Patna High Court
Suman Singh @ Suman Sharma vs The State Of Bihar on 6 July, 2026
Author: Rajiv Roy
Bench: Rajiv Roy
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.11917 of 2023
======================================================
1. Suman Singh @ Suman Sharma Son of Late Ram Akbal Sharma Resident of
Village-Bherharia, P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
2. Binay Singh Son of Late Chandradeo Singh Resident of Village-Bherharia,
P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
3. Arun Kumar Tiwari Son of Siddeshwar Tiwari @ Chini Tiwari Resident of
Village-Bherharia, P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
4. Rabindra Sharma Son of Late Alakhdeo Sharma Resident of Village-
Bherharia, P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
5. Nawlesh Sharma Son of Bachchu Sharma Resident of Village-Bherharia,
P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
6. Surya Nath Singh @ Sharma Son of Late Rajju Singh Resident of Village-
Bherharia, P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
7. Laxman Tiwari Son of Raj Bahadur Tiwari Resident of Village-Bherharia,
P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
8. Bimal Kumar Tiwari Son of Ram Pratap Tiwari Resident of Village-
Bherharia, P.O.-Siyarampur, P.S.-Paliganj, District-Patna.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of
Revenue and Land Reforms, Govt. of Bihar, Patna.
2. The Distirct Magistrate-Cum-Collector, Patna.
3. The Distirct Land Acquisition Officer, Patna.
4. The Commissioner, Patna Division, Patna.
5. The Executive Engineer, Rural Engineer Organization, Patna Division,
Patna.
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Neeraj Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Md. Khurshid Alam, AAG-12
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 06-07-2026
Heard Mr. Neeraj Kumar, learned counsel for the
petitioner and the State.
2. The present petition has been preferred for the
following relief/s:
i) for issuance of
appropriate writ, order or direction
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specially in the nature of certiorari for
quashing the notice dated 09.05.2023
published in Hindi Newspaper "Dainik
Bhaskar" under Section 19 (1)
whereby Collectorate, Patna (District
Land Acquisition Branch) has
declared that for the project G.T.S.N.Y.
and for Mukhya-Mantri Gram
Sampark Yojna (G.T.S.N.Y.) Lands
from Guran Bigha Road to Bherari
Siyarampur Road) is required for
construction of Road, and area of
0.6760 Acres vide Thana No. 328
Revenue Thana No. Bikram, Anchal-
Paliganj, District- Patna.
ii) for quashing the Award
No. 1, 2, 4 and 5 issued under Section
37(2) of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Re-settlement Act, 2013 given to the
petitioners.
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iii) For a direction to the
Respondent authorities not to take
possession of land to be acquired.
iv) Any other relief or reliefs
to which the petitioners are entitled in
the facts and circumstances of this
case.
3. The matter relates to a piece of land details of
which is/are incorporated in paragraph no.4 of the petition and
read as under:
(i) Plot No. 1314, 1315 of Petitioner
No.1 Suman Sharma
(ii) lands of Petitioner No.2, Binay
Singh vide Khata No. 368, S. Plot No.
1317 an area of 0.046 acres
(iii) Rabindra Sharma vide Khata
No. 357 S. Plot No. 1412 an area of
0.18 acres
(iv) Chini Tiwari vide Khata No. 334,
S. Plot No. 1425 an area of 0.1150
acres
(v) lands of Surya Nath Singh @
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Sharma, vide Khata No. 2585, S. Plot
No. 1762 an area of 0.055
(vi) lands of Bimal Tiwari, Laxman
Tiwari, Nawlesh Sharma are also
going to be acquired (details not
given).
4. The respondent proposed to acquire the land under
'Mukhyamantri Gramin Sadak Yojana' (henceforth for short
'the Yojana').
5. Though not incorporated in this writ petition, the
submission put forward by the learned counsel for the petitioner
is/are that the mandatory notice under Section 11(i) of Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013
(henceforth for short 'the 2013 Act') was never issued and
instead, the respondents straight away made the award
declaration.
6. Aggrieved, the present writ petition. Learned
counsel for the petitioners submits that the least that is expected
from the respondents is/are to issue notice to the petitioners
about their intention to acquire the property which must be
clear, cogent and meaningful.
7. In support of the case, learned counsel for the
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petitioner, took this Court to an order of the Hon'ble Supreme
Court in the case of Kolkata Municipal Corporation and
another vs Vimal Kumar Shah and Ors. reported in 2024 (3)
(SC) (97) with specific reference to paragraphs 24, 25, 27 and
30 which read as under:
24. the Right to property: A net of
intersecting rights: There is yet
another aspect of the matter. Under
our constitutional scheme,
compliance with a fair procedure of
law before depriving any person of
his immovable property is well
entrenched. We are examining this
issue in the context of Section 352 of
the Act which is bereft of any
procedure whatsoever before
compulsorily acquiring private
property. Again, assuming that
Section 363 of the Act provides for
compensation, compulsory
acquisition will still be
unconstitutional if proper procedure
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is not established or followed before
depriving a person of their right to
property. We find it compelling to
clarify that a rather undue emphasis
is laid on provisions of
compensation to justify the power of
compulsory acquisition, as if
compensation by itself is the
complete procedure for a valid
acquisition;
25. while it is true that after the 44th
Constitutional Amendment, the right
to property drifted from Part-III to
Part-XII of the Constitution, there
continues to be a potent safety net
against arbitrary acquisitions, hasty
decision-making and unfair
redressal mechanisms. Despite its
spatial placement, Article 300A
which declares that "no person shall
be deprived of his property save by
authority of law has been
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characterised both as a
constitutional and also a human
right10. To assume that
constitutional protection gets
constricted to the mandate of a fair
compensation would be a
disingenuous reading of the text and,
shall we say, offensive to the
egalitarian spirit of the Constitution.
27. What then are these sub-rights or
strands of this swadeshi
constitutional fabric constituting the
right to property? Seven such sub-
rights can be identified albeit non-
exhaustive. These are: (i) duty of the
State to inform the person that it
intends to acquire his property-the
right to notice, (ii) the duty of the
State to hear objections to the
acquisition-the right to be heard,
(iii) the duty of the State to inform
the person of its decision to acquire
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the right to a reasoned decision, (iv)
the duty of the State to demonstrate
that the acquisition is for public
purpose-the duty to acquire only for
public purpose, (v) the duty of the
State to restitute and rehabilitate the
right of restitution or fair
compensation, (vi) the duty of the
State to conduct the process of
acquisition efficiently and within
prescribed timelines of the
proceedings-the right to an efficient
and expeditious process, and (vii)
final conclusion of the proceedings
leading to vesting the right of
conclusion.
30. Following are the seven
principles:
30.1. The Right to notice: (i) A prior
notice informing the bearer of the
right that the State intends to
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deprive them of the right to property
is a right in itself; a linear extension
of the right to know embedded in
Article 19(1)(a). The Constitution
does not contemplate acquisition by
ambush. The notice to acquire must
be clear, cogent and meaningful.
Some of the statutes reflect this right.
(ii) Section 4 of the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894, Section 3 (1) of the
Requisitioning and Acquisition of
Immovable Property Act, 1952,
Section 11 of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013, and Section
3A of the National Highways Act,
1956 are examples of such statutory
incorporation of the right to notice
before initiation of the land
acquisition proceedings.
(iii) In a large number of decisions,
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our constitutional courts have
independently recognised the right
to notice before any process of
acquisition is commenced.
30.2. The Right to be heard: (i)
Following the right to a meaningful
and effective prior notice of
acquisition, is the right of the
property-bearer to communicate his
objections and concerns to the
authority acquiring the property.
This right to be heard against the
proposed acquisition must be
meaningful and not a sham.
(ii) Section 5A of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894, Section 3 (1)
of the Requisitioning and Acquisition
of Immovable Property Act, 1952,
Section 15 of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013, and Section
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3C of the National Highways some
statutory Act, 1956, embodiments of
this right. are some statutory
embodiments of this right.
iii) Judicial opinions recognizing the
importance of this right are far too
many to reproduce. Suffice to say
that that the enquiry in which a land
holder would raise his objection is
not a mere formality.
30.3. The Right to a reasoned
decision: (i) That the authorities
have heard and considered the
objections is evidenced only through
a reasoned order. It is incumbent
upon the authority to take an
informed decision and communicate
the same to the objector.
Act, 1894, Section 3 (2) of the (ii)
Section 6 of the Land Acquisition
Requisitioning and Acquisition of
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Immovable Property Act, 1952,
Section 19 of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013 and Section
3D of the National Highways Act,
1956, are the statutory
incorporations of this principle.
(iii) Highlighting the importance of
the declaration of the decision to
acquire, the Courts have held that
the declaration is mandatory, falling
which, the acquisition exceedings
will cease to have effect.
30.4. The Duty to acquire only for
public purpose: (i) That the
acquisition must be for a public
purpose is inherent and an important
fetter on the discretion of the
authorities to acquire. This
requirement, which conditions the
purpose of acquisition must stand to
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reason with the larger constitutional
goals of a welfare state and
distributive justice.
(ii) Sections 4 and 6 of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894, Sections 3(1)
and 7(1) of the Requisitioning and
Acquisition of Immovable Property
Act, 1952, Sections 2(1), 11(1), 15(1)
(b) and 19(1) of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013 and Section
3A(1) of the National Highways Act,
1956 depict the statutory
incorporation of the public purpose
requirement of compulsory
acquisition.
(iii) The decision of compulsory
acquisition of land is subject to
judicial review and the Court will
examine and determine whether the
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acquisition is related to public
purpose. If the court arrives at a
conclusion that that there is no
public purpose involved in the
acquisition, the entire process can be
set-aside. This Court has time and
again reiterated the importance of
the underlying objective of
acquisition of land by the State to be
for a public purpose.
30.5. The Right of restitution or fair
compensation: (i) A person's right
to hold and enjoy property is an
integral part to the constitutional
right under Article 300A.
Deprivation or extinguishment of
that right is permissible only upon
restitution, be it in the form of
monetary compensation,
rehabilitation or other similar
means. Compensation has always
been considered to be an integral
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part of the process of acquisition.
(ii) Section 11 of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894, Sections 8
and 9 of the Requisitioning and
Acquisition of immovable Property
Act, 1952, Section 23 of the Right to
Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2013, and Sections 3G and 3H of the
National Highways Act, 1956 are the
statutory incorporations of the right
to restitute a person whose land has
been compulsorily acquired.
(iii) Our courts have not only
considered that compensation is
necessary, but have also held that a
fair and reasonable compensation is
the sine qua non for any acquisition
process.
30.6. The Right to an efficient and
expeditious process: (i) The
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acquisition process is traumatic for
more than one reason. The
administrative delays in identifying
the land, conducting the enquiry and
evaluating the objections, leading to
a final declaration, consume time
and energy. Further, passing of the
award, payment of compensation
and taking over the possession are
equally time consuming. It is
necessary for the administration to
be efficient in concluding the process
and within a reasonable time. This
obligation must necessarily form
part of Article 300A.
(ii) Sections 5A(1), 6, 11A and 34 of
the Land Acquisition Act, 1894,
Sections 6(1A) and 9 of the
Requisitioning and Acquisition of
Immovable Property Act, 1952,
Sections 4(2), 7(4), 7(5), 11(5), 14,
15(1), 16(1), 19(2), 25, 38(1), 60(4),
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64 and 80 of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013 and Sections
3C(1), 3D(3) and 3E(1) of the
National Highways Act, 1956,
prescribe for statutory frameworks
for the completion of individual
steps in the process of acquisition of
land within stipulated timelines.
(iii) On multiple occasions, upon
failure to adhere to the timelines
specified in law, the courts have set
aside the acquisition proceedings.
30.7. The Right of conclusion: (i)
Upon conclusion of process of
acquisition and payment of
compensation, the State takes
possession of the property in normal
circumstances. The culmination of
an acquisition process is not in the
payment of compensation, but also
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in taking over the actual physical
possession of the land. If possession
is not taken, acquisition is not
complete. With the taking over of
actual possession after the normal
procedures of acquisition, the
private holding is divested and the
right, title and interest in the
property, along-with possession is
vested in the State. Without final
vesting, the State's, or its
beneficiary's right, title and interest
in the property is inconclusive and
causes lot of difficulties. The
obligation to conclude and complete
the process of acquisition is also
part of Article 300A,
(iâ…±) Section 16 of the Land
Acquisition Act, 1894, Sections 4
and 5 of the Requisitioning and
Acquisition of Immovable Property
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Act, 1952, Sections 37 and 38 of the
Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2013, and Sections 3D and 3E of the
National Highways Act, 1956,
statutorily recognise this right of the
acquirer.
(iii) This step of taking over of
possession has been a matter of
great judicial scrutiny and this Court
has endeavoured to construe the
relevant provisions in a way which
ensures non-arbitrariness in this
action of the acquirer 20. For that
matter, after taking over possession,
the process of land acquisition
concludes with the vesting of the
land with the concerned authority.
The culmination of an acquisition
process by vesting has been a matter
of great importance. On this aspect,
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the courts have given a large
number of decisions as to the time,
method and manner by which
vesting takes place.
8. Accordingly, the contention is that having not
followed the mandatory provision of the issuance of notices, the
first principle of the right to notice having been breached, the
decision taken by the respondents have to be interfered with.
9. A counter affidavit has come on behalf of the
respondent no. 2 and 3 duly signed by the Additional District
Land Acquisition Officer, Patna and learned State counsel has
taken this Court to paragraph no.9 to 16 which read as under:
9. that preliminary notification
under section 11 (1) of the
RFCTLARR Act, 2013 has been
issued vide letter no-2113, dated-
02.09.2022
and Declaration vide
letter no-1011, dated-03.05.2023.
The possession has been handed
over to Requisitioning Authority the
on 27.01.2024;
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10. that the rate fixation of the land
has been done after considering the
higher value of the average value of
the sale deeds preceding three
years from the notification and
MVR has been considered.
The average of the sale deed
has been found to be Rs.-
17,58,288.00 per acre whereas
the MVR of the land in question
which is agriculture in nature
has been fixed to be
17,50,000.00 per acre. Thus the
higher rate of Rs.-17,58,288.00
per acre has been considered
for the calculation of the
compensation amount to the
land owners. Further 60%
solatium amount to those land
owners who have given their
land on their own and addition
of additional damages has been
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added. The rate fixation report
dated-12.06.2023 which has
been approved by the Collector,
Patna.
11. That the Award No-01, 02,
03, 04 and 05 (Annexure 05
series of the writ petition) has
been prepared in the name of
Sharma (Petitioner), Sharma,
Kamata Suman Ravindra Singh
and Chini Tiwari and issued
under section-37 (2) of the
accordance with calculation as
law as per the mentioned in the
aforesaid paragraph.
12.That the land owners did not
turn up for receiving the
compensation amount inspite of
several notices sent to them and
paper publication also made in
this regard. There has been no
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application filed by the land
owners for compensation
amount receiving even the after
10 days of new paper
publication made in Hindustan
and Dainik Jagaran dated-
01.12.2023.
13. That accordingly the
District Land Acquisition
passed order Officer, Patna has
Memo vide No-119, dated-
13.01.2024 whereby direction
has been made for depositing
the 100% compensation
amount before the Learned
Court of the Land Acquisition
Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Authority, Patna under section-
77 (2) of the RFCTLARR Act,
2013.
14. That it is humbly submitted
that earlier in the aforesaid
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order, due to typing mistake the
total compensation amount has
been inadvertently mentioned
as Rs. 1 28,72,796.00 instead of
Rs.-48,72,796.00. The said
amount of Rs-28,72,796.00 has
been earlier sent vide Cheque
No-086647, dated-25.01.2024
to the Learned Court of the
Land Acquisition Rehabilitation
and Resettlement Authority,
Patna.
Thus an amended order vide
Memo No-304, dated-
29.01.2025 has been issued by
the District Land Acquisition
Officer, Patna whereby order
has been passed directing the
Nazir of the Land Acquisition
District Office, Patna to send
the remaining amount of
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Rs.20,00,000.00 to the Learned
Court of the Land Acquisition
Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Authority, Patna. The said
amount of Rs.-20,00,000.00 has
been sent to the Authority vide
Cheque No-300536, dated-
30.01.2025.
15. That it is apparent from the
aforesaid facts that the
answering respondents have
taken needful action in
accordance with law in the
aforesaid matter.
16. That in view of the
aforesaid facts, the notice
dated-09.05.2023 under section
19 (1) of the RFCTLARR Act,
2013 issued by the Collector,
Patna with regard to the
aforesaid project is justified in
the eyes of law.
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10. Learned State counsel submits that contrary to the
stand taken by the petitioners (not in the affidavits in the writ
petition) that no notice was issued prior to the declaration of the
award, it clearly reflects from the paragraph no.9 of the counter
affidavit that vide letter no.2113 dated 02.09.2022 notice under
Section 11(i) of ‘the 2013 Act’ has issued and when no
objection was received with regard to the land in question, only
thereafter, the declaration vide letter no. 10011 dated 02.05.2023
came into existence.
11.Learned State counsel submits that 80% the work
already stands completed but due to the petitioner putting spoke
in the wheels, the entire work could not be completed yet.
12. Having heard the parties and pursuing the records,
the facts that emerges is/are that the petitioners knocked the
doors of the High Court with the prayer not to acquire their
lands which they are cultivating. In the entire writ petition, no
where it records that the notice under Section 11(i) of ‘the 2013
Act’ was not issued thus breaching the first principle mandated
by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Kolkata
Municipal Corporation (Supra).
13. Further, the matter was first heard by a coordinate
bench on 09.01.2025 and while directing the respondents to file
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affidavits, it was observed that status quo as existing today to be
maintained.
14. The affidavits of the respondents came to be filed
on 04.02.2025 after service of copy to the learned counsel for
the petitioners. It recorded issuance of notice under Section
11(i) of ‘the 2013 Act’ vide letter no. 2113 dated 02.09.2022.
The petitioners chose not to file any reply to the counter
affidavit rebutting the stand of the respondents despite receiving
the affidavit on 04.02.2025 till the matter has been taken up for
hearing. In between, adjournments were sought for and granted
by another coordinate bench on 31.10.2025, 11.11.2025 and
18.11.2025.
15. When the matter was lastly taken up on
16.06.2026, once again prayer for adjournment was made but a
stand was taken by the learned counsel that he intends to
converse with the petitioners regarding compensation on the
receipt of compensation amount as 80% of the work stands
completed. This court thus adjourned the matter.
16. However, today, learned counsel for the petitioner
has taken up the non issuance of notice under Section 11(i) of
‘the 2013 Act’ to interfere with the decision. This Court repeats
that no reply to counter affidavit(dated 04.02.2025) has been
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filed by the petitioners rebutting the stand of the respondents
that notice was indeed issued which followed the award.
17. This Court is thus satisfied that the respondents
have followed the legal process in the said acquisition process
which includes issuance of notice under Section 11(i) of ‘the
2013 Act’ to the declaration of award.
18. Regarding the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s
judgement in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Supra)
cited by the petitioners, this Court observes that it no way
applies in the case of the petitioners as they failed to rebut the
specific stand taken by the respondents about the issuance of
notice.
19.This Court further holds that the records show that
the respondents followed the principles required in the case of
acquisition as mandated in Kolkata Municipal Corporation
(Supra). The petitioner never put forward their objection
pursuant to the said notice and as such cannot claim that they
were not heard.
20. Further, the acquisition has been made for ‘the
Yojana’ which is definitely in public purpose.Thus, the second
principle also was fulfilled, further, it is not the case of the
petitioner that they have not been given fair compensation as
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mandated in Kolkata Municipal Corporation(Supra).
21.The respondents have further taken efficient and
expeditious process and have concluded the acquisition
proceeding following all the legal procedure, thus, all the
principles mandated in Kolkata Municipal Corporation
(Supra).
22. Lots of water has flown down the ganges and now
the time has come for the respondents to complete the project
which is pending since last 3-4 years. The petitioners, if so want
can receive the compensation amount after presenting their
respective documents.
23. The aforesaid facts have been incorporated. This
takes the Court to only one conclusion. The writ petition lacks
merit and is accordingly dismissed. The status quo order passed
earlier gets merged with the order of dismissal.
24. Let the copy of the order be sent to the office of
the Collector, Patna for his perusal/needful.
(Rajiv Roy, J)
Ravi/-Ankita
AFR/NAFR AFR
CAV DATE
Uploading Date 08.07.2026
Transmission Date
