IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BANGLADESH

HIGH COURT DIVISION

(SPECIAL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION)

     Present:

Mr. Justice Ashish Ranjan Das

And

Mr. Justice Fahmida Quader

WRIT PETITION NO. 364 OF 2017.

IN THE MATTER OF:

An application under Article 102 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

-AND -

IN THE MATTER OF:

Md. Nurul Haque

.....Petitioner

-VS-

Secretary, Ministry of Local Land and others

.......Respondents Mr. Md. Moinul Islam, Advocate

…..For the Petitioner Mr. Md. Saiefuddin Khaled, D.A.G

 ....For the respondents

 Heard on. 22.08.2024 Judgment on: 28.08.2024.

Fahmida Quader, J.

This Rule Nisi, at the instance of the application filed under Article 102(2) of the Constitution, by the petitioner Nurul Haque issued on 11.01.2017, was in the following terms-

“Let Rule Nisi be issued calling upon the respondents to show cause  as  to  why  the  impugned  order  under  memo  No. 31.60.9089.000.05.003.14-1483(4)  dated  01.09.2016  issued under  the  signature  of  the  respondent  No.  5  Assistant Commissioner (Land) Sunamgonj directing the surveyor office

Assistant and Union land assistant officer to hand over all ‘the records  of  Aukkay  Nagar,  Mouza  under  J.L  No.  13  of Sunamgonj Sadar Upazilla as contained in Annexure-D to the writ petition should not be declared to have been done without lawful authority and is of no legal effect and as to why they should not be directed to allow the inhabitants of Aukynagar Mouza under J.L. No. 13 under Sunamgonj District to be under SAdar  Upazilla  Sunamgonj  and/or pass  such other or  further order or orders as to this court may seem fit and proper.”

The key assertions made in the petition, leading to the issuance of the Rule Nisi, are as follows:- 

The petitioner is the rightful owner and resident of land within Aukkaynagar Mouza. From its inception, the Aukkaynagar Mouza was part of Sunamgonj Sadar Upazila. However, with the creation of Bishambarpur Police Station, 60 mouzas, including Aukkaynagar, were reassigned by a notification dated June 23,1967. Given that the inhabitants of Aukkynagar Mouza are more closely associated with Sunamgonj Sadar, the Deputy Commissioner of Sunamgonj instructed the Assistant Commissioner (land) of Bisbomborpur to transfer the records  of  the  land  under  Aukkynagar  Mouza  to  the  Sadar  Upazilla Sunamgonj  for  better  convenience  in  collecting  revenue,  rent  etc.  Sadar Upazilla Sunamganj issued an office order dated 28.05.1990. Consequently, the Assistant Commissioner (Land) of Bishombarpur directed the Tohshilder of Palash Tohshil office to transfer the records of land of Aukkynagar Mouza to Sadar Upazilla, Sunamgonj. As a result, the Land Registry office and

Revenue  Rent  Collection  office  of  Aukkynagar  Mouza  remain  under Sunamgonj Sadar Upazilla.

 In  2009,  the  petitioner  submitted  an  application  to  the  Member  of  the parliament Sunamgonj-4 seeking to include the Akkynagar Mouza within the Sadar Upzilla for the purpose of R.S operation. Based on the report from the Union  Land  Assistant  Officer  of  Sadar,  Sunamgonj,  the  Deputy Commissioner of Sunamgonj, issued office orders dated June 17,2009, and October 10, 2009, directing the Zonal Settlement officer, Sylhet Zone, to transfer the office records for R.S operation of Aukkynagar Mouza to Sadar in the public interest.

 Several  inquires  were  conducted  by  respondent  No.  5,  The  Assistant Commissioner  (Land),  and others,  Who in their  report    opined that  the Aukkynagar Mouza should have remain under Sadar Upzilla for the benefit of the public. Despite of all these reports and previous orders, the Assistant Commissioner   (Land),  respondent  no.  5,  issued  the  impugned  order  on October  1,  2016,  directing  his  surveyor  or  and  Union  Land  Assistant  to transfer the records of the land under Aukkynagar Mouza to Bishombarpur Upazilla. In this context, the petitioner filed this writ petition challenging the aforementioned order dated October 1, 2016.

Mr. Md. Mainul Islam, the learned Advocate for the writ petitioner, after presenting the petition, the impugned letter and other relevant materials on records, advanced following arguments:-

Akkynagar Mouza is located one Kilometer far from Sunamgonj Sadar, while Bishamborpur is approximately 15 kilometers far from Aukkynagar, situated in a remote and rural area. This considerable distance makes it significantly

much  more  difficult  for  the  inhabitants  of  Aykkynagar  to  travel  to Bishomparpur  for  land  registration  and  payment  of  rent,  revenue  etc. Therefore, the residents of Aukkynagar Mouza are typically associated with Sunamgonj Sadar due to better communication and convenience.

In his elaboration, the learned counsel further contends that by the order of Deputy Commissioner of Sunamgonj, dated May 28, 1990, the land records of Aukkynagar Mouza were transferred back to the Sadar and since then, these records have been under the custody of Sadar Upazilla, Sunamgonj for the purpose of smooth office dealings for benefiting both the respondents and the inhabitants of Aukkynagar Mouza. Consequently, this Rule Nisi is likely to be absolute, and the impugned officer order issued by the respondent No.5 on September 1, 2016, directing the transfer of land records of Aukkynagar Mouza  from  Sadar  Upazilla  Sunamganj  to  Bishombarpur,  is  liable  to  be declared illegal having been enacted without lawful authority.

At the time of hearing of this Rule Nisi, Mr. Md. Saiefuddin Khaled, the learned  Deputy  Attorney  General,  frankly  conceded  that several inquiries have  been  conducted  by  respondent  No.5  and  others  and  based  on  their inquiry  reports,  the  Deputy  Commissioner  Sunamgonj  through  his  orders dated May 28,1990, June 17, 2009, and October 10,2009 directed the transfer of land records under Aukkynagar to Sadar for public interest. Hence the learned Deputy Attorney General Concurs.

We  have  heard  the  learned  Advocates  for  the  respective  parties  and thoroughly examined the writ petition, Annexures and other materials on record. The petitioner filed this writ petition challenging the legality of the order  dated  September  01,  2016 issued  by  respondent  No.5,the  Assistant Commissioner  (Land),  of  Sunamgonj,  Sadar.  This  letter  annexed  as Annexure-D, indicates that Md. Mamun Khandkar, Assistant Commissioner (Land), issued the directive to the surveyor, Office Assistant and Union Land Assistant officer to take necessary action in order to hand over all the records

of  Aukkaynagar  Mouza  from  Sunamganj  Sadar  to  Bishombarpur  Mouza. Surprisingly,  the  same  individual,  i.e.  Md.  Mamun  Khandkar,  Assistant commissioner (Land), of Sunamganj had previously issued a similar letter to

the  Upazilla  Nirbahi  Officer,  Sadar,  Sunamgonj,  on  July  2,  2015.  The contents of the letter are very much crucial for decision making regarding the

Rule, which reads as follows :-

“Efk¤Ñš² ¢hou J p§−œ¡š² pÈ¡l−Ll f¢l−fТr−a p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡l A¿aÑNa ArueNl ®j±S¡l ®lLXÑfœ ¢hnÄñlf¤l EfSm¡ ®b−L p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡l Ad£−e Beu−el ¢ho−u CE¢eue i¨¢j pqL¡l£ LjÑLaÑ¡, p¤e¡jN” pcl 29/6/2015 a¡¢l−Ml 344 ew pÈ¡l−L fÊ¢a−hce c¡¢Mm L−lez fСç fТa−hce cª−ø ®cM¡ k¡u ®k, 13 ew ®SHm¢ÙÛa ArueNl ®j±S¡¢V p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡ q−a 2 (c¤C) ¢L−m¡¢jV¡l Hhw ¢hnÄðlf¤l Ef−Sm¡ q−a 13 (®al) ¢L−m¡¢jV¡l c§−l Ah¢ÙÛaz ArueNl −j±S¡l Sep¡d¡l−Zl ¢hnÄñlf¤l q−a p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡u k¡a¡u¡a hÉhÙÛ¡ i¡m Hhw p¡d¡lZ SeNe ®j±S¡¢Vl L¡kÑœ²j p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡l BJa¡d£e b¡L¡l f−r ja¡ja ¢c−u−Rez haÑj¡−e i¥¢j pwœ²¡¿¹ hÉhÙÛ¡fe¡ L¡kÑœ²j p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡d£e Hhw i¥¢j pwœ²¡¿¹ Qmj¡e Sl£f L¡kÑœ²j ¢hðñlf¤l Ef−Sm¡d£e f¢lQ¡¢ma q−µRz SeN−el Q¡¢qc¡ Ae¤k¡u£ ArueNl ®j±S¡l hÉhÙÛ¡fe¡

J Sl£f L¡kÑœ²j p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡l BJa¡u f¢lQ¡¢ma q−m SeN−el p¤¢hd¡ q−h h−m fÐa£uj¡e qu j−jÑ CE¢eue i¥¢j pqL¡l£ LjÑLaÑ¡, p¤e¡jN” pcl fÊ¢a−hc−e E−õM L−lez

EfkѤš² fТa−hc−el p¢qa ¢ejÀü¡rlL¡l£ HLja ®f¡oZL−l l fha£Ñ fÐ−u¡Se£u hÉhÙÛ¡ NËq−el SeÉ Hp¡−b ®fÐlZ Ll¡ q−m¡ z”

This letter was issued after considering various inquiry reports and the greater interest of the inhabitants of Aukkynagar Mouza. Therefore after issuance of

this letter, the issuance of the impugned letter by the same person, which reverses the decision of his previous letter, cannot be considered proper and

legal.

A careful scanning of the record reveals that, in response to the requests of

the villagers of Aukkynagar Mouza, several inquires were conducted. Based

on these reports multiple letters were issued in different dates, directing the transfer of records of Aukkynagar Mouza to Sadar. Annexure-A shows that a

letter was issued by Deputy commissioner of Sunamganj to the Assistant Commissioner (Land),of Bishamborpur on May 28,1990, stating that

“Ef−Sm¡ ¢ehÑ¡q£ A¢gp¡l, p¤e¡jN” pc−ll p§−œ h¢ZÑa pÈ¡l−L c¡¢MmL«a fÊ¢a−hc−e ®cM¡ k¡u, ¢ho−u E−õ¢Ma ®j±S¡ pj§q p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡l l‰¡ylQl CE¢eu−e Ah¢ÙÛaz H ®j±S¡…−m¡l k¡ha£u ®lLXÑfœ ¢hnÄñlf¤l Ef−Sm¡u ¢eu¿»Z¡d£e b¡L¡u i¨¢j Eæue Ll Bc¡u, üaÅ ®j¡LŸj¡ f¢lQ¡me¡u J M¡pS¢j h−¾c¡hÙ¹ CaÉ¡¢c L¡NS p¤e¡jN” pcl Ef−Sm¡ l¡Sü fÐn¡p−e S¢Vma¡l pª¢ø q−µRz

Ef−l¡š² AhÙÛ¡u ArueNl J ®gV¡l N¡yJ ®j±S¡l k¡ha£u −lLXÑfœ ®pp¾p Bl J Bl, ¢f, Bl Bl, ®l¢SøÌ¡l (Ⅱ), ¢fJ 96/72 J 98/72 pwœ²¡¿¹ ¢lV¡ZÑ, ¢i¢f a¡¢lM CaÉ¡¢c A¢hm−ð Ef−Sm¡l i¨¢j A¢gp, p¤e¡jN” pc−ll ¢eLV qÙ¹¡¿¹l Ll¡l SeÉ ¢e−cÑn fÐc¡e Ll¡ qCm”.

 In compliance with this directive from the DC, the Assistant Commissioner (Land), Bishombarpur issued a letter on October 08,1990 (Annesure-A-1). Subsiquently, the Deputy Commissioner of Sunamganj issued two additional letters  dated  17.06.2009  and  10.09.2009  directing  the  Zonal  Settlement Officer, Sylhet zone to take necessary action to transfer the recodes to the Sunamganj Sadar Upazilla from Bishombarpur for the purpose of preparing R.S. Records (Annexure B-B1). Ignoring the above decisions and directives from higher officer i.e. Deputy Commissioner, the Assistant Commissioner (Land), of Sunamganj Sadar, Sunamganj had no authority to issue impugned letter dated September 01, 2016.

In the result the Rule is made absolute.

The impugned order dated 01 October, 2016 issued by the respondent No-5, Assistant Commissioner (Land), Sunamganj is declared to have been done without lawful authority.

The respondents are directed to allow the inhabitants of Aukkyanagar Mouza under  J.L.  No.13  under  Sunamganj  District  to  be  under  Sadar  Upazilla Sunamganj.

Should  any  records  have  already  been  transferred  to  Bishombarpur,  the respondents  are  instructed  to  promptly  return  those  records  to  Sadar, Sunamganj.

Ashish Ranjan Das, J.

I agree.

Anower B.o