JUDGMENT & ORDER :

A.M. Bujor Barua, J.

Heard Mr. S A Barbhuyan, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. J Handique, learned counsel for the respondents in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam.

2. The petitioner Sri Debabrata Saikia in paragraph 2 of the public interest litigation (in short PIL) petition states that he has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Assam from No. 104 Nazira Legislative Assembly Constituency since the year 2011 and is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and that the petitioner has been espousing social and public causes and has also served as the President of the Youth for Social Welfare, which is a leading NGO in Assam working to create awareness on health, environment and social issues and helping those who are below the poverty line as well as PROBAAH, which is a grassroot level NGO assisting self-help groups in capacity building.

3. In this PIL petition, the petitioner is concerned with certain evictions in respect of the land bearing Dag No. 2 (Pt) and Dag No. 3 (Pt) of village Dhalpur No. 1 and village Dhalpur No. 3 in the Sipajhar Mouza of Sipajhar Revenue Circle in the Darrang district.

4. Without going into various submissions made in the PIL petition as regards the entitlement of the persons who are affected by the evictions and are represented by the petitioner, we take note of the prayers made in this PIL petition, which are extracted as below:-

“1) to issue a writ of certiorari or a writ, order or direction of a similar nature, calling for the original records and quashing of the aforesaid Cabinet Decision or such other cabinet decision regarding setting up of agro farm/model project in Sipajhar, Assam;

(2) to issue a writ of mandamus or a writ, order or direction of a similar nature to direct respondents to adhere to and grant compensation to project affected families in accordance with the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 (F No. 26011/4/2007-LRD) dated 31.10.2007 and State of Assam’s Updated Resettlement Framework being followed by the Flood and River Erosion Management Agency of Assam(FREMAA) as well The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013;

(3) to issue a writ of prohibition to restrain the respondents from taking any steps pursuant to the decision of Cabinet to set up agro farm in Sipajhar, Darrang, Assam including to evict any project affected persons/families in Dholpur village in the Darrang district, Assam.

(4) to direct respondents authorities to conduct meaningful consultation with the evicted persons and formulate schemes for their rehabilitation, resettlement and compensation in a time-bound manner and with reference to The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Rules 2015, and in consonance with the well-established principles of law laid down by the High Courts and Supreme Court,

(5) to direct respondent authorities to consider application on behalf of the evicted persons for allotment and settlement of the said land in terms specified by the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 and the Rules framed there under and land policies formulated time to time for allotment/settlement of land to the landless and to exercise discretion judiciously and in good faith while considering such applications,

(6) to direct respondents authorities to set up a Revenue Circle Level Committee for the Sipajhar Revenue Circle under the 2020 “Chief Minister’s Special Scheme for Rehabilitation of Erosion Affected Families in Assam” and evaluate individual claims on behalf of the evicted persons under the said Scheme,

(7) to direct respondent authorities to conduct a detailed Social Impact Assessment in terms provided by The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 read with The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition