Page No.# 1/11 GAHC010197452025 2026:GAU-AS:12494 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/5135/2025 MUSSTT. RANIMA BEGUM AND 2 ORS W/O- LATE NURUL ISLAM, R/O- HOUSE NO. 190, F.A. ROAD, KUMARPARA, P.S. BHARALUMUKH, DIST. KAMRUP METRO, ASSAM, PIN- 781009. 2: MD. AMAN ISLAM S/O- LATE NURUL ISLAM R/O- HOUSE NO. 190 F.A. ROAD KUMARPARA P.S. BHARALUMUKH DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM PIN- 781009. 3: LIZA RAHMAN D/O- LATE NURUL ISLAM W/O- ARMAN KHAN R/O- KACHARIGAON TEZPUR SONITPUR ASSAM PIN- 784001 VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 7 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM, REVENUE DEPARTMENT, DISPUR, GUWAHATI-06, ASSAM 2:THE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER KAMRUP METRO GUWAHATI DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM Page No.# 2/11 PIN- 781036. 3:ADDL. DISTRICT COMMISSIONER KAMRUP METRO GUWAHATI DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM PIPN- 781036 4:THE SETTLEMENT OFFICER KAMRUP METRO GUWAHATI DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM 5:THE ASSISTANT SETTLEMENT OFFICER DISPUR REVENUE CIRCLE KAMRUP METRO DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM 6:ON THE DEATH OF KAMALA DEVI HER LEGAL HEIRS SUNIL KUMAR SARAWGI S/O- LATE NEMI CHAND SARAWGI R/O- BULBUL MARKET 5TH FLOOR FANCY BAZAR P.O. AND P.S. FANCY BAZAR DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM PIN- 781001. 7:SURENDRA KR. SARAWGI S/O- LATE NEMI CHAND SARAWGI R/O- BULBUL MARKET 5TH FLOOR FANCY BAZAR P.O. AND P.S. FANCY BAZAR DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM PIN- 781001. 8:VIKAS KAMAL SARAWGI S/O- LATE NEMI CHAND SARAWGI R/O- BULBUL MARKET 5TH FLOOR FANCY BAZAR Page No.# 3/11 P.O. AND P.S. FANCY BAZAR DIST. KAMRUP METRO ASSAM PIN- 781001 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH For the Petitioner(s) : Ms. R. Choudhury, Sr. Advocate Mr. Z. Hussain, Advocate For the Respondent(s) : Mr. M.K. Choudhury, Sr. Advocate Mr. H. Sarma, Addl. Sr. Govt. Advocate Ms. G. Hazarika, Standing Counsel Mr. S. Khound, Advocate · Date on which Judgment was reserved : N/A · Date of Pronouncement of Judgment : 26.08.2026 · Whether the pronouncement is of the Operative Part of the Judgment : No · Whether the full Judgment has been Pronounced : Yes JUDGMENT AND ORDER (ORAL) Heard Ms. R. Choudhury, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. Z. Hussain, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioners. Ms. G. Hazarika, the learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department appears on behalf of the Respondent No. 1; Page No.# 4/11 Mr. H. Sarma, the learned Additional Senior Government Advocate appears on behalf of the Respondent Nos. 2 to 5; and Mr. M. K. Choudhury, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. S. Khound, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the Respondent Nos. 6 to 8. 2. The present writ petition has been filed by the Petitioners assailing the judgment dated 31.12.2020 passed by the learned Assam Board of Revenue in Case No. RA No. 09(K)/2019 and the subsequent order dated 26.06.2025 rejecting the review application which was registered and numbered as Case No. 3RA(K)(RVW)/2021. 3. The Petitioners herein claim to be the owners of a plot of land admeasuring 2 Bighas 3 Lechas covered by Dag No. 916(Old)/402(New) under Village No. 2, Japorigog Gaon, Lot No. 4 under Beltola Mouza in the district of Kamrup (Metro), Assam. 4. It is the case of the Petitioners that the said land was originally owned by one Hafizan Nessa. The predecessor of the Petitioners, namely, Md. Nurul Islam (since deceased) was the grandson of late Hafizan Nessa and applied for correction of the revenue records before the Circle Officer, Dispur Revenue Circle Page No.# 5/11 seeking deletion of the name of one Kamala Devi Sarawgi, the predecessor of the Respondent Nos. 6 to 8 in the present proceedings. The said application was registered and numbered as Misc. Case No. 655/2014. 5. On 07.01.2014, the Circle Officer passed an order and forwarded the same to the Deputy Commissioner for due information and for taking necessary action to record the names of the legal heirs of the original pattadars in the revenue records. In the meantime, one Nurul Hoque claiming himself to be the legal heir of late Hafizan Nessa filed another application before the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (Metro) for recording his name in place of late Hafizan Nessa which was registered and numbered as Misc. Case No. 41/2016. 6. The Office of the Deputy Commissioner upon receipt of the order dated 07.01.2014 passed by the Circle Officer, Dispur Revenue Circle took into consideration both KRC(M) Case No. 41/2016 and KRC(M) Case No. 66/2014 and passed an order on 18.12.2018 thereby striking out the name of late Kamala Devi Sarawgi. 7. It is relevant to take note of that during the pendency of the Page No.# 6/11 proceedings before the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (Metro) in connection with KRC(M) Case No. 41/2016 and KRC(M) Case No. 66/2014, the latter which was filed by late Nurul Islam, it was duly informed to the Additional Deputy Commissioner that Nurul Islam had expired and that he was being represented by his wife, i.e., the Petitioner No. 1 herein. 8. Late Kamala Devi Sarawgi, being aggrieved by the order dated 18.12.2018 filed an Appeal before the learned Assam Board of Revenue which was registered and numbered as Case No. RA No. 09(K)/2019. It is, however, pertinent to observe that in the said Appeal, the applicants in KRC(M) Case No. 41/2016, i.e. Nurul Hoque, and KRC(M) Case No. 66/2014, i.e. Nurul Islam were arrayed as the Respondents. This was done without taking into consideration the fact that Nurul Islam had expired during the pendency of the proceedings before the Additional Deputy Commissioner and that the same was duly reflected in the order dated 18.12.2018 passed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner. 9. It is relevant to take note of that an application was filed in the said Appeal proceedings before the learned Assam Board of Revenue seeking substitution of late Nurul Islam by the Petitioners. Though, the question of substitution did not arise but the said Page No.# 7/11 application ought to have been treated as an application seeking impleadment. The said application was rejected by the learned Assam Board of Revenue and the Appeal was proceeded with without hearing the legal representatives of late Nurul Islam. The learned Assam Board of Revenue passed the judgment dated 31.12.2020. 10. At this stage, this Court finds it pertinent to observe that the Appeal filed by late Kamala Devi Sarawgi could not have been adjudicated inasmuch as on the date on which the Appeal was presented, one of the Respondents, i.e., late Nurul Islam had already expired. 11. Be that as it may, vide the impugned judgment dated 31.12.2020 passed by the learned Assam Board of Revenue, the order dated 18.12.2018 passed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner was set aside. 12. The Petitioners herein thereafter also made an attempt by filing a review application which was registered and numbered as Review Case No. 3RA(K)(RVW)/2021. The said review application was also rejected vide order dated 26.06.2025 and it is under such circumstances that the present writ petition has been filed. Page No.# 8/11 13. This Court has heard the learned Senior Counsels appearing on behalf of the Petitioners as well as the Respondent Nos. 6, 7 and 8. In addition to that, the Revenue Department as well as the District Administration have also been duly heard. 14. The sole question which arises in the instant proceedings is whether the learned Assam Board of Revenue could have proceeded with the Appeal against a dead person. 15. From a perusal of the order dated 18.12.2018, it is apparent that late Nurul Islam expired during the pendency of the proceedings before the learned Additional Deputy Commissioner. This aspect is further apparent from the death certificate issued by the Department of Health Services wherein it is mentioned that Nurul Islam expired on 19.10.2016. Therefore, the filing of the Appeal against the dead person in whose favour the order dated 18.12.2018 was passed was apparently an invalid Appeal, which the learned Assam Board of Revenue could not have proceeded with. The impugned judgment so passed by the learned Assam Board of Revenue dated 31.12.2020 was a nullity. 16. It is the further opinion of this Court that when the Petitioners approached the learned Assam Board of Revenue seeking Page No.# 9/11 substitution, the learned Assam Board of Revenue ought to have at least impleaded the Petitioners to cure the defect. However, the learned Assam Board of Revenue continued with the Appeal in spite of having due knowledge that the Respondent No. 2 in the said Appeal had expired. Under such circumstances, the judgment dated 31.12.2020 passed by the learned Assam Board of Revenue in the opinion of this Court is a nonest judgment. 17. It is also relevant to take note of that even after filing the review application, the learned Assam Board of Revenue did not consider it necessary to cure the defect by reviewing the judgment dated 31.12.2020. 18. Considering the above, this Court therefore disposes of the instant writ petition with the following observations and directions: (i) The impugned judgment dated 31.12.2020 passed in Case No. RA No. 09(K)/2019 is declared to be nonest and is accordingly set aside and quashed. Accordingly, the order dated 18.12.2018 passed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner in KRC(M) Case No. 41/2016 and KRC(M) Case No. 66/2014 stands revived. (ii) The Appeal being Case No. RA No. 09(K)/2019 is restored Page No.# 10/11 to the file of the learned Assam Board of Revenue. (iii) The application filed by the Petitioners on 02.04.2019 (Page No. 285 of the records) under Order I Rule 10(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 which was rejected vide the impugned judgment dated 31.12.2020 is restored to the file of the learned Assam Board of Revenue. (iv) This Court directs the learned Assam Board of Revenue to pass appropriate orders on the said application thereby impleading the Petitioners herein who were the applicants in the said application, as parties in the said Appeal being Case No. RA No. 09(K)/2019. (v) It is also relevant to take note of that in the meantime, the original appellant, late Kamala Devi Sarawgi has expired and the said appellant has to be substituted. (vi) Liberty is given to the Respondent Nos. 6, 7 and 8 in the instant proceedings to file an appropriate application in terms with Rule 19 of the Assam Board of Revenue Regulations, 1963. (vii) Taking into account that the parties are duly represented, Page No.# 11/11 they are directed to appear before the learned Assam Board of Revenue on 30.09.2026. (viii) In the meantime, the Registry shall return the records to the learned Assam Board of Revenue forthwith, ensuring that the said records are available before the learned Assam Board of Revenue on the date fixed hereinabove. JUDGE Comparing Assistant Digitally signed by Satyam Sharma Date: 2026.08.28 22:39:39 +05'30'