Patna High Court

Bijendra KumarversusThe State of Bihar

Decided: 18 April 2025
Disposal: CONSIGNED
Bench: RAJIV ROY SOURENDRA PANDEY

Holding

The court held that the petitioners failed to rectify the procedural defects within the time granted, and therefore the writ petition was dismissed peremptorily.

Summary

The petitioners, a group of 15 landowners, filed a writ petition challenging the acquisition of 75.96 acres of land for the Patna Metro Rail Depot under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (RFCTLARRA). They sought certiorari to quash the acquisition notification, the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report, the formation of the technical expert committee, and subsequent orders of the District Land Acquisition Officer, alleging violations of Sections 4, 6, 7, 11(1), 15 and 19 of the Act and non‑compliance with the 2014 Rules. The court directed the petitioners to remove the defects within one week on 01‑04‑2024. The petitioners failed to comply, and the court treated the order as peremptory, dismissing the writ petition on 08‑04‑2024. Consequently, the acquisition process was allowed to proceed.

Issues considered

Whether the acquisition notification dated 23‑10‑2021 is valid in view of alleged non‑compliance with the Social Impact Assessment requirements under RFCTLARRA, 2013.
Whether the SIA report was prepared in violation of Sections 4, 6 and 7 of RFCTLARRA, 2013 and the 2014 Rules.
Whether the formation of the technical expert committee under Section 7 of RFCTLARRA, 2013 complied with the statutory requirement of representation from the relevant municipality.
Whether the orders of the District Land Acquisition Officer under Section 15 of RFCTLARRA, 2013 are non‑speaking and therefore void.
Whether the notice period prescribed under Rule 11(3) of the Bihar Rules, 2014 was observed during the public hearing.

Legislation cited

Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 — s. 11, 15, 19, 4, 6, 7

Subjects

land acquisition
RFCTLARRA 2013
Social Impact Assessment
Metro Rail project
certiorari
public hearing
COVID‑19
technical expert committee
peremptory dismissal

Judgment

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.17426 of 2022
======================================================
1. Bijendra Kumar S/o- Doma Rajak Resident of Village- Chiraiyatad, P.O.-
Fakharpur, P.S.- Arwal, Patna, Bihar- 804401.
2. Anil Kumar, S/o Janardhan Prasad Resident of Village- Sinduara, P.O.-
Mahkar, P.S.- Chandi, District- Nalanda, Bihar- 803202.
3. Gita Kumari, W/o Bimlshwar Kumar Chanchal Resident of Village- Dharam
Bigha, P.O.- Naima, P.S.- Telhada, District- Nalanda, Bihar- 801306.
4. Pallavi alias Pallavi Kumari, W/o Sujeet Kumar Resident of - 192, P.C.
Colony, Kankarbagh, P.S.- Kankarbagh, District- Patna, Bihar, Presently
residing at A/404, Kaladeep Apartment, B/H- Dhananjay Tower, 100 Feet
Road, P.S.- Anandnagar, Ahmedabad City, Gujrat- 380015.
5. Surendra Kumar, S/o Ramavatar Prasad Yadav Resident of Village- Bari
pahari, P.O.- Bari Pahadi, P.S.- Agamkuan, District- Patna, Bihar.
6. Jay Prakash Mahto, S/o Late Pokhan Mahto Resident of Village- Bari pahari,
P.O.- Bari Pahadi, P.S.- Sampatchak, Gulzarbagh, District- Patna, Bihar.
7. Bijay Prasad, S/o Rameshwar Prasad Resident of House No.- 1056, Sector
6/D Bokaro Steel City, Haslata, District- Bokaro, State- Jharkhand.
8. Shakuntala Devi, W/o Bijay Prasad Resident of House No.- 1056, Sector
6/D Bokaro Steel City, Haslata, District- Bokaro, State- Jharkhand.
9. Shailesh Kumar Singh, S/o Kapildeo Prasad Resident of Village- Bhuapur,
P.O.- Bhuapur, P.S.- Bhakhitiyarpur, District- Patna, Bihar.
10. Rajani Kumari, W/o Vikash Prasad R/o- Bajrangi Chowk, Jakariyapur, P.S.-
Ramkrishna Nagar, District- Patna, Bihar.
11. Pinki Kumari, Wife of Janardhan Prasad Resident of Village- Near Shanti
Market, 1074 Uma Traders, Mourya Vihar Colony, Kumhrar, P.S.-
Agamkuan, District- Patna, Bihar.
12. Dharambeer Kumar, Son of Ramchandra Prasad Resident of Village-
Kharajama, P.O.- Chandhari, P.S.- Islampur, District- Nalanda, Bihar.
13. Poonam Devi, Wife of Om Prakash Resident of Village- Barah, P.O.- Barah,
P.S.- Harnaut, District- Nalanda, Bihar.
14. Satyadev Prasad Yadav, Son of Jagatpati Yadav Resident of Village- Boudh
Bihar Colony, Naya Tola, Kumhrar, P.S.- Agamkuan, District- Patna, Bihar.
15. Rubi Kumari, Wife of Rupesh Kumar Presently Resident of SMQ- 224/01
Air Force Station, Arjangarh, Aya Ngar, P.S.- Mehrauli, South Delhi, Delhi-
110047.

... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar, at
Patna.
2. Urban Development and Housing Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna through
the Principal Secretary, District- Patna.
3. Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Housing Department, Govt. of
Bihar, Patna.
4. Commissioner, Patna Division, District- Patna.
Patna High Court CWJC No.17426 of 2022(3) dt.18-04-2025
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5. District Magistrate-cum-Collector, Patna.
6. District Land Acquisition Officer, Patna, District- Patna.
7. Circle Officer, Sadar, District- Patna.
8. Patna Municipal Corporation, through the Commissioner, District- Patna.
9. Commissioner, Patna Municipal Corporation, District- Patna.
10. Chief Managing Director, Patna Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., Indira Bhawan
7th Floor, Bailey Road, Patna- 800001.
11. Director (Work) Project, Patna Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., Indira Bhawan
7th Floor, Bailey Road, Patna- 800001.
12. Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development
and Ganga Rejuvenation, through the Project Director, Bihar, at Patna.
13. National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of
Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, through the
Project Director, Vikash Bhawan Bailey Road, Patna, Bihar- 800001.
14. Bihar State Pollution Control Board, Patna, Bihar through its Principal
Secretary, Bihar at Patna.
15. Principal Secretary, Bihar State Pollution Control Board, Bihar at Patna.
16. Archaeological Survey of India, through Regional Director, Patna Circle,
Puratattwa Bhawan, J.C. Road, Anta Ghat, Patna- 800001.
17. Regional Director, Patna Circle, Archaeological Survey of India, Patna.

... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Sumeet Kumar Singh
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Yogendra Pd. Sinha (Aag7)
For PMC : Mr. Prasoon Sinha, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Adv.
For PMRC : Mr. Mohit Agrawal, Adv.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY
ORAL ORDER

3 18-04-2025 Heard the parties.

2. The present application has been preferred for the

following relief(s):

(i) That the present writ
application is being filed in the nature of
Certiorari for quashing the process of
acquisition published in the daily newspaper
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"Hindustan" dated 23.10.2021 (Annexure-
P/28) under Section-11(1) of the Right To
Fair Compensation And Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation And
Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred
to as "RFCTLARRA, 2013 for the sake of
Brevity") which has been initiated under the
signature of the District Magistrate, Patna
with regard to 50.5950 acres of land bearing
Mauja-Pahadi, Revenue PS- Patna City,
Thana No.-14, and 25.35 acres of land and
in Mauja-Ranipur, in Revenue PS - Patna
city, Thana No.-19, Circle-Patna Sadar,
District-Patna and, altogether 75.96 acres of
land is acquired under Project Patna Metro
Rail Depot Corporation for construction of
rail depot yard; on the ground that the
notification dated 23.10.2021 is incorrect,
the process is without following the Social
Impact Assessment (herein after referred as "
SIA for the sake of brevity"), the action is in
violation of section-4, 6 & 7 of RFCTLARR
Act, 2013, the notification is itself wrong as
the same on the face of record states that
there is no displacement of people and the
SIA report is totally contradictory stating
there is displacement of people;
(ii) That the present writ
application is being filed in the nature of
Certiorari for quashing the report of the
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Social Impact Assessment in relation to the
Patna Metro Rail depot Corporation
(Annexure-P/21); as the same is complete
violation of section 4, 6 and 7 of the
"RFCTLARRA, 2013"; on the ground that no
proper opportunity of hearing was given to
the public at large as the entire process was
conducted during the outbreak of COVID-19
second wave i.e notice was given on
1.06.2021 and public hearing was done on
4.06.2021, the sample admittedly is of small
size and there is no finding for alternative
land despite of the objections raised by the
affected families for 6 times in S.I.A; there is
no giving of 21 days' notice for public
hearing as per Rule-11(3) of the Bihar Right
To Fair Compensation And Transparency In
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation And
Resettlement Rules, 2014(herein after
referred "Rules, 2014" for the sake of
brevity);
(iii) That the present writ
application is filed in the nature of
Certiorari for quashing the formation of the
technical expert group under Section-7 of
RFCTLRRA, 2013 dated 23.06.2021
(Annexure-P/22) by which expert committee
has been constituted; on the ground that the
two members at serial no. 6 and 7 who have
been added as two representatives of the
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Panchayat, Gram Sabha, Municipality, or
Municipal Corporation as the case may be,
the said members does not belong to the
municipality under which the land is
intended to be acquired of ward no.56 or
belong being the representative of any
municipality;
(iv) That the present writ
application is filed in the nature of
Certiorari for quashing the technical expert
report under Section-7 of RFCTLRRA, 2013
dated 30.06.2021 (Annexure-P/23) by which
expert committee has submitted the report;
on the ground that the section-7(2)(b) of the
RFCTLRR Act, 2013 has been violated on
the face of the record and in violation of the
intention and objective of the RFCTLRR Act,
2013;
(v) That the present writ
application is being filed in the nature of
Certiorari for quashing the order dated
02.02.2022 (Annexure-P/29) passed by the
District Land Acquisition Officer, Patna who
has been pleased to dismiss the objection
filed by the petitioners except petitioner
no.14 under section-15 of the Act; the order
passed has not considered the objection filed
by the petitioners, the objection has been
summarily rejected, it is a non-speaking
order, there is no consideration of the law as
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per the Act by the District Land Acquisition
Officer, Patna, there is no finding or opinion
for alternative land, there is no reason
assigned in the order;
(vi) That the present writ
application is being filed in the nature of
Certiorari for quashing the order dated
27.01.2022 (Annexure-P/29-A) passed by the
District Land Acquisition Officer, Patna who
has been pleased to dismiss the objection
filed by the Petitioner-14 under section-15 of
the Act; the order passed has not considered
the objection filed by the petitioners, the
objection has been summarily rejected, it is
a non-speaking order, there is no
consideration of the law as per the Act by
the District Land Acquisition Officer, Patna,
there is no finding or opinion for alternative
land, there is no reason assigned in the
order;
(vii) That the present writ
application is being filed in the nature of
Certiorari for quashing the paper
publication dated 11.05.2022(Annexure-
P/30) under section-19 of the "RFCTLARRA,
2013" issued under the signature of District
Magistrate, Patna with regard to 50.5950
acres of land bearing Mauja-Pahadi,
Revenue PS- Patna City, Thana No.-14, and
25.35 acres of land and in Mauja-Ranipur,
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in Revenue P.S Patna city, Thana No.- 19,
Circle-Patna Sadar, District-Patna and,
altogether 75.96 acres of land; on the
ground that the notification dated
11.05.2022 is incorrect, the process is
without following the SIA, the action is in
violation of section-4, 6 & 7 of RFCTLARR
Act, 2013, the notification is itself wrong as
the same on the face of record states that
there is no displacement of people and the
SIA report is totally contradictory stating
there is displacement of people, there is no
proper disposal of the objection in term of
section-15 of the RFCTLARRA,2013, there is
no public hearing in terms of Rules, 2014 in
the SIA report;
3. On 01.04.2024, one weeks’ time was granted to

remove the defect.

4. As the same was not removed and it being a

peremptory order, the case stands dismissed on 08.04.2024.

5. Perused the file, consigned.

(Rajiv Roy, J)
Vijay Singh/-

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