Lucknow: Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government why compensation should not be given to Lal Bihari Tiwari, 57, who was "kept dead in files from 1976 to 1994".

While Lal Bihari was out of his home district, Azamgarh, his uncle allegedly identified a dead man as him and got his nephew's five-acre land transferred in his name in 1976. This was done allegedly with the support of some police and revenue department officers.

Lal Bihari replaced Tiwari with "Mritak (dead)" as his title in protest against the fraud and fought an 18-year court battle and proved in 1994 that he was alive. He also got back his land.

As many people across the state who were facing the same problem started meeting Lal Bihari for help, he formed a Mritak Sangh (Association of the Dead) to take up the cases of those mentioned as "dead" in records.

Lal Bihari moved the high court in 2010 demanding a compensation of Rs 25 crore because he was "kept dead for 18 years" and "people looked at me as (if) I was a ghost".

The court on Monday issued notices to the state's chief secretary and the Azamgarh DM seeking their replies before March 13, when the case would be heard again.