Tutul Pal v. Dr P Deepap Priya Dist Magistrate Collector Howrah And ORS

January 30, 2026 Sl. No.2 Court No.1 s.biswas CPAN 590 of 2025 In WPA(P) 304 of 2024 Smt. Tutul Pal vs.

Dr. (Mrs.) P. Deepap Priya and others Mr. Lakshminath Bhattacharya Mr. Sudipta Mondal Mr. Subhankar Bose ... for the applicant Mr. Jahar Lal De Mr. Supratim Dhar, Sr. Adv.

... for the alleged contemnors Per, Sujoy Paul, C.J.

1. Mr. Lakshminath Bhattacharya, learned counsel for the applicant and Mr. Jahar Lal De, learned counsel for the alleged contemnors are present.

2. With the consent, the matter is finally heard. This contempt application arises out of the order passed by this court in WPA(P) 304 of 2024 dated 29.08.2024. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the said order has not been complied with in its true spirit.

3. Mr.

De, learned counsel for the alleged contemnors placed reliance on the report submitted by District Magistrate, Howrah and urged that the report of concerned BL&LRO, Sankrail, Howrah dated 26.09.2024 (Annexure „C‟) shows that as per records, the three plots in question are "raiyati" land. The direction was to take action in case any encroachment is found in vested land. In any case, Mr. De submits that

said BL&LRO has sent the report to the concerned panchayat and it is now for the said panchayat to take appropriate action.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner prays for time to file exception.

5. In our opinion, the contempt jurisdiction is limited. We cannot go beyond or behind the order date 29.08.2024 passed in WPA(P) 304 of 2024. It could not be established that despite finding, upon inspection, that land is vested land, the contemnors are sitting tight over the matter. If the petitioner is aggrieved by finding that the said land is raiyati land or the action of the department is erroneous, the remedy is elsewhere. Since this court has not given any opinion on merits in relation to the inspection which was carried out subsequently, in contempt jurisdiction we cannot enter into the merits of the case. Thus, contempt petition is disposed of by reserving liberty to the petitioner to file appropriate proceedings, if he is still aggrieved by action/inaction of respondents.

(Sujoy Paul, C.J.) (Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.)