Bijay Kumar Chamaria v. The Union of India and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 24.07.2023 Heard Mr. T.H. Hazarika, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. K. Gogoi, learned CGC appearing for the respondent no.1, Ms. G. Hazarika, learned standing counsel for the respondent no.2, Mr. G. Bokoliyal, learned Govt. Advocate appearing for the respondent nos.4 to 7, and Ms. B.L. Singh, learned standing counsel for the respondent no.8.

¶2In view of the order proposed to be passed, the issuance of notice on the respondents, including the private respondent no.9 is dispensed with.

¶3The petitioner claims to have initiated a suit, being T.S. No. 55/2023 seeking specific performance of contract and alternatively, for recovery of advance provided for sale of the land described in the schedule to the said complaint. During the pendency of the said suit, the petitioner has come to know that the suit land has been acquired for national highway and accordingly, the petitioner has submitted representation before the Deputy Commissioner, Nagaon to hold the payment of compensation during the disposal of T.S. No. 55/2023, which is pending for disposal before the Court of learned Civil Judge, Nagaon.

¶4In the said context, the learned standing counsel for the respondent no.8 has submitted that the disbursement of compensation for land acquisition of national highways is to be done by the Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Competent Authority for Land Acquisition ('CALA' for short) and the said authority is competent to decide the issues relating to disbursement of compensation. Accordingly, it is submitted that as the representation is not Page No.# 4/4 directly addressed to the said authority, it is quite possible that the Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-CALA has not taken note of the said representation. The contention of the learned standing counsel for the respondent no.8 is supported by Ms. G. Hazarika, learned standing counsel for the respondent no.2.

¶5Be that as it may, as the learned standing counsel for the respondent no.8 has disclosed that appropriate and competent authority to decide the issue of disbursement of land acquisition compensation for land acquired for national highways is Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-CALA, Nagaon, the Court is inclined to close this writ petition with liberty to the petitioner to move the said authority with such prayer as the petitioner may deem fit and proper.

¶6The petitioner is at liberty to support his representation to be filed with a certified and/or downloaded copy of this order.

¶7Accordingly, this writ petition stand closed.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010147282023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3968/2023o BIJAYoKUMARoCHAMARIAo S/OoLATEoMAHABIRoPRASADoCHAMARIA,o oR/OoMISSA,oMOUZA-oRANGAGARAHo P.S.oSAMAGURI,o P.O.oMISSA,o DIST.oNAGAON,oASSAM,o PIN-782138. VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo7oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoMINISTRYoOFoROADoTRANSPORToANDoHIGHWAYS,o GOVERNMENToOFoINDIA. 2:THEoSTATEoOFoASSAM oREP.oCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY oREVENUEoANDoD.M.oDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06 3:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oDIST.oNAGAON oASSAM o oPIN-782002 4:THEoADDITIONALoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONERoDEVELOPEENT/LANDo ACQUISITION oDIST.oNAGAON oASSAM Page No.# 2/4 PIN- 782002 5:THE ADDITIONAL DEPUTY COMMISSIONER REVENUE DIST. NAGAON ASSAM 6:THE CIRCLE OFFICER SAMAGURI REVENUE CIRCLE DIST.NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782140 7:NATIONAL HIGHWAY AND INSFRUSTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REP BY DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER PMU TEZPUR SWARAF TOWER 1ST FLOOR OPPOSITE DON BOCSO SCHOOL MAJGAON TEZPUR PIN-784001 8:SRI MUKUL BARUAH S/O LATE SURENDRA NATH BARUAH R/O MISSA MOUZA- RANGAGARAH P.S. SAMAGURI DIST.NAGAON ASSAM PIN-78213 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR T H HAZARIKA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM Page No.# 3/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA