IMPORTANT POINT
Compulsory acquisition of land – If any individual is to be divested or deprived of said right by State, it ought not be done without giving compensation in accordance with law for land so acquired for public purpose.

JUDGMENT :

J.K. Maheshwari, J.

1. This appeal has been filed against the order dated 29.09.2009 passed in Writ Petition No. 2022 of 1992 by the High Court of Judicature of Bombay at Nagpur Bench. The said Writ Petition was filed by the father of the appellant/land owner (now deceased) seeking writ in the nature of mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in taking over possession of the subject land owned by him pursuant to acquisition made by respondent no. 2 as illegal, arbitrary and without any authority of law. The land owner also sought compensation @ Rs. 400-500/-per sq. ft. with commensurate damages caused on account of mental agony suffered in last several years, or in alternate, allotment of plot of equal dimension in the same vicinity. During the pendency of the petition, the original writ petitioner died and his legal heir (appellant herein) was substituted.

2. The High Court observed that possession of land was taken in 1970 and the award in case of other land owners was passed in year 1986, separating the case of appellant. Therefore, partly allowing the writ petition, High Court directed respondent nos. 2 and 3 to complete the exercise for grant of alternate plot on or before 31.01.2010 or otherwise determine compensation on or before 30.04.2010 and pay damages as per Section 48-A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984 (hereinafter referred to as ‘LA Act’) in accordance with law.

3. For ready reference and convenience, hereinafter we shall refer the deceased father of the appellant as ‘land owner’; his legal heir as ‘appellant’; Respondent No. 1/State of Maharashtra as ‘State’; Nagpur Improvement Trust/Respondent No. 2 as ‘NIT’ and Respondent No. 3/Special Land Acquisition Officer as ‘SLAO’.

4. The facts succinctly stated are that, in an auction dated 26.02.1943 held by the Commissioner Court of Wards, the landowner purchased two plots bearing No. 8 admeasuring 9800 sq. ft. of Khasra No. 35/8 and No. 18 admeasuring 7248 sq. ft. of Khasra No. 35/9 at Mouza Khamla, District Nagpur, Maharashtra on payment of Rs. 880/-. The said plots previously belonged to ‘Ex-Malguzar Pande’. The sale deeds of both the plots were executed by the representative of the Court of Wards in favour of the landowner on 02.03.1944. Vide order dated 09.05.1962 passed by S.D.O., Nagpur, the revenue records were corrected and those plots were mutated in the name of the landowner. NIT required the said land for ‘Ajni Street Scheme’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘Scheme’) for which the notification under Section 39 of Nagpur Improvement Trust Act, 1936 (hereinafter referred to as ‘NIT Act’) akin to Section 4 of the LA Act was published on 12.07.1962 specifying Khasra Nos. 35/1 and 35/2 only. The final declaration under Section 45 of the NIT Act akin to Section 6 of the LA Act was published on 16.01.1969. After final declaration, NIT vide letter dated 10.10.1969 requested the State for transfer of Khasra Nos. 35/1 and 35/2 to it for the Scheme, as it presumed the land to be Government Nazul land. Sometime in the year 1970, NIT constructed the road on 5390 sq. ft. of land of Khasra No. 35/8 which included plot No. 8 belonging to the land owner. Thus, admittedly, after taking of possession of subject land, road was constructed in 1970 on it and is in public use since then.

5. In reply to letter dated 10.10.1969 written by NIT, the Collector, District Nagpur on 31.05.1972 informed that transfer of land of Khasra Nos. 35/1 & 35/2 is not possible because it is not Government land; in fact, the said land belonged to and was occupied by Ex-Malguzar Pande. Therefore, NIT was instructed to submit valuation report of the remaining land. The land owners also received ‘no objection’ to sell other plot No. 18 of Khasra No. 35/9 from NIT on 21.02.1976 and sold it to one Anil Hinge on 08.03.1976. For the sake of clarity, it is only ‘plot No. 8’, i.e., Khasra no. 35/8 which is the subject land in the present appeal and not plot No. 18 of Khasra No. 35/9.

6. The firs