Dismissed

Bediya Vikash Parishad through Its Chairman Shankar Bediya v. the State of Jharkhand through Its Chief Secretary

Jharkhand HC4 Apr 2024WPC/3998/2018

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

PIL sought declaration that land acquired by Central Coalfields Limited in 1983 be declared public land for community facilities for the Bediya Scheduled Tribe community. The court held the land was coal-bearing land acquired under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, no public interest was involved, and dismissed the petition.

What the court decided

AI extract

Bediya Vikash Parishad through Its Chairman Shankar… — Land Acquisition | Jharkhand HC (2024)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI

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W.P.(PIL) No. 3998 of 2018

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Bediya Vikash Parishad

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...Petitioner

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Versus

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The State of Jharkhand through its Chief Secretary

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Principal Secretary, Department of Welfare, Govt. of Jharkhand, Ranchi

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Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribagh

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Central Coalfield Limited through its Chairman, Ranchi ...Respondents

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CORAM: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Roshan

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---

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For the Petitioners : None

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For the Resp. No. 4-CCL : Mr. Anoop Kumar Mehta, Advocate

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10/04.04.2024 Defects as pointed out by the office are ignored.

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None appears on behalf of the petitioner. Mr. Anoop Kumar Mehta, learned counsel has put appearance on behalf of respondent no. 4.

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In this Public Interest Litigation, a prayer has been made for a direction upon the respondents to declare the land situated at Village - Tongi, Police Station – Giddi, Khata No.- 01, 1/36, 1/37, 1/38, 1/39, 1/40, 1/41, 1/42, 1/43, 1/44, 1/45, 1/46, 1/47, 1/48, Plot No. 523, 1062, 1035, 1027, 993 acquired by Central Coalfields Limited (respondent no. 4) in the year 1983 as a public land in view of the fact that the aforesaid land is lying vacant and there is a need of public land for the purposes of holding public scheduled cultural programmes including construction of public hall, marriage hall, school, library, etc. for the betterment of Bediya Community which falls under the Scheduled Tribe Category. A further prayer has been made to declare the aforesaid land as a public land in order to ensure better basic civic amenities/facilities for upliftment of the Bediya Community and the future generation.

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It has been submitted by Mr. Anoop Kumar Mehta, learned counsel appearing for the respondent no. 4 that the land in question is a coal bearing land acquired for Central Coalfields Limited under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957. It has further been submitted that the prayer made in this Public Interest Litigation appears to be private in nature and since the lands which were acquired are coal bearing lands, there is

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no question of declaring the land as a public land for the benefit of the Bediya Community.

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In view of the submissions advanced by Mr. Anoop Kumar Mehta, learned counsel appearing for the respondent No.4, it appears that the lands have already been acquired under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 and merely because of the land lying vacant, the same cannot be a reason for releasing the land in favour of the petitioner for providing basic amenities as enumerated in the Public Interest Litigation. It also appears that the petitioner has lost interest in this Public Interest Litigation as though it was filed in the year 2018, but the defects have not been removed for almost six years and ultimately the defects had to be ignored by us.

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Be that as it may, considering the fact that no public interest is involved in the present writ application and the prayer of the petitioner cannot be acceded to on account of the fact that release of the land which has been sought for by the petitioner is a coal bearing land, we are not inclined to entertain this Public Interest Litigation, which accordingly stands dismissed.

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( Rongon Mukhopadhyay, J.)

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(Deepak Roshan, J.)

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Bediya Vikash Parishad through Its Chairman Shankar Bediya v. the State of Jharkhand through Its Chief Secretary

Case brief

What is this about?

What the court decided

Bediya Vikash Parishad through Its Chairman Shankar Bediya v. the State of Jharkhand through Its Chief Secretary

Case brief

What is this about?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

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