Page No.# 1/9 GAHC010146222026 2026:GAU-AS:10146 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/3777/2026 NOOR HUSSAIN LASKAR S/O- FAKARUDDIN LASKAR, R/O - 61, AMBARI LAMB ROAD, AMBARI WARD NO. 25, P.S - LATASIL, DIST -KAMRUP M, ASSAM, PIN CODE-781001 CONTACT NO. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS REPRESENTED BY COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY REVENUE AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, DISPUR, GUWAHATI-PIN-781006. 2:THE JOINT SECRETARY (REGISTRATION)/ ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR OF LAND RECORD (NODAL OFFICER) TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM REVENUE AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT DISPUR GUWAHATI PIN-781006. 3:THE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER HENGRABARI DISTRICT-KAMRUP (M) ASSAM PIN-781036 4:THE SUB-REGISTRAR HENGRABARI DISTRICT-KAMRUP (M) ASSAM PIN-781036 5:THE CIRCLE OFFICER DISPUR REVENUE CIRCLE DIST. - KAMRUP(M) ASSAM PIN NO.- 781029. Page No.# 2/9 6:THE SPECIAL BRANCH (SB) ASSAM POLICE HEAD QUARTER REPRESENTED BY ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE ADGP KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI- 19 7:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE ANANDA RAM BARUAH ROAD PAN BAZAR DIST. - KAMRUP (M) ASSAM PIN NO.- 781001 Advocate for the Petitioner : G UDDIN, P ADHIKARI,MR A K AZAD Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, SC, REVENUE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY JUDGMENT 22.07.2026 Heard Mr. G. Uddin, learned counsel for the petitioner; Ms. P.R. Mahanta, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department for the respondent nos. 1 & 2; and Mr. H.K. Hazarika, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent nos. 3 to 7. 2. Let notice be issued. As all the respondents are duly represented, the notice is made returnable forthwith, as sought for by the learned counsel for the parties with the representation that having regard to the issue involved, the writ petition can be taken up for final consideration. 3. The petitioner has stated that he entered into an Agreement for Sale of a flat measuring 646.18 sq. ft. [2 BHK] on the first floor in an Apartment Building located at S.K. Bhuyan Road, Dighali-Pukhuri East, Police Station – Latasil, Guwahati, Kamrup Metropolitan District, Assam with its owner in June, 2025 [‘the subject-flat’, for short]. The Apartment Building is a on a plot of land covered by Dag no. 199/200 & Patta no. 116 at Revenue Village – Sahar Part-5, Mouza – Ulubari, Guwahati, Kamrup [M]. It is stated that the proposed seller is the registered owner of the subject-flat located in the Ground Floor of the Apartment Building. Page No.# 3/9 3.1. The petitioner has stated that after entering into the said Agreement for Sale of the subject-flat and handing over a part of the consideration price agreed to by the parties, he submitted an application on 24.06.2025 for the notified public service, ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’ and the said application was duly received vide Acknowledgment no. NOC/24/58535/2025. While generating the Acknowledgement to extend the notified public service, it was mentioned that if the application was accepted by the Revenue & Disaster Management Department, the service would be provided within forty-five days [excluding time taken between issue of No Objection Certificate and presentation of Sale Deed before the jurisdictional Sub-Registrar Office] and if the service was not delivered within the stipulated period of forty-five days, then the petitioner could raise an appeal. 3.2. It is stated that after submission of the application, as per the tracking status shown in the Sewa Setu Portal, the application was forwarded on 24.06.2025 to the jurisdictional Circle Officer with a report by the Land Records Assistant [LRA]. The application was thereafter, forwarded by the jurisdictional Circle Officer to the jurisdictional Additional District Commissioner on 15.07.2025 and finally on 30.08.2025, the jurisdictional Additional District Commissioner forwarded the matter to the jurisdictional District Commissioner on 31.08.2025. The jurisdictional District Commissioner had, in turn, forwarded the matter to the Special Branch on 28.09.2025 for its recommendation. 4. The petitioner has stated that as after 28.09.2025 no discernible action is found to have been taken by the respondent authorities to process the application for its finality, he is constrained to prefer the instant writ petition seeking inter alia a direction to the respondent authorities to process and finalize the application dated 24.06.2025. 5. The Registration Act, 1908 came to be amended by the Registration [Assam Amendment] Act, 2009 with the insertion of Section 21A and again by the Registration [Assam Amendment] Act, 2021. After those amendments, Section 21A of the Registration Act, 2009 reads as under :- Page No.# 4/9 21A. No registration of non-testamentary instruments with no objection certificate. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision of this Act, no non - testamentary instrument relating to immovable property, except for house, flat, residential apartment, commercial building or any construction or structure erected on a plot of land, shall be accepted for registration, unless the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district issues a No Objection Certificate containing the description of such immovable property to be transferred and also such other No objection Certificates, which are required to be issued by the Deputy Commissioner or any other Authority under any law for the time being in force or under any Executive Instruction, Order etc. issued by the State Government from time to time; Provided that all such No Objection Certificates shall be issued within a period of thirty days from the date of the receipt of application and in case No Objection Certificate is not issued within the stipulated period of thirty days, a speaking order with reasons thereof shall be issued to the applicant within the said stipulated period. 6. It is a statutory mandate under Section 21A of the Registration Act for the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner to either issue a No Objection Certificate containing the description of the immovable property to be transferred or to pass a speaking order with reasons thereof within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the application in case NOC is not issued within the prescribed period of thirty days. 7. The Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam has framed a Standard Operating Procedure [SOP] and the SOP has been notified vide a Notification dated 09.09.2025. The relevant excerpts from the Notification are quoted herein under :- Now therefore, the Governor of Assam is pleased to notify the following SOP for grant of No Objection Certificate [NOC] by the District Commissioner for Registration of Transfer of Land Page No.# 5/9 [Land Sale, Lease Gift etc.] under Section 21A of Registration Act, 1908 in cases where the buyers and sellers belong to different religious communities, as outlined below :- 1. An application for grant of NOC for Transfer of land shall be made by the applicant through SEWA SETU portal, to the office of the District Commissioner under whose jurisdiction the land is situated, with details on the reasons for sale and the value of transaction. 2. District Commissioner shall collect a report from the concerned Circle Officer on the veracity of the details submitted by the applicant. 3. District Commissioner, upon receipt of the report from Circle Officer shall forward the application to the Nodal Officer, Inter Religion Land Sale permission, Revenue & D.M. Department for examination of the comprehensive report. 4. The Nodal Officer, Inter Religion Land Sale permission, Revenue & D.M. Department will further seek a report from Special Branch [SB], Assam Police HQ, on the following points. a. Whether such transfer of land could be under undue threat, coercion or fraudulent means. b. Whether such transfer of land has the propensity to disturb peace and communal harmony in the area of proposed Land Transfer. c. Whether such land transfer could pose a threat to national security. d. Character & Antecedent report of buyer and seller. 5. Upon receipt of the report from Special Branch, the Nodal Officer, Inter Religion Land Sale permission, Revenue & D.M. Department shall forward the same to the District Commissioner concerned. Page No.# 6/9 6. Subsequent to the receipt of the report of the Special Branch from the Nodal Officer, Inter Religion Land Sale permission, Revenue & D.M. Department, District Commissioner will take a decision to either call for further queries from the applicants, reject the proposal or issue NOC for such Land Transfer. 7. In the event that an application is not disposed within 30 days from the date of application, the District Commissioner will issue speaking order with reasons thereof to the applicant within' the said stipulated period as per the provisions of Section 21A. 8. Under Section 21A of the Registration Act, as amended, as well as in the SOP formulated by the State Government, by the Notification dated 09.09.2025, time period of thirty days from the date of application for processing of the application for issuance of the No Objection Certificate [NOC] has been prescribed. 9. The Assam Right to Public Services [ARPTS] Act, 2012 has been enacted by the Assam Legislative Assembly in order to provide for delivery of notified public services to the people of the State of Assam within the stipulated time limit and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. As per Section 2[h], ‘Right to Public Service’ means right to obtain the notified service under the ARTPS Act from time to time within the stipulated time limit as prescribed under Section 5. Section 5 of the ARTPS Act has laid down that every eligible person shall have the right to obtain the services in accordance with the ARTPS Act within the time bound period as notified under Section 4. It is the liability of the Designated Government Servant to deliver services, under Section 6 of the ARTPS Act, within the stipulated period. The stipulated time limit, as per Section 7[1], starts from the date when the application for obtaining a required notified service is submitted to the Designated Public Servant or to a person subordinate to him authorized to receive the application. As per Section 7[2], the Designated Public Servant on receipt of an application under sub-section [1] shall, within the stipulated time limit, provide the notified service or reject the application and in case of rejection of application, he shall record the reasons in writing and communicate to the person Page No.# 7/9 making the application, [i] the reasons for such rejection; [ii] the period within which an appeal against such rejection may be preferred; and [iii] the particulars of the Appellate Authority. 10. The Notification dated 11.11.2022 is on the subject :- ‘Declaration of Service under Revenue & DM Department as per provision of the Assam Right to Public Services Act, 2012 in all Districts [except sixth scheduled Districts] of Assam. The notification has been issued with a view to provide delivery of public service to eligible citizens within the stipulated time limit and others as under : Subject: Declaration of Service under Revenue & DM Department as per provision of the Assam Right to Public Services Act, 2012 in all Districts [except sixth scheduled Districts] of Assam With a view to provide the delivery to Public Service to eligible citizens within stipulated time limit, Revenue & DM Department in continuation of earlier Notification No. RSS.203/2022/1 dated 6th May 2022 has notified the below service under the Assam Right to Public Services Act, 2012. Service Name : Composite Land Service Transfer An important service provided by the Deputy Commissioner regarding Land Sale permission is ‘NoC for Transfer of Immovable Property’ under section 21[A] of the Indian Registration Act, 1908. However once NoC is issued by the O/o the Deputy Commissioner, applicant has to apply for Registration of the Scheduled land in Sub Registrar Office following separate applications for Mutation, Partition, Jamabandi etc. in the concerned Circle Office. ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’ intends for issuing No Objection Certificate for the Transfer of Immovable property at O/o Deputy Commissioner followed by Registration of Page No.# 8/9 Property at the Sub Registrar Office followed by auto mutation and auto Composite Land Sale Transfer Service with ‘Auto Mutation’ or ‘Auto Mutation along with Partition’ at the time of submitting the Application form. Eligibility criteria : Anyone in whose name figures in Jamabandi/Record of Rights or his/her legal heir/successor or his/her registered power of attorney holder is eligible to avail the service online. Designated Public Servant [DPS] : Deputy Commissioner/to the nominated by Deputy Commissioner. 11. The Notification has further provided for procedural steps to be followed by the authorities involved in providing the notified public services. As per the Citizen Charter annexed to the Notification as Annexure-I, for the notified public service ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’, the Deputy Commissioner or the authority to be nominated by the Deputy Commissioner is the Designated Public Servant and the stipulated time limit for providing the service is mentioned as forty-five days. 12. A speaking order is one which expressly states the reasons for the decision. In other words, a speaking order speaks for itself by assigning the reasons behind the conclusion. It is implicit in the principles of natural justice and fair play that an authority which has been vested with the power to decide the matter should record reasons as it is part of fair procedure, more particularly, when the decision is likely to affect the person concerned. In the case in hand, the right of the petitioner is also traceable to Article 300A of the Constitution. Though the right embedded in Article 300A is not fundamental right, but it is still a constitutional and human right. 13. It is projected that the processing of the application, submitted on 24.06.2025, has not Page No.# 9/9 reached its finality till date despite elapse of more than a year since its submission. If the application is still being processed, this Court is of the considered view that instead of keeping the writ petition pending, the writ petition, in view of the statutory prescription contained in Section 21A of the Registration Act, can be disposed of with a direction to the respondent authorities, more particularly, the respondent no. 3 to bring the entire process to its conclusion in strict compliance of the statutory prescription therein; the SOP framed in the Notification dated 09.09.2025; and the Notification dated 11.11.2022; within a period of thirty days from the date of submission of a certified copy of this order at his office by the petitioner. It is accordingly ordered. If in the processing of the application, any further document is necessary from the petitioner then the respondent no. 3 is to inform the petitioner in writing as regards the deficiency, if any, in his application within a time period of fifteen days from the date of submission of a copy of this Order at his office. In such situation, the time period of thirty days is to be calculated from the date of meeting the deficiencies by the petitioner. 14. With the observations made and the direction given, the writ petition is disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant Digitally signed by Rupam Basumatary Date: 2026.07.24 10:42:27 +05'30'