IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.4275 of 2010 Kishan Maha Panchayat,Jagdishpur, through its Coordinator namely Gopaljee Singh s/o Shiv Narayan Singh, r/o village – Burhwal, P.O. & P.S. Jagdishpur, District – Bhojpur at Ara …… Petitioner Versus 1. The State Of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar, Patna. 2. The Principal Secretary, Disaster Management Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna 3. The Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment Department, Bihar, Patna 4. The Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department, Bihar, Patna 5. The D.M., Bhojpur, Ara 6. The S.D.O. Jagdishpur, Bhojpur, Ara 7. The B.D.O., Jagdishpur Block, Bhojpur, Ara 8. The B.D.O., Piro – Block, Bhojpur, Ara ----------- For the petitioner: Mr. Arun Kumar No.1 Mr. Binod Kumar Pandey No.1, Advocates For the respondents: Mr. H.P.Singh, GA VI --- 2 12/3/2010 The only grievance in this public interest litigation is that number of farmers of Piro and Jagdishpur Blocks within the district of Bhojpur at Ara have not been granted compensation despite a categorical finding recorded by the concerned Sub-Divisional Officer with regard to the damage caused to the crop. Mr. H.P.Singh, learned counsel for the State, stated that the Sub-Divisional Officer does not have the 2 authority to grant compensation under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (for short, ‘the Act’). There is a District Authority as defined in the discretionary clause contained in Section 2(f) of the Act. Section 2(f) refers to sub-section (1) of Section 25. The said section 25(1) deals with constitution of the District Management Authority. In view of aforesaid, we are of the considered opinion that it is the District Management Authority which has to adjudicate the grievance of the petitioner. In view of aforesaid, we are only inclined to direct that if the petitioner puts forth its grievance before the District Management Authority within a period of four weeks, the said authority shall after affording an opportunity to a representative of the farmers shall take a decision within the parameters of the Act. Be it noted, we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. Neyaz/ (Dipak Misra, CJ.) (Mihir Kumar Jha, J.)