M/S Brijnandan Singh vs. The State Of Bihar

Facts

The petitioner, M/s Brijnandan Singh, filed a writ petition before the Patna High Court. The petition challenged an unspecified order or action by the revenue authorities. The respondents included the State of Bihar and various tax and water resources department officials. The core of the dispute involved an amount that was the subject matter of the writ petition. The procedural history indicates that the petitioner approached the High Court via a writ petition. The present order is a result of a submission made by the petitioner's counsel during the proceedings.

Held

The Court held that the writ petition has become infructuous. This finding is based solely on the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner. The reasoning is that if the amount in dispute has already been refunded, then the purpose of filing the writ petition to seek that refund or to challenge its withholding is no longer valid. The ratio decidendi is that a writ petition seeking a specific relief that has subsequently been granted or rendered moot by the opposing party's action becomes infructuous. The operative direction was to dismiss the writ petition as infructuous.

Key Issues

1. Whether the writ petition has become infructuous due to the refund of the disputed amount? (Question of fact) The petitioner argued that the amount which was the subject matter of the writ petition has been refunded. This submission implies that the relief sought in the writ petition has already been granted or rendered moot by subsequent actions. The revenue or State did not record any specific arguments in response to this submission, as the court's decision was based on the petitioner's statement.