Keshav Pandey Vs The State of Bihar — Patna HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Keshav Pandey Vs The State of Bihar — Patna HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of at admission stage with consent of parties: Certificate Officer, Sasaram, Rohtas directed to consider the petitioner's objections under Section 9 of the Bihar & Orisha Public Demand Recovery Act, 1914 and pass final orders under Section 10, after giving the petitioner an opportunity of hearing and communicating the orders, preferably within twelve weeks of receipt of a copy of the order; authorities directed not to take coercive steps against the petitioner till final orders, subject to the petitioner's cooperation with the authority.

Issue for consideration

Whether the Certificate Officer, Sasaram, Rohtas should be directed to consider the petitioner's objections filed under Section 9 of the Bihar & Orisha Public Demand Recovery Act, 1914 and pass final orders under Section 10 of the said Act. +1 more

Court's answer

The Certificate Officer, Sasaram, Rohtas (Respondent No. 3) is directed to consider the objections filed by the petitioner and pass the final orders under Section 10 of the Bihar & Orisha Public Demand Recovery Act, 1914.

Ratio / Principle

Without going into the merits or demerits of the case, the writ petition is disposed of at the stage of admission with the consent of both parties.

Key takeaways

Before passing any orders, the petitioner shall be given an opportunity of hearing, and any orders passed shall be communicated to the petitioner.ratio¶18
The entire exercise shall be completed as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of the order.ratio¶18
Till such time the final orders are passed, the authorities are directed not to take any coercive steps against the petitioner.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Patna High Court (A. Abhishek Reddy, J.) disposed of CWJC No.8401 of 2024 (Keshav Pandey v. The State of Bihar and others) at the stage of admission, without going into the merits or demerits and with the consent of both parties. The petitioner had already filed objections under Section 9 of the Bihar & Orisha Public Demand Recovery Act, 1914 and final orders under Section 10 were pending. The Court directed the Certificate Officer, Sasaram, Rohtas (Respondent No. 3) to consider the objections and pass final orders under Section 10, giving the petitioner an opportunity of hearing and communicating any orders passed, and to complete the exercise as expeditiously as possible, preferably within twelve weeks from receipt of a copy of the order. Till final orders were passed, the authorities were directed not to take any coercive steps against the petitioner; however, if the petitioner did not cooperate with the authority for disposal of the case, the authority was left free to take necessary action.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.8401 of 2024

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Keshav Pandey S/o Baijnath Pandey, R/o Village - Kevatarhi, P.S. - Baddi, District - Rohtas.

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar through Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.

The Branch Manager, South Bihar Gramin Bank Karup, P.S. Baddi, District - Rohtas at Sasaram.

The District Transport Officer cum Certificate Officer, Sasaram, Rohtas.

... ... Respondent/s

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Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Ashutosh Tripathy, Adv. For Respondent No. 2 : Mr. Mukesh Kumar, Adv. For the Respondent/s : Mr. Subhash Pd. Singh, Government Advocate (3) ======================================================

CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A. ABHISHEK REDDY ORAL ORDER

2 10-07-2025

Without going into the merits or demerits of the case, the present writ petition is disposed of at the stage of admission with the consent of both the parties.

Having regard to the fact that the petitioner has already filed this objections under Section 9 of Bihar & Orisha Public Demand Recovery Act, 1914 and the authority is yet to pass the final orders under Section 10 of the said Act, the present writ petition is disposed of directing the Certificate Officer, Sasaram, Rohtas (Respondent No. 3 herein) to consider the objections filed by the petitioner and pass the final orders under Section 10.

It is needless to mention that before passing any

Patna High Court CWJC No.8401 of 2024(2) dt.10-07-2025 2/2

orders, the petitioner shall be given an opportunity of hearing. Any orders passed shall be communicated to the petitioner. The entire exercise shall be completed as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of twelve weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

Till such time the final orders are passed, the authorities are directed not to take any coercive steps against the petitioner. In case the petitioner does not cooperate with the authority for the disposal of the case, the authority is free to take necessary action.

With the above direction, the present writ petition stands disposed of.

(A. Abhishek Reddy, J)

Ayush/-

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