D/L- 30 14/07/2026 Ct. No.- 6 Aritra C.O. 2268 of 2026 Sunil Anchalia & Ors. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Gopal Chndra Ghosh, Sr. Adv., Mr. Arif Ali Mr. Sarban Bhattacharjee ….for the petitioners Mr. Shyamal Sarkar, Sr. Adv., Mr. Partha Pratim Ray Mr. Tanmoy Mukherjee Mr. Arindam Chandra Ms. Antara Dey Ms. Neha Gupta ….for the opposite party nos.4-7 The order dated July 10, 2026 passed by the learned District Judge, Birbhum at Suri in Misc. Case No.97 of 2024 is under challenge at the instance of the respondent nos.7 to 9 in the said miscellaneous case. Pursuant to an order passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court arising out of utilisation of the lands in question, an Arbitrator was appointed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to pass an award determining the compensation amount. Pursuant thereto an arbitral award was passed. By the said arbitral award it was held that the opposite party nos.4 to 7 herein are entitled to the compensation amount determined under the said award. Being aggrieved by such arbitral award the State of West Bengal filed an application under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 before the learned District Judge, Birbhum at Suri. 2 The petitioners herein filed a miscellaneous application before the Hon’ble Supreme Court praying for modification of the award passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and such application was disposed of by an order dated June 15, 2026 with the following directions:- “7. Learned counsel for the parties do not dispute that their inter se dispute regarding apportionment, in terms of the earlier order passed by this Court, is sub- judice before the Reference Court. In this view of the matter, we dispose of these Miscellaneous Applications, as well as with the following directions. (i) The Reference Court is directed to release 25% of the deposited amount in favour of the original respondents, including Narendra Kumar Anchalia, within one week. This release shall be subject to his furnishing an undertaking on affidavit that after the adjudication of the apportionment/title suit, the excess amount, if any, shall be refunded along with interest, as may be determined by the Court. Such undertaking shall furnished before the Reference Court; (ii) The Reference Court is directed to keep the balance amount in a Fixed Deposit in a Nationalised Bank, which would fetch the maximum rate of interest; (iii) The Reference Court is further directed to decide the inter se apportionment/title dispute between the parties as early as possible and preferably within three weeks. The disbursement of the balance amount shall depend upon the outcome of those proceedings.” Thereafter the opposite party nos.4 to 7 herein approached the Reference Court praying for release of the 25% of the deposited amount as per the direction passed 3 by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the order dated June 15, 2026. Such application stood disposed of by the learned District Judge, Birbhum by the order impugned. Mr. Ghosh, learned senior advocate appearing for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are entitled to a share in the compensation amount. He submits that such issue ought to have been decided by the Reference Court within the time limit specified by the Hon’ble Supreme Court by the order dated June 15, 2026. He submits that though 3 weeks time was stipulated in the said order but even after lapse of such period the dispute as to the apportionment has not been decided till date. Mr. Sarkar, learned senior advocate appearing for the opposite party nos.4 to 7 submits that by the impugned order, direction was passed to disburse the 25% of the deposited amount to the opposite party nos.4 to 7 herein but no steps have been taken to release the said amount in favour of the said opposite parties till date. Heard the learned advocates for the respective parties and perused the materials placed. After going through the order dated June 15, 2026 this Court finds that the Hon’ble Supreme Court directed the Reference Court to release 25% of the deposited amount in favour of the original respondents including Narendra Kumar Anchalia within one week. It was also made clear that such release shall be subject to his furnishing an undertaking on affidavit that after the adjudication of the apportionment/title suit, the 4 excess amount, if any, shall be refunded along with interest, as may be determined by the Court and such undertaking shall be furnished before the Reference Court. The Reference Court was directed to decide the inter se apportionment/title dispute between the parties as early as possible but preferably within three weeks. On a query of the Court, Mr. Ghosh, learned senior advocate appearing for the petitioners submits that apart from the petitioners and the opposite party nos.4 to 7 there are several other persons who are also entitled to a share in the compensation amount. Such submission is disputed by the learned senior advocate appearing for the opposite party nos.4 to 7. This Court refrains from entering into such a dispute at this stage as the same is pending adjudication before the Reference Court. This Court feels that interest of justice would be sub-served if the learned District Judge, Birbhum is requested to decide the inter se apportionment/title dispute between the claimants expeditiously. The learned senior advocates representing the respective parties uniformly submits that July 17, 2026 is the date fixed before the learned District Judge, Birbhum. CO 2268 of 2026 stands disposed of by requesting the learned District Judge, Birbhum to decide the inter se apportionment/title dispute strictly in terms of the directions passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the order dated June 15, 2026. 5 It is, however, made clear that this Court has not interfered with the directions passed by the Reference Court upon the Head Accountant, District Judges’ Court, Suri to disburse the amount to the original respondents as indicated in the order impugned. Before parting it is made clear that this Court has not entered into the claims and counter-claims between the respective parties insofar as the dispute regarding apportionment/title dispute is concerned and all points are left open to be decide by the learned District Judge, if the same is raised in the miscellaneous case. There will be no order as to costs. All parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. (Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.)