Aliful Ahmed v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER 26-11-2024

Heard Mr. S. Hoque, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. B. Goswami, learned Government Advocate, Assam. 2] This writ petition is filed by the petitioner praying for a direction to the respondent no.5 as to why the representation dated 12.12.2016 submitted by the petitioner before the respondent no.5 seeking compensation for damage caused by the flood over the mining work NKD-B-10 Bardanga area was not disposed of. 3] The petitioner was a mining Contractor of NKD-B-10 Bardanga area and the said mining area was allotted in his name in the year 2014 for 7 years i.e. Page No.# 3/5 w.e.f 01.09.2014. From the day of issuance of the contract, he had been paying the requisite installment against the said mining area. However, in the last part of May, 2016 there was a flood in the mining area because of which he suffered loss as all the materials which were gathered in the mining area was washed away due to the flood. According to the petitioner, his approximate losses suffered is around Rs.8,75,000/- (Rupees Eight lakhs seventy five thousand only). Subsequently, when the flood was over, the respondent no.5 opened the mining areas of other similarly situated person but when the petitioner came to work in his area, he was not allowed to work in his mining area. It is claimed that since the petitioner was not even permitted to work in the said area, he, therefore, filed a representation dated 23.08.2016 before the respondent no.5. He was permitted to work only on 17.09.2016 by the respondent no.5 and for this delay he sustained heavy loss. Thereafter, on 25.11.2016 the petitioner submitted a representation before the respondent no.5 claiming the compensation for the damage caused by flood over the mining appear. However, the said representation dated 25.11.2016 is still pending before the concerned Authority and finding no way, the petitioner has approached this Court. This matter is pending for disposal before this Court. 4] Notice in this case was issued far back as on 29.05.2017 and the respondents Department has also not responded by filing any affidavit. Page No.# 4/5 5] Today, when the matter is listed before the Court, learned counsel for the petitioner prays for a direction to the respondent no.5 for disposal of the said representation. 6] Upon careful perusal of the pleadings available before the Court as well as the representation dated 25.11.2016 enclosed to the writ petition, it is seen that the said representation pertains to the mining area allotted to the petitioner in the year 2014 for 7 years. 7] Accordingly, this Court does not consider it prudent to issue any direction to the respondent no.5 for disposal of the representation dated 25.11.2016 seeking compensation. In any event of the matter, the contract agreement between the petitioner for mining areas was executed by and between the petitioner and the Forest Department, more particularly, the Divisional Forest Officer, North Karmup Division, Rangia. The District Magistrate, Barpeta by its order dated 31.05.2016 had only passed an order prohibiting extraction of sand gravel, earth cutting, silt etc from Barpeta till the flood season is over and because of which the petitioner claims to have suffered losses. There is no representation to show that the petitioner has addressed to the Forest Department for renewal of the contract, if any, in order to recover his loses claims to have been suffered by him. Page No.# 5/5 8] Under such circumstances, this Court is not inclined to pass any order directing the District Magistrate, Barpeta to pass any order on the representation filed on 25.11.2016. However, if any order on the said representation has already been filed during the pendency of the writ petition, a copy thereof shall be served to the petitioner. The disposal of the writ petition however, shall not be a bar to the petitioner to file necessary application before the Forest Department by highlighting any loses that he may have suffered and for which the Department may consider his case for his claim for due compensation as per the provisions of law. 9] Writ petition stands disposed of in terms of the above.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010130162017 ooooooo undefined ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o oWP(C)/3166/2017 ALIFULoAHMED S/OoSHAHJAHANoALIoAHMED oR/OoVILL-BACHIMARY oPO-KALGACHIA oDIST.oBARPETA oASSAM oVERSUS THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoando6oORS. REP.oBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06 2:THEoADDITIONALoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFOREST ASSAM oREHABARI oGUWAHATI-8 o3:THEoADDITIONALoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFORESToT LOWERoASSAMoZONE oGUWAHATI-01 o4:THEoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoFOREST CENTRALoASSAM oGUWAHATI-01 o5:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONERoCUMoTHEoDISTRICToMAGISTRATE BARPETA oDIST.oBARPETA oASSAM Page No.# 2/5 6:THE DIVISIONAL FOREST OFFICER NORTH KAMRUP DIVISION RANGIA DIST. KAMRUP ASSAM 7:THE FOREST RANGE OFFICER BARPETA ROAD FOREST RANGE BARPETA ROAD ASSAM PIN-781312 ------------ Advocate for : MR.S CHOUDHURY Advocate for : appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM and 6 ORS. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA