Supreme Court strikes down Bihar law on heritage Patna library’s acquisition

The Supreme Court has struck down a law in Bihar allowing the State Government to take over a heritage Patna library, saying the provision for token compensation of Rs 1 for such acquisition was “illusory” and lacked the basic attributes of fairness. Setting aside the 2024 order of the Patna High Court, which had previously upheld the State’s takeover, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said, “The Srimati Radhika Sinha Institute and Sachchidanand Sinha Library (Requisition & Management) Act, 2015 is declared unconstitutional and is accordingly struck down.”

The bench directed that the management and administration of the library be restored to the original trust.

Located in the heart of the Bihar Capital, the two-storey structure is commonly known as ‘Sinha Library’.

The top court said that there was not a single communication from the state Government to the trust or its trustees, bringing to their notice any allegation of mismanagement, financial irregularity, neglect, or failure to discharge the objects of the trust. The apex court underlined that before passing the Act, the state also did not provide any reasons for the proposed acquisition.

It said, “A measure of such sweeping consequence, including complete divestiture of an institution that has functioned for nearly a century, cannot rest on assumptions that were never put to the very persons sought to be displaced.

This itself is a powerful indicator of the arbitrary character of the legislative action.”

In a stinging criticism of the Act, the top court noted that Section 7 of the Act authorised the state to pay compensation up to a maximum of one rupee, and said that besides aggravating the arbitrariness, it vested “unguided discretion in the legislature” and reduced compensation to “a nominal and illusory figure”.

It said that a statutory provision that enabled the acquisition of property while reducing compensation to a token amount lacked the basic attributes of fairness.

“While Article 300A of the Constitution permits deprivation of property by authority of law, such law must nevertheless be just, fair and reasonable, and not arbitrary or confiscatory in effect,” the court said.

Highlighting the “confiscatory nature” of the ownership transfer under the Act, the top court said that the enactment was “manifestly arbitrary” and failed constitutional scrutiny.

“The manner in which this power (of acquisition) is exercised is excessive, unreasoned and disproportionate to the stated object of better management and development. We are therefore satisfied that the… Act is manifestly arbitrary and violative of Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution,” the court said.

Founded by Sachchidananda Sinha, the library was inaugurated by the then Governor of Bihar and Orissa, Sir Henry Wheeler, on February 9, 1924.

It was established officially as the ‘Srimati Radhika Sinha Institute and Sachchidananda Sinha Library’ but was often referred to as ‘Sinha Library’. The institute was named after Sinha’s wife.

Sachchidananda Sinha, one of the prime makers of modern Bihar, was also the provisional president of the Constituent Assembly of India when it met in Delhi for the first time in 1946.

Before the Act was passed, the institution was run by the Srimati Radhika Sinha Institute and Sachchidananda Sinha Library Trust.