150-151 29.09.2026 Ct. No.6 b.das IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction WPA No. 842 of 2026 Gopal Sarkar Vs. The State of W.B. & Ors. With WPA No. 843 of 2026 Dibakar Sarkar Vs. The State of W.B. & Ors. Mr. Subinay Dey Mr. Debanjan Das Ms. Sukanya bhaumik Ms. Supriya Roy …for the petitioners. Ms. Supriya Singh Mr. Samar Rakshit …for the State in WPA 842/2026. Mr. Arijit Ghosh Ms. Rajni Singh Dev …for the State in WPA 843/2026. Mr. Sudipto Kr. Mazumder Mr. Tridip Saha Mr. Sourab kar…for respondent no.7, 8 & 9. Affidavit in opposition submitted by the respondent nos.7, 8 & 9 is taken on record. After much deliberation on merits of the case, learned Deputy Solicitor General appearing for the respondent nos.7, 8 & 9 submits that the order impugned passed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Cooch Behar on 24th April, 2026 was behind the back of the said authority. No notice of hearing was served upon them and 2 they were deprived of an opportunity of being heard by the Special Land Acquisition Officer before the order was passed. In short, the said respondents plead violation of natural justice. The order impugned does not reflect that notice of hearing was served upon respondent nos.7, 8 & 9. The order does not indicate their presence at the time of hearing. Learned counsel for the State fails to apprise this Court whether such notice of hearing was served upon the said respondents. In view of the above, this Court is inclined to hold that since the order impugned dated 24th April, 2026 was passed without granting an opportunity of hearing to the said respondents, the order needs to be set aside on such score alone. Accordingly, the order impugned dated 24th April, 2026 is quashed/set aside. The Special Land Acquisition Officer, Cooch Behar, being the 6th respondent herein, is directed to revisit the issue upon service of notice to all the parties concerned and granting them reasonable opportunity of hearing, within four weeks from the date of communication of this order. 3 The decision taken by the authority shall be communicated to the parties within a week thereof. No fruitful purpose shall be served by keeping the writ petitions pending. The same are disposed of accordingly. There shall, however, be no order as to costs. Since no affidavit is invited, the allegations contained in the petition are deemed not to have been admitted. Urgent certified website copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance with all requisite formalities. (Suvra Ghosh, J.)