Patna High Court
Abdul Wahab Ansari vs The State Of Bihar on 29 August, 2025
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.2974 of 2023
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-455 Year-2016 Thana- GANDHIMAIDAN District- Patna
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Abdul Wahab Ansari, Son of Late Nijamuddin Ansari, R/o Israt Villa, House
No. 18, Aman Vihar, Harun Nagar, Section-2, P.S.-Phulwarisharif, District-
Patna.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar.
2. Santosh Kumar Shrivastava, S/o Permanand Prasad, Add. Land-Acquisition
Officer, Patna, Mohalla-Shantipuri, P.S.-Motihari Sadar, District-East
Champaran (Motihari).
... ... Opposite Party/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Ramakant Sharma, Sr. Advocate
Mr. Mayank Raj, Advocate
Mr. Rahul Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhyaya, APP
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOURENDRA PANDEY
C.A.V. JUDGMENT
Date : 29-08-2025
Heard Mr. Ramakant Sharma, the learned
Senior Advocate for the petitioner, assisted by Mr.
Mayank Raj and Mr. Rahul Singh, the learned Advocate as
also Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhaya, the learned Additional
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Public Prosecutor for the State.
2. The present application has been filed
invoking the inherent jurisdiction of this Court, under
Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, for
quashing of the First Information Report of Gandhi
Maidan P.S. Case No. 455 of 2016, dated 10.12.2016,
which was registered for the offences under Sections 166,
167, 420, 421, 466, 467, 468 and 120(B) of the Indian
Penal Code.
3. The brief facts giving rise to the present
application is to the effect that one Santosh Kumar
Srivastava, the then Additional Land Acquisition Officer,
Patna, gave a written complaint before the Officer-In-
Charge of Gandhi Maidan Police Station for launching
prosecution alleging therein that an FIR be lodged against
the Government Officer for passing orders for payment of
compensation with regard to land in Village-Jujharpur,
measuring 0.8 acres of land, which was acquired for the
purposes of scheme for KV Grid Sub-Centre as per the
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Land Acquisition Case No. 07/2008-09.
4. It was alleged that the case be lodged
immediately for payment of compensation which was
done by Shri Abdul Wahab Ansari (the petitioner), who
was the then Land Acquisition Officer, Patna since
transferred.
5. Mr. Ramakant Sharma, the learned Senior
Advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioner, has
submitted that the present FIR is misconceived and the
petitioner had not committed any offence and he has
been made an accused in this case in pursuance of the
order dated 04.04.2013 passed by this Court in C.W.J.C.
N. 17550 of 2012, wherein the main grievance of the writ
petitioner was that compensation was wrongly paid to
Shivpuran Rai and Shivlal Rai, who were nephews of the
writ petitioner.
6. It has been submitted that in the Land
Acquisition Case No. 07/2008-09, which was acquired for
the purposes of establishment of KV Grid Sub-Centre in a
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particular village, out of total area of 0.32 acres of land,
compensation with regard to 0.16 acres of land to the
tune of 80% was paid to one Nageshwar Rai pursuant to
the order passed by this petitioner, the then Land
Acquisition Officer, on 09.09.2010. Subsequently, vide
order dated 05.03.2012, the respondent Nos. 6 and 7 of
the aforesaid writ petition were also paid 80%
compensation for their respective shares, i.e., 0.8 acres.
7. The case of the writ petitioner, namely,
Nageshwar Rai, was that he wanted the entire
compensation with regard to the total land, i.e., 0.32
acres of land and as such, the respondents in the writ
petition, viz., Shivpujan Rai and Shivlal Rai, had filed a
complaint/objection before the Land Acquisition Officer,
i.e., the present petitioner. The petitioner, therefore, had
passed the order for payment of 80% of compensation to
them and rest of the amount was kept pending on
account of one case being pending before the L.R.D.C.
8. It has been submitted on behalf of the
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petitioner that it was on the petition filed by aforesaid
Shivpujan Rai and Shivlal Rai, in proper format, that the
petitioner being the Land Acquisition Officer, after
conducting an enquiry by the Amin and the Kanoongo,
passed the order of payment of compensation to the tune
of Rs. 4,37,363.85/- for both the claimants and cheques
were handed-over to them.
9. It has further been submitted that the two
persons, namely, Shivpujan Rai and Shivlal Rai, by
concealing the fact of Mutation Case No. 488/3/2009-10,
had wrongly claimed their shares over 0.8 acres of land.
As a result thereto, wrong compensation was paid to
them. It has also been submitted that it was on account
of the pressure being put by this Hon'ble Court in the writ
petition that respondent authorities have taken action of
lodging an FIR against the then Land Acquisition Officer,
i.e., the petitioner. However, from the perusal of the
FIR, it has been submitted, it would be evident that it was
a wrong order being passed by the petitioner due to
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suppression of facts by the claimants and as such, the FIR
was misconceived.
10. The learned Senior Advocate submits that
the amounts which have been paid to wrong persons
could have been recovered through a certificate
proceeding and the authorities had proceeded with
issuance of charge against the petitioner and, thereafter,
the FIR was lodged against him.
11. Thus, it has been submitted that from the
above, it would be evident that even if the whole
allegation for the sake of argument be taken into
consideration, there is no ingredients of any criminal
offence much less the alleged offences being made out
against the petitioner and at best, the orders passed by
the petitioner can be termed as ignorance and
inadvertence or dereliction in discharge of his duty. It has
further been submitted that even in the departmental
proceeding, it has been found that there was dereliction in
duty on account of inadvertence and ignorance on
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account of not putting up of the old records before the
Land Acquisition Officer (the petitioner) by the then
Assistant and the Head Assistant of the Office.
12. It has further been submitted that it was
also found that on the objection filed by Nageshwar Rai
(the writ petitioner), dated 12.01.2010, the petitioner,
the then Land Acquisition Officer, had passed the order
that the same being entered in Award Register and order
to that effect was given to the In-Charge Clerk, namely,
Upendra Pandey. However, he failed to comply the same.
Hence, the delinquent officer, i.e., the petitioner, cannot
be held guilty or saddled with an act of omission. This
fact is further evident from the order passed by the
Directorate, which forms part of the FIR.
13. The learned Senior Advocate has pointed
out that despite such facts being noted in the
departmental enquiry, the aforesaid Assistant/Upendra
Pandey was neither proceeded in the departmental
enquiry nor any criminal case was lodged against him.
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14. It has further been submitted that the
case was registered in the year 2016 and the petitioner
has also retired from service on 31.01.2022 and only
90% pension was released in his favour and even the
leave encashment and gratuity have been withheld till
final decision in the departmental enquiry.
15. Mr. Ramakant Sharma, the learned
Senior Advocate, while drawing the attention of this Court
to several judgments rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme
Court in cases of Raghubir Singh & Ors. Vs. State of
Bihar : reported in (1986) 4 SCC 481; Abdul Rehman
Antulay & Ors. Vs. R.S. Nayak & Anr. : (1992) 1 SCC
225; and lastly in the case of State of Haryana & Ors.
Vs. Ch. Bhajan Lal & Ors. : AIR 1992 SCC 604 , has
asserted that long pendency of criminal cases hampers
the right of the accused to a speedy trial which forms part
of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of
the Constitution of India.
16. It has, thus, been submitted that in view
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of the legal propositions and the factual matrix of the
present case, the impugned FIR, referred to above, is fit
to be quashed.
17. Per contra, the learned APP for the State
has submitted that the present FIR was lodged on account
of wrong payment of compensation to one Shivpujan Rai
and one Shivlal Rai in Land Acquisition Case No.
07/2008-09. It has further been submitted that the petitioner, who was then District Land Acquisition Officer, Patna, without examining his earlier order dated 28.08.2010, passed another order dated 27.02.2012 for payment of Rs. 4,37,363.85/- to the aforesaid Shri Shivpujan Rai with regard to 0.8 acres of land through Award No. 13(Kha). Similarly, Award No. 13(Ka) was prepared for compensation amount of Rs. 4,37,363.85/- in favour of Shri Shivlal Rai.
18. The learned APP has further submitted that it was on account of such faulty payments that the Principal Secretary, Revenue and Land Reforms Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 10/19 Department, Govt. of Bihar, after considering all the fact on record, had directed to take needful action for recovery of the aforesaid amounts through the certificate case already initiated against Shri Shivpujan Rai and Shri Shivlal Rai. The Principal Secretary has further directed to frame Prapatra - "Ka" against the then District Land Acquisition Officer, Patna, i.e., the petitioner, and initiate a departmental proceeding against the guilty persons and also file a criminal case against them.
19. It has further been submitted by the State counsel, referring to the averments made in the counter affidavit, that the certificate case is still pending and one of the recipients of the compensation, namely, Shivlal Rai, died and his sons, namely, Kapil Rai and Vakil Rai, have been substituted in his place as legal heirs and for default in the certificate case, aforesaid Kapil Rai had also been sent to jail and after six months of incarceration, he was released. The General Administration Department has also passed orders of Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 11/19 recovery of five percent Pension amount of the petitioner.
20. The learned APP, in nutshell, has submitted that the criminal case has been instituted against the petitioner for willfully passing an order ignoring the directions of the superior officers. Unless the same is taken to its logical conclusion, it could not be ascertained whether the petitioner had deliberately released the amount of compensation in favour of the two persons, who were not entitled for the same.
21. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties, it is evident that the present case was filed in pursuance to the directions issued by the Principal Secretary, Revenue and Land Reforms Department, Govt. of Bihar on account of the fact that the petitioner had paid compensation to those persons who were not legally entitled for the same.
22. This Court has also taken into account the fact that a certificate case has already been initiated against the persons who have been wrongly paid the Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 12/19 compensation amount as well as the fact that in the departmental enquiry, certain facts have emerged, wherein it was found that the previous record was not placed before the petitioner, who was the then Land Acquisition Officer, while the subsequent order of payment was being made in pursuance to the directions of the petitioner.
23. From the perusal of the documents, which is the part of the FIR, this Court has also noticed that there is an undertaking by the persons who have been paid the compensation that in case it is found that they are not entitled or if a claim by the competent Court of law/authority is made, they shall be paying back the said amount of compensation.
24. It also transpires from the perusal of the FIR that it is not the case of the prosecution that the petitioner was in connivance with the said two persons who have been wrongly paid the compensation amount nor has he received any extraneous consideration for Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 13/19 passing the said order in their favour. This Court, in fact, notices that in the FIR it has been alleged that the person who has directed for payment of compensation should be booked without giving any details as to what was the offence committed by him.
25. It is relevant to refer at this stage Paragraph-9 of the judgment passed in case of Raghubir Singh (supra), which reads as follows :
"9. ........................ Several questions arise for consideration. Was there delay? How long was the delay? Was the delay inevitable having regard to the nature of the case, the sparse availability of legal services and other relevant circumstances? Was the delay unreasonable? Was any part of the delay caused by the wilfulness or the negligence of the prosecuting agency? Was any part of the delay caused by the tactics of the defence? Was the delay due to causes beyond the control of the prosecuting and defending agencies? Did the accused have the ability and the opportunity to assert his right to a speedy trial? Was there a likelihood of the accused Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 14/19 being prejudiced in his defence? Irrespective of any likelihood of prejudice in the conduct of his defence, was the very length of the delay sufficiently prejudicial to the accused? Some of these factors have been identified in Barker v. Wingo (supra). A host of other questions may arise which we may not be able to readily visualise just now. The question whether the right to a speedy trial which forms part of the fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed by Article 21 has been infringed is ultimately a question of fairness in the administration of criminal justice even as 'acting fairly' is of the essence of the principles of natural justice [In re K. (H.) and infant] and a 'fair and reasonable procedure' is what is contemplated by the expression 'procedure established by law' in Article 21 (Maneka Gandhi)."
26. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in case of Abdul Rehman Antulay (supra) in Paragraph-53 of the judgment has observed as hereinunder :
"53. In Sheela Barse v. Union of Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 15/19 India : [1986] 3 SCR 562], a Division Bench comprising Bhagwati and R.N. Misra, JJ. re-affirmed that the "right to speedy trial is a fundamental right implicit in Article 21 of the Constitution" and observed "the consequence of violation of fundamental right to speedy trial would be that the prosecution itself would be liable to be quashed on the ground that it is in breach of the fundamental right." Thus, the Court answered the question which Bhagwati, J. had posed in the first Hussainara Khatoon case. Accordingly, they directed that so far as a child accused of an offence punishable with imprisonment of not more than 7 years is concerned, a period of three months from the date of filing of complaint or lodging of the F.I.R. shall be deemed to be the maximum time permissible for investigation and a period of six months from the filing of the charge-sheet as the reasonable period within which the trial should be completed. It was specifically directed that if these time-limits are not obeyed, the prosecution against the child should be quashed."
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27. This Court has observed that the petitioner proceeded by passing the orders of payment of compensation on account of dereliction in duty by one of the Assistants of the Land Acquisition Office and as such, he could not have been saddled with the entire liability of wrongly paying the compensation to persons who were not competent to receive the same. This Court also finds that it is only the petitioner who has been singled out and no case has been lodged against the Assistant and the Head Assistant of the concerned Office.
28. This Court is constraint to observe the grounds enumerated by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in case of Ch. Bhajan Lal (supra). Paragraph-108 of the said judgment, wherein, the conditions under which an F.I.R. could be quashed was enumerated, is reproduced hereinbelow for ready reference :
"108. In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Chapter XIV and of the principles of law enunciated by Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 17/19 this Court in a series of decisions relating to the exercise of the extra-ordinary power under Article 226 or the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code which we have extracted and reproduced above, we give the following categories of cases by way of illustration wherein such power could be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, though it may not be possible to lay down any precise, clearly defined and sufficiently channelised and inflexible guidelines or rigid formulae and to give an exhaustive list of myriad kinds of cases wherein such power should be exercised.
1. Where the allegations made in the First Information Report or the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the accused.
2. .............................................................
3. .............................................................
4. .............................................................
5. Where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint are so absurd and Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 18/19 inherently improbable on the basis of which no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused.
6. Where there is an express legal bar engrafted in any of the provisions of the Code or the concerned Act (under which a criminal proceeding is instituted) to the institution and continuance of the proceedings and/ or where there is a specific provision in the Code or the concerned Act, providing efficacious redress for the grievance of the aggrieved party.
7. Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide and/ or where the proceeding is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused and with a view to spite him due to private and personal grudge."
29. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances and also taking into account the various judicial pronouncements made by the Hon'ble Supreme Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2974 of 2023 dt.29-08-2025 19/19 Court, this Court finds that despite passage of almost nine years, the investigation has not yet been completed, which clearly is against the settled law on the fundamental right to life and liberty granted under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which is being infringed in the present case.
30. Under such circumstances, the continuation of the present proceeding would amount to abuse of process of law. Moreover, the delay, which has occurred in concluding the investigation, has caused serious prejudice to the petitioner, leaving no option to this Court, but to quash the F.I.R. of Gandhi Maidan P.S. Case No. 455 of 2016.
31. This Court orders accordingly.
32. The application stands allowed.
(Sourendra Pandey, J) Praveen-II/-
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