Jogesh Chandra Saha v. The State Of West Bengal And ORS.
Form No.J(2)
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side Present : The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya & The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Uday Kumar WPLRT No. 155 of 2025 Jogesh Chandra Saha -vs- The State of West Bengal and another For the petitioner : Mr. Debasis Sur, Mr. Kushal Kumar, Ms. Priyanka Mondal.
For the State : Sk. Md. Galib, Ld. Sr. Govt. Adv., Ms. Munmum Ganguly.
Heard on :
September 22, 2025.
Judgment on : September 22, 2025.
Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, J.:
1. The affidavit-of-service filed in Court today be kept on record.
2. The challenge in the present writ petition is against the delay on the part of the West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy
Tribunal, First Bench, in disposing of a contempt application filed by the writ petitioner.
3. The brief backdrop of the case is that a writ petition was filed, giving rise to WPA No. 28458 of 2024, by the present writ petitioner alleging inaction on the part of the Block Land & Land Reforms Officer (BL & LRO) in keeping the application for mutation made by the writ petitioner pending inordinately.
4. Vide order dated December 4, 2024, a learned Single Judge of this Court disposed of the said writ petition by granting liberty to the writ petitioner to approach the Tribunal for such inaction on the part of the BL & LRO and if so approached, the Tribunal was to dispose of the same within eight months. The Tribunal, by an order dated February 18, 2025, disposed of the Original Application filed by the writ petitioner pursuant to the order of the learned Single Judge by directing the concerned BL & LRO, Raiganj at Kornajora, District- Uttar Dinajpur, to dispose of the said proceeding as expeditiously as possible, after extending opportunity of hearing to all interested persons/opposite parties disclosed in the notice annexed thereto, preferably before the end of July, 2025.
5. The BL & LRO having failed to dispose of the matter before July, 2025, a contempt application, bearing MA No. 1124 of 2025, was filed before the Tribunal on August 4, 2025.
6. By an order dated September 1, 2025, the Tribunal has posted the said contempt application for hearing in the coming year, that is, on May 18, 2026, which is about nine months after the filing of the contempt application.
7. Learned counsel for the petitioner seeks an earlier disposal of the contempt application.
8. Upon hearing learned counsel for the petitioner and the State, we find that an excessively long date has been fixed for hearing of the contempt application, which is a summary proceeding in nature. Since the initial direction, of which contempt has been alleged, mandated the BL & LRO to dispose of the proceeding before him within the month of July, 2025, fixing the contempt application itself some time in May, 2026 would be palpably counter-productive and make the contempt application lose its efficacy.
9. Keeping in mind the limited context of the contempt application and the enquiry thereof being confined only to the nondisposal of the matter by the concerned BL & LRO within the
stipulated time, we are of the opinion that the learned Tribunal ought to shift back the date of hearing of the contempt application and to dispose of the same at the earliest. 10.
Accordingly, WPLRT No. 155 of 2025 is disposed of by directing the First Bench, West Bengal Land Reforms and Tenancy Tribunal, to shift back the next date of hearing of the contempt application, bearing MA No. 1124 of 2025, filed in connection with OA No. 3621of 2024 (LRTT), fixing a date upon notice to both sides before November 30, 2025 and to dispose of the contempt application as expeditiously thereafter as possible, positively within December 31, 2025, upon giving adequate opportunity of hearing to all concerned. 11.
There will be no order as to costs.
12.
Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties at an early date.
I agree.
(Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, J.) (Uday Kumar, J.)