Judgment

GAJENDRAGADKAR, J. : These two appeals arise out of two writ petitions filed by the appellant Raja Harish Chandra Raj Singh against the respondents the Deputy Acquisition Officer and another in the Allahabad High Court and they were based on the same facts and asked for the same relief. Both of them raise a short common question of limitation the decision of which would depend upon the determination of the scope and effect of the provision of the proviso to S. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, I of 1894 (hereinafter called the Act). Since the facts in both the appeals are substantially the same we would refer to the facts in Civil Appeal No. 25 of 1958. The decision in this appeal would govern the decision of the other appeal, Civil Appeal No. 26 of 1958.

2. The appellant Raja Harish Chandra Raj Singh was the proprietor of a village Beljuri in the District of Nainital. It appears that proceedings for compulsory acquisition of land including the said village for a public purpose were commenced by respondent 2, the State of Uttar Pradesh, notifications under Ss. 4 ad 6 of the Act were issued in that behalf, and the provisions of S. 17 were also made applicable. Accordingly, after the notice under S. 9(1) of the Act was published possession of land was taken by the Collector on March 19, 1960. Thereupon, the appellant filed his claim to compensation for the land acquired in accordance with S. 9(2), and proceedings were held by the Deputy Land Acquisition Officer, respondent 1, for determining the amount of compensation. It appears that in these proceedings an award was made, signed and filed in his office by respondent 1 on March 25, 1951. No notice of this award was, however, given to the appellant as required by S. 12(2) and it was only on or about January 13, 1953, that he received information about the making of the said award. The appellant then filed an application on February 24, 1953, under S. 18 requiring that the matter be referred for the determination of the Court, as according to the appellant, the compensation amount determined by respondent 1 was quite inadequate. Respondent 1 took the view that the application thus made by the appellant was beyond time under the proviso to S. 18 and so he rejected it. The appellant then filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court on December 21, 1953, in which he claimed appropriate reliefs in respect of the order passed by respondent 1 on his application made under S. 18. This petition was heard by Mehrotra, j., and was allowed. The learned Judge directed respondent 1 to consider the application made by the appellant on the merits and deal with it in accordance with law. He held that in dealing with the said application as filed in time. Against this decision the respondents preferred an appeal to a Division Bench of the said High Court. Moothan, C. J., and Chaturvedi, J., who heard this appeal took the view that the application filed by the appellant under S. 18 of the Act was barred by time, and so they allowed the appeal, set aside the order passed by Mehrotra, J., and dismissed the writ petition filed by the appellant. The appellant then moved for and obtained a certificate from the said High Court and it is with this certificate that he has come to this Court in the present appeal; and so the short question which the appellant raises for our decision is whether the application filed by him under S. 18 of the Act was in time or not.

3. Before proceeding to construe the material provisions of S. 18 it is necessary to refer very briefly to some other sections of the Act which are relevant in order to appreciate the background of the scheme in relation to land acquisition proceedings. Section 4 deals with the publication of the preliminary notification and prescribes the powers of the appropriate officers. Whenever it appears to the appropriate Government that land in any locality is needed for any public purpose a notification to that effect shall be published in the