Allahabad High Court
MAHENDRA MISHRAversusSTATE OF U.P. AND 6 OTHERS
- Decided
Holding
The petition lacks public‑interest merit and is dismissed.
Summary
The petitioner filed a public interest litigation seeking to restrain the State and Jal Nigam from demolishing and occupying a plot of land used as a Daswasthal and Samadhi in Puranpur, Pilibhit. The petitioner alleged that the construction of a pump house and related water‑supply facilities by Jal Nigam on the said land was illegal and amounted to encroachment. The respondents submitted that the overhead tank and pump house were part of a government contract to provide drinking water to the public and that the construction occupied only a 6 × 6 m area, with consent from a local Daswasthal committee member. The court examined whether the petition truly raised a public interest issue and whether Jal Nigam required a specific land allotment to proceed with the works. Finding that the water‑supply project served a legitimate public purpose and that no further construction beyond the stated pump house was planned, the court concluded that the petition did not raise a public‑interest matter. Accordingly, the petition was dismissed as having no substance.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner's claim of illegal demolition and encroachment of the Daswasthal land warrants judicial intervention.
- Whether Jal Nigam has the authority to construct water‑supply infrastructure on the land without a specific allotment.
- Whether the petition falls within the ambit of a public interest litigation.
Subjects
- Public Interest Litigation
- Land encroachment
- Religious site
- Water supply project
- Jal Nigam
- Demolition
- Government contract
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) No. - 2081 of 2026
Mahendra Mishra
.....Petitioner(s)
Versus
State of U.P. and 6 others
.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Man Mohan Singh, Vipul Dube
Counsel for Respondent(s) : Vimlesh Kumar Rai, Brajesh Pratap
Singh, C.S.C., Sher Bahadur Singh,
Suresh Singh
Chief Justice's Court
HON'BLE ARUN BHANSALI, CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE KSHITIJ SHAILENDRA, J.
1. This petition, purportedly in pubic interest, has been filed by the petitioner
seeking a direction to the respondents not to demolish, damage and occupy
Daswasthal and its boundary situated at Gata No. 786, Village Puranpur
Dehat, Tehsil Puranpur, District Pilibhit. Further direction has been sought
seeking inquiry about the illegal demolition and encroachment being made
by the respondents.
2. Submissions have been made that the land in question is being used as
Daswasthal and a Samadhi also exists over the land in question, wherein
now the respondent-Jal Nigam is seeking to raise some construction by
demolishing the wall and, therefore, the respondents be restrained from
undertaking the said exercise.
3. Instructions have been produced by the Jal Nigam inter alia indicating
that for the purpose of providing drinking water to the general public of
Nagar Palika Parishad, Puranpur, a overhead tank along with tube-well and
pump house are being constructed, for which a contract for a sum of
Rs.1300.42 lakh has been granted. The overhead tank has already been
constructed along with tube well, which was completed in the year 2024 and
presently for the purpose of operating the tube well, a pump house in an area
admeasuring 6 x 6 mtrs. is being constructed.
4. Further indications have been made that any construction raised at the
Daswasthal is not being demolished and that the construction is being
WPIL No. 2081 of 2026
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undertaken for the use of general public, for which at the relevant time, one
Mr. Raju Acharya, resident of Puranpur, who was looking after the
Daswasthal committee, had granted consent.
5. Counsel for the petitioner made vehement submissions that unless the
land in question is allotted to the Jal Nigam, the Jal Nigam is not entitled
to raise construction and the construction essentially is illegal, however, it
is not denied that the overhead tank stands constructed and the exercise by
the Jal Nigam essentially is for the purpose of making the said overhead
tank operational for the general public.
6. The land in question is being used as Daswasthal for performance of
rituals by the family members on the tenth day of any death in the family,
which essentially is a public use. The construction of overhead tank and
its related facilities are also for the welfare of the general public only. The
officers of the Jal Nigam are not going to gain anything personal out of
the said construction.
7. In that view of the matter, irrespective of the plea sought to be raised in
the present petition, we do not find any public interest involved in the
present petition in seeking to stop the Jal Nigam from raising construction
for providing drinking water to the general public.
8. It is, however, observed that once in the instructions, it has been
indicated that the pump house is being constructed in an area of 6 x 6
mtrs, there is no reason to disbelieve the said indications made that the Jal
Nigam, besides the said construction, is not raising any further
construction.
9. The petition has no substance and the same is, therefore, dismissed.
(Kshitij Shailendra,J.) (Arun Bhansali,CJ.)
September 30, 2026
P.Sri./Sazia
Digitally signed by :-
PUNEET SRIVASTAVA
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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