The Himachal Pradesh High Court has struck down the land acquisition for a section of the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri broad-gauge rail line in Bilaspur district, ruling that the state kept extending a 2023 notification without recording real reasons. About 538 bighas around Barmana are now outside the acquisition. For contractors and machine owners working this hill line, it means a stretch that was meant to open as a work front has no legal land base, and the clock on it starts again.
The quick facts
- Ruling: a division bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel and Justice Yogesh Jaswal quashed the notifications, on a petition by Kuldeep Thakur and other landowners. It was reported on 30 September 2026.
- What fell: the preliminary notification of 29 March 2023 and its three extensions, dated 16 March 2024, 24 March 2025 and 25 March 2026.
- Land: roughly 538 bighas of private land in villages including Barmana, Khated and Bhated.
- Why: no final declaration came within the 12 months the 2013 land acquisition law allows, and the extensions gave no concrete written reasons.
What the court decided
Amar Ujala, ETV Bharat and Punjab Kesari all report the same core finding. Under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, a preliminary notification lapses if the government does not issue its declaration within a year. The state may extend that period, but the bench held that citing “administrative” or “extraordinary” circumstances, three years running, is not a recorded reason. All four notifications were declared invalid. Amar Ujala reports that the state would have to begin the acquisition afresh. The desks differ on the exact day of the order, so we give only the reporting date.
What does this mean for equipment owners on the line?
Start with the timeline. The first notice went out in March 2023 and still had not reached a declaration three and a half years later. A fresh process restarts the statutory steps from the preliminary notification onward, and nothing in the ruling suggests the underlying dispute with landowners has gone away. It is hard to see a new work front opening on this land in the coming dry season.
That matters because of what this kind of line pulls. Rail formation in the Bilaspur hills is cutting, rock work, bridges and tunnel portals, not flat embankment. The fleet is mid-size excavators in the 13 to 21 tonne band fitted with breakers, rock drills, tippers, crawler cranes for girders and a batching and transit-mixer train for piers and lining. Hill roads cap machine size, so the kit is already on site or close to it.
Our take: owners with machines hired into the packages around this stretch should not count on the Barmana land feeding the next phase of their contract. Moving plant out of the hills is slow and expensive on low-beds, so redeploying to an active section of the same line, or another Himachal job, beats waiting. The wider lesson is about risk. A project whose land notice has been extended year after year is now visibly open to challenge. Before you buy against a hill-rail contract, ask whether the land under your work front is declared or only notified.
What to watch
- Whether the state appeals or issues a fresh preliminary notification, and on what timeline.
- Any Railways statement on how the ruling shifts the schedule for the Beri end of the line.
- Challenges on other stretches where notifications were extended in the same way.
FAQ
Has the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri rail line been cancelled?
No. The High Court quashed the land acquisition notifications for one section around Barmana in Bilaspur district. The rail line itself has not been withdrawn.
Why did the High Court quash the notifications?
The 2013 land acquisition law requires a declaration within 12 months of the preliminary notification. The state extended the March 2023 notice three times without recording concrete reasons, which the bench held was not allowed.
Can the land still be acquired?
Yes, but the process has to start again. Amar Ujala reports the state would need to begin the acquisition afresh with full statutory compliance.
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Source: Amar Ujala
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