Court No. - 33
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 42173 of 2015 Petitioner :- Ish Narayan Shukla Respondent :- State Of U.P. & Another Counsel for Petitioner :- K. Ajit,Arvind Srivastava Iii Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Manoj Misra,J. Hon'ble Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.
Heard Sri Arvind Srivastava III, learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel for the respondents.
The instant petition has been filed for direction upon the respondents to award compensation to the petitioner for the land acquired after determining compensation afresh under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
A perusal of the record would reveal that the land of the petitioner was acquired on the basis of notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on 25th July, 1974 followed by notification, under Section 6, dated 17th August, 1974. Thereafter, compensation was awarded to the petitioner at the rate of Rs.15,000/- per acre. Aggrieved by the rate at which compensation was awarded, the petitioner had raised a reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. IIIrd Additional District Judge, Jaunpur, acting as reference court, by award dated 31st July, 1987 enhanced the compensation by awarding it at the rate of Rs.75,000/- per acre. Aggrieved by the order passed by the reference court, the State Government filed an appeal, which is stated to have been dismissed.
It is claimed by the petitioner that no compensation has yet been paid to the him and the petitioner continues in physical possession. According to the petitioner, the compensation is therefore payable as per the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
This court had invited counter affidavit from the State- respondents. In the counter affidavit, which has been sworn by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Varanasi, it has been stated that the possession of the land in question was taken and was handed over to the Public Works Department on 20th August, 1978. It is further stated that after transferring the land to the Public Works Department, notices under Section 12 (2) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 for distributing compensation were issued fixing 20th October, 1978 for the land owners to appear and claim their respective compensation. It is stated that the petitioner had received the notice by putting his signature but has claimed reference under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, pursuant to which, L.A. Case No.116 of 1980 and 21 of 1981 were registered, which have been decided on 31st July, 1989. It is stated that as per judgement and award dated 31st July, 1989, calculation was made and money was offered which was refused. It is stated in the counter affidavit that under the circumstances, compensation is not payable under the new Act.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has sought to argue that in view of decision of the Apex Court in Pune Municipal Corporation and Another Vs. Harak Chand Mishrimal Solanki and others, (2014) 3 SCC 183, the benefit of Section 24 (2) of the Act, 2013 would be available to the petitioner as he has not been paid compensation.
The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is not acceptable for following reasons. Firstly, the possession of the petitioner's land has been taken by the State authorities way back in the year 1978 and, secondly, the petitioner has already given up his claim for the land by seeking reference for enhancement of compensation under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and, thereafter, has also obtained an award from the reference court. Moreover, there is no prayer in the writ petition to declare that the acquisition proceedings have lapsed under section 24(2) of the 2013 Act. Further, since the award has already been passed under the old Act of 1894, compensation cannot be determined under section 24(1) (a) of the new Act, 2013.
Under the circumstances, the only course open for the petitioner is to seek execution of the reference court award in case the entire amount payable thereunder has not been paid and the award is operative.
With the aforesaid liberty, this petition is disposed off. Order Date :- 27.11.2018.
Rks.