The petitioner has filed this writ petition challenging Ext.P5 proceedings of the respondent by which an application for reference submitted by him under Section 18 of Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' for short) has been rejected.
2. The petitioner's land has been acquired for the Erumely Water Supply Scheme. The petitioner was abroad. Therefore, no notice was served on him. Though notice was tried to be served on his parents, they had refused to accept the same. The award in the case was passed on 11.03.2013. Thereafter, according to the petitioner, he returned to India and received the award amount under protest on 20.08.2013. On 21.08.2013, he has submitted Ext.P4 application seeking a reference to the Civil Court for determination of the compensation payable to him. The said application has been rejected by Ext.P5.
3. A statement has been filed by the respondent. It is not in dispute that the petitioner was not present when the award was passed, for the reason that no notice of award was served on him. The notice under Section 9(b) was served only on the parents of the petitioner. Thereafter, notice under Section 13(2) of the Act was sent by registered post, which is Ext.R1(b). Therefore, it is contended that, W.P.(C) No.30438 of 2014 2 the petitioner's application is out of time.
4. As per Section 18 of the Act, if the person submitting the application was present or represented before the Collector at the time of making the award, the application has to be submitted within a period of six weeks of the date of the Collector's award. It is further provided in the provision that, in other cases the reference application would have to be filed within a period of six weeks of the date of receipt of the notice from the Collector under Section 12(2) of the Act or within six months from the date of the Collector's award, whichever expires earlier. In the present case, admittedly, the petitioner was not present when the award was made. He has received the amount under protest on 20.08.2013. He has submitted the application under Section 18 on 21.08.2013. The application has been submitted within the period of six months contemplated by Section 18 of the Act. The petitioner is entitled to take the benefit of the six months period for the reason that, he was not present or represented before the Collector at the time of making the award. The above being the position, Ext.P5 is unsustainable.
In view of the above, this writ petition is allowed. Ext.P5 is set aside. The respondent is directed to pass necessary orders on petitioner's application Ext.P4, making a reference to the Civil Court under Section 18 of the Act, as expeditiously as possible and at any W.P.(C) No.30438 of 2014 3 rate within a period of one month of the date of production of the copy of this judgment by the petitioner.
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K.SURENDRA MOHAN, JUDGE.
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