IMPORTANT POINT
Revenue Authorities cannot adjudicate land title disputes; such matters must be resolved by Civil Courts under the Assam Land Revenue Regulation, 1886.

JUDGMENT :

Soumitra Saikia, J.

Heard learned counsels for the parties.

2. This Writ Petition is directed against the Order No. REV-02/2018- D/5273-77 dated 11.08.2023 passed by the Revenue-cum-Resettlement Officer, Dimapur, Nagaland, whereby the petitioner was directed to dismantle the kacha house constructed by his Attorney holder Shri Akhalu Achumi, vacate the premises and hand over the said land to the respondent No. 4, namely National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India. The petitioner was directed to hand over the land free from all encumbrances within 14 (fourteen) days from the date of the receipt of the Order. This Court, by Order dated 22.08.2023 while issuing notice directed parties to maintain status-quo on the concerned land and further directed the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 not to take recourse to any action for cancellation of Patta No. 1683 Dag No. 19/1845 in Block No. 9, Mouza No. 2, measuring an area of 1 Bigha 2 Kathas 3 Lechas.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the land has been in possession of the petitioner since 1989 and it was regularised in the year 2010, by the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur by issuance of Jamabandi/Patta in favour of the petitioner. The land in question is covered by Patta No. 1683 Dag No. 19/1845 under Block No. 9, Mouza No. 2, Dimapur, measuring 1 Bigha 3 Kathas, which the petitioner claims had been under his possession since 1989 and which came to be regularized by the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur by issuing of Jamabandi/Patta. It is submitted that while the petitioner was in peaceful possession of the said land, he appointed one Akhalu Achumi as his attorney as the petitioner originally belongs to Luthsumi Village in the district of Zunheboto in the state of Nagaland. It is the case of the petitioner that in the year 1989 the petitioner had cleared the jungle from the land in question and the said land was neither occupied nor was registered in the name of any person. At the relevant point in time an area near the concerned land in question was occupied by the GREF. The petitioner used to supply wood from the clearing of the jungle to the Assam Rifles Camp at 3rd Mile, Dimapur. As such, since 1989 the concerned land has been under the possession of the petitioner. The petitioner filed necessary applications for regularization and settlement before the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur, by Application dated 20.11.1992. Earlier, Dimapur was a sub-division and it came to be established as a District Headquarter only in 1997. In pursuance to the applications filed by the petitioner before Additional Deputy Commissioner for allotment of the land in question, the petitioner was informed by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner that there is a ban for allotment of land by the Government and the land therefore, could not be settled or regularized in his name till the ban is in force.

4. Subsequently, the petitioner renewed his prayer by filing separate applications. During the pendency of this application, the petitioner left Dimapur to return to his original village and put the land in the care of one person, namely Shri Pandey, who the petitioner appointed as caretaker in respect of the said land. Subsequently, the petitioner was informed sometime in the year 2008 that the caretaker was chased away from the land by some unknown persons. Returning back to the said land he found that the land was surrounded by a boundary wall with a gate. Immediately thereafter, the petitioner pursued his claim for regularization of the land in his name. The Office of the Deputy Commissioner issued Order No. REV-17/90-D/11212-15, dated 08.03.2010 by which the land was regularized in the name of the petitioner by the Order passed by the Deputy Commissioner, Dimapur. Thereafter the Jamabandi was also issued in the name of the petitioner for the land measuring 1 Bigha 3 Kathas under Patta No. 1683, Dag No. 19/1845, Block No. 9 and Mouza No. 2. The petitioner also paid the necessary Land