1 CGHC010166222023 2026:CGHC:36809 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 2368 of 2023 1 - Hemchand Kesharwani S/o Late Ganesh Ram Kesharwani Aged About 55 Years Proprietor Keshwarwani Hotel And Bhojnalaya R/o Ward No. 14, Shabri Chowk Bus Stand Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir- Champa, Chhattisgarh 2 - Santoshi Kesharwani Wd/o Late Ramesh Kumar Kesharwani Aged About 44 Years Sole Proprietor, Kesharwani Hotel R/o Ward No. 14, Shabri Chowk, Bus Stand, Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 3 - Ganpat Kesharwani S/o Late Parashram Kesharwani Aged About 78 Years R/o Ward No. 2 Vishvnath Chowk, Mahantpara, Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 4 - Har Narayan Shrivas S/o Late Hemlal Shrivas Aged About 43 Years R/o Ward No. 14, Shabri Chowk, Bus Stand, Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 5 - Puniram Aditya S/o Late Dukalu Aditya Aged About 47 Years R/o Ward No. 14 Shabri Chowk Bus Stand Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir- Champa, Chhattisgarh 6 - Gouri Shankar Nishad S/o Lakhan Lal Nishad Aged About 52 Years R/o Ward No. 14 Shabri Chowk Bus Stand Shivrinarayan, District : VISHAKHA BEOHAR Digitally signed by VISHAKHA BEOHAR 2 Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 7 - Yashwant Kumar Kesharwani S/o Chandra Kumar Kesharwani Aged About 34 Years R/o Ward No. 14 Shabri Chowk Bus Stand Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Department Of Rural And Urban Administration, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Collector Janjgir- Champa, District : Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 3 - Municipal Council Shivrinarayan District- Janjgir Champa Chhattisgarh. Through Its Chief Municipal Officer, Municipal Council- Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 4 - Chief Municipal Officer Municipal Council Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh 5 - Tahsildar Shivrinarayan Tahsil Shivrinarayan, District : Janjgir- Champa, Chhattisgarh ... Respondents (Cause-title taken from the Case Information System) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Petitioner :- Mr. Malay Shrivastava, Advocate For State :- Mr. S.S. Choubey, G.A. For Respondent No. 4 :- Ms. Aditi Joshi, Advocate on behalf of Ms. Madhunisha Singh, Advocate ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SB-Hon’ble Shri Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad 3 Order on Board 18.08.2026 1. Following reliefs have been prayed in this petition:- “10.1. That this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call for the entire records of the respondent no.3. 10.2. That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to quash the final notice dated 08/05/2023 issued by the respondent no.3. 10.3. Any other relief(s)/ order(s)/ direction(s) in favour of petitioner, which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice. 10.4. Cost of the petition may kindly be awarded to the petitioner. 2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is aggrieved by the final notice dated 08.05.2023 issued by respondent No.3, whereby the petitioner has been directed to remove the alleged encroachment within a period of seven days. It is contended that the said notice has been issued without affording any opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and without following the principles of natural justice. Learned counsel further submits that the petitioner is not an encroacher, as alleged by the respondents, and therefore the impugned notice, having been issued without conducting any proper enquiry or granting an 4 opportunity to establish the petitioner's lawful possession, is liable to be set aside. 3. Learned counsel appearing for respondent No.3 submits that the impugned notice has been issued only with a view to afford an opportunity to the petitioner to submit his explanation with regard to the alleged encroachment, but instead of submitting his reply before the competent authority, the petitioner has directly approached this Court challenging the notice. It is contended that the petitioner is required to approach the competent authority and submit his reply to the notice, whereupon the authority shall consider the same in accordance with law. Learned counsel further submits that the petitioner is an encroacher and the notice has rightly been issued, as the land in question is Government land recorded in the revenue records in the name of the Government Higher Secondary School, Shivrinarayan, District Janjgir-Champa. It is, therefore, submitted that the petitioner ought to have availed the opportunity granted to him under the impugned notice instead of invoking the writ jurisdiction of this Court at this stage. 4. Learned State counsel submits that proceedings under Section 129 of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959 were conducted for demarcation of the land in question, in which the petitioner was duly present before the competent authority. Upon such demarcation, it was found that the petitioner had illegally encroached upon the land belonging to the Government Higher Secondary School, Shivrinarayan, District Janjgir-Champa. It is, therefore, submitted that the petitioner cannot claim 5 any equitable or discretionary relief from this Court, particularly when the encroachment has been duly established in the demarcation proceedings and the petitioner has been called upon to remove the same. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 6. From the material placed before this Court, it appears that the impugned notice has been issued in the context of several encroachments made over Government land recorded in the name of the Government Higher Secondary School, Shivrinarayan, District Janjgir- Champa, and notices have also been issued to the other alleged encroachers. It further appears that the petitioner has not submitted any reply to the impugned notice before the competent authorities. Instead, the petitioner has directly approached this Court challenging the said notice. The petitioner would be at liberty to submit an appropriate reply, stating therein that he is not an encroacher or that he has any lawful right or entitlement to hold the land in question. 7. Considering the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the petitioner to approach respondent Nos.3 to 5 by submitting an appropriate reply to the impugned notice dated 08.05.2023. Upon receipt of such reply, the competent authority shall consider the same and pass an appropriate and reasoned order in accordance with law, after affording due opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and considering the documents/material placed by him. 6 8. It is made clear that this Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. The competent authorities shall be at liberty to pass an appropriate order strictly in accordance with law after granting due opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and considering the contentions raised and documents produced by him. 9. The petitioner is directed to approach the concerned authorities and submit his reply within a period of 10 days from today. Thereafter, the concerned authorities shall consider and decide the same within a further period of 45 days from the date of receipt of such reply. 10. Till expiry of the aforesaid period of 45 days, the interim protection granted by this Court vide order dated 15.05.2023 shall remain in force. 11. With the aforesaid directions, the writ petition stands disposed of. sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Vishakha