAM
6: DEBAJIT DUTTA
S/O SRI DIPTI BHUSAN DUTTA
R/O KALIMOHAN ROAD
TARAPUR
P.O. AND P.S. SILCHAR
DIST CACHAR
ASSAM
SILCHAR 03.
7: ABHIK DAS
S/O LATE NIRMAL DAS
R/O KALIMOHAN ROAD
TARAPUR
P.O. AND P.S. SILCHAR
DIST CACHAR
ASSAM
SILCHAR 0
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 19 ORS
REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY,
Page No.# 3/7
DEPARTMENT OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT, GOVERNMENT OF
ASSAM, DISPUR, GUWAHATI 06.
2:THE DIRECTOR
MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT
GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM
DISPUR
GUWAHATI 06.
3:THE SILCHAR MUNICIPAL BOARD
REPRESENTED BY ITS
EXECUTIVE OFFICER
P.O.P.S. SILCHAR
DISTRICT CACHAR
ASSAM
4:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
SILCHAR
DISTRICT CACHAR.
5:JYOTIRMOY SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
6:K.H. RUPMOHAN SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
7:MANI MOHAN SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
8:K.H. BRAJO MOHAN SINGHA
S/O LATE BHIM SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
9:ANITA SINGHA
W/O LATE RANJIT SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
Page No.# 4/7
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
10:RUPAM SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
11:RAJDEEB SINGHA
S/O LATE RANJIT SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
12:RANAVIR SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
13:K.H. RAJENDRA SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
14:RAJESH SINGHA
S/O LATE RUPCHAND SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
15:K.H. PRABIR SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03.
16:K.H. PRADIP KUMAR SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03
Page No.# 5/7
17:PRAMIN KUMAR SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03
18:PANKAJ SINGHA
S/O LATE DEBOHARI SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03
19:SMTI. MAJULA SINGHA
W/O LATE PRAKASH KUMAR SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03
20:SMTI. MARTINA SINGHA
D/O LATE K.H. PRAKASH KUMAR SINGHA
RESIDENTS OF
TUKO RAMNAGAR
TARAPUR PT IV
SILCHAR 03
Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S BISWAS
Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM
BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE N. KOTISWAR SINGH HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY order 04-10 -2021 [N. Kotiswar Singh, J] Heard Mr. S. Biswas, learned counsel for the petitioners. Issue notice, returnable by 15.11.2021.
Page No.# 6/7 Mr. D.K. Sarmah, learned State Counsel, accepts notice on behalf of the respondent no.1 & 4 and Mr. S. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, Silchar Municipal Board accepts notice on behalf of the respondent nos. 2 & 3. So no formal steps are called for in respect of the respondent nos. 1 to 4.
Learned counsel for the petitioners shall take steps for service of notice upon the respondent nos. 5 to 20 by registered post with A/D within 7 (seven) days from today.
The PIL has been taken up on the plea of the petitioners, who have alleged that they have been celebrating Durga Puja under the aegis of Kalimohan Road Durga Puja Committee since 1990 over a plot of land which the Silchar Municipal Board, the respondent no.3 has purportedly given on lease and extended/renewed the same in favour of the private respondent nos. 5 to 20 without following the due process of law. Learned counsel for the petitioners has alleged that the extension of a non-registered lease is illegal even if the said extension was done by the authorities on an existing lease, as the same was not done by observing the norms under Section 63(2) as well as Section 299(B) of Assam Municipal Act, 1956. In other words, the aforesaid lease and extension of the same are in contravention of the provisions of the Assam Municipal Act, 1956.
On the other hand, Mr. S. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, Silchar Municipal Board, submits that the aforesaid provisions of the Act are not attracted, inasmuch as, it is merely an extension of lease and not transfer of property.
Mr. D.K. Sarmah, learned State Counsel, appearing for the Deputy Commissioner, Cachar, submits that in spite of his various efforts, he could not collect the necessary instructions from the Deputy Commissioner, Cachar.
Page No.# 7/7 Under the circumstances mentioned above and after hearing the parties, we are inclined to pass ad interim order on the basis of the averments made in para-6 of the petition that the Kalimohan Road Durga Puja Committee has been performing Durga Puja since 30 years and accordingly, allowing the petitioners to continue to perform Durga Puja under the aegis of Kalimohan Road Durga Puja Committee this year also, subject to fulfilment of all the norms and regulations that may be imposed by the Silchar Municipal Board or any other competent authority in this regard.
Consequently, the impugned order dated 18.05.2021 (Annexure-1) shall not be given effect to till the next returnable date. It is made clear that this ad interim order has been passed without going deep into the merit of the case, and the matter will be dealt with appropriately on receipt of response from the respondent authorities, more particularly, the respondent no.4 in this regard.
List the matter again on 15.11.2021.
JUDGE JUDGE Comparing Assistant