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IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
DEBANGSU BASAK, MD. SHABBAR RASHIDI
Chairman, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority – Appellant
Versus
Pawan Kumar Chowdhury – Respondent
Judgement :
DEBANGSU BASAK, J.
1. Two appeals have been heard analogously as they emanate out of the same impugned judgement and order dated August 23, 2024 passed in WPA No. 10244 of 2016.
2. By the impugned judgement and order, learned Single Judge has set aside the acquisition in respect of the plots concerned and directed making over of possession thereof to the writ petitioners.
3. Learned Advocate General appearing for the appellants in MAT No.1878 of 2024 (hereinafter referred to as the first appeal for the sake of convenience) has referred to the sequence of events. He has submitted that, acquisition proceedings were initiated under the West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1948 in 1986-87 in respect of the plots concerned. Possession of the plots along with other plots had been taken on May 24, 1988. Notification under Section 4(1a) of the Act of 1948 had been published in the Calcutta Gazette, Extraordinary on December 14, 1989. Since the acquisition proceedings could not be completed within the lifetime of the Act of 1948, the same had been switched over to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 by invoking the amended provisions of Section 9 (3B) of the Act of 1894.
4
The court ruled that acquisition proceedings under the West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act lapsed due to non-compliance with statutory requirements, reviving the rights of original lan....
The court established that lapsed acquisition notices under the 1948 Act result in the revival of original ownership, and subsequent notices cannot validate expired proceedings.
Failure to comply with statutory timelines for land acquisition leads to the lapse of the acquisition, reviving the original owner's title to the land.
The lapse of acquisition proceedings under the 1948 Act can invalidate subsequent awards unless a fresh notice is issued under Section 9 of the 1894 Act, which initiates new vesting.
Notices under Section 4(1a) of the West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1948 issued prior to March 31, 1992, and for which no award was passed within 3 years, had already lapsed and co....
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the acceptance of the acquisition and the award by the writ petitioners, along with the possession of the acquired land and the entitlement to....
The court established that incomplete land acquisition proceedings under the 1948 Act lapse under Section 24(1)(a) of the 2013 Act, mandating compensation determination according to the latter.
The court ruled that prior land acquisition proceedings lapsed due to non-compliance with statutory timelines, necessitating fresh proceedings under the 2013 Land Acquisition Act.
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