Patna, March 11 The Patna High Court has directed the Bihar government to stay the eviction of a woman belonging to the Mahadalit community from a settlement in the Begusarai district until further orders.
The bench of Justice Ajit Kumar issued the direction to the state government on Tuesday following a petition from Saroj Devi, a resident of a Musahar settlement at Jaimangla Garh in the Cheriabariyarpur area of Begusarai.
The Musahars are one of the state's most marginalized Mahadalit communities.
"The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that without initiating proceedings under Section 3 of the Bihar Land Encroachment Act, 1956 (for brevity 'Act of 1956'), the Circle Officer, Cheriabariyarpur, immediately issued a notice under Section 6(2) of the Act of 1956 and directed the petitioner to remove the encroachment, which, according to the petitioner, is not an encroachment on public land but rather, they are the rightful owners of the land," the order stated.
At this stage, the learned counsel for the state submits that the case may be adjourned, enabling them to seek instructions to inform this court about the factual position regarding whether the proceedings required under the Bihar Public Encroachment Act, 1956, have been initiated.
"Based on the submissions made by the state counsel, this case is being adjourned for four weeks, and the state counsel is expected to inform the Circle Officer, Cheriabariyarpur, not to implement the removal of the encroachment until the next hearing date. The case will be heard on April 7," Justice Kumar said in the order.