The provisions of section 24 of the RFCTLARR Act would not apply to the acquisitions under the provisions of the MRTP Act.

Whether the provisions of section 24 (2) of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as 'the RFCTLARR Act' for the sake of brevity) would apply to the acquisition of the lands under the provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966 (hereinafter referred to as 'the MRTP Act') is the question that falls for consideration in these writ petitions.

2. The facts giving rise to the question are stated thus :-

The land of the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 440 of 2014 was acquired under the provisions of the MRTP Act by an Award dated 18-9-2013. According to the petitioners, though the Award was passed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer on 18-9-2013, the majority landholders have not received the compensation and, hence, in view of the provisions of the proviso to section 24 of the RFCTLARR Act, the petitioners would be entitled to compensation as per the provisions of the RFCTLARR Act. The land of the petitioner-Society in Writ Petition No. 6928 of 2014 was acquired under the provisions of the MRTP Act by the Award dated 29-1-2008 and since the petitioner-Society is still in possession of the acquired land, the petitioner-society has sought a declaration that the land acquisition proceedings have lapsed under the provisions of section 24 (2) of the RFCTLARR Act.

3. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 440 of 2014 that all the provisions of the RFCTLARR Act would apply to the acquisitions under the MRTP Act. According to the petitioners, since none of the land holders were paid compensation in terms of the Award dated 8-9-2013, in view of the provisions of the proviso to section 24 of the RFCTLARR Act, the petitioners would be entitled to compensation as per the provisions of the RFCTLARR Act. The learned counsel for the petitioners in Writ Petition No. 440 of 2014 has relied on paragraph 191 of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, reported in (2011) 3 SCC 1, Girnar Traders (3) vs. State of Maharashtra and others to canvass that the provisions in regard to acquisition of land and payment of compensation under the RFCTLARR Act could be read into the acquisitions controlled by the provisions of the MRTP Act.

4. Whereas, it is submitted on behalf of the petitioner-Society in Writ Petition No. 6928 of 2014 that though the land of the petitioner was acquired by the Award dated 29-1-2008, passed more than five years prior to the coming into force of the RFCTLARR Act, the petitioner-Society is in possession of the land and, hence, the acquisition proceedings in respect of the land of the petitioner-Society would lapse in view of the provisions of section 24 (2) of the RFCTLARR Act. It is stated that the State Government has framed the Right To Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Maharashtra) Rules, 2014 and Rule 19 of the Rules provides for compensation under the RFCTLARR Act, if no Award is passed in the land acquisition proceedings under the MRTP Act before the coming into force of the RFCTLARR Act on 1-1-2014. It is stated that in view of the provisions of section 107 of the RFCTLARR Act, the State is competent to enact any law to enhance or add to the entitlements enumerated under the RFCTLARR Act and confer higher compensation, than payable under the RFCTLARR Act. It is stated that in view of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the judgment reported in 2011 (3) SCC 1, specially in paragraph 191 thereof, the provisions pertaining to the payment of compensation in the RFCTLARR Act could be read into the acquisitions controlled by the MRTP Act. It is stated that the provisions of section 24 of the RFCTLARR Act have the element of providing higher compensation to the landholders after lapsing under section 24 (2) of the Act and, hence, the provisions of section 24 (2) of the RFCTLARR Act should be read into the ac