Md. Mujtaba vs The Union Of India Through The Secretary
2026 Latest Caselaw 539 Patna

Patna High Court

Md. Mujtaba vs The Union Of India Through The Secretary on 19 February, 2026

         IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                     Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.10487 of 2021
     ======================================================
1.   Md. Mujtaba son of Md. Zahir, Mukhiya of Gram Panchayat Raj
     Mahiuddinpur Rajwa. resident of village - Mahiuddinpur Rajwa, P.S. - N.H.
     Bangra, Tajpur, District- Samastipur.
2.   Bhanu Pratap Sah son of Ramswarth Sah Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Raj
     Mahiuddinpur Rajwa. resident of village - Mahiuddinpur Rajwa, P.S. - N.H.
     Bangra, Tajpur, District- Samastipur.
3.   Raushan Ara Jafri wife of Manzer Jafri Mukhiya of Gram panchayat Raj
     Shahpur Baghauni, resident of village - Shahpur Baghauni, P.S. - Waini O.P.
     Tajpur, District- Samastipur.
4.   Nazra Perween wife of Abdullah Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Raj Shahpur
     Baghauni. resident of village - Shahpur Baghauni, P.S. - Waini O.P. Tajpur,
     District- Samastipur.
5.   Md. Sohail Ahmad son of Md. Anam Uddin Convener Religious Place
     Protection Committee, Gram Panchayat Raj Shahpur Baghauni. resident of
     village - Shahpur Baghauni, P.S. - Waini O.P. Tajpur, District- Samastipur.


                                                                 ... ... Petitioner/s
                                        Versus
1.   The Union of India through the Secretary, Road Transport and Highways
     Department, New Delhi- 110001.
2.   The Project Director, National Highway Authority of India, (N.H.A.I),
     Bharat Mala Pariyojna, Hajipur - Darbhanga Section having office at
     Muzaffarpur.
3.   The State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar, Patna.
4.   The Additional Chief Secretary, Road Construction Department, Govt. of
     Bihar, Patna.
5.   The Additional Chief Secretary- cum- Principal Secretary, Revenue and
     Land Reforms Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna.
6.   The Commissioner, Darbhanga Division, Darbhanga.
7.   The District Magistrate- cum- Collector, Samastipur.
8.   The Sub-Divisional Officer, Samastipur.
9.   The District land Acquisition Officer, Samastipur.
 Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026
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  10. The Block Development Officer, Tajpur, District- Samastipur.
  11. The Circle Officer, Tajpur, District- Samastipur.


                                                                     ... ... Respondent/s
       ======================================================
       Appearance :
       For the Petitioner/s     :       Md. Shamimul Hoda, Advocate
                                        Mr. Anuj Kumar, Advocate
       For the Respondent/s     :       Mr. Sayid Salim Khan, Sr. Advocate (SC 25)
                                        Mr. Manoj Kumar Sinha, AC to SC 19
       For the NHAI             :       Dr. Maurya Vijay Chandra, Advocate
                                        Mr. Sriram Krishana, Advocate
                                        Ms. Preety Ranjan, Advocate
                                        Mr. Shashank Shekhar Kumar, Advocate
       ======================================================
       CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIBEK CHAUDHURI
       CAV JUDGMENT

         Date: 19-02-2026

                       1.     The    petitioners       are   residents   of   village

          Mahiuddinpur Rajwa and Shahpur Baghauni, who have

          invoked Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction of this Court,

          claiming the following reliefs:-

                                    "A) For issuance of appropriate
                     writ/writs, order/orders, direction/ directions
                     commanding the respondents to partially change
                     the proposed route of Hajipur Darbhanga
                     Section of Bharat Mala Pariyojna at villages
                     Mahiuddinpur Rajwa and Shahpur Baghauni of
                     Tajpur Block, District-Samastipur by diverting it
                     from outside the village by creating a bypass, so
                     as to save at least three mosques, three burying
                     grounds, one cremation ghat and more than 150
                     residential houses of the petitioners and others of
                     said villages Mahuddinpur Rajwa and Shahpur
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                     Baghauni, which is coming in the proposed route
                     of said project as notified by the Ministry of Road
                     Transport and Highways, Union of India, vide
                     the extra ordinary gazette of India notification
                     dated 5.1.2021 published in local news papers on
                     9.1.2021

declaring the intention of the Central Govt. to acquire such lands for the purpose of construction of Hajipur-Darbhanga Section of said project.

B) For issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents particularly the notified competent authority i.e. District Land Acquisition Officer, Samastipur (respondent no-9) and the District Magistrate, Samastipur (respondent no-

7) to decide the objections raised by the petitioners and other villagers under section 3(C) (1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 at the earliest and further not to proceed with the acquisition proceeding unless the objections raised by the petitioners and other villagers are decided in accordance with law per the mandate of section 3(c) of the said act.

C) For any other relief/reliefs to which the petitioners and similarly situated other villagers having interest in the said proposed acquisition of their land for the purpose of said project are found entitled under the facts and circumstances of the present case."

2. It is pertinent to mention, at the outset, that the Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

Petitioner No. 1 did not want to proceed with the instant writ

petition and he sought for deletion of his name from the array

of the petitioners. Such prayer was allowed vide order, dated

16.02.2026 and on 17.02.2026 the argument was heard.

3. It is the case of the petitioners that by virtue of

notification, dated 5th of January, 2021, published in the

extraordinary gazette of India, the Central Government, in

exercise of its powers conferred under Section 3 (A) (1) of the

National Highways Act, 1956, declared its intention to acquire

land, mentioned in the schedule of the said notification,

coming in the stretch of kilometers 32 to 65 in the District of

Samastipur for the purpose of building, maintenance,

management and operation of Hajipur-Darbhanga Section

under Bharat Mala Pariyojana of the National Highway

Authority of India. The said notification was published in the

local newspapers "The Times of India and The Hindustan" on

9th of January, 2021. The petitioners and there co-villagers

came to know through paper publication about the said

notification and notice that there are three mosques, three

burial grounds, one cremation Ghat and more 150 residential

houses of the petitioners and others of the above-mentioned

two villages coming within the land notified for acquisition Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

under the above-mentioned provisions of the National

Highways Act, 1956. In order to protect their interests, the

petitioners and other local villagers constituted a committee

under the name and style of Religious Place Protection

Committee, Gram Panchayat Raj, Shahpur Baghauni, electing

the Petitioner No. 5 as the convener of the said committee.

The petitioners and many other villagers personally met the

officers of the State Government as well as the National

Highways and raised their objections and grievances against

the proposed route of the said project and also suggested an

alternative route bypassing the densely populated area through

the fields of the same village and submitted a detailed map

indicating the alternative route. It was also contended that if

the crossing of proposed Hajipur-Darbhanga Section of the

said national highway project is shifted just 200 meters west

towards Tajpur-Muzaffarpur road, the vast population of both

the villages could be saved, and the place of worship and the

burial grounds could also be protected.

4. It is stated by the petitioners that they along with

co-villages had also met the Minister of the locality; District

Magistrate, Samastipur; Land Acquisition Officer, Samastipur;

and the Project Director, Highway Authority of India. They Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

also submitted a written objection to the Project Director,

NHAI on 29th of January, 2021.

5. The petitioners also contended that prior to the

gazette notification, dated 5th of January, 2021, a Manual of

Guidelines on the Land Acquisition for National Highways

was published by the Government of India in December,

2018. The guidelines say that at the time of preparation of

DPR and planning the alignment, due care and diligence

would be taken to avoid number of hindrances faced during

the course of implementation of NHAI Project. The said

guidelines published by the Ministry of Road, Transport and

Highways, Government of India were not followed in the

instant case. The notification issued by the Central

Government proposed acquisition of densely populated land

and if such notification is adhered to, the Central Government

will have to incur huge expenditure on compensation in

comparison to the alternative route suggested by the villagers.

Pursuant to the said objection filed by the petitioners and

other villagers, the office of the District Administration

headed by the Circle Officer of the Tajpur-cum-BDO visited

the proposed notified sight and the alternative route suggested

by the villages and they verbally assured for redressal of their Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

grievances. Subsequently, series of objection were filed before

the Land Acquisition Officer, Samastipur by the villagers in

order to protect their residential houses and religious

structures. A delegation of villagers personally met the District

Magistrate, Samastipur on 23rd of March, 2021 and reiterated

their objections. The District Magistrate and the Project

Director, NHAI visited the site of notified alignment of the

proposed route passing through densely populated area of

both the villages and also the alternative route alignment site

suggested by the villagers, subsequently. However, no

effective result was achieved by the villagers which prompted

them to file the instant writ petition.

6. The Respondent No. 2, the Project Director,

Project Implementation Unit "PIU" Muzzafurpur, NHAI has

filed a counter affidavit denying all the material allegations

made out in the writ petition.

7. It is submitted by the Respondent No. 2 that the

land in Mauza Mohiuddinpur Rajwa and Shahpur Baghauni,

admeasuring an area 6.1594 Ha in Mohiunddinpur Rajwa &

4.6484 Ha in Shahpur Baghauni, was acquired in the project

of Amas-Darbhanga, PKG-III (Kalyanpur to Balbhadarpur

Section of NH - 119-D). In relation to the land acquired in Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

Mauza Mohiuddinpur Rajwa & Shahpur Baghauni in the

District of Samastipur, notification under Section 3 (A) of the

National Highways Act, 1956 was published in the

extraordinary gazette of India on 5th of January, 2021 and

further notification under Section 3 (D) of the NHAI Act was

published on 10th of May, 2021. The land in question in the

said two Mauzas has been acquired for the project of

Construction of Four Lane Access Controlled Greenfield

National Highway (NH-119D) under Bharatmala Pariyojana

from village Kalyanpur to village Balbhadarupr (Amas-

Darbhanga) Package-III in the State of Bihar on Hybrid

Annuity Mode.

8. The Respondent No. 2 further states that in the

land acquisition process, area of 6.1594 Ha in Mohiddinpur

Rajwa village and 4.6484 HA in Shahpur Baghaurni village

have been acquired.

9. The Respondent No. 2 further states that

preparation of DPR and alignment process is highly technical

job, involving vast knowledge and expertise in the field of

Highway Development and Maintenance. After examination

of land in the area and thorough technical study by M/s SA

Infra Structure Consultant Pvt. Ltd., which is a qualified and Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

dignified consultant, the land in question has been acquired.

9. It is also submitted that land possession

certificate had already been handed over to the NHAI by the

State Government on 7th of April, 2022, for Shahpur Baghauni

and on 13th of May, 2022 for Mohiddinpur Rajwa. The

compensation amount of 14 Mauzas, including Mohiuddinpur

Rajawa and Shahpur Baghauni has already approved and

deposited with CALA, Samastipur. Notice was served upon

the land holders of the said two Mauzas for receiving

compensation. The project in question has already been

awarded to the concessionaire M/s MEIL Kalyanpur

Roadways Pvt. Ltd. on 30th of March, 2022 and construction

activity on the alignment has already been started since 16th of

February, 2023. Therefore, it is not possible for the NHAI to

change the alignment of the highways as claimed by the

petitioners.

10. This Court has heard the learned Advocate on

behalf of the petitioners and the learned Advocate appearing

on behalf of NHAI.

11. It is pertinent to mention here that the State

Government has not filed any counter affidavit in the instant

case.

Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

12. Section 3(A) of the National Highways Act,

1956 deals with the power to acquire land, etc. The provisions

runs thus:-

"3-A. Power to acquire land, etc.-

(1) Where the Central Government is satisfied that for a public purpose any land is required for the building, maintenance, management or operation of a national highway or part thereof, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare its intention to acquire such land.

(2) Every notification under sub-

section (1) shall give a brief description of the land.

3) The competent authority shall cause the substance of the notification to be published in two local newspapers, one of which will be in a vernacular language."

13. Section 3 (C) of the National Highways Act,

1956 prescribes the procedure of hearing of objections. The

said provision runs thus:-

"3-C. Hearing of objections.-

(1) Any person interested in the land may, within twenty-one days from the date of publication of the notification under sub-section (1) of section 3A, object to the use of the land for the purpose or purposes mentioned in that sub-section.

(2) Every objection under sub-section (1) Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

shall be made to the competent authority in writing and shall set out the grounds thereof and the competent authority shall give the objector an opportunity of being heard, either in person or by a legal practitioner, and may, after hearing all such objections and after making such further enquiry, if any, as the competent authority thinks necessary, by order, either allow or disallow the objections.

Explanation.-For the purposes of this sub-section, "legal practitioner" has the same meaning as in clause (i) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Advocates Act, 1961 (25 of 1961). final.

(3) Any order made by the competent authority under sub-section (2) shall be final."

14. A plain reading of Section 3(C) of the National

Highways Act, 1956 suggests that sub-section 1 of Section

3(C) gives an opportunity to any person interested in the land

to raise objection to the use of the land for the purpose or

purposes mentioned in that sub-section within 21 days from

the date of publication of the notification under sub-section

(1) of Section 3(A). Therefore, the petitioners required to

submit their objection within 21 days from the date of

publication of notification under sub-section (1) of Section 3

(A). Section 3(C)(1) consciously did not give opportunity to

any aggrieved person to raise objection against the publication Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

of notification within stipulated period of time from the date

of publication of "substance of notification" in the daily

newspapers.

15. In the instant case, the notification was

published in the official gazette on 5th of January, 2021.

Therefore, petitioners could have filed the objection within 21

days of publication of the notification in the official gazette

commencing from 6th of January, 2021, thus, the period of

limitation extended till 27th of January, 2021 in respect of

filing of the objection. The petitioners relying on Annexure 2

as the initial objection against the notification for acquisition

which was allegedly received on 29th of January, 2021, i.e.,

after the expiry of the period of limitation.

16. In view of such circumstances, the objection,

i.e., Annexure 2 and subsequent objections, i.e., Annexure 4

purported to made under Section 3 (C) (1) of the National

Highways Act, 1956 is barred by limitation.

17. When this Court finds that the objection is

barred by limitation, it seems to be futile attempt to discuss

the case on merit.

18. For the reasons stated above, the written

objection allegedly filed under Section 3 (C) (1) of the Patna High Court CWJC No.10487 of 2021 dt.19-02-2026

National Highways Act, 1956, being barred by limitation, the

petitioners cannot get any relief in the instant writ petition.

19. The writ petition is, accordingly, dismissed, on

contest.

20. However, there shall be no order as to costs.

(Bibek Chaudhuri, J) uttam/-

AFR/NAFR                NAFR
CAV DATE                17/02/2026
Uploading Date          19/02/2026
Transmission Date       N/A