Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Prabir Halder vs State Of West Bengal on 14 December, 2023
Bench: Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta
ITEM NO.8 COURT NO.5 SECTION XVI
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s).27832/2023
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 16-10-2023
in WPA No.6511/2020 passed by the High Court At Calcutta)
PRABIR HALDER & ORS. Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS. Respondent(s)
(FOR ADMISSION and I.R. and IA No.253559/2023-EXEMPTION FROM FILING
C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT and IA No.254276/2023-
INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT and IA No.253558/2023-PERMISSION TO FILE
PETITION (SLP/TP/WP/..) and IA No.253561/2023-PERMISSION TO FILE
LENGTHY LIST OF DATES)
Date : 14-12-2023 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURYA KANT
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DIPANKAR DATTA
For Petitioner(s) Mr. Birendra Prasad Verma, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Kartik Kumar Ray, Adv.
Mr. Debashish Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Amit Suden, Adv.
Mr. Ashutosh Kumar Mishra, AOR
For Respondent(s) Mr. Subhasish Bhowmick, AOR
Ms. Manisha Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Rahul Kushwaha, Adv.
Mr. Pranshu Kaushal, Adv.
Mr. Sohit Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Ashutosh Singh, Adv.
Mr. Udhutala Jagan, Adv.
Ms. Chitra Rekha Singh, Adv.
Ms. Honey Verma, Adv.
Mr. Harsh Gupta, Adv.
Mr. John Thomas Arakal, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
Signature Not Verified
1. Digitally signed by ARJUN BISHT Date: 2023.12.16 Permission to file special leave petition is granted. 13:15:08 IST Reason:
2. We have heard learned senior counsel for the petitioners as well as learned counsel on behalf of the private respondents, who are on caveat.
3. The private respondents have filed WPA No.6511/2020 before the High Court at Calcutta, invoking its Public Interest jurisdiction, for the purpose of elevating the issue of water logging in Uttar Ramnagar, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. It appears that during the course of hearing of the Public Interest Litigation, it was reported that 50 to 60% of the road land of 3.5 kms. had been encroached upon, by raising road side structures. The State Authorities were accordingly directed to file a status report along with time bound schedule for removal of those encroachments.
4. The petitioners are the persons who are alleged to have encroached upon the public road. Since demolition/eviction orders were passed against them pursuant to the directions issued by the High Court in PIL jurisdiction, they applied for their impleadment in the pending PIL. However, vide order dated 29.08.2023, the Division Bench declined to accept their prayer on the premise that they have separately challenged the eviction proceedings in WPA No.20904/2023.
5. When WPA No.20904/2023 came up for hearing before a learned Single Judge on 15.09.2023, the ad interim stay order granted earlier was not extended, in view of the observations made by the Division Bench on 29.08.2023 in the pending public interest litigation.
6. The resultant effect is that neither the petitioners have been heard in the pending PIL, in which directions for removal of the alleged encroachments have been issued nor the interim stay against the orders of demolition/eviction etc. passed against them by the statutory authorities, which they have challenged in WPA No.20904/2023, has been further extended.
7. The Division Bench in the pending PIL has thereafter passed the impugned order dated 16.10.2023, taking note of the statement made by learned Advocate General to the effect that since the learned Single Judge has not extended the interim stay in WPA No.20904/2023, there is no impediment for the respondent/authorities to give effect to the orders passed for removal of encroachments. The Division Bench has accordingly directed the authorities to submit a compliance report on the date fixed i.e., 18.12.2023.
8. The resultant effect is that without there being any adjudication as to whether - (i) The petitioners are owners in possession of the subject property; (ii) The eviction orders passed against them are legally sustainable; (iii) The statutory authorities as well as the High Court have failed to observe the principles of natural justice as no fair opportunity of hearing has been accorded to the petitioners or other affected persons etc. etc., the structures of the petitioners shall stand demolished, in a way, rendering their writ petition bearing WPA No.20904/2023 as infructuous.
9. That does not appear to be the interest and import of the directions issued by the learned Division Bench of the High Court in exercise of its PIL jurisdiction.
10. It may be noticed, at this stage, that the petitioners have taken a categoric stand before us that they are the owners in possession of the land in dispute.
11. For the reasons afore-stated and without expressing any views on merits, we direct that let status quo re: demolition of the existing structures be maintained for an initial period of four weeks. The petitioners or other affected persons shall meanwhile be at liberty to seek modification of the order dated 15.09.2023 passed in WPA No.20904/2023 and/or challenge that order in the intra-Court appeal. The learned Division Bench, hearing the PIL bearing WPA No.6511/2020 may also consider the desirability to defer the submission of compliance report till the fate of the application or intra-Court appeal, as the petitioners may move within the stipulated period or by 31.01.2024 is decided, whichever is earlier.
12. The special leave petition stands disposed of in the above terms.
13. All pending applications, including the application for impleadment, stand disposed of.
(ARJUN BISHT) (PREETHI T.C.) COURT MASTER (SH) COURT MASTER (NSH)