The Patna High Court has observed that the reservation of liberty does not mean that the Court has found locus standi (the right of an individual or group to bring a lawsuit in court) on the petitioner or any encroachment on the road land, which has to be decided by the authority, if at all an application is moved under the enactment.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Petitioner aggrieved with the construction of a building said to have been commenced by the Executive Officer, Nagar Parishad on a road land.
The Bench noted that the petitioner has a remedy by way of an application before the authority under the Bihar Public Land Encroachment Act, 1956.
“Without availing the alternate remedy, the petitioner has approached the Court in a public interest litigation, which is not maintainable.”
The Court dismissed the PIL with the above liberty.