DHRUB PRASAD SINGH Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition has been filed by the four petitioners for quashing the impugned order dated 24.4.1993 (Annexure-1) passed by the Collector, Madhepura (respondent No. 2).

(2.) Petitioner No. 1 is the land holder and the petitioners case is that petitioner Nos. 2 and 3 purchased some portions of the land in question from petitioner No. 1 and/or his mother in between the year 1963 and 1974 and petitioner No. 4 purchased some land from petitioner No. 2.

(3.) In respect of the land in question a ceiling case was started against one Late Bimala Sundar Devi, mother of petitioner No. 1, Dhrub Prasad Singh alias Dhrub Singh on 19.2.1973 which was numbered as Ceiling Case No. 541 of 1973-74. The case as made out in the writ petition is that the total land, as per the verification report, held by the land holder was 339 acres and 98 decimals and accordingly a draft publication under Section 10(2) of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act) was made for the acquisition of 301.52 acres of land by giving one unit to the landholder. On 19.12.1975 an objection under Section 10(3) of the said Act was filed by the petitioner No. 1 inter alia, claiming that he being the adopted son of the land-holder was major on 9.9.1970 and as such two units were granted to the land-holder. It was also the case of the land-holder before the Additional Sub-divisional Officer (Ceiling), Madhepura that if the land, excluding the land held by the landholder and petitioner, No. 1 of draft publication is included in the final publication under Section 11(i) of the said Act, the land-holder will have no objection. Accordingly the Additional Sub-divisional Officer, Ceiling Madhepura passed an order on 31st May, 1976 by which he directed to make final publication of the lands by excluding the lands of petitioner No. 1 and the land-holder. The said order of the Additional Sub-divisional Officer, Ceiling, Madhepura dated 31st May, 1976 is annexure-2 to this writ petition. Thereafter a notification dated 29th June, 1976 being notification No. 1650 was published in Saharsa District Extra Ordinary Gazette (Annexure-9) whereby certain plots of lands were declared as surplus. Such notification was objected to under Section 15(3) of the said Act. The objection made under Section 15(3) of the said Act was upheld by annexures 3, 4 and 5 to this writ petition. The case of the petitioner is that accordingly the said gazette notification dated 30th June, 1976 which is at annexure-9, was modified by the subsequent gazette notification dated 19th August, 1990, as contained in annexure-8 to this writ petition. The further case of the petitioners is that the said gazette notification at Annexure-8 was never challenged by any authority and as such the said gazette notification dated 19th August, 1990 (Annexure-8) under Section 15(1) of the said Act has become final and the said gazette notification dated 19th August, 1990 has modified the previous notification No. 1650 dated 29th June, 1976.