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Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : A.HANUMANTHU, R.M.BAPAT
Land Acquisition Officer-Dy.Collector, Sreeram Sagar Project, Pochampad - Appellant
Versus
Gonda Chinna Rajanna - Respondent
Decided On : 03-10-99
Civil Procedure Code,1908 - Order 1,9 - Rules 8,9,10 and 13 - Sections 20,151,152 - Land Acquisition Act - Sections 4(1),12,12(2),18(1),18(2),28-A,30,31(2),31,53, Limitation Act, 1963 - Article 137 - Land acquisition proceedings - Claim of compensation - Government acquired large extents of land houses and house sites for purpose of submergence in Project in District - C. R. P. relate to some of said lands and houses that were acquired - Government of also acquired cents of land in town for extension of market yard - Relate to some of extents of lands acquired for said market yard - Said lands were acquired after due notifications under Section 4 (1) of Land acquisition Act and after award enquiry land Acquisition Officer also passed awards fixing up market value to said acquired lands - Some of owners of acquired property did not turn up either at time of award enquiry or at time of passing of award - Therefore Land Acquisition Officer referred their cases to civil Court under Sections 30 and 31 (2) of Act - Whether restoration of references which were disposed of earlier either for non-prosecution by claimants or on merits under section 151 Civil procedure code in absence of petitions filed under Order 9, rule 9 Civil procedure deco is maintainable ? - Whether treating reference made under Section 30/31 (2) of act as a reference under Section 18 of Act by way of amendment is justified ? - Whether landholders whose lands also were acquired under same notification are entitled to claim enhanced compensation for their lands by impleading themselves as claimants in another reference in absence of any reference by Land Acquisition Officer under Section 18 with respect to their lands ? - Held, Provisions of Civil Procedure Code are made applicable to Land Acquisition proceedings by enacting section 53 of Land Acquisition Act and that it is within the jurisdiction of reference Court to dismiss reference applications for non-prosecution by claimants and provisions under Order 9 Rule 9 Civil procedure code will be applicable for restoration of said references and question of invoking inherent powers under Section 151 Civil procedure code alone does not arise - SECTION 12 provides that award shall be filed in Collector s Office and shall except as provided in Act be final and conclusive evidence as between Collector and persons interested whether they have respectively appeared before Collector or not of true area and value of land and apportionment of compensation among persons interested - Sub-section (2) of Sec. 12 mandates that Collector "shall give immediate notice of his Award to such of persons interested as are not present personally or by their representatives when - Further it should not be barred by second proviso to Sec. 31 of Act - In Sec. 30 word "may" indicates that it is left to discretion of Collector to refer or not but under Sec. 18 reference cannot be refused on ground that objection was not bona fide and was frivolous - It is the province of Court and not that of Collector to consider merits of objection - As scope under Sections 18 and 30 of Act is distinct Court view that reference Court has no jurisdiction to convert a reference under section 30 into one under Section 18 - IT is also held by Supreme Court in Tota and others that limitation of three months for filing application for redetermination of compensation under Sec. 28-A begins to start from date of award of Court and not from date of knowledge of award - Instant case it has come on record that a reference in relating to land which was also acquired under same notification reference Court passed award enhancing compensation of per acre awarded by LAO to - But date on which said award was passed by Court is not available on record - Appeal Allowed
( 1 ) ALL these cases relate to an abortive attempt made by the claimants in the land acquisition proceedings, to make an unlawful gain with the collusion of the persons at the helm of affair interpreting the provisions of law to suit their convenience. But for the timely intervention on behalf of the State government, this would have been yet another scam of the magnitude of yeleru Scam .
( 2 ) IN these cases, the claimants have resorted to a novel method of getting the reference applications, filed under Sections 30 and 31 (2) of Land acquisition Act, and disposed of about more than one and half decade ago by the Civil Court, restored to file, got them amended as references under section 18 and claimed enhanced compensation and also allowed other persons whose lands were acquired under the same notification, being added as parties to the restored application and got their claims for enhanced compensation decreed.
( 3 ) THE brief facts relevant for the purpose of disposal of these C. R. Ps. are as under: the Government of Andhra Pradesh acquired large extents of land, houses and house sites for the purpose of submergence in Sri Ram Sagar Project in nizamabad District. C. R. P. Nos. 1622 to 1625 and C. R. P. No. 1729/95 relate to some of the said lands and houses that were acquired. Government of A. P. also acquired Ac. 44. 23 cents of land in Nizamabad town for extension of market yard. CR. P. No. 4022/96 and C. R. P. Nos. 2279, 2280 and 2282 of 1995 relate to some of the extents of lands acquired for the said market yard. The said lands were acquired after due notifications under Section 4 (1) of the Land acquisition Act (hereinafter called as the Act ) and after award enquiry, the land Acquisition Officer also passed the awards fixing up the market value to the said acquired lands. Some of the owners of the acquired property did not turn up either at the time of award enquiry or at the time of passing of the award. Therefore, the Land Acquisition Officer referred their cases to the civil Court under Sections 30 and 31 (2) of the Act.
( 4 ) THE details in the Revision Petitions are given as under: (I) C. R. P. No. 4022 of 1996: o. P. No. 120/76 (renumbered as O. P. No. 471/93 and matter relating to c. R. P. No. 4022/96) relates to the acquisition of an extent of 2 guntas in Sy. No. 3130 for the purpose of extension of market yard. The Land Acquisition officer passed award on 16-1-1976 fixing the compensation at the rate of rs. 7,500/- per acre. As the claimant Akula Linganna, who is the son of the pattedar, failed to appear before the L. A. O. at the time of award enquiry though served with notices, the L. A. O. made a reference to the Civil Court by his letter dated 5-3-1976 under Sections 30 and 31 (2) of the Act. The Civil Court took the same on file as O. P. No. 120/76. The claimant-Linganna was served with notice in person on 22-5-1976 issued by the Civil Court and as he failed to appear in Court on 18-6-1976 in pursuance of the said notice, he was set ex parte and the reference was closed. After a lapse of more than 17 years i. e. , on 1-9-1993 the claimant filed LA. No. 819/93 to reopen the said O. P. No. 120/76 to order payment of compensation to him. It may be stated here that the said application was filed under Section 151 C. P. C. and not under order 9, Rule 9 or under Order 9, Rule 13 C. P. C. It was alleged in the petitioner s affidavit appended to the said petition that in the year 1975 he left Nizamabad for Bombay and returned to Nizamabad town just before filing the application and on enquiry he was informed that his land was acquired by the Government for extension of market yard and that he was informed that the case was referred to the Civil Court under Sections 30 and 31 (2) of the Act and that later on he came to know that he was set ex parte and the case was closed and that he was not aware of the award enquiry proceedings. That application was allowed on 29-9-1993 and the mat
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