1 CGHC010077382023 2026:CGHC:35617 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 1141 of 2023 1 - Sanjay Sinha S/o Late Basant Sinha Aged About 35 Years Caste Kalar R/o Village Garka Police Station Keshkal, District : Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Department Of Home, Mahanadi Bhawan, New Raipur, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Collector Kondagaon, District : Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh 3 - Sub Divisional Officer (Revenue) Keshkal, District : Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh 4 - Mukesh Mandavi S/o Mansha Ram Mandavi Aged About 40 Years Village Garkha, P.S. Keshkal, District Kondagaon Chhattisgarh. 5 - Ganesh Ram Jaiswal S/o Ganesh Ram Jaiswal Aged About 45 Years Village Garka, P.S. Keshkal, District Kondagaon Chhattisgarh. ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Ms. Sakshi Gupta and Shri Pravin Kumar Jain appear on behalf of Ms. Renu Kochar, Advocates. For State : Shri Shreyansh Mehta, PL. For Respondent Nos.4 & 5 : Shri Sahil Sahu appears on behalf of Shri Ravindra Sharma, Advocates. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 12/08/2026 1. This petition is being preferred by the petitioner, being aggrieved by the inaction and failure on the part of the respondent authorities to protect the petitioner from threatened demolition and dispossession from the Dhaba being run by him. AVINASH SHARMA Digitally signed by AVINASH SHARMA Date: 2026.08.17 10:15:37 +0530 2 2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner is a resident of Village Garka, District Kondagaon, Chhattisgarh, and is earning his livelihood by running a Dhaba in the name and style of “Mama Dhaba”, situated outside Village Garka. The said Dhaba was initially constructed for the benefit of the workers engaged in the project relating to construction of the Raipur– Jagdalpur Road, for providing tea, snacks and other refreshments to the workers engaged in the said project. Petitioner has been continuously running the aforesaid Dhaba for the last about ten years and has been in peaceful and uninterrupted possession thereof. During this period, the petitioner has been earning his livelihood from the said establishment and has been conducting his affairs openly and without any obstruction from the respondent authorities. Counsel for the petitioner submits that without there being any notice, some portion of the Dhaba of the petitioner has been demolished as she has filed this petition for the following reliefs:- 10.1 That this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue writ in the nature of mandamus directing Respondent authorities not to demolish Structure of Dhaba namely Mama Dhaba (Annexure P/1) 10.2 That this Hon'ble court may be further pleased to pass any other consequential and other orders/ writs which this Hon'ble court deems just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. 3. Learned State counsel submits that petitioner is an encroacher and has encroached upon the forest land, as such, necessary action has been taken against him. He submits that there is also allegation against the petitioner that he has been selling illegal liquour and is cutting down forest timber without appropriate permission and for all these acts of the petitioner, necessary action has been taken against him. He further submits that the 3 petitioner has already undertaken that he will not run the Dhaba, however, after filing of this petition, he has started to run the Dhaba. 4. At this stage, counsel for the petitioner submits that due process of law has not been following by the respondent authorities before demolishing some portion of the Dhabha of the petitioner. 5. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the material available on record, this Court finds that the principal grievance of the petitioner is with regard to the alleged demolition of a portion of the structure without following due process of law. 6. It is well settled that even where the authorities allege encroachment upon Government/forest land or any other violation of law, any coercive action affecting the possession or structure of a person is required to be taken strictly in accordance with the procedure prescribed under the applicable law. The mere allegation of encroachment, by itself, would not dispense with the requirement of following the procedure prescribed by law, wherever such procedure contemplates issuance of notice and an opportunity of hearing. 7. At the same time, this Court cannot grant any blanket protection to the petitioner merely on the ground that he has been running the Dhaba for a considerable period, particularly when the respondents have specifically alleged that the Dhaba is situated upon forest land and that the petitioner has committed other illegal activities. The said allegations are required to be dealt with by the competent authority in accordance with law. 8. Accordingly, without entering into the merits of the case, this Writ Petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondent authorities that, if any further 4 action is proposed to be taken against the petitioner in respect of the Dhaba in question, including demolition or dispossession, the same shall be undertaken strictly in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law. 9. In case the applicable statutory provisions contemplate issuance of notice and opportunity of hearing, the competent authority shall issue an appropriate notice to the petitioner, clearly indicating the alleged encroachment/violation and the proposed action, and thereafter consider the petitioner’s response and documents, if any, before passing an appropriate order in accordance with law. In case, petitioner is found to be illegal occupant of the encroached land, authorities shall take necessary action in accordance with law. 10.It is made clear that this order shall not be construed as conferring any right, title or interest upon the petitioner over the land in question, nor shall it prevent the competent authority from taking action against the petitioner in accordance with law. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Avinash