Disposed¶38

Kumkum Devi v. The Union of India

Patna HC18 Apr 2026CWJC/4633/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

CWJC 4633 of 2026; Patna High Court; Rajiv Roy J; order dated 18-04-2026; Kumkum Devi v. Union of India (Ministry of Railway) & others; Eastern Central Railway, Danapur; land acquisition compensation; RFCTLARR Act 2013; present market value; statutory interest; crop damage; possession taken October 2015; Khata No. 402; Khesara No. 88; Mauza Bhelai; District Bhojpur; Circle Officer Udwantnagar letter no. 414 dated 06.03.2025; RTI; railway property usurpation; disputed questions of fact; writ petition not maintainable; remedy before Sub Divisional Magistrate and competent civil court; writ disposed of, no relief granted.

What did the court decide?

The petitioner has failed to make out a case showing that the Railways came forward and tried to usurp her lands or those of the villagers. ¶35

Kumkum Devi Vs The Union of India — Land Acquisition | Patna HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Disposed

¶38

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner is entitled to payment of compensation on the basis of present market value under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, along with statutory interest, for land taken into possession by the authorities without informing her or completing the acquisition process. +3 more

¶26

Ratio / Principle

The petitioner has failed to make out a case showing that the Railways came forward and tried to usurp her lands or those of the villagers.

¶35

Key takeaways

If the petitioner/villagers have any grievance or there is a law and order problem, the appropriate remedy is to move the Sub Divisional Magistrate of the area; civil disputes lie before a Competent Civil Court.ratio¶36
Disputed questions of fact cannot be decided in a writ petition.ratio¶37

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Patna High Court (Rajiv Roy, J.), by order dated 18-04-2026, disposed of CWJC No.4633 of 2026 filed by Kumkum Devi seeking a direction to the Railway authorities (respondents 1-9) to pay compensation at present market value under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 with statutory interest, on the plea that her land (Khata No. 402, Old Khata No. 195; Khesara No. 88, Old Khesara No. 74; Area 7.50 decimals, Mauza Bhelai, District Bhojpur) was taken into possession in October 2015 without informing her or completing acquisition, and also compensation for damage to standing crops. The Court held that the petitioner failed to make out a case that the Railways had come forward to usurp her land or the villagers' land, noting the Railways' complaint (also reflected in RTI material filed with the petition) that villagers were trying to usurp Railway property. Holding that such disputed questions of fact cannot be decided in a writ petition, the Court observed that grievances or law-and-order problems lie before the Sub Divisional Magistrate and civil disputes before a Competent Civil Court, and disposed of the writ petition with these observations. No compensation was awarded; no precedent was cited.

¶1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.4633 of 2026

¶2

======================================================

¶3

Kumkum Devi wife of Sri Anil Kumar Singh, resident of village- Poswan, P.S. Agion Grahani, District- Bhojpur at present residing at Housing Colony, Chandwan, Ara, P.S. Nawada Ara, District- Bhojpur.

¶4

... ... Petitioner/s

¶5

Versus

¶6

The Union of India through its Secretary, Ministry of Railway, Govt. Of India, New Delhi.

¶7

The Secretary, Ministry of Railway, Govt. Of India, New Delhi.

¶8

The General Manager, Eastern Central Railway Zone, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar.

¶9

The Divisional Railway Manager, Danapur Mandal, Eastern Central Railway, Danapur, Patna.

¶10

The Senior Divisional Personnel Officer Cum Public Information Officer, East Central Railway, Danapur

¶11

The Senior Divisional Engineer, Co- Ordinance, Danapur Mandal, Eastern Central Railway, Danapur, Patna.

¶12

The Divisional Engineer Line, Danapur Mandal, Eastern Central Railway, Danapur, Patna.

¶13

The Assistant Engineer Line, Danapur Mandal, Eastern Central Railway, Danapur, Patna.

¶14

The Inspector of Work, Engineering Branch, Eastern Central Railway, Danapur Mandal, Branch Ara, District-Bhojpur.

¶15

The District Collector, Bhojpur, Ara.

¶16

The District Land Acquisition Officer, Bhojpur, Ara.

¶17

The Circle Officer, Udwant Nagar, Bhojpur, Ara.

¶18

... ... Respondent/s

¶19

====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shivam Aniket, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Additional Solicitor General For the Resp. No. 2 : Mr. Rabindra Kumar Priyadarshi, Advocate ======================================================

¶20

CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY ORAL ORDER

¶21

2 18-04-2026 Heard the parties.

¶22

The present petition has been preferred for the

¶23

following relief(s):

¶24

Patna High Court CWJC No.4633 of 2026(2) dt.18-04-2026 2/4

¶25

“for issuance of appropriate writ, Rule

¶26

or Direction to the respondent authorities particularly to respondent no. 1 to 9 to make payment of the compensation amount on the basis of present Market Value on the date of payment of compensation amount in pursuance to provisions of The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013" along with statutory interest to the petitioner as the land of the petitioner has been taken in possession by the authorities without informing the petitioner or without completing the process of acquisition, as no amount of compensation has been paid by the respondent, and the said writ is also for issuance of direction to the respondent authorities to make payment of compensation to the petitioner for damage of the crops standing upon the land at the time of taking possession in the month of October 2015 and this writ application is also for grant of relief or reliefs as the petitioner is found entitled.”

¶27

The matter relates to Khata No. 402 (Old Khata No.

¶28

Patna High Court CWJC No.4633 of 2026(2) dt.18-04-2026 3/4

¶29

Khesara No. 88 (Old Khesara No. 74) (Area 7.50 decimals) in the Mauza-Bhelai, District-Bhojpur. The petitioner claims to have purchased the land from one Kameshwar Singh (not been made party-respondent in the present case) in the year 2006 and fourteen years later, rent receipt has been provided to show that she is having possession over the land. The grievance is that the Indian Railways have grabbed the land and the pillars have come up but no compensation paid.

¶30

The Circle Officer, Udwantnagar on the objection preferred by the villagers informed vide letter no. 414 dated 06.03.2025 to the District Land Acquisition Officer, Bhojpur at Ara in which it has been recorded that though the Railways claimed the land to be their, the 1874 Railways map do not have any khata/khesra.

¶31

The petitioner submits that on the basis of said letter issued by the Circle Officer, Udwantnagar, a case is made out in her favour and accordingly, appropriate order be passed.

¶32

The Indian Railways is represented by Mr. Rabindra Kumar Priyadarshi and the State is also present. Their joint submission is that the petitioner has approached this Court without any document to show that Indian Railways, at any point of time, has moved forward for the acquisition of the land

¶33

Patna High Court CWJC No.4633 of 2026(2) dt.18-04-2026 4/4

¶34

in question. In fact, the Railways have complained that some of the villagers are trying to usurp the Railways property. The RTI information which is part of the writ petition also shows the same.

¶35

Having heard the parties, in the opinion of the Court, the petitioner has failed to make out a case showing that the Railways have come forward and tried to usurp the lands of the petitioner much less the villagers.

¶36

If the petitioner/villagers have any grievance and/or there is any law and order problem, the appropriate remedy is to move before the Sub Divisional Magistrate of the said area as also for the civil dispute, before a Competent Civil Court.

¶37

Such disputed question of fact cannot be decided in a writ petition.

¶38

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

¶39

(Rajiv Roy, J)

¶40

Adnan/-

¶41

Kumkum Devi v. The Union of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Kumkum Devi v. The Union of India

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Aftab Alam Vs The State of Bihar

Anand Shankar Vs The State of Bihar

Viswnath Sahni @ vishwanath Sahni Vs The State of Bihar

Shatrudhan Mishra Vs State of Bihar

Pawan Devi Vs The State of Bihar

Deena Nath Prasad @ Deenanath Pd Rai, Vs The Union of India