Chattisgarh High Court
Smt. Usha Dewangan vs State Of Chhattisgarh on 27 March, 2026
Digitally signed by
YOGESH YOGESH TIWARI
TIWARI Date: 2026.03.28
15:43:32 +0530
1
2026:CGHC:14664
NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
WPC No. 2719 of 2020
1 - Smt. Usha Dewangan W/o Shri Keshav Dewangan Aged About 38
Years R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada,
Tahsil And District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada,
Chhattisgarh
2 - Ku. Jyoti Jhari D/o Late Simaiya Jhadi Aged About 44 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
3 - Sushila Yadav W/o Kamlu Ram Yadav Aged About 36 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
4 - Kamli Bai W/o Shankar Aged About 52 Years R/o Hudco Colony,
Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
5 - M. Venukumari W/o M Ramesh Kumar Aged About 42 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
2
6 - Chhaganlal Khaparde S/o S S Khaperde Aged About 56 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
7 - Kristriya Kumar Jhadi S/o Lachhaiya Khadi Aged About 45 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
8 - Pankaj Singh Paikra S/o A P Paikra Aged About 38 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
9 - Chandra W/o Lachhu Kashyap Aged About 40 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
10 - Aradhana Rathore W/o Dharmendra Rathore Aged About 34 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
11 - Uma Sonani W/o Dikson Sonani Aged About 40 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
12 - Aasmati W/o Dhan Singh Aged About 80 Years R/o Hudco Colony,
Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
13 - Vimla Pal D/o Narayan Pal Aged About 31 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
14 - Duleshwari Thakur W/o Santosh Kumar Aged About 40 Years R/o
3
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh
15 - Ram Narayan Nag S/o M L Nag Aged About 51 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
16 - Anita Thakur W/o Rakesh Thakur Aged About 35 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
17 - Sangeeta Korram W/o Vijay Kumar Korram Aged About 25 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
18 - Champa Sonani W/o Ranjit Singh Sonani Aged About 36 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
19 - Kaleshwari Mahanand W/o Nitin Mahanand Aged About 34 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
20 - Kanak Baghel W/o Basant Baghel Aged About 50 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
21 - Lalita Manjhi W/o Ashok Kumar Manjhi Aged About 32 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
22 - Sonmati Baghel W/o Kamlachand Bghel Aged About 30 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
4
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
23 - Anti Nagesh W/o Lakhbandhu Aged About 45 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
24 - Leela Sori D/o Podiya Sori Aged About 40 Years R/o Hudco Colony,
Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
25 - Vedika Thakur W/o Kanhaiya Thakur Aged About 32 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
26 - Usha Pal W/o Narayan Aged About 52 Years R/o Hudco Colony,
Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
27 - Sushila Sonani W/o Ugrasen Sonani Aged About 55 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
28 - Geeta Nishad W/o Arun Nishad Aged About 32 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
29 - Kanchan Ram Sahu S/o Makhan Lal Sahu Aged About 45 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
30 - Chetan Bhaskar W/o Sudarshan Bhaskar Aged About 34 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
5
31 - Usha Bai Kashyap W/o Bhaduram Kashyap Aged About 35 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
32 - Padma Kanti W/o Gopal Kanti Aged About 46 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
33 - Urmila Devi Sahu W/o Mohitlal Sahu Aged About 30 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
34 - Dhaniram Nishad S/o Mangal Ram Nishad Aged About 60 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
35 - Leela Kunjam W/o Lavhu Ram Kunjam Aged About 32 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
36 - Mahendra Kokila S/o Bhima Ram Kokila Aged About 48 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
37 - Manish Dahriya S/o Sandeep Dahriya Aged About 27 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
38 - Kanchaan Sahu W/o Bharat Lal Sahu Aged About 35 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
6
39 - Subhawati Yadav W/o Vimal Kumar Yadav Aged About 36 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
40 - Sukari Bai Kashyap W/o Bhavda Kashyap Aged About 52 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
41 - Mina Devi Sahu W/o Gendlal Sahu Aged About 27 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
42 - Gourishankar Sahu S/o Premlal Sahu Aged About 25 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
43 - Bhuneshwari W/o Manmohan Lal Thakur Aged About 28 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
44 - Indra Bai W/o Brijal Lal Aged About 48 Years R/o Hudco Colony,
Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
45 - Laxmi Chidem W/o Ajay Chidem Aged About 26 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
46 - Mamta Baghel W/o Pankaj Baghel Aged About 32 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
47 - Savitri Nag W/o Ashok Kumar Nag Aged About 26 Years R/o Hudco
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Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
48 - Lalita Yadav W/o Surendra Yadav Aged About 50 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
49 - Bimla Bai Netam W/o Muniram Netam Aged About 35 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
50 - Kamal Kishor Komre S/o B R Komre Aged About 40 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
51 - Vinayak Kanhekar S/o Sukhdeo Kanhekar Aged About 45 Years
R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
52 - Dilip Kumar Netam S/o Puran Lal Netam Aged About 45 Years R/o
Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
53 - Ganeshwar Prasad S/o Bhagwat Prasad Sahu Aged About 38
Years R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada,
Tahsil And District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada,
Chhattisgarh
54 - Jyoti Dehari W/o Kaushik Dehari Aged About 38 Years R/o Hudco
Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And District -
Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
55 - Sumitra Thakur W/o Narendra Thakur Aged About 36 Years R/o
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Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada, Tahsil And
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
56 - Geeta Thakur W/o Late Rajendra Singh Thakur Aged About 40
Years R/o Hudco Colony, Awarbhatha, Police Station - Dantewada,
Tahsil And District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada,
Chhattisgarh
... Petitioners
versus
1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through - The Secretary Department Of
Revenue And Emergency Management Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan,
Atal Nagar, Nawa Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh
2 - Collector, Dantewada District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District :
Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
3 - Sub - Divisional Officer (Revenue) Dantewada District - Dantewada
Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
4 - Municipal Council, Dantewada, Through Its Chief Municipal Officer,
District - Dantewada Chhattisgarh., District : Dantewada, Chhattisgarh
... Respondents
(Cause-title taken from Case Information System) For Petitioners : Mr. N. Naha Roy, Advocate For State/Respondents : Ms. Akanksha Verma, Panel Lawyer No.1 to 3 For Respondent No.4 : Mr. Vedant Shadangi, Advocate on behalf of Mr. Mateen Siddiqui, Advocate 9 Hon'ble Shri Amitendra Kishore Prasad, Judge Order on Board 27.03.2026 1 By filing the present petition, the petitioners have prayed for following relief(s) :-
"10.1 Issue an appropriate writ in the nature of mandamus and call for the records of the matter to confirm about the so called enquiry conducted by the respondents prior to passing of the decision impugned herein.
10.2 Issue an appropriate writ in the nature of mandamus and quash the impugned decision taken on the petitioner's request for grant of Patta and communicated in the form of an enquiry report dated 17.07.2020 sent through a letter dated 31.08.2020, by an authority not competent for the same.
10.3 Issue an appropriate writ in the nature of mandamus and command the respondents to consider the cases of petitioners for grant of permanent patta in view of their long possession of the government 'Nazul' land, followed by Bhumiswami rights in exact terms of the object of the state government as reflected through various instructions from time to time.
10.4 Grant any other relief that the Hon'ble High Court may deem fit."10
2 Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners have been residing for the last about three decades in Village Awarbhatha, District Dantewada, over the land bearing Khasra No. 55/1, which is recorded as Government Nazul land, and have constructed their dwelling houses at their own cost after the initial incomplete construction under the HUDCO scheme was abandoned midway. It is contended that such long, continuous and peaceful possession of the petitioners has remained unquestioned by the authorities, and even the Municipal Council has recognized their occupation by assigning house numbers and regularly collecting rent/taxes from them. It is further submitted that the State Government, through various circulars issued under the provisions of the Chhattisgarh Land Revenue Code, 1959, particularly the circular dated 12.02.2015 and subsequent circular dated 11.09.2019, has laid down a specific policy for regularization of Nazul land by grant of patta to persons in long possession, such as the petitioners. Despite the petitioners fulfilling all the requisite conditions, their claim has not been considered in accordance with the prescribed procedure, and instead, an enquiry report has been prepared behind their back, without affording any opportunity of hearing and without following the mandate of the applicable circulars.
3 Learned counsel further submits that the enquiry report impugned in the present petition is wholly arbitrary, illegal and without 11 jurisdiction, inasmuch as the same has been prepared by an authority not competent to take a final decision in the matter. It is contended that the procedure prescribed under the Revenue Book Circulars, requiring due verification, consultation with concerned authorities, and satisfaction of the Collector, has been completely bypassed, thereby vitiating the entire decision-making process. It is also submitted that the petitioners had already submitted a detailed representation/application dated 17.06.2020 (Annexure P/7) before the competent authority seeking grant of patta/Bhumiswami rights in their favour, followed by several reminders. However, the said representation is still pending consideration and has not been decided till date. Learned counsel, therefore, confines the relief in the present petition to a limited extent and prays that a direction be issued to the respondent authorities to consider and decide the petitioners' representation (Annexure P/7) in accordance with law within a stipulated period. 4 On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the State submits that the respondent authorities have no objection if the representation preferred by the petitioners is considered and decided in accordance with law. It is fairly submitted that in case this Court grants liberty and fixes a time frame, the competent authority shall examine the petitioners' representation (Annexure P/7) objectively and pass a reasoned and speaking order, strictly in accordance with the applicable rules, circulars and governing 12 provisions. It is further submitted that the authorities shall ensure that due opportunity of hearing is afforded to all concerned parties and the decision shall be taken expeditiously within the time as may be granted by this Court.
5 Having heard learned counsel for the parties at length and on due consideration of the pleadings, documents and submissions placed on record, this Court is of the considered opinion that, without entering into the merits of the rival claims or expressing any opinion on the entitlement of the petitioners, the ends of justice would be adequately met if a direction is issued to the competent authority to consider and decide the pending representation of the petitioners in accordance with law. It is evident that the petitioners have already approached the authority by way of a detailed representation (Annexure P/7), which is stated to be pending consideration. In such circumstances, this Court deems it appropriate, in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to dispose of the present writ petition at this stage with a direction for expeditious consideration of the said representation, so that the grievance of the petitioners is addressed in a lawful, fair and transparent manner by the authority competent to do so.
6 Accordingly, it is directed that the petitioners shall appear before the concerned competent authority along with a certified copy of this order within a period of two weeks from today. Upon such 13 appearance, the competent authority shall duly entertain and examine the representation (Annexure P/7) in its proper perspective, taking into consideration all relevant facts, documents and applicable statutory provisions, as well as the circulars governing the field. The authority shall also ensure strict adherence to the principles of natural justice by affording a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the petitioners and to all other affected/interested parties, if any. Thereafter, a reasoned and speaking order shall be passed, dealing with all the contentions raised by the petitioners, in accordance with law. The entire exercise shall be carried out with due diligence and expedition, preferably within a period of 90 days from the date of appearance of the petitioners, and the decision so taken shall be duly communicated to the petitioners forthwith.
7 With the aforesaid observations/directions, the instant writ petition stands disposed of. No order as to costs.
Sd/-
(Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Yogesh