Section 24 of the Right to Compensation Act does not apply to acquisitions initiated under the West Bengal Requisition and Acquisition Act; subsequent purchasers can only claim compensation based on the rights of their vendors.

Bivas Pattanayak, J. :-

1. This writ petition is filed by the petitioners seeking direction upon the respondent authorities to immediately disburse the statutory compensation for acquisition of land in question in favour of the petitioners on pro-rata basis in terms of the provisions of Right to Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the Act of 2013) with immediate effect.

2. The petitioners contend as follows:

(i) The petitioners are the owners of the respective plots by way of purchase from the erstwhile owners, which is morefully described in tabular statement contained in paragraph no.3 of the writ petition.

(ii) The plots of land mentioned in paragraph no.3 of the writ petition measuring more or less 4.5 acres were initially acquired for the purpose of construction of project work SPUR 4 at Khiderpur (14 to 15 Kilometres) in district of Malda, by the State Government and a net compensation of Rs.27,32,180/- has been awarded under the old Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

(iii) While the aforesaid compensation was pending disposal and the amount not being credited to the bank accounts of the respective land owners and the compensation amount was withheld despite passing of the award, during the interregnum period the erstwhile land owners as vendors transferred their plots to the vendees namely the petitioners herein comprising 5.03 acres by way of deeds of conveyance.

(iv) From the aforesaid deeds of conveyance executed by the erstwhile owners, it is evident that the petitioners herein were alive of the fact that the plots of land in question were acquired land in which compensation has already been awarded which have been clearly indicated in respective deeds of conveyance.

(v) The petitioners made several representations from time to time for release payment of the compensation amount on priority basis to the respective petitioners out of the aforesaid compensation amount. As the land has already been acquired and award passed and the land has vested with the State, hence the question of mutating the respective names in the record of rights cannot arise.

(vi) It has come to the knowledge of the petitioners that the Deputy Secretary to the Government of West Bengal, Department of Land and Land Reforms, Refugee, Relief and Rehabilitation, L.A Branch directed the Collector, Malda to look into the prayer for land acquisition compensation in respect of the acquired plots and take necessary action. However, even after coming into force of Act of 2013 on 1st January 2014, the State Government has failed and neglected to disburse the awarded amount to the petitioners despite repeated requests.

(vii) As per provisions of Section 24 of the Act of 2013 since the compensation amount has not been paid till date, the same has to be made in terms of Act of 2013 and not otherwise.

(viii) In light of the aforesaid, the petitioners prayed for disbursement of the statutory compensation for acquisition of land in question as per provisions of Act of 2013.

3. The writ petition has been keenly contested by the State respondents by filing affidavit-in-opposition contending, inter alia, as follows.

(i) As per records the land measuring 4.58 acres mentioned in paragraph no. 5(a) of the affidavit was requisitioned under the provisions of West Bengal (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the Act-II of 1948) on 22nd April 1988 for the purpose of protection work to the left bank of river Fulhara and Excavation at pilot channel to induce cut-off at Debipur in LA Case no. 40/1987-88.