Come July 10, you can bid for Kaimur district magistrate's plush bungalow.
A Bhabhua court has ordered the confiscation and auction of the irrigation department premises, which houses the official residences of the Kaimur district magistrate (DM) and other administrative officers.
Following the court directive, an auction notice was pasted on the DM's bungalow on Tuesday.
A court, headed by sub-judge Saryu Ram, passed the order while hearing a petition filed by one Komal Singh, the proprietor of Komal Construction Company Limited. The court order was also announced through drum-beats in the presence of a nazir (court staff) in the district headquarters town, around 190km south of Patna.
The petitioner had claimed that the irrigation department had not paid him around Rs 32 lakh even after several reminders. He was assigned earth-filling work for the famous Durgawati water reservoir in 2002-03. The payment was not made to the company even after completion of work. As a result, he had to face financial constraints.
Petitioner Singh, who approached the court in 2012, had also staked his claim to 15 per cent interest on the total amount pending for payment. The court approved his claim and directed the department concerned to pay the petitioner 15 per cent interest, which came to around Rs 37 lakh.
Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi inaugurated the Durgawati water reservoir project, which aimed at providing water to farmers of the Kaimur-Rohtas region for irrigation of their agricultural land, in October last year. The dream project of former deputy Prime Minister Jag Jivan Ram saw the light of day after 38 years.
Taking cognisance of the matter, the court earlier directed the officials of the department to clear the payment. "Even the order of the local court fell on deaf years of the officials. Subsequently, the matter was taken up in the high court, which again referred it to the district court," petitioner Komal Singh told The Telegraph .
According to the court order, the process of auction of immovable assets would start at 10.30am in the court premises. The notice had also served on the executive engineer of Durgawati left canal division, Bhabhua.
Kaimur public prosecutor (PP) Madan Gopal Gupta said an interlocutory petition had been pending in the high court for about a month. "Since the high court was closed for summer vacation, the matter could not be taken up for hearing," Gupta said.
According to Gupta, the interlocutory petition was filed before the high court judge, Justice V Nath.
The petitioner's counsel, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, said the court passed the order of confiscation and auction of the irrigation department office and the residential premises as the department officials didn't pay heed to its previous orders.
On January 16 last year, the DM's bungalow was painted green as part of then district magistrate Arvind Kumar Singh's campaign to provide Bhabhua a status of the state's first Green City. Incumbent DM Prabhkar Jha, however, refused to make any comment on the court order.
On May 7 this year, a district court in Sheikhpura had ordered the confiscation and auction of the Sheikhpura railway station to pay overtime dues of a retired stationmaster.