Snani Devi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.3748 of 2026 ====================================================== Snani Devi Wife of Sri Tapeshwar Paswan, resident of Ward No.-7, Village Betaunha, Post-Bella, P.S.-Jainagar, Distt.-Madhubani (Bihar). ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

1.

The State of Bihar through the Collector of the District Madhubani. 2.

The Collector of the District, Madhubani.

3.

The District Land Acquisition Officer (D.L.A.O.), Madhubani. 4.

The Anchala Adhikari, Jainagar, Madhubani.

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr.Shashi Nath Jha, Advocate For the Respondent/s :

Mr.Madhaw Pd. Yadav, GP-23 Mr. Arvind Kumar, AC to GP-23 ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY ORAL ORDER 24-03-2026 Heard the parties.

2. The present petition has been preferred for the following relief/s:

(i) directing the Respondents- authorities to pay the appropriate amount of compensation to the petitioner for acquiring the raiyati lands of the petitioner after preparing the Award in her favour under Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as RECTLARR Act, 2013);

2/4 (ii) directing the Respondents- authorities to pay the amount of compensation along with interest as well as amount of solatium etc. to petitioner, as the Acquisitioning authorities have already acquired the lands of the petitioner especially without taking her consent and also especially without mentioning her name in the Gazette Notification, meant for construction of Kamala Barrage under the Achal Jainagar, District-Madhubani;

(iii) directing the Respondents- authorities alternatively, to release the lands in question from the ongoing construction, meant for the Project in question;

(iv) holding and Declaring that Respondents authorities were/ are duty bound to publish the name of the petitioner in the Gazette Notification with respect to lands in question and to prepare the Award accordingly in her favour;

(v) holding and declaring that the petitioner

3/4 has absolute right, title, interest and possession over the lands in question, as she has already been recognized as Ralyat by the State of Bihar on account of the fact that she has been paying rent to the state of Bihar continuously;

(vi) holding and declaring that the respondent authorities cannot deny the amount of compensation to the petitioner by treating the lands in question as their own land;

(vii) restraining the respondent authorities from dispossessing the petitioner from the lands in question, unless and until the appropriate amount of compensation is not paid to the petitioner;

(viii) directing the respondents- authorities to dispose of the representations of the petitioner (Annx-P/series) submitted by them before the respondents- authorities and the same are still pending before them;

(ix) granting any other relief or reliefs for

4/4 which the petitioner may be found entitled to.

3. Let the petitioner prefer a proper representation before the respondent no.02, the Collector, Madhubani as also the respondent no.03, the District Land Acquisition Officer, Madhubani with regard to claim put forward by her.

4. In case, such petition is preferred in next eight weeks, it will be taken to its logical conclusion after hearing all the necessary parties.

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

(Rajiv Roy, J) Ravi/- U