A reference Court under the Land Acquisition Act has no jurisdiction to determine whether an application for reference was barred by time.

JUDGMENT :- This judgment will dispose of Miscellaneous First Appeals Nos.15 to 17, 19 and 20 and 22 to 26 of 1966. These appeals have been filed, by the Land Acquisition Collector, Mahasu, against the orders of the learned District Judge, Mahasu, passed in references, under S. 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, (hereinafter referred to as the Act), made at the instance of various respondents, in the appeals. Though, the facts, in the appeals, are slightly different, yet the questions raised were one and the same and it will be convenient to dispose of all the appeals, by one judgment.

2. Lands, situated in Rohru town, were acquired, under the Act for public purposes. The Collector awarded compensation with respect to the acquisition of the lands. The respondents, in the present appeals, who were interested, as proprietors or tenants, in the lands, did not accept the awards of the Collector. They filed applications, containing objections against the awards. The main objection was that the Collector had assessed the market value of the lands at a low rate.

3. The Collector, at first, rejected the applications of all the respondents on the ground that the applications had been filed after the prescribed period of limitation. But, subsequently, he referred the applications to the District Judge for determination of the objections of the respondents. The Collector had, while forwarding the applications, made an endorsement that references were being made without prejudice to the right of the Government to take up the plea of limitation.

4. The references were contested, on behalf of the Collector. It was denied that the market value of the lands, assessed by the Collector, was low. It was pleaded that the applications for making references, were barred by time and the references were not competent.

5. The learned District Judge was of the view that once the references had been made by the Collector, he (the District Judge) had no jurisdiction to go into the question whether the applications, filed by the respondents, were time-barred and the references were not competent on that ground. He, therefore, did not decide whether the applications were, in fact, time-barred or not. The learned District Judge was, further, of the view that the market value of the lands, assessed by the Collector, was low. On the basis of evidence, adduced before him, the learned District Judge fixed the market value of the land at Rule 250 per biswa and enhanced compensation,it all the references.

6. The Collector has filed the present appeals against the orders of the learned District Judge.

7. The first contention, raised in the appeals, was that the learned District Judge was wrong in holding that he had no jurisdiction to go into the question whether the application of the respondents were barred by time and the references were not competent. The contention is not sound. A reference Court, under the Act, is a Court of special jurisdiction. Its jurisdiction arises solely on the basis of the reference and it has no jurisdiction to determine matters not referred to it, vide K. Kanakarathanna v. State of Andhra Pradesh, AIR 1965 SC 304. The applications for referring the objections to the District Judge were made, in the instant cases, under S. 18 of the Act. That section reads :

(1) Any person interested who has not accepted the award may, by written application to the Collector, require that the matter be referred by the Collector for the determination of the Court, whether his objection be to the measurement of the land, the amount of the compensation, the persons to whom it is payable, or the apportionment of the compensation among the persons interested.

(2) The application shall state the grounds on which objection to the award is taken.

Provided that every such application shall be made -

(a) if the person making it was present or represented before the Collector at the time when he made his award; within six weeks from the date of the Collector's awar