IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.13218 of 2003 Prabhat Kumar Kanodia, son of late Shiva Shankar Kanodia, resident of Mohalla- Lal Bazar, Bettiah, P.S. Bettiah town, P.O. Bettiah, District- West Champaran ---- Petitioner. Versus 1. The State of Bihar. 2. Subdivisional Officer, Majhaulia, District- West Champaran. 3. Circle Officer, Majhaulia, Distt. West Champaran. 4. Kamlesh Prasad son of Ganga Sah. 5. Bhola Prasad, son of Ganesh Sah. 6. Jitendra Kumar, son of Suraj Sah. 7. Ram Lakhan Raut, son of Feku Raut. 8. Vijay Kumar Upadhaya, son of Lala Madan Upadhaya. 9. Kanhaiya Upadhya, son of Jokhan Upadhaya. 10. Sukat Patel, son of Ramayanb Patel. 11. Hasan Ahmad Khan, son of Balshish Khan. 12. Arifa Khatoon, wife of Syed Moiz Ahmad. All Serial No. 4 to 12 are resident of village- Majhaulia, P.S. Majhaulia, District- West Champaran. --- Respondents. ----------- 12/ 02-02-2011 Heard the parties. 2. The petitioner has filed the present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India with a prayer for quashing the notice dated 28.10.2003 (Annexure-13) issued under the signature of respondent- Circle Officer, Majhaulia in the District of West Champaran, whereby the petitioner was directed not to make illegal construction on a land bearing khata no. 141, plot no. 834, area 4 katha situate at village, Mauza and Anchal- Majhaulia in the district of West Champaran. (hereinafter referred to as the “land in question”) 3. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submits that without starting any proceeding, 2 the respondent-Anchal Adhikari was/is not justified in restraining the petitioner from constructing his building over the lands in question. The petitioner claims that the land in question was settled in favour of his father and from him, he purchased through a registered deed of sale on 01.09.1964 (Annexure-2). It is also claimed that the land in question was mutated and Zamabandi was also created in favour of the petitioner, and accordingly the petitioner is paying rent to the State of Bihar and getting rent receipts for the same. 4. Mr. A. Amannullah, learned Govt. Advocate No.4, appearing on behalf of respondents no. 1 to 3, has strongly opposed the prayer made on behalf of the petitioner in the present proceeding. He submits that in response to the impugned notice dated 28.10.2003 (Annexure-13) the petitioner appeared before the respondent- Anchal Adhikari and filed his show-cause, but did not produce any document in support of his claim of right and title over the lands in question. Thereafter, instead of waiting for the final adjudication of the matter by the competent authorities and instead of exhausting alternative remedy of appeal, he has directly approached this Court by filing the present writ petition. A supplementary counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of respondent no.3 today in the court, wherein it has been 3 stated that Miscellaneous Case (Encroachment Act) No. 16 of 2003-04 was started on 22.09.2003 by the then Anchal Adhikari, Majhaulia in view of the petition filed by certain local people alleging therein that the petitioner has encroached upon the public land and has started constructing pucca structure over there. It has been specifically stated on behalf of the official respondents that the lands in question has been recorded as Gairmajarua Malik in the revisional survey khatian and petitioner has no legal right over the land in question, yet he has encroached upon certain portion of land and has made certain pucca constructions over the same. It is highlighted that the records were sent to the Additional Collector and thereafter it has been returned to the respondent- Anchal Adhikari for giving some more information about the land in question, where-after the matter shall be decided by the competent authority in accordance with law. 5. Having heard the parties at length and considering the submissions made on their behalf, this Court is of the considered opinion that no useful purpose will be served by keeping this matter pending any longer in this Court. Admittedly a proceeding is pending with respect to alleged encroachment made by the petitioner. The petitioner, therefore, will be well advised to appear before the Anchal Adhikari as also before the Additional Collector 4 and place all the materials/ documents in support of his claim of right and title with respect to the land in question. Accordingly, the petitioner is directed to appear before the respondent- Anchal Adhikari on 28.02.2011 with a certified copy of the present order. Petitioner shall also be obliged to place all the documents in support of his claim over the land in question. Thereafter the Anchal Adhikari and/or the Additional Collector, as the case may be, after giving opportunity of hearing to all concerned, shall dispose of that proceeding by a speaking order. The respondent- authorities are directed to decide the whole dispute within a period of four months from the date of appearance of the petitioner before the Anchal Adhikari. Till that day, the status quo, as obtaining today, with respect to land in question, shall be maintained by the parties. 6. It is also made clear that if the petitioner does not appear before respondent Anchal Adhikari on the date fixed, i.e., 28.02.2011 with a certified copy of this order and relevant documents, then it shall be construed that the present writ petition filed on his behalf has finally been rejected by this Court. It is hoped that the petitioner shall cooperate with the authorities for coming to the just conclusion in the matter. 7. It is informed to the Court that in the light of 5 oral observation, the respondent- Circle Officer, Majhaulia is physically present in the court along with the relevant records. Now he can go back with the relevant records, as he has given an assurance to this Court that all endeavours shall be made to dispose of the proceeding in the light of the observation/direction given above by this Court. 9. With the aforesaid observations and directions the present petition stands disposed of. No costs. BTiwary/ ( Birendra Prasad Verma, J.)