Mandamus issued to decide long-pending Section 165(7-B) land sale permission applications within stipulated time.

The petitioners, joint owners of rehabilitation land in Village Chathirma, Tehsil Ambikapur, inherited the property from their father who was originally allotted the land under a rehabilitation scheme.

Due to financial hardships, including medical debts and housing needs, the petitioners sought to sell a portion of the land and submitted an application for the required permission on 31.08.2020.

Despite the completion of all procedural formalities, inquiries by the Tehsildar, and a favorable report submitted by the SDO (Revenue) on 20.01.2022, the application remained pending before the Collector, Surguja, for over four years without a final decision.

The petitioners approached the High Court seeking a writ of mandamus for the expeditious disposal of the said application.

1. Whether the inordinate delay by the Collector in deciding an application for permission to sell rehabilitation land constitutes a failure to exercise jurisdiction warranting judicial intervention under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

2. Whether the court should direct a time-bound disposal of the pending application filed under Section 165(7-B) of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code.

Section 165(7-B) of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, which mandates obtaining prior permission from the competent authority (the Collector) before the transfer of land allotted by the State Government under specific schemes.

Constitutional principles enshrined in Articles 14 and 21, which require state authorities to act reasonably and avoid arbitrary delays in administrative decision-making.

The Court observed that the petitioners’ application had been languishing for more than five years since its filing in 2020.

It noted that the procedural requirements, including the submission of the SDO (Revenue) report on 20.01.2022, had already been fulfilled, yet no final order had been passed.

The Court found that such a delay, despite the lack of public objections and the existence of favorable recommendations from subordinate revenue officers, necessitated a direction for time-bound disposal to prevent further financial hardship to the petitioners.

The State counsel did not oppose the limited prayer for an expedited decision, agreeing that the matter could be disposed of with a direction to the Collector.

The Court directed the Collector, Ambikapur, District Surguja, to consider and decide the petitioners' application dated 31.08.2020 strictly in accordance with the law within a period of 45 days from the receipt of the order.

The writ petition was disposed of with these directions.