SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, January 8: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday dismissed a review petition filed by the State government against its 2023 order directing payment of land compensation and has imposed a personal cost of ₹1 lakh on the District Land Acquisition Officer (DLAO), Bokaro, for filing what it termed a frivolous petition.
The order was passed by Justice Rajesh Shankar during the hearing of Civil Review No. 16 of 2025.
Review Filed to “Save Skin” in Contempt Case: Court
The court observed that the State authorities approached it after a delay of 455 days, only after the land losers initiated a contempt case for non-compliance with the earlier order dated August 3, 2023.
“This frivolous review petition has been filed only with an intent to save their skin in the contempt proceeding,” the court said.
Background: BPCL Depot Built Without Paying Compensation
The case relates to 2 acres of land at Mauza Radhanagar, Bokaro, which was settled in favour of Lakhi Bauri, an SC beneficiary, under a government land allotment scheme in 1988–89.
The land was later transferred to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for the construction of a POL depot and railway siding, allegedly without paying compensation to the raiyat.
The High Court, in its 2023 order, had held that proceedings initiated under Section 4(h) of the Bihar Land Reforms Act to cancel jamabandi were merely an “eye wash” to dispossess the landholders without compensation.
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State’s ‘Salami’ Argument Rejected
In the review plea, the State argued that the land was ‘Gair Mazarua’ and that BPCL had paid ₹91.13 lakh as “Salami, Lagan and cess”, not compensation.
Rejecting this argument, the court held that once money equivalent to compensation had already been deposited by BPCL with the State, it was the State’s duty to release compensation to the rightful landowner.
The court noted that compensation for the 2 acres had already been assessed at ₹53.45 lakh under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, which was much lower than the amount deposited by BPCL.
Officer Personally Liable for Cost
Taking serious note of the conduct of State officials, the court held the District Land Acquisition Officer, Bokaro, responsible for filing the review petition.
Justice Shankar directed the officer to pay ₹1 lakh from his personal resources to Lakhi Bauri within two weeks, warning that non-compliance would be reported to the Bench.
Review Dismissed
The court reiterated that a review petition cannot be used as an “appeal in disguise” and found no error apparent on record to justify reopening the 2023 judgment.
Accordingly, the review petition was dismissed.
