IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.16971 of 2009 M.Israr Alam s/o late Md. Wasimuddin, resident of Bakhtiarpur Basti, P.O. – Simri Bakhtiarpur, P.S. – Bakhtiarpur, District – Saharsa .. Petitioner Versus 1. The State Of Bihar through the Secretary, Department of Energy. 2. The Bihar State Electricity Board through its Chairman, Vidyut Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna 3. The Secretary, BSEB, Vidyut Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna 4. The General Manager cum Chief Engineer, Bihar State Electricity Board, Transmission Zone, Muzaffarpur 5. The Land Reforms Commissioner, Land Reforms Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna 6. The Land Acquisition Officer, Bihar State Electricity Board, Patna 7. The Development Commissioner, Govt. of Bihar, Patna 8. The Superintending Engineer, Electricity Board, Purnea Division, Purnea 9. The Collector, Saharsa …… Respondents ----------- For the petitioner : Mr. Syed M. Ashraf, Advocate For the State: Mr. Prabhat Kumar Singh, SC XXI For the BSE Board: Mr. A.K. Ojha, Advocate 4 25/1/2010 By this public interest litigation the petitioner, a resident of Simri Bakhtiarpur, has basically prayed for establishment of a Power Grid Sub-Station at Simri Bakhtiarpur Block as that was the requirement for supply of electricity to the residents of the locality. This court on earlier occasion had directed the authorities to file affidavits as regards the steps taken for supply of the 2 electricity to the residents of Simri Bakhtiarpur Block in the District of Saharsa. A counter affidavit has been filed by the functionaries of the State contending, inter alia, that they have communicated to the Bihar State Electricity Board (for brevity, “ the Board”) to deposit the amount so that steps can be taken for acquisition of land under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and it is urged by the learned counsel for the State that after the amount is deposited steps shall be taken for acquiring the land and thereafter for establishment of Power Grid Sub-Station at the changed place, namely, Sonbarsha in the same Sub- Division would take place. A return has been filed by the Board stating, inter alia, that a contract has been entered into by the Board with the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for establishment of the requisite Power Grid Sub-Station and a time frame has been stipulated therein. At this juncture, Mr. Syed M. Ashraf, the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that there is no justification to change the place from Simri 3 Bakhtiarpur to Sonbarsa. The said submission was combatted by Mr. P.K.Singh, the learned counsel for the State as well as Mr. A.K. Ojha, the learned counsel for the Board that there was impediment for constructing the Power Grid Sub-Station at Simri Bakhtiarpur and, therefore, it has become necessitous to change the place to Sonbarsa. On a query being made whether the residents of Simri Bakhtiarpur Block would be able to get electricity, the learned Counsel for the Board and the learned counsel for the State submitted that the electricity supply would be available to the residents of Simri Bakhtiarpur Block also. In view of aforesaid, the change of place is totally immaterial. Presently, we shall advert to the construction and establishment of the Power Grid Sub- Station at Sonbarsa. On a perusal of the material brought on the record, it is noticeable that despite a letter having been communicated by the State to the Board, no reply has been sent. The Board cannot lie in slumber and exhibit a lackadaisical attitude in a matter of this nature 4 when a decision has been taken to establish a Power Grid Sub-Station, which is essential for electricity supply. In view of aforesaid, we command the Board to deposit the amount as per communication sent by the State Government within a period of one month and thereafter the acquisition process under the Land Acquisition Act shall commence and efforts shall be made to complete the Power Grid Sub-Station at Sonbarsa in the Sub-division of Simri Bakhtiarpur within the time frame as stipulated in the contract that has been entered into by the Board with the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. With the aforesaid directions the writ petition stands disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. Neyaz/ (Dipak Misra, CJ.) (Mihir Kumar Jha, J.)