1. Heard Mr. Anoop Kumar Mehta, learned counsel for the
petitioner, and Mr. Rajiv Ranjan, learned Advocate General appearing
on behalf of the respondent-State.
2. This matter came before this Bench on 21.01.2026, when learned
counsel for the petitioner applied for an adjournment. Although we were
reluctant to grant an adjournment, we did so with a view to affording the
Neutral Citation No. 2026:JHHC:5203-DB
petitioner an additional opportunity and adjourned the matter to the 11th
of February 2026 at 2:15 PM for final disposal, subject to any overnight
part-heard matters. Our reluctance to adjourn was because the matter is
more than 20 years old, and we had clarified that priority would be
accorded to such long-pending matters.



