Abhay Upadhyay vs State of U.P. Thru. the Prin. Secy. Deptt. of Revenue Lko. and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Abhay Upadhyay vs State of U.P. Thru. the Prin. Secy. Deptt. of Revenue Lko. and 3 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Dismissed

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner could seek a writ of mandamus directing the Sub Divisional Magistrate to carry out demarcation of his land without first moving an application under Section 24 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006.

Court's answer

Specific provisions for demarcation have been made under Section 24 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006: on an appropriate application in the prescribed format, the same shall be considered and decided by the concerned Sub Divisional Magistrate.

Ratio / Principle

The petitioner had not preferred any application under Section 24 and had straight away sought directions from the writ court to the Sub Divisional Magistrate to proceed for demarcation of his land.

Key takeaways

The petitioner has an efficacious remedy of moving an appropriate application under Section 24 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006; without exhausting that remedy or approaching the authority concerned, seeking a writ of mandamus is not permissible.ratio¶15
Not inclined to interfere, the Court left it open to the petitioner to move an appropriate application before the Sub Divisional Magistrate concerned.ratio¶19

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench), WRIT - C No. 5548 of 2026 (decided May 27, 2026, Alok Mathur and Amitabh Kumar Rai, JJ.): dismissed a writ petition in which the purchaser of land bearing Khasra No. 864/1, measuring 250.929 square meters, Village Sewai, Pargana Bijnore, Tehsil Sarojini Nagar, District Lucknow — earlier declared non-agricultural under Section 143 of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 by the Sub Divisional Magistrate — sought mandamus directing the Sub Divisional Magistrate to carry out demarcation. Held: Section 24 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006 makes specific provision for demarcation, whereby an appropriate application in the prescribed format is considered and decided by the concerned Sub Divisional Magistrate; as the petitioner had preferred no such application, the efficacious alternative remedy under Section 24 could not be bypassed by invoking writ jurisdiction, and a writ of mandamus so sought was not permissible. Liberty was left to the petitioner to move an appropriate application before the Sub Divisional Magistrate concerned, and subject to these observations the writ petition was dismissed.

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW

WRIT - C No. - 5548 of 2026

Abhay Upadhyay

.....Petitioner(s)

Versus

State Of U.P. Thru. The Prin. Secy. Deptt. Of Revenue Lko. And 3 Others

.....Respondent(s) Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Amit Singh Counsel for Respondent(s) : C.S.C., Shailendra Singh Chauhan

Court No. - 5

HON'BLE ALOK MATHUR, J. HON'BLE AMITABH KUMAR RAI, J.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for the respondents no. 1, 2 & 4 and Shri Mohit Nigam, learned counsel, who has filed his vakalatnama today on behalf of respondent no. 3.

It has been submitted on behalf of the petitioner that he has purchased the land bearing Khasra No. 864/1, measuring area 250.929 square meters, situated in Village Sewai, Pargana Bijnore, Tehsil Sarojini Nagar, District Lucknow and also that the said land has been declared to be non agricultural land under Section 143 of the U.P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1950 by the Sub Divisional Magistrate.

The petitioner seeks demarcation of his land and consequently has filed the present writ petition seeking a direction to the Sub Divisional Magistrate concerned to carry out the demarcation.

It is noticed that under Section 24 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006 specific provisions has been made for demarcation where in case appropriate application in prescribed format is moved the same shall be considered and decided by the concerned Sub Divisional Magistrate.

In the present case we do not find that any application has been preferred by the petitioner and straight away he has sought directions to the Sub Divisional Magistrate to proceed for demarcation of his land.

Accordingly, we find that the petitioner has efficacious remedy under Section 24 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006 of moving appropriate application. Consequently without exhausting the aforesaid remedy or approaching the authority concerned, a writ of mandamus has

WRIC No. 5548 of 2026

2

been sought which is not permissible.

For the aforesaid reasons, we are not inclined to interfere in the said matter leaving it open to the petitioner to move an appropriate application before the Sub Divisional Magistrate concerned.

Subject to the aforesaid observations, the writ petition is dismissed.

(Amitabh Kumar Rai,J.) (Alok Mathur,J.)

May 27, 2026

J. K. Dinkar

Digitally signed by :- JESHU KUMAR DINKAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench