WP(C) 598/2011 BEFORE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE B.K. SHARMA Heard Mr. K.D. Chetry, learned counsel for the petitioners as well as Mr . K. Agarwal, learned counsel for the respondent No. I have also heard Mr. A.B. Choudhury, learned Sr. counsel appearing for the newly impleaded respondent Nos. 8 to 20. None appears for the State respondents. The State respondents have als o not furnished any instruction. By means of this writ petition, the four writ petitioners who are the elected me mbers of the Tiwa Autonomous Council have questioned the validity of Annexures- I, II, III, IV and V NITs dated 25.01.11, 24.01.11, 18.01.11, 25.01.11 and 25.01 .11 respectively. The whole basis of the challenge to the said NITs is spelt out in paragraphs- 5, 6 and 7 of the writ petition which are quoted below: 5. That as per the Govt. Policy No. TAD/BC/Misc./1/2010/34 issued on 06.01.2011 from the office of the Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Assam, WPT & BC Department it was laid down that all the schemes meant for the Tiwa (Lalun g) Autonomous Council, must be approved by the General Council against the annua l allocation of fund, budget approved by the Govt., and only after receipt of th e approval of the schemes and allocation of sectoral fund, the concerned departm ent will execute the schemes according to the advice and instruction of the Exec utive Council of the autonomous council after observing laid down procedure of A ssam Financial Rules and other existing polices of the Govt. issued from time to time. 6. That the petitioner being aggrieved from the arbitrary act of the Respondent Authority your petitioners had raised verbal objection before the Chief Executiv e Councilor and before the Executive Councilors and of the Tiwa Autonomous Counc il but no any steps was taken till date. 7. That the petitioners beg to state that issuance of tender notice and quotatio ns by the respondent Authorities without following the Govt. Policy No. TAD/BC/M isc./1/2010/34 of dated 06.01.2011 issued from the Office of the Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Assam, WPT & BC Department is nothing but arbitra ry exercise of power showing to have acted in breach of law and as such same is arbitrary, malafide and unfair and violation of the Principle of Natural Justice . While entertaining the writ petition by order dated 02.02.2011, an interim order was passed directing the respondents not to finalise the said NITs without the leave of the Court. Pursuant to the said interim order, the respondent No. 2 fil ed Misc. Case No. 432/11 while the respondent Nos. 8 to 20 have filed Misc. case No. 491/11 seeking vacation of the said interim order. While Mr. Chetry, learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the whole act ion on the part of the respondent No. 2 towards issuance of the impugned NITs is in violation of the Govt. guidelines laid down in Annexure-VI communication dat ed 06.01.11, it is the stand of Mr. Agarwal, learned counsel for the respondent No. 2 and Mr. A.B. Choudhury, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 8 to 20 th at the said guidelines have been duly followed towards issuance of the NITs. It is the further stand of the said respondents that the petitioners being the mem bers of the Tiwa Autonomous Council and having participated in the proceedings o f the Council although not signed in the proceedings, are precluded from raising objection. According to them, the writ petition is not maintainable. Be it stat ed here that the respondent Nos. 8 to 20 are also the elected members of the Tiw a Autonomous Council. If we go by the above stand of the petitioners as reflecte d in paragraphs- 5, 6 and 7 of the writ petition, the plea of the petitioners is that the NITs impugned in this proceeding have been issued without the approval of the General Council against the annual allocation of fund and budget approve d by the Govt. However, as reflected in Misc. Case No. 432/11, the Govt. of Assa m in the Department of Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes by their let ters dated 20.02.2010 and 09.03.2010 have already conveyed the sanction of grant s-in-aid to Tiwa Autonomous Council plan during 2009-2010. By the said two commu nications, an amount of Rs. 1877.00 Lakhs and Rs. 350.00 Lakhs have been sanctio ned for implementation of development programmes. Mr. K. Agarwal, learned counsel for the respondent No. 2 has also produced the d ocuments showing the budget allocation and approval of the scheme. On perusal of the said documents, it appears that there was a meeting of the Council on 24.06 .09 in which the members participated towards approval of the budget. There was another meeting on 05.10.10 towards approval of various schemes on the strength of allotted amount. In the said meeting the Council members participated and as a mark of acknowledgment, they put their signatures. However, the petitioners al though participated in the proceeding refrained from signing the same. The resol ution also speaks of floating of tenders towards implementation of various devel opment schemes. Coming to the guidelines laid down in Annexure-VI letter dated 0 6.01.11 what is stated in the said letter on the subject of implementation of th e schemes in reference to the earlier WT message dated 12.07.2010 is that the Ge neral Council of the Autonomous Council has to approve the annual budget, annual action plan alongwith detailed schemes for the year and submit the same to the Govt. of through the Director WPT & BC Department. In paragraph-2 of the said le tter, it has been stated thus: 2. in the general policy of the Govt., all development schemes are to be prepar ed according to the established principles and polices of scheme and to be imple mented through the respective development department for their technical advice, guidance, supervisions and monitoring for proper implementation and utilization of fund as and when the schemes meant for the autonomous council, duly approved by the respective general council of the autonomous council against the annual allocation of fund, budget approved by the Govt. On perusal of the aforesaid documents, it is seen that the Tiwa Autonomous Counc il has adopted the resolutions in respect of the budget and implementation of th e schemes in reference to the aforesaid two letters dated 20.02.2010 and 09.03.2 010 had been issued. On being asked as to the delay that has occurred in the imp lementation of the schemes, Mr. Agarwal, learned counsel for the respondent No. 2 submits that there is some delay in view of the fact that there was an interim Council followed by formation of the Council of the elected members. On perusal of the materials on record and as indicated above, only apprehension expressed by the petitioners is that the Council has allowed floating of the ten ders in violation of the guidelines laid down in the said letter dated 06.01.11 (Annexure-VI) agitating which the petitioners have made the above quoted stateme nts in paragraphs- 5, 6 and 7 of the writ petition. In case of any such apprehe nsion which, however is belied from the facts stated above, persists in the mind of the petitioners, it will be open for them to agitate their grievance before the Govt. Considering the matter in its entirety, the writ petition is disposed of directi ng the respondents to proceed with the matter strictly in accordance with the af oresaid guidelines laid down in Annexure-VI dated 06.01.2011 and the Govt. sanct ion accorded vide aforesaid two letters dated 20.02.2010 and 09.03.2010. Interim order passed on 02.02.2011 stands vacated.