“Yes Gulab Rai came and asked us to stop the work. We started the work a month ago, but are unable to lay the foundation for a building as Gulab Rai has told us that the work will not start till he gets the money for his land,” Kanhaiya Mishra, a contractor, working at Phulwaria, told reporters.

The issue has created flutters among authorities in the Nitish Kumar Government, as in a similar case, Sudish Yadav — son of Lalu’s nephew Ramanand Yadav — was paid a compensation of around Rs 2 lakh by the state’s land acquisition department.

Sudish Yadav’s “irregularly” acquired 50-decimal land was also used for the railway project. Compensation for the land was paid by the railways through the state Government.

“My son has received a payment of around Rs 2 lakh for the land, but Gulabjee is yet to receive payment for his land. Authorities have created some problem,” said Ramanand Yadav, Sudish’s father. Gulab Rai could not be contacted as he was reported unwell.

The Gopalgunj authorities have been caught on the wrong foot. First ,they paid compensation to Sudish Yadav for a land that was “irregularly” settled in his name and now, they have now withheld the payment to Gulab Rai for a similar claim.

Further worsening the matter for the authorities is a rule that clearly states that a government land transferred to a landless cannot be “re-transferred” or sold to someone.

Here, one of the landowners has received monetary benefit for letting go the land and the second one is demanding money. But since it was a government land, irregularly settled in someone’s name, the Government did not require to pay compensation for it.

... contd.