1 2026:CGHC:18284 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 1787 of 2026 1 - Ajit Sarkar S/o Late Amulya Sarkar Aged About 45 Years Resident Of Village - Chathirma, Police Station Gandhinagar, Tehsil - Ambikapur District Surguja (Chhattisgarh), 2 - Ashok Sarkar S/o Late Amulya Sarkar Aged About 48 Years Resident Of Village - Chathirma, Police Station Gandhinagar, Tehsil - Ambikapur District Surguja (Chhattisgarh), ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through - Secretary, Department Of Revenue And Disaster Management, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Nava Raipur, Distt - Raipur (C.G.) 2 - The Commissioner Surguja Division, Ambikapur, Distt- Surguja, C.G. 3 - The Collector Ambikapur, Distt- Surguja, C.G. 4 - Sub- Divisional Officer (R) Ambikapur, Distt- Surguja, C.G. 5 - Tehsildar Ambikapur Distt- Surguja, C.G. RAGHVENDRA JAT Digitally signed by RAGHVENDRA JAT 2 6 - Deputy Registrar Ambikapur Ambikapur, Distt- Surguja, C.G. 7 - Arun Agarwal S/o Shyam Sundar Agarwal Aged About 45 Years R/o Shubashnagar, Ambikapur, Police Station Gandhinagar, Tehsil Ambikapur, District Surguja, Chhattisgarh, ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Sajal Kumar Gupta, Advocate. For Respondent(s)/State : Dr. Arham Siddiqui, Panel Lawyer. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 22/04/2026 1. By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed for following reliefs:- “a) Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction directing Respondent No. 3 Collector, Surguja, to decide the petitioner's application for grant of permission to sell rehabilitation land under Section 165(7-B) of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, dated 31.08.2020, which is pending since six years, within a stipulated time frame, preferably within an outer limit of 15 days; b) Pass any other order or direction which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice.” 2. Brief facts of the case, is that, the present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioners seeking a direction to respondent No. 3, namely the 3 Collector, Surguja, to decide their long-pending application dated 31.08.2020 submitted for grant of permission to sell rehabilitation land under Section 165(7-B) of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code; that the petitioners are the recorded joint owners and are in possession of the rehabilitation land situated at Village Chathirma, Tehsil Ambikapur, District Surguja, which was originally allotted to their father under a rehabilitation scheme and thereafter devolved upon them by way of succession; that owing to acute financial constraints, including the requirement for construction of a residential house and repayment of medical loans incurred for the treatment of their deceased father, the petitioners entered into an agreement to sell a portion of the said land, subject to obtaining prior permission from the competent authority as mandated under law; that, accordingly, the petitioners submitted an application dated 31.08.2020 before the Collector, Surguja, pursuant to which revenue proceedings were initiated and all requisite inquiries, reports, public notices, and procedural formalities were duly completed during the years 2020–2021, and the concerned authorities, including the Tehsildar and other competent officers, submitted favourable reports recommending grant of permission; that despite completion of all statutory requirements and in the absence of any public objection, the said application has remained pending before the Collector since the year 2020 without any justifiable reason, and repeated representations submitted by the petitioners seeking early disposal have yielded 4 no result; that such inordinate delay of more than four years is arbitrary, unreasonable, and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, amounting to failure on the part of the authority to exercise jurisdiction vested in it and causing grave financial hardship to the petitioners; hence, the petitioners have approached this Hon’ble Court seeking an appropriate direction to respondent No. 3 to decide the pending application within a stipulated time frame, preferably within 15 days, in view of the urgent financial necessity and settled position of law. 3. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner had filed an application seeking permission to sell rehabilitation land under Section 165(7-B) of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, which is presently pending consideration before the concerned Collector, Ambikapur, District Surguja; it is further submitted that the said application was filed as far back as 31.08.2020, pursuant to which the concerned Tahsildar initiated proceedings, as is evident from the order sheets placed on record by the petitioner, however, despite the lapse of more than five years, no final order has been passed by the competent authority; therefore, the limited prayer of the petitioner is that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to direct the concerned Collector to consider and decide the aforesaid application expeditiously, keeping in view the considerable delay and the fact that the application has remained pending for over five years. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the State 5 submits that the matter may appropriately be disposed of by issuing a direction to the concerned Collector to consider and decide the petitioner’s pending application expeditiously, in accordance with law, within a reasonable time frame. 5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 6. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, and further taking into account that the application in question was filed as far back as 31.08.2020, pursuant to which proceedings have already been initiated—as is evident from the order sheets placed on record—and that even after submission of the report by the SDO (Revenue), Ambikapur, District Surguja, vide order dated 20.01.2022, no final decision has yet been taken regarding grant of permission, it is deemed appropriate to direct the concerned Collector, Ambikapur, District Surguja, to consider and decide the said application strictly in accordance with law, within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. 7. With this observation and direction, the writ petition is disposed of. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Raghu Jat