Page No.# 1/13 GAHC010008402026 2026:GAU-AS:2957 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/290/2026 DULAL ALI AND 118 ORS S/O BODIUD ZAMAN 2: SAHARIF UDDIN S/O. A. KADER ALI 3: HANIF ALI S/O. RASTOM ALI 4: JULMOT ALI S/O. LATE RAHAM ALI 5: HAKIM ALI S/O.SAMAD ALI 6: MOUN UDDIN S/O. LATE PASU SHEIKH 7: A. RASID ALI S/O. LATE GOFAR ALI 8: BAKKA ALI S/O. LATE NOSAD ALI 9: MIRU ALI S/O. LATE NOSAD ALI 10: MOJID ALI S/O. LATE SABDUL ALI 11: ABED ALI S/O. LATE SAMSHER ALI 12: RASUL ALI Page No.# 2/13 S/O. LATE BAHES ALI 13: ASUR UDDIN S/O. LATE ALA UDDIN 14: FARMAN ALI S/O. LATE RAHAM ALI 15: SAMSUL HAQUE S/O. LATE MABARAK ALI 16: SAMAD ALI S/O. MANNAN ALI 17: GIYAS UDDIN S/O. LATE RAHMAN ALI 18: AKKASH ALI S/O. LATE AJIET ALI 19: MOHIM ALI S/O. LATE NUR AKMAN 20: A. RAHMAN S/O. LATE JAHER ALI 21: ALAL ALI S/O. LATE TALEB ALI 22: KARIM ALI S/O. LATE JUBBAR ALI 23: JAMIDAR ALI S/O. LATE JUBBAR ALI 24: SANIDUL HAQUE S/O. SAMSUL HAQUE 25: ANISUL ALI S/O. DULU UDDIN 26: SAJIRAN KHATUN W/O. MAINUL HAQUE 27: SAIJUDDIN S/O. LATE SADAR MALLICK Page No.# 3/13 28: KANSU ALI S/O. LATE RAIJUDDIN 29: RUPSAN ALI S/O. FAJOR MANDAL 30: ALI AKBAR S/O. LATE JAHER ALI 31: SADDIM HUSSAIN S/O. DUL UDDIN 32: TAIJUDDIN S/O. LATE MIRU 33: SALEHA KHATUN W/O. LATE SUDOR MALLICK 34: SAH ALI S/O. LATE SUDOR MALLICK 35: JURAN ALI S/O. LATE NOSAD ALI 36: ASHRAF ALI S/O. LATE NOSAD ALI 37: SHAR ALI S/O. LATE ABDUL 38: IDRISH ALI S/O. AKBBAR ALI 39: JANPA KHATUN W/O. KURPAN 40: ABIN HAQUE S/O. MOJIBOR RAHMAN 41: MATIBOR RAHMAN S/O. SABI MALLICK 42: JIYAUL HAQUE S/O. FULSAN ALI 43: .RASID ALI S/O. LATE SADU SHEIKH Page No.# 4/13 44: SIDDIK ALI S/O.LATE JAHER ALI 45: RAHIJ UDDIN SK S/O.LATE SADU SHEIKH 46: FARBESH ALI S/O.FAJOR ALI 47: SALAM ALI S/O.LATE SATTAR ALI 48: SAN MIYA S/O.LATE HAMED ALI 49: KASHEM ALI S/O.LATE SAMSUL HAQUE 50: MANNAF ALI S/O.LATE JURAM ALI 51: NUR MAHAMMAD S/O.LATE HANIF ALI 52: NISHAN ALI S/O.LATE JAHUR UDDIN 53: SARBESH ALI S/O.SUBHAN ALI 54: AINAL HAQUE S/O.SURAT ALI 55: SAN MIYA S/O.LATE HANIF ALI 56: HASEN ALI S/O.SAN MIYA 57: TAHER ALI S/O.GIYAS UDDIN 58: AJGAR ALI S/O.ALA UDDIN 59: NUR MAHAMMAD S/O.LATE JINNAT ALI Page No.# 5/13 60: SAJAMAL S/O.SAN MIYA 61: TAYM ALI S/O. LATE NUR AKMAN 62: SAJAHAN ALI S/O.SAN MIYA 63: AJER ALI S/O. UR MAHAMMAD 64: SUKUR ALI S/O. SAN MIYA 65: RAHAM ALI S/O. LATE SAYED ALI 66: JAMAL ALI S/O. LATE RAJU MUNISI 67: RASHID ALI S/O. SUKRA ALI 68: JAKIR HUSSAIN S/O .KUDDIS ALI 69: SARBESH ALI S/O .LATE JINNAT ALI 70: TAIJUDDIN S/O. LATE TALEB ALI 71: ASHRAF ALI S/O .AJIT ALI 72: BADSHA ALI S/O .LATE BILLAL ALI 73: MAKSHED ALI S/O .LATE AMJAD ALI 74: SURMAN ALI S/O .LATE AHAB ALI 75: SALAM ALI Page No.# 6/13 S/O .LATE NURUL HAQUE 76: KDDUS ALI S/O. LATE ANSER ALI 77: ASUR UDDIN S/O .LATE HASU SHEIKH 78: JALIL ALI S/O .LATE AMJAD ALI 79: JULHAS ALI S/O .KDDUS ALI 80: FORIDA KHATUN W/O .KERAMAT ALI 81: USHANI KHATUN W/O .LATE SAYED ALI 82: SHAR ALI S/O .LATE HABIBOR RAHMAN 83: SANDESH ALI S/O .LATE HASU ALI 84: A. RASHID S/O .LATE SAMSER ALI 85: SAMAD ALI S/O .LATE RIYAJ FAKIR 86: RAHIM BADSAH S/O. LATE JINNAT ALI 87: NEKJAN BIBI W/O. LATE KASEM ALI 88: BEILA KHATUN W/O.MESER ALI 89: SABER ALI W/O. SATTAR ALI 90: LATIF ALI S/O.A. KADER ALI Page No.# 7/13 91: AMAR ALI S/O.KDDUS ALI 92: KANSON ALI S/O.KABOM ALI 93: FAJULI BIBI S/O.LATE SHABDUL ALI 94: MAHAR ALI S/O.LATE HABIBOR RAHMAN 95: RAFIKUL ISLAM S/O.LATE HABIBOR RAHMAN 96: SUKURJAN BIBI W/O.AHAR ALI 97: MAMATA BEGUM W/O.AKKAS ALI 98: ASUR UDDIN S/O.LATE NAJIM UDDIN 99: BAKTAR ALI S/O.JUBBAR ALI 100: ANAR ALI S/O.KADDUS ALI 101: REZZAK ALI S/O.LATE MIRU SEKH 102: FULJAN ALI S/O.LATE JUBBAR ALI 103: FORID ALI S/O.LATE AIJODDIN 104: MAJAM ALI S/O.LATE DUDU SEKH 105: SANBOR ALI S/O.LATE NUR AKMAN 106: . SADEK ALI S/O.JAFOR ALI Page No.# 8/13 107: JAFOR ALI S/O.LATE PIYAR ALI 108: ISLAM UDDIN S/O.KURPAN ALI 109: MOJIBAR RAHMAN S/O.LATE KUDDUS ALI 110: JAIGON BIBI W/O.TAMSER ALI 111: HATIM ALI S/O.LATE TALEB ALI 112: IDDIS ALI S/O.MOJIT ALI 113: RAMESH ALI S/O.LATE JOBAN ALI 114: RAJAB ALI S/O.BADSHA ALI 115: SAGAR ALI S/O.LATE SATTAR ALI 116: RAFIK ALI S/O.NUR ISLAM 117: BINU ALI s/O.LT. MARFOT ALI 118: IKRAMUL S/O.KAMAR UDDIN 119: SAINUR S/O.SAN MIYA ALL ARE RESIDING AT VILLAGE- NO.4 DOKONIYA P.S. HAJO DISTRICT- KAMRUP ASSAM PIN-78110 VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 2 ORS Page No.# 9/13 REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM REVENUE AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, DISPUR, GUWAHATI- 06 2:THE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER KAMRUP DISTRICT AMINGAON P.S.NORTH GUWAHATI DISTRICT-KAMRUP ASSAM PIN- 3:THE CIRCLE OFFICER HAJO REVENUE CIRCLE P.O. AND P.S.HAJO DIST-KAMRUP ASSAM PIN-78110 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M A SHEIKH, MR. Z H AHMED,MS F INTAZ Advocate for the Respondent : SC, REVENUE, GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI ORDER 25.02.2026 Heard Shri M.A. Sheikh, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Shri N. Das, learned State Counsel and Ms. P.R. Mahanta, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department. 2. The petitioners, who are 119 in numbers, are aggrieved by the notice dated 20.12.2025 whereby they have been directed to vacate the land under their possession. It is projected that the predecessors in interest of the petitioners are in continuous possession of the said land from before“01.01.1900”. The petitioners have constructed dwelling homes and raised cultivation.The State Government had adopted a procedure for settlement of land to landless persons vide notification dated 11.11.2022 in respect of Page No.# 10/13 which, the petitioners had applied online for which acknowledgment dated 29.03.2023 was issued. However, in stead of considering the said applications, the impugned notice have been issued. 3. Shri Sheikh, learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that by virtue of being in possession of the land in question for a long period of time, a right has accrued to the petitioners to get settlement. 4. ShriDas, learned State Counsel has, on the other hand, submitted that the area in question is VGR land and therefore, the same is required to be made encroachment free on a priority basis. He has also submitted that no indefensible right accrues on a person for allotment of land and in any case, VGR land cannot be settled. In this connection, he has relied upon the case of Jagpal Singh & Ors. Vs. State of Punjab & Ors., reported in (2011) 11 SCC 396in which the Hon’ble Supreme Court has clearly laid down that the VGR land is community land which cannot be allotted and should be made encroachment free. 5. Ms. Mahanta, learned Standing Counsel, Revenue Department, Assam, has disputed the factual proposition portrayed by the petitioners and has endorsed the submissions of the learned State Counsel. 6. Shri Sheikh, the learned counsel for the petitioners in his rejoinder, has however submitted that in the case of Jagpal Singh & Ors. (supra), there is no observation that the direction would be retrospective in nature. 7. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the aforesaid case of Jagpal Singh & Ors. (supra), has made the following observations: “23. Before parting with this case we give directions to all the State Governments in the country that they should prepare schemes for Page No.# 11/13 eviction of illegal/unauthorised occupants of the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat/ poramboke/shamlat land and these must be restored to the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat for the common use of villagers of the village. For this purpose the Chief Secretaries of all State Governments/Union Territories in India are directed to do the needful, taking the help of other senior officers of the Governments. The said scheme should provide for the speedy eviction of such illegal occupant, after giving him a show-cause notice and a brief hearing. Long duration of such illegal occupation or huge expenditure in making constructions thereon or political connections must not be treated as a justification for condoning this illegal act or for regularising the illegal possession. Regularisation should only be permitted in exceptional cases e.g. where lease has been granted under some government notification to landless labourers or members of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, or where there is already a school, dispensary or other public utility on the land.” 8. In view of the aforesaid provision of law which has been laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the submission of Shri Sheikh that the directions would not be applicable to the instant case is not countenanced. 9. However, there is another aspect of the matter which is required to be clarified. The impugned notice dated 20.12.2025 as such does not reveal that the land in question is VGR / PGR land. The only mention is that the land in question is Government Khas land. The notice further stipulates the application of Rule 18(2) of the Settlement Rules framed under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886. Page No.# 12/13 10. The issue of eviction under the aforesaid Rules has been dealt with by a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Md.Salak Uddin Vs. State of Assam reported in 2024 (4) GLT 857 wherein the following observations have been made: 63. We further find it very pertinent herein to observe that taking into account Rule 18 of the Settlement Rules which deals with all kinds of lands post 1997 Amendment, the bonafide claim of right involved may be different in all such cases. In the case of Government khas land or waste land, an occupant/possessor may have a bonafide claim of right involved to claim settlement over the land on the basis of the Settlement Rules and extant Land Policy of the Government of Assam. In respect to other lands i.e. lands previously reserved for roads or roadside lands, or for grazing of village cattle or for other public purposes or the occupant had entered into possession of land from which he has been excluded by general or special order such lands are outside the purview of settlement. There is a complete bar in respect to granting settlements pertaining to lands reserved for roads or roadside lands or for grazing of village cattle. As regards land previously reserved for public purposes, it is outside the scheme of granting settlement. Under such circumstances, the question arises as to whether there is a requirement of issuance of any notice for adjudging as to whether there is a bonafide claim of right involved. In our opinion there might be various situations wherein there may be question of disputes pertaining to the boundary or there may be disputes pertaining to reservations or dereservation for grazing of village cattle or for that matter, there may be a dispute that the persons who have been granted the settlement in respect of a land even prior to being previously Page No.# 13/13 reserved for public purposes. The above examples are illustrative and there might be varied circumstances depending on situational variations. Under such circumstances, issuance of a notice in the opinion of this Court to form the subjective satisfaction would be inconsonance with the principles of natural justice and just fair, transparent procedure which are facets of Article 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.” 11. In the conspectus of the aforesaid discussion, it is provided that following the principles laid down by the Hon’ble Division Bench in the case of Salak Uddin (supra), 10(ten) days further time be granted from today to the petitioners to submit their replies to the notice dated 20.12.2025 and if the same is done within the aforesaid period, the replies are required to be considered in accordance with law. If the replies are found to be unsatisfactory and the eviction process is upheld, further period of 15(fifteen) days be given to the petitioners to vacate the premises from the date of such order. If within this period of 15(fifteen) days, the land is not vacated, the respondent authorities may take all necessary steps to remove the encroachment. 12. Writ petition accordingly stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant