Himachal Pradesh High Court
Shyam Singh Katoch vs State Of Himachal Pradesh And Others on 14 June, 2023
Bench: Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Satyen Vaidya
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
CWP No.1444 of 2022
Date of Decision : 14th June, 2023
.
Shyam Singh Katoch ...... Petitioner
Versus
State of Himachal Pradesh and others ......Respondents
Coram:
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Satyen Vaidya, Judge
Whether approved for reporting?1 No
For the Petitioner : Mr. Sanjeev Bhushan, Senior Advocate with
Mr. Maan Singh and Mr. Suhail Khan,
r Advocates.
For the Respondents : Mr. Anup Rattan, Advocate General with
Mr. I.N. Mehta, Senior Additional Advocate
General, Mr. Ramakant Sharma & Ms.
Sharmila Patiyal, Additional Advocates
General and Mr. Rajat Chauhan, Law
Officer, for the State.
Mr. Ajay Kumar Dhiman, Advocate, for
Respondents No.5 & 6.
Mr. Nishant Kumar and Mr. Virender Sharma,
Advocates, for Respondent No.7.
Ms. Narvada, Advocate, for Respondent No.8.
Mr. Mukul Sharma, Advocate, vice Mr. V.B.
Verma, Advocate, for Respondents No.9 & 10.
Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge (oral)
The instant petition has been filed for grant of the following substantive relief(s): -
1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?::: Downloaded on - 15/06/2023 20:31:04 :::CIS 2
"(I) That the respondents may be directed to take necessary steps for repair/restoration of the canal in question in a time bound manner. (II) That respondents No.5 and 6 may be directed to .
provide necessary funds for repair/restoration of canal in question."
2. On 21.4.2023, the Court passed the following order:-
"While placing on record the communication dated 18th April, 2023, issued under the signatures of Superintending Engineer, Jal Shakti Circle, Kullu, learned Additional Advocate General states that as far as the tapping of another source is concerned, it can only be tapped after the approval of proposal submitted by Jal Shakti Vibhag. He further states that source can be checked and decided only after joint visit at the source with the petitioner and other stake holders so that it can be ascertained that adequate water supply is available or not.
In view of the above, let Superintending Engineer, Jal Shakti Circle, Kullu visit the source along with the stake holders on 12th May, 2023 and thereafter report be submitted to this Court through Additional Advocate General enabling this Court to pass appropriate orders.
List on 19th May, 2023."
3. In compliance to the aforesaid order, the Superintending Engineer Jal Shakti Circle Kullu, inspected the source at Baragran to see the flow of the water for the Flow Irrigation Scheme that was being carried out by the Irrigation Department alongwith petitioner and various other stakeholders. During the joint inspection, it was agreed ::: Downloaded on - 15/06/2023 20:31:04 :::CIS 3 by the beneficiaries of both the Irrigation Schemes that now the source can be tapped just downstream the Trail Race Tunnel (TRT) of the Kanchanjunga Power Company Private Limited (KPCPL) (respondent .
No.7) at Baragran Nallah, thus, utilizing the same for irrigation by both the Schemes. The Jal Shakti Vibhag, in turn, agreed to the proposal of the beneficiaries and, thus, proposed a common trench weir at this new point for tapping water and it was decided that separate Gravity Lines be laid from the trench weir for individual Flow Irrigation Scheme, Baragran and Bari. All the other stakeholders/beneficiaries, including the petitioner, have agreed to the new proposal, as it was to their satisfaction. All the stakeholders were also asked for their objections, but all of them, unanimously agreed for the aforesaid decision. Not only this, the Presidents of both the Panchayats, i.e., Baragran and Hallan-II, have also promised to submit their No Objection Certificate for tapping the source from the new proposed site.
4. In this view of the matter, we deem it appropriate to dispose of this petition, by directing the official respondents to prepare a detailed project report, in accordance with the diagram, which forms part of the Spot Inspection Report, within a period of six weeks from today and submit the same to the appropriate authority for according budgetary sanction, which shall be granted by the competent authority, within a period of four weeks from the receipt thereof, and thereafter, tenders be awarded for execution of the work. Till such time, the ad-interim ::: Downloaded on - 15/06/2023 20:31:04 :::CIS 4 arrangement made by this Court, be scrupulously followed by the parties.
5. Before parting, we place on record our appreciation for the .
commendable work done by the Superintending Engineer Jal Shakti Circle, Kullu and such appreciation be entered in the Annual Confidential Report of the Officer concerned.
6. The pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, shall also stand disposed of.
r to ( Tarlok Singh Chauhan )
Judge
( Satyen Vaidya)
[ Judge
June 14, 2023 (KS)
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