Mandamus for restoration of Bhoodan land possession requires prior exhaustion of statutory execution remedies.

The petitioners are the legal heirs of Sekih Majeed @ Abdul Majeed, a landless person who was issued a Bhoodan Parcha in 1955 for 15 kattha of land in Darbhanga.

The petitioners alleged that they were dispossessed of this ancestral land by private respondents (Respondents 8 and 9).

Following a representation in 2019, the Additional Collector, Darbhanga (Respondent 5), passed an order on 28.01.2019 (Annexure-7) directing the Circle Officer to restore the petitioners' possession with police assistance.

Despite this order, the petitioners remained out of possession and approached the High Court seeking a writ of mandamus to enforce the measurement, demarcation, and restoration of the land.

1. Whether a writ of mandamus can be issued for the execution of an administrative order when an alternative statutory remedy for execution exists under the Bihar Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1954.

Section 15 of the Bihar Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1954, which provides a statutory mechanism for the execution of orders passed by the Competent Authority under the Act.

Principle of exhaustion of alternative remedies, holding that a writ of mandamus is generally not maintainable if the petitioner has not first attempted to exhaust the specific statutory procedures provided for enforcement.

The Court observed that while the Additional Collector had already ruled in favor of the petitioners in 2019, the petitioners had failed to take subsequent legal steps to enforce that order.

The State argued that Section 15 of the Bihar Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1954, specifically addresses the execution of such orders.

The Court reasoned that since the petitioners had not filed any application before the Competent Authority for execution post-2019, it would be premature to issue a writ of mandamus.

The judiciary's role in this context is to ensure statutory remedies are utilized before exercising extraordinary writ jurisdiction.

The petitioners were directed to file an application under Section 15 of the Bihar Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1954, before the Competent Authority within four weeks.

The Court further ordered that upon such application, the Competent Authority must immediately take legal steps to restore the petitioners' possession.