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1965 Supreme(Pat) 46
PATNA HIGH COURT
U.N.Sinha and S.N.P.Singh JJ.
Jugal Kishore Bhagar
Versus
State Of Bihar
Miscellaneous Judicial Case No. 463 of 1963 ;
Decided On : APRIL 14, 1965
An order passed by the appropriate Government under Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as amended by Bihar Act 11 of 1961, is final and conclusive and cannot be reviewed or reconsidered by the same authority.
Headnote:
LAND ACQUISITION - SECTION 5A OF THE LAND ACQUISITION ACT, 1894 - FINALITY OF ORDER - REVIEW OR RECONSIDERATION - JURISDICTION - WRIT OF CERTIORARI AND MANDAMUS.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner challenged an order passed by the Revenue Minister, Government of Bihar, reopening a land acquisition proceeding against his property, which had been earlier dropped by an order of the same authority. The petitioner contended that the earlier order was final and could not be reviewed or reconsidered.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the order passed by the Revenue Minister reopening the land acquisition proceeding was illegal and without jurisdiction, as the earlier order passed by the same authority was final and conclusive by virtue of Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as amended by Bihar Act 11 of 1961. The court quashed the impugned order by a writ of certiorari and issued a writ of mandamus prohibiting the opposite party from giving effect to the order.
Issues: Whether the order passed by the Revenue Minister reopening the land acquisition proceeding was illegal and without jurisdiction.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, as amended by Bihar Act 11 of 1961, provides that the order of the appropriate Government on objections to the acquisition of land shall be final. The court held that this means that the order cannot be reviewed or reconsidered by the same authority, and that the Revenue Minister had no jurisdiction to pass the impugned order.
Final Decision: The court quashed the impugned order by a writ of certiorari and issued a writ of mandamus prohibiting the opposite party from giving effect to the order.
U.N.Sinha, J.
1. This application has been Hi ed by the petitioner under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, praying that an order, dated the 22nd March, 1963, incorporated in Annexure F of the application, passed by opposite party No. 2, the Revenue Minister, Government of Bihar, Patna, may be quashed by a writ in the nature of a writ of certiorari or by am other appropriate writ. The substance of the facts stated in the application is as follows. It is stated that the petitioner is the owner of a house in Mohhalla Bakerganj, in the town of Laherisarai, in the district of Darbhanga, bearing holding No. 92, plot No. 28816, measuring about 1 katha, 13 dhurs and 87 dhurkis. A notification had been published in the Bihar Gazette for acquisition of some lands, in cluding the petitioners land, for the purpose of extending Sinba Homeo Medical College and Hos pital, Laherisarai. In the due course the petitioner filed an objection under Sec. 54 of the Land Acquisition Act before the Collector of Darbhanga. By order dated the 5th October, 1961, the Collec tor of Darbhanga rejected the petitioners objection and thereupon, the petitioner filed an application under Section 54(1) of the Land Acquisition Act, as amended by Bihar Act 11 of 1961, before the appropriate Government.
It is stated that the then Revenue Minister, Government of Bihar, passed his order on the petitioners application, which is incorporated in Annexure D of the application dated the 2nd March, 1962. It is stated, further, that in pursuance of the directions given by the then Revenue Minister, the Collector dropped the land acquisition proceeding, as is evidenced by Annexure E - It is then stated that in April, 1962, opposite party No. 5, the Secretary of the Sinha Horaeo Medical College and Hospital, revived the land acquisition proceeding by filing a petition before the Revenue Minister, Government of Bihar. It is then stated that by order dated the 22nd March, 1963. the then Revenue Minister reopened the matter and ordered that the land and house of the petitioner will be acquired under the Land Acquisition Act. This is the impugned order, incorporated in Annexure F. It Is mentioned in the application that the order dated the 22nd March, 1963 was illegal and without jurisdiction, as the order passed earlier and incorporated in Annexure D, dated the 2nd March, 1962, was final. It is further stated that the Revenue Minister, Government of Bihar, had no power to review an earlier decision, and, therefore, the order dated the 22nd March, 1963, should be quashed.
2. A counter-affidavit has been filed on behalf of opposite parties Nos. 1 to 4 and the substance of it is that the land, which was the subject-matter of land acquisition proceeding, was partly vacant and partly covered with dilapidated houses, and, therefore, there was nothing wrong in the order dated the 22nd March, 1963, having been passed for acquisition. The existence of any house, as alleged by the petitioner, has been denied. A reply to the counter-affidavit has also been filed by the petitioner, stating that in fact, a house stands on the land proposed to be acquired and its holding numbers are 92 and 92A in the record of the Darbhanga Municipality. Some other facts have also been in this reply.
3. The main argument advanced by Sri Prem Lall, appearing for the petitioner, is based on Sec. 5A incorporated in the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 by Land Acquisition (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1960, which is Bihar Act No. 11 of 1961. The original section of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Act No. 1 of 1894), reads thus :
"5A. (1) Any person interested in any land which has been notified under Sec. 4, Sub-section (1), as being needed or likely to be needed for a public purpose or for a Company may, within thirty days after the issue of the, notification, object to the acquisition of the land or of any land in the locality, as the case may be.
(2) Every objection under Sub-section (1) shall be m
