27.08.2026 Ct. No. 655 S.L. No.82 AMR CO 16 of 2026 The Board of Trustees for the Port of Kolkata -vs- Raj Kumar Singh Mr. Subhankar Nag Ms. Anfalina Guha Ms. Shinjita Ray …for the Petitioner 1. Learned Advocate representing the petitioner, namely, the Board of Trustees of the Port of Kolkata, is present. 2. The instant civil revisional application has been filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, primarily praying for a direction upon the learned Court below for expeditious disposal of Misc. Appeal No. 200 of 2025, presently pending before the learned Trial Court. 3. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the said appeal arises out of proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 and, having regard to the mandate contained in Section 9(4) of the said Act, the appeal is required to be disposed of expeditiously, preferably within the period contemplated by the statutory provision. It is further submitted that this Court has, on earlier occasions, issued appropriate directions emphasizing the necessity of expeditious disposal of appeals preferred under Section 9 2 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971. 4. In particular, reliance has been placed upon the order passed by a learned Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in connection with C.O. 1167 of 2024, C.O. 1170 of 2024 and C.O. 1186 of 2024. It is submitted that, in the said proceedings, this Court had directed the learned First Appellate Court, before which an appeal under Section 9 of the Act was pending, to make every endeavour to dispose of such appeal as expeditiously as possible. The said order was also directed to be circulated by the learned Registrar (Judicial Service), High Court at Calcutta, to the Judicial Officers vested with the power to decide appeals under Section 9 of the 1971 Act through the learned District Judges, for their future guidance. 5. The relevant portion of the order passed by the learned Co-ordinate Bench is reproduced herein below: “It is, however, made clear that this Court has not entered into the merits of the claims and counter- claims of the respective parties and the learned Judge of the First Appellate Court shall be free to decide the same in accordance with law after giving an opportunity of hearing to the respective parties. The learned Registrar (Judicial Service), High Court at Calcutta is directed to circulate this order to the Judicial Officers who have been vested with the power to decide appeals under Section 9 of the 3 1971 Act through the learned District Judges forthwith for their future guidance. With the above observations CO 1167 of 2024 stands disposed of.” 6. It is further submitted that the appeal in the present case was instituted in the year 2025 and, despite the statutory requirement and the aforesaid binding practice direction of this Court, the appeal has not yet been brought to its logical conclusion. According to the petitioner, the learned Court below has also been extending the interim protection against the eviction order in favour of the opposite party without proceeding with the appeal with the requisite expedition. It is contended that such continued interim protection, without expeditious adjudication of the appeal and without appropriate direction regarding payment of occupational charges, is causing continuing financial prejudice to the petitioner, which is a statutory authority governed by the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021. 7. Having considered the submission advanced on behalf of the petitioner and upon taking into consideration the nature of the proceeding, this Court is of the view that an appeal arising under Section 9 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 ought to receive expeditious consideration in accordance with the legislative intent underlying the said provision as well as the directions and practice directions issued by this Court from time to time. 4 8. The object of prescribing an expeditious procedure under the said Act is to ensure that proceedings concerning public premises do not remain pending for an indefinite period and that the rights and liabilities of the respective parties are determined without avoidable delay. Particularly where an order of eviction is under challenge and interim protection is operating, prolonged pendency of the appeal may have consequences for both sides. Therefore, the learned Court dealing with such appeal is required to make sincere and effective endeavour to bring the proceeding to its conclusion at the earliest possible opportunity, subject of course to compliance with the principles of natural justice and affording adequate opportunity of hearing to all concerned. 9. In the circumstances, this Court considers it appropriate to direct the learned Court before which Misc. Appeal No. 200 of 2025 is pending to make all possible endeavour to dispose of the said appeal as expeditiously as possible, preferably within the time-frame contemplated under Section 9(4) of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, and keeping in view the practice directions and observations made by this Court in the aforesaid proceedings. 10. The learned Court below shall endeavour to proceed with the appeal on a day-to-day basis, or with such frequency as may be practicable, so that the proceeding is not unnecessarily prolonged, subject to its docket and other unavoidable exigencies. The learned Court shall also 5 ensure that adequate and effective opportunity of hearing is afforded to all the parties before taking the appeal to its final conclusion. 11. It is, however, made clear that this Court has not entered into the merits of the claims and counter-claims of the respective parties. No observation contained in this order shall be construed as an expression of opinion on the merits of the appeal. The learned Court below shall remain completely free to consider and decide Misc. Appeal No. 200 of 2025 independently, in accordance with law and on the basis of the materials available before it, after affording adequate opportunity of hearing to the opposite party and all other concerned parties. 12. The learned Court below shall also deal with any prayer for interim relief or continuation/modification of interim protection strictly in accordance with law and upon consideration of the relevant statutory provisions and the facts and circumstances of the case. 13. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the instant revisional application is disposed of. 14. Let a copy of this order be sent to the learned Court below immediately for information and necessary compliance. 15. There shall be no order as to costs. 16. Urgent Photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be given to the parties on payment of requisite fees. (Prasenjit Biswas, J.)