Court No. 10 (1629) 30.07.2026 (JPD 14) (S. Banerjee) Calcutta High Court In the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri Appellate Side WPA 1373 of 2026 Ramesh Oraon Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Gopal Sah Mr. Subham Basu … for the petitioner Ms. Supriya Singh, JGP Ms. Nitiksha Biswakarma … for the State Petitioner claims to be the recorded owner of certain plots of land which is alleged to have been utilized for the purpose of Paradep-Numaligarh Crude Oil Pipeline (PNCPL) project. The grievance of the petitioner is that the amount of compensation money has not been disbursed in his favour but the same has been paid to the other legal heirs of his father, who, according to the petitioner, is not entitled to any compensation. Petitioner submitted an application before the competent authority under the Petroleum and Minerals Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Act, 1962 (‘the 1962 Act’, for short) by a letter dated February 11, 2026 praying for release of compensation money. Learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that in spite of receipt of such representation, 2 no decision on such representation has been communicated by such authority to the petitioner till date. Ms. Singh, learned Junior Government Pleader, submits that the decision on the said representation shall be communicated to the petitioner within the time limit as indicated in the said representation. After a cursory glance to the representation dated February 11, 2026 it prima facie appears to this Court that the petitioner has raised a dispute as to the persons who are entitled to the compensation amount as well as the apportionment thereof. Section 11 of the 1962 Act deals with deposit and payment of compensation. Sub-Section (3) of Section 11 states that as soon as the compensation has been deposited under sub-Section (1) the competent authority shall, on behalf of the Central Government, the State Government or the corporation, as the case may be, pay the compensation to the persons entitled thereto. Sub-Section (4) of Section 11 states that where several persons claim to be interested in the amount of compensation deposited under sub-Section (1), the competent authority shall determine the persons who in his opinion are entitled to receive the compensation and the amount payable to each of them. Sub-Section (5) of Section 11 states that if any dispute arises as to apportionment of the compensation or any part thereof or as to the persons to whom the 3 same or any part thereof is payable, the competent authority shall refer the dispute to the decision of the District Judge within the limits of whose jurisdiction the land or any part thereof is situated and the decision of the District Judge thereon shall be final. As observed hereinbefore that there is a dispute as to the persons who may be entitled to receive the compensation and the amount payable to each of them. Since the said dispute involves adjudication on facts, this Court feels that the said issue should be left open to be decided by the authorities under the 1962 Act. In the light of the submissions made by the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties and without entering into the merits of the claim made by the petitioner in the representation dated February 11, 2026, this writ petition stands disposed of by directing the competent authority under the 1962 Act being the Competent Authority to consider the representation of the petitioner dated February 11, 2026 and shall determine the persons who in its opinion are entitled to receive the compensation and the amount payable to each of them. If in the opinion of the Competent Authority any dispute arises as to the apportionment of the compensation or any part thereof, or as to the persons who claim some or any part thereof, is payable, the Competent Authority shall take necessary steps in 4 accordance with the provisions of Section 11(5) of the 1962 Act. The entire exercise by the said respondent shall be completed as expeditiously as possible but positively within a period of six weeks from the receipt of a server copy of this order together with a copy of the representation dated February 11, 2026. (Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.)