Nilima Karmakar vs The State Of Assam And 3 Ors

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GAHC010292352023

2026:GAU-AS:7078
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : WP(C)/7596/2023
NILIMA KARMAKAR
W/O- LATE ARUN KR. KARMAKAR, R/O- WARD NO. 4, M.G.ROAD,
BONGAIGAON, P.O. AND P.S. BONGAIGAON, DIST.- BONGAIGAON, ASSAM
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 3 ORS
REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY, URBAN DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT, GOVT. OF ASSAM, DISPUR, GUWAHATI- 781006
2:THE BONGAIGAON MUNICIPAL BOARD
REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN
P.O.
P.S. AND DIST.- BONGAIGAON
ASSAM
PIN- 783380
3:THE CHAIRMAN
BONGAIGAON MUNICIPAL BOARD
NEAR D.C. OFFICE
P.O.
P.S. AND DIST.- BONGAIGAON
ASSAM
PIN- 783380
4:THE EXECUTIVE OFFICER
BONGAIGAON MUNICIPAL BOARD
NEAR D.C. OFFICE
P.O.
P.S. AND DIST.- BONGAIGAON
ASSAM
PIN- 78338

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B E F O R E
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH

· Date on which Judgment was reserved : N/A
· Date of Pronouncement of Judgment : 21.05.2026
Whether the pronouncement is of
·
the Operative Part of the Judgment : No
· Whether the full Judgment has been
Pronounced : Yes
JUDGMENT AND ORDER (ORAL)
Heard Ms. R. Saha, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
petitioner. Mr. S.C. Biswas, the learned Standing Counsel appears on behalf
of the Bongaigaon Municipal Board.
2. The petitioner, who is a widow aged about 70 years as on date is
earning her livelihood by running a shop for retail sale of spectacles and
other optical equipment. The Petitioner has approached this Court seeking a
direction upon the Bongaigaon Municipal Board to issue a trade license in
her favour.
3. The brief facts which led to the filing of the present writ petition are
that the petitioner’s husband, late Arun Kr. Karmakar (since deceased), was
a tenant under one Shri Harekrishna Das (since deceased) and after his
death Shri Hemen Das, the present land-lord. The petitioner’s husband had

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established a shop for retail sale of spectacles and other optical equipment
under the name and style of “Nisa Optics”. The husband of the petitioner
was issued a trade license by the Bongaigaon Municipality (now the
Bongaigaon Municipal Board), on a yearly basis. Unfortunately, the
petitioner’s husband expired on 30.08.2023. Thereupon, the petitioner, in
order to earn her livelihood has been running the said shop.
4. However, on account of landlord-tenant dispute between the petitioner
and Shri Hemen Das and there being a Civil Suit being Title Suit No.
131/2023 pending before the learned Court of the Civil Judge (Senior
Division), Bongaigaon, the landlord has not issued a No Objection Certificate.
Resultantly, the Bongaigaon Municipal Board is not inclined to issue a trade
license in the name of the petitioner, though the trade license issued earlier
had been renewed in the name of the petitioner’s husband, who expired in
the year 2023. It is under such circumstances, the present writ petition was
filed.
5. Ms. R. Saha, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner
submitted that like electricity, which is an essential service, the petitioner
cannot continue her business without a trade license, as it is the requirement
of law. The learned counsel further submitted that the petitioner is a tenant
and presently on account of the eviction proceedings initiated by the
landlord, there is no likelihood that her landlord would provide a No
Objection Certificate. The insistence for the No Objection Certificate from the
landlord by the Bongaigaon Municipal Board to issue the trade license
renders in the present facts, their actions arbitrary and unreasonable. In that

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regard, the learned counsel referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court
in the case of Dilip (Dead) Through Lrs. Vs. Satish & Others reported in
2022 SCC OnLine SC 810 as well as the judgment passed by the learned
Coordinate Bench of this Court in the case of Mohit Kumar Deb Roy vs.
Gaurangalal Roy reported in 1986 (1) GLR 442 .
6. Mr. S.C. Biswas, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
Bongaigaon Municipal Board submitted that a trade license is granted to a
tenant only upon submission of a No Objection Certificate from the landlord,
and that being the mandate followed by the Bongaigaon Municipal Board in
respect to all applicants, the said action of the Bongaigaon Municipal Board
cannot be said to be arbitrary or unreasonable.
7. This Court has given anxious consideration to the respective
submissions and has also perused the judgments referred to by the learned
counsel for the petitioner.
8. A trade license is issued by the Municipal Board for the purpose of
collecting tax or fees. This power is traceable to Entry 60 and Entry 66 of
List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The issuance of
trade license by the Municipal Board being solely for the purpose of
collecting tax/fees for the Municipal Board. On the other hand, the Municipal
Board have not been endowed any powers for regulation of the tenancy.
Under such circumstances, it is the opinion of this Court that insistence for
the No Objection Certificate from the landlord for issuance of a trade license
to the tenant amounts to regulating the tenancy between a landlord and

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tenant which is beyond the jurisdiction of the Municipal Board.
9. It is also relevant to note that the landlord tenant relationship in an
urban area in the State of Assam in respect to a premises is regulated by the
Assam Urban Areas Rent Control Act, 1972. The said Act of 1972 provides
the grounds of eviction.
10. In the backdrop of the above, the material facts would show that the
petitioner cannot carry out any trade/business without a trade license. The
insistence by the Bongaigaon Municipal Board for a No Objection Certificate
from the landlord for the petitioner to obtain a trade license that too when
there is an ongoing dispute between the petitioner and her landlord not only
is without authority of law but also is arbitrary and unreasonable.
11. It is pertinent to observe that when there is a landlord-tenant dispute
pending before a Civil Court, it is not expected that the landlord would grant
the No Objection Certificate, and if such a course of action of insistence for a
No Objection Certificate from the landlord is allowed to be perpetuated for
grant of a trade license, it would amount to eviction of the petitioner other
than on the grounds mentioned in the Assam Urban Areas Rent Control Act,
1972.
12. Consequently, this Court disposes of the instant writ petition with the
following observations and directions:
(i) The Bongaigaon Municipal Board is directed to forthwith issue a

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trade license in favour of the petitioner, subject to the petitioner
complying with all other requirements mandated by the Bongaigaon
Municipal Board, however, without insisting upon a No Objection
Certificate from the landlord.
(ii) The said exercise shall be carried out within a period of 15 (fifteen)
days from the date a certified copy of the present judgment is served
upon the Executive Officer of the Bongaigaon Municipal Board.
(iii) This Court further observes that the present judgment shall not in
any manner, affect or prejudice the rights of any of the parties in Title
Suit No. 131/2023 presently pending before the learned Court of the
Civil Judge (Senior Division), Bongaigaon.

J U D G E
Comparing Assistant