The Bihar Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the bill to acquire over 15,000 acres of land belonging to the erstwhile Bettiah Raj.

The property, valued at ₹8,000 crore, is spread across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The state government said that the takeover would help free the property from encroachment, while the CPIML opposed it on the grounds that it would displace around 50,000 people settled on the land for the past several decades.

The Bettiah Raj came to existence during the 17th century AD. It became the second largest zamindari of Bihar during the British period. The last ruler — Harendra Kishore Singh — passed away heirless on March 26, 1893, leaving behind his two widows Maharani Sheo Ratna Kunwar and Maharani Janki Kunwar.

While Sheo Ratna died in 1896, Janki passed away in 1954.

According to the Bihar government officials, at least 50 per cent land of the Bettiah Raj has been encroached by illegal settlers.

According to the government, the majority of the land of the Bettiah Raj is in the West Champaran and East Champaran districts in Bihar, while some portions are located in the Saran, Siwan, Gopalganj and Patna districts.

Some property of the erstwhile estate is located in Allahabad, Basti, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Mirzapur and Varanasi districts in Uttar Pradesh.

“Around 15,215 acres of Bettiah Raj land is in Bihar, while 143 acres is in Uttar Pradesh. The then Maharaja of Bettiah, Harendra Kishore Singh died without an heir in 1893. The British declared his wife Janki Kunwar incapable and brought the land under the ‘Court of Wards Act 1889’ in 1897,” revenue and land reforms minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal said during the debate on the bill.

Jaiswal revealed that the state government was considering the move to acquire the property for the past several years because the Court of Wards was not taking its care suitably.

“The Bettiah Raj land was being continuously encroached. So the Bihar government has decided to take over its entire property, including those located in Uttar Pradesh. Once this is done, the collectors of the concerned districts will take care of the Bettiah Raj property just like they do of the government property,” Jaiswal said.

Speaking further, the minister added that the Bihar government will coordinate with the Uttar Pradesh government to take further action with regard to the property located there.

The state government plans to prepare a list of the entire property of the Bettiah Raj and issue a notification with its details to invite objections from the affected people, which will then be disposed of as per the provisions of the bill.

Jaiswal said that once the entire process is over, the state government will get much land for its community programmes, including the opening of hospitals, medical colleges, universities, and other public institutions. The move will benefit the public and check encroachments.