IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.2099 of 2010 Sheo Nath Prasad S/O Ramswaroop Prasad R/O Vill- Karnpura, At Present Majhagarh Nai Bazar, P.S Manjha Garh, Distt- Gopalganj. ….. Petitioner. Versus 1. The State of Bihar. 2. The District Magistrate, Gopalganj. 3. Sub-divisional Officer, Gopalganj. 4. The Circle Officer, Manjhagarh, Distt- Gopalganj. ….Respondents. ------- For the petitioner : Mr. Dhananjay Kumar, Advocate For the State : Mr. Mukund Mohan Jha, A.C. to S. C. 7 With CWJC No.1971 of 2009 Sudarshan Prasad, Son of Suraj Prasad, resident of Village- Jantolli (Manjha), P.S.-Manjha, District-Gopalganj. … … Petitioner. Versus 1. The State of Bihar. 2. The Circle Officer, Manjha Block, Gopalganj. …. … Respondents. For the petitioner : Mr. Kumar Veerendra Narayan, Advocate. For the State : Mr. Bijay Kumar Sinha, A.C. to G.P.6. ----------- 07/ 30.09.2010 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner in both the cases as well as learned counsel for the respondents- State of Bihar and its authorities in both the cases. 2. CWJC No.2099 of 2010 has been filed on behalf of petitioner Sheo Nath Prasad at whose instance Encroachment Case No.01 of 2007-08 was initiated by the Circle Officer, Manjha within the district of Gopalganj for removal of alleged encroachments by several persons, including the petitioner of CWJC No.1971 of 2009 with respect to Plot No.3692, Khata no.845 of Village Manjha Garh under Thana no.184 in the district of Gopalganj. The grievance of the petitioner of this case is that the aforesaid authority is not proceeding with the encroachment case - 2 - although inquiry has been made as far back as on 26.02.2009 (Annexure-6). 3. CWJC No.1971 of 2009 has been filed by one of the alleged encroachers, who are opposite parties in Encroachment Case No.01 of 2007-08, challenging notice dated 24.04.2007 (Annexure-1) in which neither number of the case nor the land involved had been mentioned. Similar to the aforesaid notice dated 24.04.2007, another notice dated 26.02.2009 is annexed in CWJC No.2099 of 2010 as Annexure-9 which was issued to the alleged encroacher and in that notice also number of the encroachment case has not been mentioned. 4. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case as well as the materials on record and the averments made by learned counsel for the parties, it is quite apparent that Encroachment Case No.01 of 2007-08 was initiated at the instance of petitioner of CWJC No.2099 of 2010 against several alleged encroachers, including petitioner of CWJC no.1971 of 2009 and in that proceeding preliminary inquiry has already been held on 26.02.2009 (Annexure-6 of CWJC No.2099 of 2010), whereafter notices were sent. However, the materials on record clearly show that notices sent by the aforesaid Circle Officer to the alleged encroachers are defective as they do not contain the number of encroachment case which is pending against them and other details. 5. Accordingly, the notices sent by the said authority to - 3 - the alleged encroachers in the aforesaid Encroachment Case No.01 of 2007-08 are hereby quashed and the Circle Officer, Manjha within the district of Gopalganj is directed to issue fresh notices with the required details to the alleged encroachers within fifteen days from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order. Thereafter the said proceeding should be expedited in accordance with law so that it may be decided without any further delay, preferably within a period of four months from the date of notice. 6. With the aforesaid direction/observation, both the aforesaid writ petitions are disposed of. Sunil (S. N. Hussain, J.)