2026:JHHC:24130 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI W.P.(C) No. 3932 of 2026 1. Lakho Nayak, son of Late Madho Nayak, resident of Barkatha, P.O. & P.S.-Barkatha, Dist.-Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. 2. Suresh Nayak, son of Lakho Saw @ Lakho Nayak, resident of Barkatha, P.O. & P.S.-Barkatha, Dist.-Hazaribagh, Jharkhand .... Petitioner(s) Versus 1. The State of Jharkhand through the Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribagh 2. The District Land Acquisition Officer, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. 3. The Circle Officer, Barkatha, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. 4. The Project Director, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Project Implementation Unit-Hazaribagh, Canary Hill Road, P.O., P.S. & Dist.-Hazaribagh … Respondent(s) ------ CORAM : SRI ANANDA SEN, J. ------ For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Ashish Kr. Shekhar, Advocate For the State: Mr. Ranjan Kumar, AC to Sr. SC-I For the NHAI: Mr. Rajesh Kumar Sahaundhiylya, Advocate Mr. Amrit Raj Kisku, Advocate ------ 03/12.08.2026 Heard the parties. 2. By way of filing this writ petition, a prayer has been made for direction upon the respondent not to dispossess the petitioners from their house situated at Barkatha Khata No. 99, Plot No. 2923, Thana No. 114, area 1.25 decimal till the same is acquired lawfully by the authorities. It has been further prayed for direction upon the respondent to pay compensation to the petitioners in accordance with the provision of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Restatement Act, 2013 with all other statutory benefit. 3. Anenxure-4 is a general notice issued by the Circle Officer, Barkatha, Hazaribagh wherein a general notice has been published to remove all the encroachments over the Kaisare Hind land / Raiyati land of Mauza -Barkatha and Parwta near NH-2. 4. After going through notice, I find that the same is absolutely vague and has not addressed to anyone. 5. If an encroachment has to be removed in terms of the Bihar (Jharkhand) Public Land Encroachment Act, individual notice giving the description of the land and the nature of encroachment must be served upon the party, who is sought to be removed or evicted. In absence of a specific notice and without following the law, no-one can be evicted. 6. Thus, the notice issued by Circle Officer, Barkatha Annexure- 4 is set aside in view of the similar order passed in the W.P.(C) No. 5858 of 2026. 7. The Circle Officer, Barkatha, Hazaribagh is a liberty to issue individual notice to the encroachers and proceed thereafter. 8. Accordingly, this writ petition is allowed. (ANANDA SEN, J.) 12th August, 2026 Anu/SKC-CP-02 Uploaded on: 14/08/2026