Omkar Nandan Ghosh Vs Khargram Gram Panchayat and Anr. — Calcutta HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Omkar Nandan Ghosh Vs Khargram Gram Panchayat and Anr. — Calcutta HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Application disposed of; contempt proceedings dropped; panchayat authorities to send all documents to the concerned Sub-Divisional Officer within two weeks from date for proper steps under Section 23(5) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973; SDO to proceed in accordance with law after giving adequate opportunity of hearing to all parties.

Issue for consideration

Whether the mistaken recording of L.R. Plot No.3758 instead of L.R. Plot No.3578 in the writ petition order affects the matter, when the allegation, the panchayat decision and the applicant's representation relate to Plot No.3578. +1 more

Court's answer

The mistake of recording L.R. Plot No.3758 instead of No.3578 in the writ petition order is inconsequential: that paragraph merely records submissions; the writ petition, the panchayat decision and the representation dated July 25, 2022 refer to Plot No.3578, so the authority proceeded on the correct plot number.

Ratio / Principle

Since unauthorized construction has been detected, nothing remains to be decided in the contempt application.

Key takeaways

Encroachment is a matter to be decided by the civil court.ratio¶15
As unauthorized construction has been detected, the law should take its own course and the panchayat authorities should send all documents to the concerned Sub-Divisional Officer within two weeks from date, for proper steps under Section 23(5) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973.ratio¶15
The Sub-Divisional Officer shall proceed in accordance with law, upon giving adequate opportunity of hearing to all parties.ratio

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Contempt application CPAN 1652 of 2023 arising out of WPA 21675 of 2022 (Omkar Nandan Ghosh v. Khargram Gram Panchayat & Anr.), before Shampa Sarkar, J., decided 15.06.2026. The objection that the writ petition order wrongly recorded L.R. Plot No.3758 although the allegation concerned L.R. Plot No.3578 was found inconsequential: the writ petition, the panchayat authorities' decision and the applicant's representation dated July 25, 2022 all referred to Plot No.3578, on which the authority had proceeded. The compliance report showed unauthorized construction on L.R. Plot No.3578, the person responsible having been asked to demolish it within 15 days from notice dated April 19, 2024. Holding that nothing remained to be decided in the application, that encroachment is a matter for the civil court, and that the law should take its own course, the court directed the panchayat authorities to send all documents to the concerned Sub-Divisional Officer within two weeks from date for proper steps under Section 23(5) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, with the SDO to proceed in accordance with law after giving adequate opportunity of hearing to all parties. The application was disposed of and the contempt proceedings were dropped.

15.06.2026 Court No. 12 Item No.10 Cp

CPAN 1652 of 2023 In

WPA 21675 of 2022

Omkar Nandan Ghosh Vs.

Khargram Gram Panchayat & Anr.

Mr. Lutful Haque, Ms. Taharima Khatun, Mr. Mahewash Rasool

… for the Applicant.

Ms. Kakali Das Chakraborty

… for the Alleged Contemnor No.2.

It has been pointed out by the learned advocate for the alleged contemnor that, in the order passed in the writ petition, L.R. Plot No.3758 has been wrongly recorded, although the allegation was that the unauthorized construction was on L.R. Plot No. 3578.

It appears that, in the writ petition L.R. Plot No.3578 has been mentioned. The decision of the panchayat authorities is also in respect of Plot No.3578, on which the alleged unauthorized construction has been detected. The mistake in the order is noted, but it is inconsequential, as in that paragraph only submissions have been recorded. The direction in the writ petition passed upon the panchayat authorities, was to consider the representation of the applicant

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dated July 25, 2022. In the representation, the plot No has been correctly mentioned as 3578. Thus, the authority proceeded on the basis of the correct plot No.

The compliance report indicates that, the unauthorized construction has been found on L.R. Plot No.3578 and the person responsible for such construction has been asked to demolish the said construction within 15 days from the date of notice dated April 19, 2024.

In view of the fact that unauthorized construction has been detected, nothing remains to be decided in the application. The issue of unauthorized construction which has been found by the authority should be ignored, as encroachment is a matter to be decided by the civil court. As unauthorized construction has been detected, the law should take its own course and the panchayat authorities should send all documents to the concerned SubDivisional Officer for proper steps under Section 23(5) of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973. Such documents shall be sent to the concerned Sub-Divisional Officer within two weeks from date.

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The Sub-Divisional Officer shall proceed in accordance with law, upon giving adequate opportunity of hearing to all parties.

Accordingly, the application is disposed of and

the contempt proceedings are dropped.

(Shampa Sarkar, J.)