1 2026:CGHC:22187 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 2379 of 2026 1 - Sataywati Gupta W/o Arvind Kumar Gupta Aged About 43 Years R/o Village- Salka Tehsil- Bhaiyathan District- Surajpur (C.G.) 2 - Smt. Sheshwati Gupta W/o Pradeep Gupta Aged About 40 Years R/o Village- Davna Tehsil- Odgi District- Surajpur ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through- Secretary Revenue Department Mahanadi Bhawan Mantralaya Capital Complex New Raipur District- Raipur (C.G.) 2 - Collector Ambikapur District- Surguja (C.G.) 3 - Naib Tehsildar Ambikapur -2 District- Surguja (C.G.) 4 - Nirmal Haldar S/o Late Jyotish Haldar Aged About 69 Years R/o Nehrunagar Digma Tehsil Ambikapur District- Sarguja (C.G.) ... Respondent(s) (Cause-title is taken from Case Information System) For Petitioners : Mr. Anurag Singh, Advocate For State : Mr. Soumitra Kesharwani, Panel Lawyer Digitally signed by SHAYNA KADRI 2 (Hon'ble Shri Amitendra Kishore Prasad, Judge) Order on Board 12/05/2026 1. The petitioners have preferred the present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking following reliefs:- "10.1 That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ/writs, order/orders, direction/directions to respondent No. 02 & 03 to decide revenue case registered as revenue case No. 20250802170003/B- 121/2024-25, of the petitioner within a period of 2 months in the interest of justice. 10.2 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to grant any other relief(s), which is deemed fit and proper in the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case” 2. Facts of the case, as projected, are that the private respondent No. 4 entered into an agreement to sell dated 12.06.2025 with petitioner No. 1 in respect of land bearing Khasra No. 56/1, admeasuring 0.046 hectare, and a separate agreement with petitioner No. 2 in respect of land bearing Khasra No. 56/1, admeasuring 0.02 hectare. It is the case of the petitioners that the 3 land belonging to respondent No. 4 had originally been allotted on lease under a Rehabilitation Scheme and, therefore, prior statutory permission from the Collector is mandatory for transfer of the said land in terms of Section 165 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959. It is further stated that respondent No. 4 submitted an application on 30.05.2025 before the Collector, Ambikapur seeking permission for sale of the aforesaid land along with all requisite documents. Thereafter, the Collector took cognizance of the application and forwarded the matter to the Naib Tahsildar, Ambikapur-2, pursuant to which a revenue case was registered on 21.08.2025. Subsequently, on 13.10.2025, the Naib Tahsildar directed the concerned Patwari to submit a report necessary for consideration of the application. According to the petitioners, despite issuance of the aforesaid direction, the concerned Patwari has not submitted the report till date and the proceedings have remained pending on several subsequent dates from 14.11.2025 till 15.04.2026 only for submission of the report. It is also the case of the petitioners that they have already paid the entire sale consideration amount to respondent No. 4 and despite approaching the concerned authorities repeatedly for expeditious disposal of the matter, no effective steps have been taken by the respondents. Aggrieved by such inaction and delay, the petitioners have approached this Court by way of the present writ petition. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the action on the 4 part of the respondent authorities is wholly arbitrary, unreasonable and unjustified. It is contended that though the application seeking permission was submitted as back as on 30.05.2025 and all necessary compliances have already been completed, the matter is still pending solely because the concerned Patwari has failed to submit the requisite report despite directions issued by the Naib Tahsildar on 13.10.2025. It is further submitted that the petitioners have already paid the entire amount of consideration to respondent No. 4 and due to prolonged inaction on the part of the authorities, the petitioners are suffering serious financial and legal prejudice. Learned counsel submits that the petitioners and respondent No. 4 have been approaching the authorities from pillar to post for grant of permission and disposal of the pending application, however, no final order has been passed till date. It is argued that the inaction of the respondents defeats the very object of the transaction and is contrary to settled legal principles requiring administrative authorities to act within a reasonable time frame. Therefore, it is prayed that the respondent authorities be directed to decide the pending application within a stipulated period. 4. Per contra, learned counsel appearing for the respondents/State submits that the application submitted by respondent No. 4 is pending consideration before the competent authority and the same shall be decided in accordance with law after receipt of the 5 necessary report and completion of all procedural formalities. It is further submitted that appropriate decision shall be taken by the competent authority within reasonable time. 5. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and upon perusal of the material available on record, this Court finds that the application seeking permission for transfer/sale of land under Section 165 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959 is admittedly pending consideration before the Collector, Ambikapur since 30.05.2025. 6. The record further reflects that though directions were issued by the Naib Tahsildar to the concerned Patwari for submission of report on 13.10.2025, the matter is still pending for want of such report and no final decision has yet been taken by the competent authority. 7. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, in particular the fact that the application is still pending for consideration before the Collector for a considerable period of time, this Court deems it appropriate to direct the competent authority to take expeditious decision in the matter. Accordingly, the concerned Collector is directed to consider and decide the pending application submitted by respondent No. 4 seeking permission for transfer/sale of the land in question strictly in accordance with law, after completion of 6 all necessary formalities and after affording due opportunity to all concerned parties, preferably within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order. 8. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the present writ petition stands disposed of. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Shayna JUDGE