The Patna High Court has set aside an order of the Bihar State Waqf Tribunal that had restrained the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) from proceeding with construction work on certain land parcels in Samastipur district, holding that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to pass such an injunction.
Justice Bibek Chaudhuri, in a ruling delivered on Tuesday, found that the tribunal had exceeded its authority by staying acquisition and construction activities on land recorded as mosque and kabristaan properties. The court observed that the tribunal’s order was legally unsustainable and based on a misreading of the applicable law.
The dispute arose from a May 15, 2025 order of the Waqf Tribunal, which had halted construction on several plots, reasoning that the acquisition process was not in compliance with the Waqf Act, 1995. The tribunal had taken the view that the land, being Waqf property, required adherence to specific statutory safeguards.
Challenging this order, NHAI argued before the High Court that land acquisition for national highway projects is governed entirely by the National Highways Act, 1956, which lays down a comprehensive legal framework for such purposes.
Accepting this contention, the High Court held that the National Highways Act constitutes a “complete code in itself” for acquisition of land for highway development. It clarified that the Waqf Tribunal could not interfere with such statutory processes by issuing injunctions.
Addressing the applicability of the Waqf Act, the court specifically noted that Section 91 of the 1995 Act does not bar the acquisition of Waqf property. Instead, it only mandates that notice be issued to the Waqf Board so that it may participate in compensation proceedings.
“The learned tribunal is absolutely without jurisdiction in passing the impugned order of injunction,” the court observed, adding that the tribunal had “failed to appreciate the law”.
The High Court also took note of earlier judicial orders in the matter, observing that they had effectively rendered the tribunal’s stay inoperative.
With this ruling, the court cleared the way for NHAI to proceed with construction work on the disputed land parcels in Samastipur.
