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2009 Supreme(Gau) 271
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GAUHATI
RANJAN GOGOI AND BIPLAB KUMAR SHARMA, JJ.
State of Assam and Ors. – Appellant
Vs.
Uday Kr. Das – Respondent
WA No. 156 of 2008 in WP (C) No. 357 of 2006
Decided On : 28.04.2009
Advocate Appeared
For Appellant/Petitioner/Plaintiff: K.N. Choudhury, S. Shyam, J. Patowary and B. Kashyap, Advs.
For Respondents/Defendant: A.K. Bhattacharyya, A.K. Choudhury, K.K. Bhattacharjee, R. Islam, R. De, N. Mitra and S. Dutta, Advs.
Headnote:
Tenancy agreement - Unauthorized eviction - Claim for Payment of compensation - It was case of State Government in Forest Department that the land in question was a forest land and thus could not have been occupied by respondent and others it was case of respondent that land is an annual patta land and beyond particular reserved forest - Court found that land was not a forest land as clarified by Revenue Department - That being position action of Forest Department in evicting persons concerned including respondent was held to be illegal, arbitrary and without any authority of law - Petitioners though have prayed for compensation for loss suffered by them in absence of adequate materials on record, Court not inclined to adjudicate said claim - Petitioners may approach the authorities concerned for providing them appropriate compensation for loss - Needless to say if the petitioners register such claim and place adequate materials in support thereof, concerned authorities would consider same in accordance with law and take an appropriate decision thereon – Held, Petitioner along with his application dated had submitted all required documents about which mention has been made above - It is on that basis matter relating to payment of compensation to him was finalized. Nowhere in process of finalization of question of payment of compensation to petitioner value of land was taken into account - Same was also not issue - Issue was as to whether petitioner would be entitled to compensation for wrongful eviction and demolition of his house – Materials supplied by petitioner and verification thereof made by authorities of State Government including its own opinion and reports etc., aforesaid amount was assessed to be adequate compensation payable to petitioner - However, suddenly a decision was taken to keep matter in abeyance till time petitioner would provide other documents - Once it was held that land is not forest land and petitioner was wrongly evicted from land and his house standing thereon was wrongly demolished, all that was required of State respondents was to assess extent of damage caused to property of petitioner and to pay compensation on that basis - Exercise was duly carried out by appellants and the amount was ready to be paid - Appeal dismissed
1. This writ appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 18.3.2008 passed by the learned Single Judge in the writ petition being WP(C) No. 357/2006 by which direction was issued to the State Government the appellants herein, to take steps for payment of compensation in question to the respondent/writ petitioner which had already been assessed. The writ petition was filed by the respondent/writ petitioner when a decision was taken to keep his claim for compensation in abeyance although the same was already finalized.
2. The respondent herein had the occasion to approach this Court along with five others by filing the writ petition being WP(C) No. 4034/2002 making a grievance against his eviction from the land in question. He was not only evicted from the land, but his Assam Type building standing thereon was also demolished. While it was the case of the State Government in the Forest Department that the land in question was a forest land and, thus, could not have been occupied by the respondent and others, it was the case of the respondent that the land is an annual patta land and beyond the particular reserved forest. The court found that the land was not a forest land as clarified by the Revenue Department. That being the position, the action of the Forest Department in evicting the persons concerned including the respondent was held to be illegal, arbitrary and without any authority of law. Having regard to the fact that the respondent along with others had suffered loss due to such eviction and demolition of their houses, the writ court issued the direction as follows:
16. The petitioners though have prayed for compensation for the loss suffered by them, in absence of adequate materials on record, I am not inclined to adjudicate the said claim. The petitioners may approach the authorities concerned for providing them appropriate compensation for the loss. Needless to say if the petitioners register such claim and place adequate materials in support thereof, the concerned authorities would consider the same in accordance with law and take an appropriate decision thereon.
17. With the above directions and observations, the petition stands closed.
3. After the aforesaid judgment and order with the aforesaid direction contained therein, the respondent made an application detailing the facts leading to the loss sustained and caused to him due to the unauthorized eviction. Such application was made on 5.7.2004 and was inclusive of all the documents such as building permission, Telephone and electricity connection, land revenue paying receipts, deed of tenancy agreement, photographs demonstrating the extent of damages caused by the illegal eviction and demolition of the house, the valuation report of the property etc.
4. In paragraph 19 of the application, the respondent made the following statements.
19. That the applicant begs to state that as has been declared by the Hon'ble High Court, due to the illegal and arbitrary action of the Forest Department, Government of Assam, the applicant had to sustain loss of his valuable property as foresaid and the same can be quantified as follows:
(a) Demolition of house Rs. 8,52,000
(b) Household articles Rs. 1,50,000
(c) Boudnary wall(20mt x 5") Rs. 30,000
(d) Iron gate with RCC post Rs. 10,000/-
(e) Water Tank Rs. 5,000
(f) Electrical wring Rs. 25,000
(g) House Rent incurred after demolition w.e.f. 1.6.2002 to 31.5.2004 @ Rs. 2,400 per month) Rs. 57,600
Total Rs. 11,29,600
(Rupees eleven lakh twenty-nine thousand six hundred) only.
5. On the basis of the application so filed by the respondent, the matter relating to compensation payable to him was processed at different levels in the concerned Departments of the Government After obtaining the opinion, reports, etc., the Government decided to pay the compensation to the respondent amounting to Rs. 11,29,600. All these facts have been discussed in the impugned judgment and order dated 18.3.2008.
6. When the matter rested thus, the Gove
