The Allahabad High Court has suspended a Bijnor DM order that handed the management of a traditional village fair to the Gaon Sabha, finding it prima facie without jurisdiction and contrary to a civil court decree, and has reminded District Magistrates that they are not plenipotentiaries in their districts.
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has stayed the operation of an order of the District Magistrate, Bijnor, dated August 29, 2025, which made an interim arrangement for holding the annual Jaahar Divan (Goga Naumi) fair at Village Pheona in Tehsil Chandpur, and has allowed the petitioners to organise the fair on the plots they hold under a 1997 decree, subject to permission from the authorities [Committee of Management, Sarvajanik Arya Inter College and another v. State of U.P. and others].
A Division Bench of Justice J.J. Munir and Justice Vivek Saran passed the order on October 27, 2026 on a writ petition filed by the Committee of Management of the college and another petitioner. The Bench admitted the petition, called for counter-affidavits within two weeks, and listed the matter on November 17, 2026.
Background
The petitioner society had earlier sued the Gaon Sabha and certain rival parties from the village who disputed its right to hold the traditional fair. The suit sought an injunction restraining interference with the petitioners’ right to hold the fair on Plots Nos. 981 and 997 of the village. It was decreed in the petitioners’ favour by the 2nd Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), Bijnor, on December 2, 1997, in Original Suit No. 180 of 1982.
Despite that decree, the District Magistrate’s order of August 29, 2025 handed over the management of the fair to the Gaon Sabha and assigned its revenues to the Gaon Sabha, with the arrangement to be run by a three-member committee of revenue officials: the Tehsildar, Chandpur, the Mukhya Adhikari, Zila Panchayat, Bijnor, and the Khand Vikas Adhikari, Chandpur. The order was passed when IAS officer Jasjeet Kaur was District Magistrate of Bijnor. She was transferred the following month and Umesh Pratap Singh now holds the post.
Order prima facie without jurisdiction
The Bench found that the District Magistrate’s order, though framed as an interim arrangement, amounted to a sweeping exercise of power of the kind reserved for a civil court framing a scheme for the management of a trust.
“Prima facie, the impugned order passed by the District Magistrate, Bijnor, making a virtual scheme for holding the traditional fair Jaahar Divan (Naumi) at Village Pheona, Tehsil Chandpur, District Bijnor, is without jurisdiction or authority of law. The tenor of the order, though one of an interim arrangement, does show sweeping exercise of powers, as done by a Court of ordinary original civil jurisdiction, when hearing a suit to frame a scheme for the management of a Trust.”
The Court added that the order “runs in the teeth of the decree of the Civil Court in favour of the petitioner and against the Gaon Sabha, amongst others”.
“Not plenipotentiaries in the district”
In a pointed observation, the Bench said that the High Court had repeatedly cautioned District Magistrates against passing orders on matters that fall within the jurisdiction of other district-level officers or of judges.
“This Court has, time and again, cautioned District Magistrates not to exercise powers as if they are plenipotentiaries in the district, who can pass any kind of an order, the jurisdiction whereof may lie with another District Level Officer or a Judge, but this is yet another instance of usurpation of jurisdiction, prima facie.”
The directions
On the stay application, the Court directed that, until further orders, the operation of the District Magistrate’s order of August 29, 2025 shall remain suspended. The petitioners were given liberty to hold and organise the annual religious fair on Plots Nos. 981 and 997 in Village Pheona after seeking the necessary permission of the authorities, “which shall be granted in due course”.
The Registrar (Compliance) was directed to communicate the order within 24 hours, through the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bijnor, to the District Magistrate, the Additional District Magistrate (Administration), the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Chandpur, the Secretary of the Devta Jahaar Divan Sevadar Manch, Pheona, and the Chairman of the Vidya Hitkarini Sabha, Pheona.
Notice on behalf of respondent nos. 1 to 4 was accepted by Standing Counsel Sanjay Kumar Ray, and on behalf of respondent no. 5 by Shiv Pratap Singh Rathore. Notice was issued to respondent no. 6, returnable on November 17, 2026, when the matter will be taken up for orders along with a service report and a report on the status of pleadings.
Why the order matters
The order reaffirms a basic limit on executive power at the district level. A District Magistrate exercises only the powers that a statute confers, and cannot, under the label of an interim arrangement, decide who manages a religious fair or who takes its revenues, questions that belong to the civil court. Where a civil court has already decreed a party’s right, an administrative order that reverses that outcome is prima facie an usurpation of jurisdiction.
The Bench’s reference to earlier cautions against District Magistrates acting as plenipotentiaries also signals that the High Court treats such overreach as a recurring institutional problem rather than a one-off error, and is prepared to intervene at the admission stage itself.
Case Title: Committee of Management, Sarvajanik Arya Inter College and another v. State of U.P. and others [WRIT – C No. 31005 of 2025]
Bench: Justice J.J. Munir and Justice Vivek Saran, Allahabad High Court
Date of Order: October 27, 2026
Appearances: Krishna Mohan Asthana for the petitioners; Bindo Singh, C.S.C., Krishna Kanhaiya Soni, Lalit Prakash, Shiv Pratap Singh Rathore and Suraj Singh for the respondents