Moin Sorowar Jazbi vs The State Of Assam And 5 Ors

Page No. 1/7
GAHC010183792026

2026:GAU-AS:12786
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : WP(C)/4720/2026
MOIN SOROWAR JAZBI
S/O- NUR JAMAL HOQUE, VILL- MAJARCHAR, P.O.- ALOPATI, P.S.- ALOPATI
CHAR, DIST- BARPETA, ASSAM.
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS
REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY, REVENUE AND
DISASTER MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, DISPUR, GHY-781006.
2:THE DISTRICT COMMISSIONER
BARPETA
DISTRICT- BARPETA
ASSAM
PIN-781301.
3:THE ADDITIONAL DISTRICT COMMISSIONER
BARPETA
DISTRICT-BARPETA
ASSAM
PIN-781301.
4:THE CIRCLE OFFICER
BARPETA REVENUE CIRCLE
DISTRICT- BARPETA
ASSAM
PIN-781301.
5:THE DISTRICT REGISTRAR
BARPETA
DISTRICT- BARPETA
ASSAM
PIN-781301

Page No. 2/7
6:THE SUB-REGISTRAR
BARPETA
DISTRICT- BARPETA
ASSAM
PIN-781301
Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M I HUSSAIN, N. UDDIN,MS. P AHMED,R KHA
Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, SC, REVENUE

BEFORE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY
ORDER
Date : 02.09.2026

Heard Mr. M.I. Hussain, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. A. Bhattacharyya,
learned Standing Counsel, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of
Assam for the respondent no. 1; and Mr. N. Das, learned Junior Government Advocate, Assam
for the respondent nos. 2 – 6.

2. The case projected by the petitioner in this writ petition, in brief, is that the petitioner
as an intended purchaser entered into an agreement for sale with the intended sellers, who
are the owners of a plot of land measuring 2 Kathas 10 Lessas, covered by Dag no. 652 of
Patta no. 176 at Village – Paka Betbari, Mouza – Betbari, Barpeta Revenue Circle, District –
Barpeta, Assam [‘the subject-plot’, for short].

3. It is stated that prior to the agreement for sale executed on 22.08.2025, the petitioner
filed an application in the designated portal, Sewa Setu seeking delivery of the notified public
service, ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’ on 02.08.2024. The application was received vide
Acknowledgement no. NOC/05/62778/2024 dated 02.08.2024. The said application came to
be rejected on 14.10.2024. According to the petitioner, the application was rejected by a non-
speaking order, contrary to the provisions of Assam Right to Public Services [ARTPS] Act,

Page No. 3/7
2012, as amended. After rejection of his previous application on 14.10.2024, the petitioner
submitted another application for delivery of the notified public service, ‘Composite Land Sale
Transfer’ again on 18.11.2024. The application was received vide Acknowledgment no.
NOC/05/64871/2024 dated 18.11.2024. As per the application acknowledgment, the service
was to be delivered within a period of 45 days. However, the subsequent application was also
rejected on 07.01.2025. It is the contention of the petitioner that the subsequent application
was also rejected by a non-speaking order.

4. Aggrieved by the decision of the designated public servant to reject the application by
Order dated 07.01.2025, the petitioner filed an appeal under Section 8 of the ARTPS Act
before the respondent no. 2 on the belief that the respondent no. 3 is the Appellate Authority
st
for such appeal. As the 1 appeal filed before the respondent no. 2 on 10.08.2026 has not
been taken into consideration, the petitioner is before this Court by the present writ petition
seeking a direction to the respondent no. 2 to dispose of the appeal in terms of the provisions
of the ARTPS Act and also, for a direction to the respondent authorities to deliver the notified
public service, ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’.

5. Mr. Bhattacharyya and Mr. Das have submitted that if the petitioner’s application has
been rejected by the designated public servant under Section 6 of the ARTPS Act, the
st
petitioner has the option of filing a 1 appeal under Section 8[1] of the ARTPS Act before the
st nd nd
1 Appellate Authority and a 2 appeal before the 2 Appellate Authority under Section 8[4]
of the ARTPS Act. They have submitted that in so far as the delivery of notified public service,
‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’ is concerned, the jurisdictional District Commissioner [the
st st
respondent no. 2] is not the 1 Appellate Authority. The 1 appeal for the notified public
service, ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’ under Section 8[1] of the ARTPS Act lies before the
nd
Director of Land Records and Surveys, etc., Assam and the 2 appeal under Section 8[4] lies
st
before the RTPS Commission. In the case in hand, the petitioner has preferred the 1 appeal
st
before the District Commissioner, Barpeta who is not the 1 Appellate Authority for the
notified public service, ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’.

Page No. 4/7
6. In this connection, it is relevant to refer to a Notification dated 09.07.2024 of the
Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of Assam which was published in
the Official Gazette on 12.07.2024. By the Notification dated 09.07.2024, ‘Composite Land
Sale Transfer’ has been notified as a public service under the ARTPS Act. The relevant parts
of the Notification read as under :-

8. Name of Service : Composite Land Sale Transfer

Service Composite Land Sale Transfer
DPS DC
Timeline (in
45 working days (including the notice period; excluding the time taken between issue of NOC and
days)
execution of the Sale Deed; executing the auto-mutation period.)
Documents
1. Up-to-date Land Revenue Receipt (to be auto-fetched through e-Khajana).
Required
2. Proof of Citizenship of Purchaser.
3. Affidavit/Self-declaration on oath affirming that the purchaser is an agriculturist, in case of
agricultural land, as per pt. 9.2 of Land Policy, 2019.
4. Up-to-date non-encumbrance certificate (optional).
5. Photo of Buyer.
6. PAN Card of Buyer and Seller.
7. Self-declaration on oath by the seller stating that the land is free from encumbrance, and
litigation, and has clear title & undisputed possession over the land.
DPS DC
Workflow LM – ˃ CO – ˃ DA – ˃ CO – ˃ ADC – ˃ DC; SRO – ˃ CO
Working
LM CO DA CO ADC DC SRO Automation
10 4 2 3 5 5 - 7
Timeline (in
days)
Revert/De-
5 3 - 2 3 3 - -
escalation
Timeline (in
days)
First
DLR&S
Appellate

Page No. 5/7
Authority
Stipulated
30
time for
Appellate
Authority (in
days)
Second
AAT/RTPS Commission
Appellate
Authority
Stipulated
60
Time for
Appellate
Authority (in
days)
Fees (In Rs.) Area NOC Registration Mutation Partition Total
Composite
Rural Area
500/- As
200/- 200/- 900/-
Land Sale
(including
admissible &
Transfer
periphery)
User Charge
nil
Urban Area 1000/- Do 500/- 500/- 2000/-
GMC &
2500/- Do 1000/- 1000/- 4500/-
SMC

7. Section 8 of the ARTPS Act has provided for remedy of appeals to a person who does
not get in the notified public service within the time limits specified under Section 4, or is
aggrieved by a decision of the Designated Public Servant. He may within 30 days from the
expiry of the stipulated period or from the date of receipt of such decision, as the case may
st
be, prefer an appeal under Section 8[1] to the 1 Appellate Authority notified under sub-
st
section [3] of Section 4. The proviso to sub-section [1] of Section 8 has provided that the 1
Appellate Authority may admit the appeal after the expiry of 30 days if he or she is satisfied
that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.

Page No. 6/7


st
8. As the petitioner has preferred the 1 appeal before the respondent no. 2 who is not
st
the 1 Appellate Authority under the ARTPS Act, the respondent no. 2 will not have the
authority and jurisdiction to entertain and dispose of the appeal. The petitioner is to avail the
st
remedy of 1 appeal before the Director of Land Records and Surveys, etc., Assam by filing
of an appeal before him. Therefore, no direction can be passed to the respondent no. 2 to
st
entertain and dispose of the 1 appeal, stated to have been filed by the petitioner before him
on 10.08.2026.

9. While parting with, it is observed that if the petitioner wants delivery of the notified
public service, ‘Composite Land Sale Transfer’ and is aggrieved by findings recorded in the
Rejection Order, which he has termed as non-spaking order, the petitioner can still prefer an
st
appeal before the 1 Appellate Authority notified under Section 8[1] of the ARTPS Act, that
is, the Director of Land Records and Surveys, etc., Assam, by seeking condonation of the
period of delay which had occurred in the meantime, in view of the fact that the period of
st
limitation for filing the 1 Appeal has already expired. As noted above, as per the proviso to
st
sub-section [1] of Section 8 of the ARTPS Act, the 1 Appellate Authority can admit an appeal
after expiry of the period of limitation of filing an appeal if the said Authority is satisfied that
the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. Therefore, the
st
petitioner while filing the appeal before the 1 Appellate Authority, shall also file an
application seeking condonation of the period of delay that had occurred in the meantime by
showing the causes which had prevented him from filing the appeal in time, and if such an
st
application is filed by the petitioner, the 1 Appellate Authority shall consider the application
for condonation of the period of delay to arrive at satisfaction whether the appellant has been
able to show sufficient cause or not, and thereafter, based on the decision taken on that
application, shall proceed to consider the appeal on merits and in accordance with law.

10. With the observations made and the directions given above, the writ petition is

Page No. 7/7
disposed of. No cost.

JUDGE
Comparing Assistant