A.M. KHANWILKAR, J.

1) Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2) By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India it is prayed that the respondent Nos.2 and 3 be directed to pay interest on Rs.1,42,052.40 since passing of the Award on 26th June 1987 till 25th March 1993 (the correct date is 25th March 1992) when the said amount was made over to the petitioners. The petitioners are claiming interest on the said amount at the rate of 15% per annum for the said period amounting to Rs.1,01,212.33 paise. In other words, the claim of the petitioners is founded on Section 34 of the Land Acquisition Act. Section 34 of the Land Acquisition Act obligates the acquiring authority to pay or deposit the amount of compensation on or before taking possession of the land failing which it would be liable to pay the amount awarded with interest thereon at the specified rates.

3) In the present case the facts relevant to address the claim under Section 34 of the Act are that, Section 4 Notification in respect of the disputed land was issued on 15th April 1983. Section 6 notice was published with corrigendum to section 4 Notification on 27th June 1985. The award was eventually passed on 26th June 1987 in relation to Gut No.3 and Gut No.6. Compensation awarded in respect of Gut No.3 was Rs.1,38,960/out of which only amount of Rs.52,110/was received by the petitioners on 12th March 1986. Balance outstanding amount of Rs.86,850/was paid to the petitioners only on 25th Mach 1992. In so far as Gut No.6 is concerned, the total compensation awarded was Rs.88,250.40 paise out of which, the petitioners had received only sum of Rs.33,048/on 12th March 1986 as advance payment. The balance amount of Rs.55,202.40 paise remained outstanding which was paid on 25th March 1992. The aggregate of the outstanding amounts concerning Gut Nos.3 and 6 worked out to Rs.1,42,052.40 paise which was paid only on 25th March 1992.

4) In this backdrop the petitioners made representation to the acquiring authority to pay interest for delayed payment since as per Section 34 of the Act, compensation amount had become payable soon after taking over possession of the land. However, in the present case the petitioners are claiming interest only from the date of award on the basis that the interest component for the period after taking over possession till passing of the award is already incorporated in the award passed by the acquiring authority. In other words, the claim for the interest is with effect from 26th June 1987 when the award was passed and the balance amount remained outstanding till 25th March 1992. Since the delay was more than one year in the present case proviso to Section 34 of the Act would be attracted for which reason the petitioners would be entitled for interest at the rate of 15% per annum. Neither the Special Land Acquisition Officer took steps to pay the interest component within time nor the Collector acceded to the request of the petitioners for releasing of such interest for the relevant period. As a matter of fact, the Collector rejected the claim of the petitioners on the specious reason that during the relevant period some civil dispute was pending between family members of the petitioners. This was the only reason stated in the communication dated 6th April 1993. We have no hesitation in taking a view that the said reason is preposterous in the fact situation of the present case for more than one ground. Firstly, there was no injunction operating against the petitioners to avail of the compensation amount in respect of Gut Nos.3 and 6 for which reason the petitioners were entitled to receive compensation amount in their own right. Secondly, assuming that there was an injunction order of Court of competent jurisdiction against the petitioners or against the authority to release the amount or to pay amount to the petitioners, nothing prevented the authority to deposit the said amount in Court, which would have stopped the rec