Mahanth Kaushal Kishore Das vs The State Of Bihar
2023 Latest Caselaw 5215 Patna

          IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                    Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.4966 of 2022
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Mahanth Kaushal Kishore Das Chela Mahanth Late Ram Khelavan Das Resident of Ram Janki Temple, Punaura Dham, P.S. and District Sitamarhi. Presently Sebait of Ram Janki Temple Punaura Dham.

... ... Petitioner/s Versus

1. The State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar, Patna.

2. The Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Govt. of Bihar.

3. The President, Bihar State Religious Trust Board through the Superintendent, Vidyapati Marg, Patna.

4. The Superintendent, Bihar State Religious Trust Board, Vidyapati Marg, Patna.

5. The District Magistrate, Sitamarhi.

6. The Sub-Divisional Officer, Sitamarhi.

7. The Circle Officer, Sitamarhi.

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Parth Gaurav, Advocate Mr. Nagdeo Choubey, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Kapileshwar Prasad Yadav (GP-11) Mr. Santosh Chandra Bhaskar, AC to GP-11 For the Resp no. 3 & 4 : Mr. Ganpati Trivedi, Sr. Advocate ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HARISH KUMAR ORAL JUDGMENT Date : 10-10-2023

Heard Mr. Parth Gaurav, learned counsel appearing on

behalf of the petitioner and Mr. Ganpati Trivedi, learned senior

counsel represented the Bihar State Religious Trust Board. Mr.

Santosh Chandra Bhaskar, learned counsel for the State is also

present.

Patna High Court CWJC No.4966 of 2022 dt.10-10-2023

2. The petitioner claimed to be Mahanth of Punaura

Dham Temple, situated at Punaura in the district of Sitamarhi,

preferred the present writ petition for seeking the following

relief(s):-

"A) Directing the Respondent Authorities to not make any further construction over the personal property of the Petitioner namely Khata No. 1276, Plot No. 5209 & 5223 having area of 1.62 Decimals situated at village- Punaura, District- Sitamarhi.

B) Directing the Respondent Authorities to restore status quo ante over the land in question as was existing before they started construction over it.

C) Directing the Respondent Authorities to maintain the status quo over the land in question during the pendency of instant writ application.

D) Any other relief for which the petitioner is deemed entitled for."

3. At the outset, it is submitted that earlier the

petitioner on being aggrieved by the action of the State, making

encroachment over the land of the Temple as well as his

personal property, filed C.W.J.C. No. 22037 of 2019, which

application came to be disposed of vide order dated 22.11.2019,

by a bench of this Court, which reads as under:-

"with a direction to the President of the Trust/Board to take cognizance of the facts stated in the writ application and if so required, he may himself proceed to bring an appropriate action in accordance with law. In case any application is preferred by the petitioner, seeking permission from the Trust/Board, the same shall also be considered and an appropriate decision thereon shall be taken within statutory period of 8 weeks from the date of filing of such application by the petitioner."

Patna High Court CWJC No.4966 of 2022 dt.10-10-2023

4. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that in

terms of the order of this Court dated 22.11.2019, the petitioner

approached before the Board by filing the appropriate

application before the Tribunal seeking permission with respect

to the property of the Temple in question as well as his personal

property, but neither any permission nor any action has taken

with respect to the property, which is claimed to be acquired or

owned by the petitioner. Thus, having found no way out, the

petitioner again approached before this court by filing the

present writ petition.

5. At this stage, learned senior counsel representing

the Bihar State Religious Trust Board drew the attention of this

Court to the order dated 22.11.2019 passed in C.W.J.C. No.

22037 of 2019, and submitted that the claim which is being

raised before this Court has already been brought in earlier

round of litigation, and thus there is no need of any fresh order

by this Court on the issue, which has already been dealt with in

the earlier order.

6. Having gone through the order of this Court, passed

in earlier round of litigation, prima facie, this Court finds merit

in the submissions made on behalf of the learned senior counsel.

7. In view of the aforesaid facts, the present writ Patna High Court CWJC No.4966 of 2022 dt.10-10-2023

petition stands disposed with an observation that, if still the

grievance with regard to the alleged personal property of the

petitioner has not been taken care of by the president of the

Board, he has a remedy under Section 43(A) of Bihar Hindu

Religious Act, 1950 to take proper permission and approach

before the Tribunal for resolving the dispute with regard to the

self acquired or personal property.

(Harish Kumar, J)

shoaib/-

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Uploading Date          17.10.2023.
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