Court No. - 4
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 24288 of 2019 Petitioner :- Dharm Raj Singh Respondent :- Union Of India And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ram Naresh Singh,Shive Datta Yadav Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I.,C.S.C.,Rajesh Kumar Jaiswal
Hon'ble Bala Krishna Narayana,J. Hon'ble Prakash Padia,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri R. K. Jaiswal for respondent 1 & 2 and learned Standing Counsel for respondents no.3 and 4.
From perusal of the averments made in the writ petition and the documents appended thereto it appears that an area of 0.0816 hectare of petitioner's plot no.1417 situated in Village Purain (Hathgam), Tehsil-Khaga, District Fatehpur was acquired by the National Highways Authority of India and compensation was awarded under Section 3 (g) (1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred as the Act) by award dated 25.5.2018. However, he is not satisfied with the quantum of compensation hence he has approached this Court by means of this writ petition.
Learned Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents no.3 and 4 has submitted that if the petitioner is not satisfied with the impugned compensation, he has got an alternative remedy of moving an application for determination of compensation under Section 3(g) (5) of the National Highways Act, 1956 and this writ petition is liable to be dismissed on the ground of alternative remedy.
Sri Nand Kishore Sharma, learned counsel holding brief of Sri. R. K. Jaiswal, learned counsel for the respondents no.1 and 2 have submitted that the District Magistrate, Fatehpur has been appointed as Arbitrator by the Central Government of India in exercise of its power under Section 3(g) (5) of the National Highways Act, 1956.
Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the other materials brought on record, we find that there is force on submissions made learned counsel for the respondents.
There is no dispute about the fact that in this case award has been made and the petitioner appears to be dissatisfied with the awarded compensation. Section 3(g) (5) of the National Highways Act, 1956 stipulates that if the amount determined by the competent authority under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) is not acceptable to either of the parties, the amount shall, on an application by either of the parties, be determined by the arbitrator to be appointed by the Central Government.
The award in this case has been passed by the competent authority, however, petitioner instead of filing application under Section 3(g) (5) of the Act has approached this Court directly. In our opinion he should first avail the alternative remedy available to him under Section 3(g) (5) of the National Highways Act, 1956.
In view of the above, without expressing any opinion on merits, we dispose of this writ petition with liberty to the petitioner to file an application for determination of compensation under Section 3(g) (5) of the National Highways Act before the respondent No.3/Collector, Fatehpur, along-with certified copy of this order within a period of two weeks from today. In case any such application is filed by the petitioner before the respondent no.3 within two weeks from today, the same shall be decided by the respondent no.3/The Collector, Fatehpur, as expeditiously as possible within the period prescribed in law.
Order Date :- 25.7.2019 Pramod Tripathi