The court emphasized the necessity for prompt action by authorities regarding land conversion to protect property rights under the Constitution.

2 27-01-2026 Heard learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner and the learned counsel for the State.

2. The petitioner in paragraph no. 1 of the present writ petition has sought inter alia following relief(s), which is reproduced hereinafter:-

“This is an application for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari to quash order dated 02.06.2025 passed by Respondent No. 6 in Arbitration Case No. 09/2025 contained in Annexure-01 whereby the claim of the petitioner under section 3G[7(a)] of the National Highways Act, 1956 has been rejected and for issuance of appropriate order for direction for directing the respondents to pay appropriate compensation amount for the area of the land described in paragraph No. 3 of this application according to the present market value over which NH-119D is being constructed under the project of "Bharat Mala" from Kalyanpur (Hajipur) in Vaishali District to Bela Nawada situated in Darbhanga District by Respondent No.7and for issuance of a writ/order /direction for which the petitioner may be found legally entitled to get appropriate compensation amount at the market value of the land on the date of publication of the notification U/s 3A N.H. Act 1956 under the facts and circumstances of this application.”

3. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner seeks liberty to file application before the appropriate authority under the provision of the Bihar Agriculture Land (Conversion for Non-Agriculture Purposes) Act, 2010 (hereinafter to be referred as the ‘Act, 2010’) to get his land converted into commercial land from agriculture land after making payment of due revenue for such conversion.

4. Learned counsel in this background submits that since the adjoining land in the vicinity of the petitioner’s acquired land is commercial in nature, the Market Value Register (MVR) fixed for the area ought to be at commercial rates.

5. If such application is filed by the petitioner for converting his land in commercial land, the authority concerned is directed to act forthwith so that the petitioner is not deprived of his right under Article 300-A of Constitution of India or in alternative the petitioner can go for mediation as per the provision of Act, 2010 and give effect to the Mediation for the Nation 2.0 for amicable settlement.

6. With the above observation/direction, the present writ petition stands disposed of.

(Purnendu Singh, J)