Disposed¶40

Mahendra Poddar and Anr. v. The State Of Bihar and Ors.

Patna HC14 Jul 2025CWJC/11196/2017

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

PMGSY road built without land acquisition; compensation claim by Mahendra Poddar and Radhey Shyam Poddar, Saharsa; State says petitioners not in raiyat list and no land taken; joint land measurement ordered for 23.07.2025 by Circle Officer, Sonbarsa with all stakeholders; compensation process deadline 31.12.2025; writ petition and pending IAs disposed of.

What did the court decide?

Writ petition disposed of with directions: joint measurement of the disputed land on 23.07.2025 before the Circle Officer, Sonbarsa in the presence of all officials and stakeholders who must sign the document; if the petitioners are found entitled to compensation, the entire process must be completed not later than 31.12.2025; pending Interlocutory Applications disposed of. ¶40

Mahendra Poddar and Anr. Vs The State Of Bihar and Ors. — Patna HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the respondent authorities must pay compensation or vacate the petitioners' land (19 decimals for petitioner No.1 and 7 decimals for petitioner No.2) on which a road was constructed under Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana without the petitioners' consent or acquisition. +2 more

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Court's answer

If the petitioners are found entitled to compensation, the entire process must be completed at the earliest and not after 31.12.2025.

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Ratio / Principle

With the consent of the parties, the disputed land is to be measured on 23.07.2025 in the presence of all officials and stakeholders, each of whom must sign the measurement document; the result of the said measurement will decide the future path of the petitioners/respondents.

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Key takeaways

The Circle Officer, Sonbarsa shall issue formal notices to all stakeholders informing them that the measurement of the land will take place on 23.07.2025.ratio¶41
Personal appearance of the Executive Engineer, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Saharsa, who was present in Court and assisted, stands dispensed with, with the Court recording its word of appreciation.obiter¶44

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Patna High Court (Rajiv Roy, J., 14-07-2025) disposed of CWJC No. 11196 of 2017 filed by two brothers, Mahendra Poddar and Radhey Shyam Poddar of Village Sahpur, Saharsa, seeking compensation or return of land (19 and 7 decimals respectively) allegedly used for constructing a road under Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana from Shahpur Chowk to Lagmapatti without consent or acquisition. The State, through its counter affidavit, contended the payments were made against acquired land in which the petitioners' names did not figure in the raiyat list published by the Circle Officer, Sonbarsa, and that a request letter (no. 1432 dated 09.07.2025) had been sent for measurement. With the parties' consent, the Court fixed a joint measurement for 23.07.2025 before the Circle Officer, Sonbarsa with all officials and stakeholders signing the document, the result to decide the future path; if the petitioners are found entitled, the compensation process must be completed not after 31.12.2025; the Circle Officer to issue formal notices to all stakeholders; pending IAs disposed of.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.11196 of 2017

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Mahendra Poddar

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Radhey Shyam Poddar Both Sons of late Surya Narayan Poddar Resident of Village- Sahpur, Ward No. 10, P.S. Sonbarsa, District- Saharsa.

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... ... Petitioner/s

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Versus

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The State Of Bihar

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The Principal Secretary, Land Reforms Department , Govt. of Bihar, Patna.

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The Principal Secretary, Rural Development Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna.

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The District Magistrate, Saharsa.

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The Additional District Collector, Saharsa.

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The Sub Divisional Officer, Saharsa

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The Deputy Collector of Land Reforms, Saharsa.

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The District Land Acquisition Officer, Saharsa.

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The Executive Engineer, Rural Development Department , Saharsa.

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The Circle Officer, Sonbarsa, District Saharsa.

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... ... Respondent/s

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Appearance :

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For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Ajay Kumar Singh For the Respondent/s : Mr.Sajid Salim Khan -Sc25 ======================================================

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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY

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ORAL ORDER

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3 14-07-2025 Heard the parties.

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The present petition has been preferred for the

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following relief/s:

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“(A) For the issuance of appropriate

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writ/writs, order/orders, direction /directions to the respondent authorities to make payment or vacate the land of the petitioner No.1 of his land having Khata No.- 741/ Khesra No.- 3163 Area 9 decimal:

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Patna High Court CWJC No.11196 of 2017(3) dt.14-07-2025 2/5

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Khata No.- 690/ Khesra No.- 3176 & 5644 Area 5 decimal, Khata No. 881/ Khesra No. 3161 Area 5 decimal total 19 decimal and petitioner No.2 of his land having Khata No.-636/ Khesra No.- 3174 &3175 Area 7 decimal and compensation amount since the respondent authority without taking consent or acquisition the land of petitioners and make road constructed under Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana of the said land.

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B) For the issuance of appropriate writ/writs, order/orders, direction /directions to the Respondent authorities to take appropriate action on the application filed by the petitioners for compensation of the petitioners' land upon which the road under "Prime Minister Rural Road Planning (Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana)" has been made forcibly by the respondent authorities from Shahpur Chowk to Lagmapatti without acquiring the land and without following the rules and regulation prescribed by the law for acquiring the land of any individual for public purpose.

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Patna High Court CWJC No.11196 of 2017(3) dt.14-07-2025 3/5

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(C) For any other relief/reliefs to which the petitioner is found entitled under the facts and circumstances of the present case.”

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Pursuant to the last order, a counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent no.9, the Executive Engineer, Rural Development Department, Saharsa.

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Mr. Sajid Salim Khan, learned State counsel has taken this Court to different paragraphs to submit that the payments have been made against the land which was acquired and the petitioners’ name did not figure in the said list of raiyat published by the Circle Officer, Sonbarsa (Saharsa). In that background, they were not entitled to pay any compensation amount. He has further taken this Court to the subsequent paragraph to show that taking utmost precaution, a request letter has been sent by the office of answering respondents to the Circle Officer, Sonbarsa, Saharsa vide letter no. 1432 dated 09.07.2025 to get the land measured to come to a conclusion whether the land of the petitioners have been taken for the construction of road-bridge or not.

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Learned State counsel submits that though they are convinced that no land has been taken for the said construction, they are ready to get the matter taken up once again/the same

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Patna High Court CWJC No.11196 of 2017(3) dt.14-07-2025 4/5

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measured in the presence of the petitioners as also the other stakeholders including the State respondents.

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Since the Executive Engineer, Rural Department, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Saharsa as also the petitioners are present, with the consent of the parties, a date i.e. 23.07.2025 is fixed for the said measurement process. Pursuant to the request letter of the Executive Engineer, the Circle Officer, Sonbarsa shall ensure that in the presence of all the officials, the land is correctly measured and each and every stakeholders must sign the document. The result of the said measurement will decide the future path of the petitioners/respondents.

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If the petitioners are found entitled to the compensation, the entire process must be completed at an earliest and not after 31.12.2025.

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With the aforesaid observation, the writ petition is disposed of.

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It is made clear that the Circle Officer, Sonbarsa shall be issuing formal notices to all the stakeholders informing them that the measurement of the land is going to take place on 23.07.2025.

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