Aggrieved parties must seek arbitration under Section 20-F of the Railways Act for disputes related to compensation adequacy in land acquisition.

JUDGMENT :

Partha Sarathi Sen, J.

1. The Affidavit-of-Service as filed today on behalf of the writ petitioner is taken on record.

2. By filing the instant writ petition, the writ petitioners have prayed for issuance of appropriate writ/writs commanding the respondent authorities for cancellation of the compensation award as declared in terms of the letter dated 14.12.2022 with a further prayer commanding the said authorities to calculate the said award on the basis of the present market value.

3. At the time of hearing, Mr. Mukherjee learned advocate appearing on behalf of the writ petitioners, at the very outset, draws attention of this Court to paragraph 2 of the instant writ petition vis-a-vis page no. 21 of the instant writ petition being a copy of RoR of the relevant land standing in the name of the writ petitioner no. 1.

4. It is submitted that on perusal of the materials as placed before this Court, it would reveal that in respect of plot no. 512, the writ petitioner no. 1 is the owner of 75 decimals of land in Mouza-Ramchandrapur under P.S.-Murarai.

5. In his next fold of submission, Mr. Mukherjee again draws attention of this Court to page nos. 23 and 24 of the instant writ petition being a copy of a newspaper cutting dated 12.06.2021 showing publication of notice under Section 20A (1) of the Railway (Amendment) Act, 2008. It is submitted that by publication of the said notification, the railway authority expressed his intention to acquire land for initiating Rampurhat Murarai Railway Project including the aforementioned land of the writ petitioner no. 1.

6. It is further submitted that from page no. 25 of the instant writ petition, it would reveal that the writ petitioner no. 1 was served with a copy of notice of L.A. Case No. 1/2021-22 by the respondent no. 4/authority. It is submitted that soon thereafter i.e., 24.02.2022, the writ petitioner no. 1, in the form of an application under RTI Act, raised objection to such L.A. Case.

7. It is further submitted that under cover of a letter dated 29.04.2022, the respondent no. 2/authority being the competent authority under the Railways Act , 1989 handed over the possession of the acquired land to the Railway Authority including the land of the writ petitioner no. 1 situated in L.R. Plot No. 512 in Mouza- Ramchandrapur.

8. At this juncture, it is further contended on behalf of the writ petitioner no. 1 that on conjoint perusal of page nos. 29 and 31 of the instant writ petition, it would reveal that there lies a dispute with regard to the area as have been acquired in respect of L.R. Plot No. 512 which originally belongs to the writ petitioner no. 1.

9. It is further submitted that under cover of a letter dated 1.9.2022, the writ petitioner no. 1 requested the respondent no. 4/authority to furnish the following informations, namely – the quantum of land as has been acquired for the said Railway Project, the amount of compensation as has been determined and the rate of compensation.

10. It is further submitted that from page nos. 40 and 41 of the instant writ petition, it would reveal that the writ petitioner no. 1 requested the respondent no. 4/authority for taking appropriate steps since the writ petitioner no.1 was aggrieved with the quantum of compensation as has been awarded in connection with the said L.A. Case. It is, however, submitted that the said application bears a wrong heading.

11. It is, thus, submitted on behalf of the writ petitioner no. 1 that since there lies a dispute with regard to the actual amount of land acquired by the respondent no. 4/authority on behalf of the Rai