Ratan Kumar Das And ORS. v. State Of West Bengal And ORS.

Form No.J(2)

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Civil Appellate Jurisdiction Appellate Side Present : The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya & The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Supratim Bhattacharya W.P.L.R.T. 18 of 2026 Ratan Kumar Das and Ors.

Vs.

The State of West Bengal and Ors.

For the petitioners :

Mr. Bhaskar Ghosh, Ms. Riddhi Ghosh, Ms. Pritikana Adhikary, Advs.

For the private respondent no. 6 :

Mr. Animesh Mukherjee, Md. Abdul Alim, Advs.

For the State :

Sk. Md. Galib, Ld. Snr. Govt. Adv.

Ms. Ashmita Chakraborty, Adv.

Heard on :

February 10, 2026.

Judgment on :

February 10, 2026.

Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya , J.

:

1. From the affidavit of service filed today, which is kept on record, it transpires that all the parties apart from one of the private respondents have substantially been served. Insofar as the non-appearing private respondent is concerned, learned

counsel for the petitioners submits that the postal article was sent to the address of the said private respondent as available from the private respondent's own original application before the Tribunal. As such, we deem good service to have been effected on all the parties and take up the matter for hearing.

2. The grievances of the writ petitioners are that despite the writ petitioners having made an application for vacating an adinterim order passed in OA 3331 of 2024, preferred by the private respondents against an order declaring the writ petitioners to be thika tenants, the ad interim prayer made in connection with the said vacating application has not been decided upon but the matter has been postponed for three months after the date when it was last taken up, to April 6, 2026. It is submitted that in view of the stay order granted ex parte at the earlier stage by the Tribunal in favour of the private respondents, the private respondents, who are powerful people in the locality, are harassing the writ petitioners.

3. Such contentions are controverted by learned counsel for the private respondents.

4. Upon hearing learned counsel for the parties, including the State, we find that the next date fixed by the Tribunal for hearing of the vacating application, bearing MA 1451 of 2025 (LRTT), is April 6, 2026.

5. Accordingly, this Court is of the opinion that, for the ends of justice, on the said returnable date, the original application along with the vacating application ought to be taken up for hearing and the main matter ought to be decided within a short period thereafter.

6. Accordingly, WPLRT 18 of 2026 is disposed of by requesting the Third Bench of the West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal to take up for hearing MA 1451 of 2025 along with OA 3331 of 2024 (LRTT) on the returnable date i.e. on April 6, 2026 positively and, upon giving adequate opportunity to the parties to address the issues involved, to dispose of the original application bearing OA 3331 of 2024 (LRTT) along with MA 1451 of 2025 as expeditiously thereafter as possible, preferably by the end of the month of June, 2026.

7. To facilitate the above timeline, the private respondents herein shall file their affidavit-in-opposition to MA 1451 of 2025, along with the rejoinder to the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the writ

petitioners in OA 3331 of 2024 (LRTT), within a fortnight from date.

8. Rejoinder, if any, to the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the private respondents shall be filed by the writ petitioners within a week thereafter.

9. It is expected that the timelines stipulated above shall be strictly adhered to by the parties as well as the learned Tribunal.

10. The parties and the Tribunal shall act on the written communication of the learned advocates for the parties, coupled with a server copy of this order, without insisting upon prior production of certified copy.

11.

There will be no order as to costs.

I agree.

(Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, J.) (Supratim Bhattacharya, J.) AD -24 Ct No.16 10.02.2026 (SSS)