Gauhati High Court
Page No.# 1/ vs The State Of Assam And 6 Ors on 27 March, 2026
Author: Manish Choudhury
Bench: Manish Choudhury
Page No.# 1/10
GAHC010161202025
2026:GAU-AS:4575
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : WP(C)/4075/2025
DHRUBAJYOTI NATH
S/O JOGEN CHANDRA NATH
R/O VILL- LIKHAK GAON PITHAKHOWA, P.O. BIHAGURI, P.S. TEZPUR,
DIST. SONITPUR, ASSAM, ASSAM, PIN-784153.
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS.
REP BY THE PP, ASSAM
2:COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM
P AND R D DEPARTMENT
PANJABARI
GUWAHATI
PIN-781037.
3:THE ADDITIONAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM
PANCHAYAT AND RURAL DEV. DEPARTMENT
ASSAM.
4:THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SONITPUR ZILLA PARISHAD
TEZPUR
ASSAM
5:THE BLOCK DEVELOPOMENT OFFICER
BIHAGURI DEVELOPMENT BLOCK
SONITPUR
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ASSAM
6:THE SECRETARY
TUMUKI GAON PANCHAYAT
P.O. PITHAKHOWA
DIST. SONITPUR
ASSAM.
7:SRI DEEP JYOTI DAS
S/O PRADIP DAS
R/O VILL- PITHAKHOWA
P.O. PITHAKHOWA
DIST. SONITPUR
ASSAM
PIN-784153
Advocate for the Petitioner : MD. M H CHOUDHURY, R. BARUAH,TANZIM L.
CHOUDHURY,MR. S N AHMED,MR MONZUR K CHOUDHURY
Advocate for the Respondent : SC, P AND R.D.,
BEFORE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY
JUDGMENT
Date : 27.03.2026
1. The instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is
preferred by the petitioner to assail a decision taken by the respondent no. 3,
which has been conveyed to the respondent no. 4 by an Office Letter bearing
no. eCF. 657134/26 dated 17.07.2025. By the Office Letter dated 17.07.2025,
the respondent no. 3 had directed the respondent no. 4 to submit a detailed
report with proper assessment regarding the conduct of the lottery held on
26.06.2025 to decide the matter of settlement of Tumuki Saturday Weekly
Market for the Panchayat Year : 2025 – 2026. It was further communicated that
the decision of the lottery held on 26.06.2025 should be kept in abeyance till
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submission of the detailed report, which was directed to be submitted on or
before 19.07.2025. As a consequence of the said decision, the petitioner has
been stopped from running Tumuki Saturday Weekly Market for which he is the
Settlement holder.
2. By a Tender Notice dated 11.06.2025 issued under the authority of the
respondent nos. 5 & 6, bids were invited for settlement of the market named
Tumuki Saturday Weekly Market [‘Tumuki Market’, for short] for a period of one
year for the Panchayat Year : 2025 – 2026 as per the provisions of the Assam
Panchayat Act, 1994, as amended [‘the Panchayat Act‘, for short]. In response
to the Tender Notice, four nos. of bidders submitted their bids.
3. The Standing Committee of Tumuki Gaon Panchayat, constituted under
Section 22[1] of the Panchayat Act, evaluated the bids of the four participant
bidders. Upon evaluation of the bids, the Standing Committee inter alia found
two bids among the four bids received, responsive to the terms and conditions
of the Tender Notice. Upon comparison of the bid values offered by the two
responsive bidders, it was found out by the Standing Committee that both of
them, that is, the petitioner and the respondent no. 7 offered the same bid
value of Rs. 3,85,000/-.
4. In a Meeting held on 23.06.2025, Tumuki Gaon Panchayat resolved to
decide the matter for selection of the successful bidder for Tumuki Market by
way of lottery after consultation with the jurisdictional Zilla Parishad authorities.
On the same date, the President of Tumuki Gaon Panchayat after discussing the
matter with the competent authority in the Sonitpur Zilla Parishad, decided to
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conduct the lottery at 03-00 p.m. on 26.06.2025 during the next Meeting of the
Gaon Panchayat to be held in the office of Tumuki Gaon Panchayat. The matter
was accordingly informed to both the petitioner and the respondent no. 7.
5. On 26.06.2025, a Meeting was held for selection of the successful
bidder in the office of Tumuki Gaon Panchayat. The Meeting was presided over
by the President of Tumuki Gaon Panchayat wherein both the petitioner and the
respondent no. 7 were present. The members of the Standing Committee of
Tumuki Gaon Panchayat also attended the Meeting. In the Meeting, it was
unanimously decided to conduct a lottery in presence of the members of the
Standing Committee; the Executive Officer, Bihaguri Development Block, the
Secretary of Tumuki Gaon Panchayat; the petitioner; and the respondent no. 7;
apart from the general public.
6. On conducting the lottery, the Meeting declared the petitioner as the
successful bidder in respect of the Tumuki Market for the Panchayat Year :
2025-2026. After selection of the successful bidder by lottery, the Minutes of the
Special Meeting held for the purpose of settlement of Tumuki Market was
prepared under the signatures and seals of the Executive Officer, Bihaguri
Anchalik Panchayat & Block Development Officer, Bihaguri Development Block;
and the Secretary, Tumuki Gaon Panchayat. After such resolution was taken in
the Meeting of Tumuki Gaon Panchayat on 26.06.2025, a Settlement Order
dated 27.06.2025 was issued whereby the petitioner was granted the settlement
of Tumuki Market for the Panchayat Year : 2025-2026 at a settlement amount of
Rs. 3,85,000/-, which was offered by the petitioner in his bid.
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7. The petitioner has stated that after the Settlement Order, the
possession of Tumuki Market was handed over to the petitioner and he started
operating Tumuki Market. Subsequently on 07.07.2025, all on a sudden the
impugned decision of the respondent no. 3 was conveyed to the respondent no.
4 and the respondent no. 4 had, in turn, instructed the Tumuki Gaon Panchayat
authorities to stop the petitioner from operating the market. Thereafter, the
respondent no. 6 had issued an Office Letter dated 18.07.2025 instructing the
petitioner not to operate the Market.
8. Aggrieved by the manner in which the petitioner was stopped from
operating Tumuki Market despite a valid Settlement Order dated 27.06.2025, the
petitioner has approached this Court by the instant writ petition assailing the
decision taken by the respondent no. 3, which was conveyed by the Office
Letter dated 17.07.2025 to the respondent no. 4.
9. I have heard Mr. M.P. Choudhury, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr.
S. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, Panchayat and Rural Development for the
respondent nos. 1 – 6. The respondent no. 7 was duly served with notice and
on 10.11.2025, it was recorded that service of notice upon the respondent no. 7
was complete. But despite service of notice, the respondent no. 7 has not
entered appearance in the instant proceeding.
10. The manner in which settlement of a market within the territorial
jurisdiction of a Gaon Panchayat is to be settled has been prescribed in Section
105 of the Assam Panchayat Act, 1994 [‘the Panchayat Act‘]. As per sub-section
[1] of Section 105 of the Act, all markets within the territorial jurisdiction of a
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Gaon Panchayat shall be settled for a period coinciding with and not exceeding
one Panchayat Financial Year by inviting tenders at the office of the
jurisdictional Gaon Panchayat by its President. The powers of examination and
final acceptance, as per sub-section [3] thereof, of all such tenders are vested in
the Standing Committee constituted under sub-section [1] of Section 22 for the
Gaon Panchayat. Sub-section [4] has prescribed that in case of any dispute of
settlement, the concerned Gaon Panchayat may refer such case to the Zilla
Parishad.
11. The terms and conditions of the tender process were mentioned in the
Tender Notice dated 11.06.2025. In Clause 13 in the Tender Notice, it was
mentioned that a two-stage procedure would be adopted for submission of
tenders. As per Clause 13, if for a market more than one bidder submitted bids
quoting the same bid value and if the bids of more than one bidder are found
compliant to all the terms and conditions of the tender notice, then in such a
case, the settlement of the market is to be determined by selection among the
bidders quoting the same bid value through lottery to select the successful
bidder from amongst the bidders offering the same bid value. The Standing
Committee of the Gaon Panchayat would conduct the lottery process in
presence of bidders and officials of the Gaon Panchayat in a transparent manner
and the lottery was to be conducted at the Panchayat office premises. Before
conducting the lottery, the information should be given to all the bidders and
the entire lottery proceeding should be prepared under signature of the officials
and the bidders.
12. In the case in hand, from the Minutes of the Meeting of the Gaon
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Panchayat, as placed by Mr. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, it is found that
after opening of the bids, the bids were scrutinized and after scrutiny, it was
found that two bidders, that is, the petitioner and the respondent no. 7 whose
bids were found compliant, had offered the same bid value, that is, Rs.
3,85,000/-. A resolution was taken in the Meeting of the Gaon Panchayat, held
on 26.06.2025, to conduct the lottery after consultation with the jurisdictional
Zilla Parishad. After consultation, it was decided that the lottery would be held
at 03-00 p.m. on 26.06.2025 in the office premises of the Gaon Panchayat.
Accordingly, the lottery was conducted during a Meeting held on 26.06.2025, in
the office premises of the Gaon Panchayat at 03-00 p.m. on 26.06.2025. The
Meeting was chaired by the President of the Gaon and was held in presence of
the members of the Standing Committee of the Gaon Panchayat; the Secretary
of the Gaon Panchayat; and the Executive Officer, Bihaguri Anchalik Panchayat &
Block Development Officer, Bihaguri Development Block. Both the bidders, that
is, the petitioner and the respondent no. 7 had also attended the lottery
proceeding on consent.
13. The procedure adopted to conduct the lottery was recorded in the
Minutes of the Meeting of the Gaon Panchayat, held on 23.06.2025 and was
prepared under the seals and signatures of the Executive Officer, Bihaguri
Anchalik Panchayat; and the Secretary, Tumuki Gaon Panchayat.
14. It is in the above backdrop, the impugned decision conveyed by the
respondent no. 3 to the respondent no. 4 vide his Office Letter dated
17.07.2025 is required to be examined. As already found above, the authority
and jurisdiction to settle a market within the territorial jurisdiction of a Gaon
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Panchayat is vested exclusively on the President of the Gaon Panchayt.
15. The genesis of the decision conveyed by the respondent no. 3 vide his
Office Letter dated 17.07.2025 was a complaint submitted by the respondent no.
7 alleging that the Executive Officer, Bihaguri Anchalik Panchayat; and the
Secretary, Tumuki Gaon Panchayat; drew the lots during the process of the
lottery without involving a neutral and third party. The respondent no. 7 who
attended the lottery proceeding himself by giving his consent and without any
demur on 26.06.2025 is precluded from raising such nature of complaint.
16. The provisions contained in Section 105 do not mention about any role
to be played by the respondent no. 3 in respect of a lottery proceeding even
after the same is to be treated as a dispute arising in the matter of settlement
of a market. The statutory prescriptions contained in Section 105 is to the effect
that in case of any dispute, it is the jurisdictional Zilla Parishad, who has the
authority and jurisdiction to give the final decision in the matter to resolve the
dispute.
17. In view of the above discussion and for the reasons assigned, the
impugned decision of the respondent no. 3 conveyed by the Office Letter dated
17.07.2025 is found to be without authority and jurisdiction and the same is
liable to be interfered with. Accordingly, the impugned decision contained in the
Office Letter dated 17.07.2025 wherein a report was called for from the
respondent no. 4 and a decision was made to keep the decision of the lottery
held on 26.06.2025 in abeyance till the receipt of the report called for is set
aside and quashed.
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18. Mr. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, Panchayat and Rural Development
Department by referring to an Office Letter bearing no. SZP 7/2025-26/8630
dated 19.07.2025 of the respondent no. 4 has submitted that from the said
Office Letter, it is evident that the respondent no. 4 after receipt of the report
submitted by the Executive Officer, Bihaguri Anchalik Panchayat has already
come to a decision that the authorities in the Bihaguri Anchalik Panchyat and
Tumuki Gaon Panchayat had duly observed the necessary formalities during the
lottery proceeding held on 26.06.2025 for settlement of Tumuki Market, in
conformity with Clause 13 of the Tender Notice.
19. In the above backdrop, Mr. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, Panchayat
and Rural Development Department has submitted that since the respondent
no. 4 has already taken a decision to resolve the dispute, the writ petition does
not require further examination.
20. From the Office Letter dated 19.07.2025 of the respondent no. 4, it is
evident that the respondent no. 4 has formed a view that the lottery
proceeding, held on 26.06.2025, was held as per the procedure laid down in
Clause 13 of the Tender Notice. Such decision of the respondent no. 4 can be
construed to be a decision taken under sub-section [4] of Section 105 of the
Panchayat Act, as amended.
21. From the above fact situation obtaining in the case and for the reasons
recorded above, the instant writ petition is allowed. The interim order passed
earlier stands merged with the final order. The petitioner shall, therefore, be
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allowed to operate Tumuki Market for the remaining period of the Panchayat
Year : 2025-2026 in terms of the Order of Settlement dated 27.06.2025. There
shall, however, be no order as to cost.
22. The documents place by Mr. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel,
Panchayat and Rural Development Department are kept with the case records
by marking them as Document ‘A Colly’.
JUDGE
Comparing Assistant
Digitally signed by Pallabi Das
Date: 2026.03.30 21:37:33
+05’30’
