Monirul Sk Vs State of West Bengal and Ors. — Calcutta HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Monirul Sk Vs State of West Bengal and Ors. — Calcutta HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Directions issued to respondent no. 6 (Pradhan, Sultanpur Gram Panchayat) to: (i) cause an inspection of the property upon notice to the petitioner and private respondent no. 7 and hand over an inspection report with sketch map; (ii) hear the parties upon notice and dispose of the petitioner's representation dated 26th May, 2023 by a reasoned order communicated within a week, with liberty to produce records; (iii) take the proceedings to their logical conclusion in terms of Section 23 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act; and (iv) complete the entire exercise within two months from communication of the order. Petitioner's advocate to communicate the order to the Pradhan for compliance. Writ petition disposed of; connected applications, if any, dismissed; interim orders, if any, vacated; no order as to costs.

Issue for consideration

Whether the respondent authorities, particularly respondent nos. 5 and 6, should be directed to initiate demolition proceedings against the construction undertaken by private respondent no. 7 over Dag No. 992, J.L. no. 24, Mouza Uttra, PS Kalna, Dist. Purba Burdwan. +1 more

Court's answer

This Court expressly did not go into the merits of the case; the allegations in the writ petition are deemed not admitted since no affidavits were called for.

Ratio / Principle

Respondent no. 6 is directed to cause an inspection of the property-in-question upon notice to the petitioner as well as private respondent no. 7, and an inspection report along with sketch map is to be prepared and handed over to the parties.

Key takeaways

After inspection, the parties shall be heard upon notice, and the petitioner's representation dated 26th May, 2023 shall be disposed of by a reasoned order communicated to the parties within a week of its passing; parties are granted liberty to produce relevant records and documents before the Pradhan at the hearing.ratio¶8(ii)
On the basis of materials transpiring during inspection and hearing, the proceedings shall be taken to their logical conclusion in terms of Section 23 of the West Bengal Panchayat Act.ratio¶8(iii)

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ petition (WPA 11751 of 2024, High Court at Calcutta, Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction, Appellate Side; decided 19.08.2025) by Monirul Sk. praying for a direction upon respondent nos. 5 and 6 to initiate demolition proceedings against construction undertaken by private respondent no. 7 over Dag No. 992, J.L. no. 24, Mouza Uttra, Police Station Kalna, Dist. Purba Burdwan — contended by the petitioner to be illegal as raised on 'shali' classified land without conversion and without any sanctioned building plan, and as obstructing ingress and egress; the State noted a criminal case initiated under Section 107/116(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code over the dispute. Without going into merits, the High Court (Bivas Pattanayak, J.) directed respondent no. 6, the Pradhan, Sultanpur Gram Panchayat, to: (i) cause an inspection of the property upon notice to the petitioner and private respondent no. 7, with an inspection report and sketch map handed over to the parties; (ii) hear the parties upon notice and dispose of the petitioner's representation dated 26th May, 2023 by a reasoned order communicated within a week, granting liberty to produce records; (iii) carry the proceedings to their logical conclusion in terms of Section 23 of West Bengal Panchayat Act on the basis of materials transpiring during inspection and hearing; and (iv) complete the entire exercise within two months from communication of the order. The writ petition stands disposed of with these directions; connected applications, if any, dismissed; interim orders, if any, vacated; no order as to costs.

19.08.2025 Item No. 13

Ct. No. 42 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA AN CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE

WPA 11751 of 2024 Monirul Sk. vs. State of West Bengal & ors.

Mr. Jyoti Prakash Chatterjee Ms. Sneha Sanyal … for the petitioner Mr. Rajarshi Basu Mr. Shehnaz Tareq Mina … for the State

Supplementary affidavit submitted by the petitioner is taken on record.

Affidavit of service filed on behalf of the petitioner is taken on record.

By the present writ petition, the petitioner seeks for a direction upon the respondent authorities, particularly, respondent nos. 5 and 6 to initiate the demolition proceedings against illegal construction undertaken by private respondent no. 7 over Dag No. 992, J.L. no. 24, Mouza Uttra under Police Station Kalna, Dist. Purba Burdwan.

The petitioner contends that private respondent no. 7 has undertaken illegal construction without conversion of the land which is classified as “shali” and without obtaining any sanction building plan. The said

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construction has caused obstruction to ingress and egress of the petitioner. The petitioner made a representation on 20^th February, 2024. However, no steps have been taken. Hence this writ petition.

Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the entire construction undertaken by the private respondent no. 7 is illegal since the land is classified as “shali” against which “patta” has been issued in favour of one Swapan Sardar. He seeks that specific direction may be issued upon respondent nos. 5 and 6 to consider the representation of the petitioner.

On the contrary, learned counsel representing the State submits that over the dispute, a criminal case has been initiated under Section 107/116(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Despite service, none appears on behalf of the Pradhan, respondent no.6 and private respondent no.7.

Upon hearing learned counsel for the parties and considering the materials on record, respondent no. 6 is directed to consider the representation of the petitioner by adopting the following points.

(i) Cause an inspection on the property-inquestion upon notice to the petitioner as well as private respondent no.7. A report of such inspection along with sketch map be prepared, which shall be handed over to the parties.

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(ii) Thereafter the parties shall be heard upon notice and representation of the petitioner dated 26^th May, 2023 shall be disposed of by a reasoned order which shall be communicated to the parties within a week of passing of such orders. Parties are granted liberty to produce all relevant records and documents before the Pradhan at the time of hearing.

(iii) On the basis of materials transpiring during inspection and hearing, the proceedings shall be taken to its logical conclusion in terms of provisions of Section 23 of West Bengal Panchayat Act.

(iv) The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of two months from date of communication of this order.

Learned advocate for the petitioner shall communicate this order to Pradhan, Sultanpur Gram Panchayat, respondent no.6, for necessary compliance.

Since no affidavits have been called for, the allegation made in the writ petition is deemed to be not admitted.

It is made clear that this Court has not gone into the merits of the case.

With the aforesaid directions, the writ petition being no. WPA 11751 of 2024 stands disposed of.

Consequently, connected applications, if any, also stand dismissed.

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Interim orders, if any, stand vacated.

There will be no order as to costs.

Urgent certified photostat copy of this order, if applied for, shall be given to the parties as expeditiously as possible on compliance of all necessary formalities.

(Bivas Pattanayak, J.)