The court ruled that petitioners claiming compensation under the 2013 Act must establish ownership, which they failed to do, thus their application was dismissed.

JUDGMENT :

Ajay Mohan Goel, J.

Notice. Mr. Balram Sharma, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India, Mrs. Shreya Chauhan, learned Counsel and Mr. Pushpender Jaswal, learned Additional Advocate General, accept notice on behalf of respondent No. 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

2. By way of this writ petition, the petitioner has challenged order dated 21.10.2024, passed by the Court of learned Additional District Judge-1, Kangra at Dharamshala, in CMA No. 363-D/2023, titled as Sohan Lal and others vs. The CompetentAuthority-cum- Land Acquisition Collector, in terms whereof, an application filed by the petitioners under proviso 2 attached to Section 64 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, read with Section 3H(4) of the National Highways Act, 1956, has been dismissed by learned Court below inter alia by holding that as there was no award made in favour of the petitioners and as they were in fact claiming possession over the utilized land by putting forth the plea of their having become owners thereof by way of adverse possession, the provisions of Section 64 of the Act were not attracted as the rights of the applicants were still to be established.

3. With the consent of the parties, the petition is being disposed of today itself.

4. Brief facts necessary for the adjudication of the present petition are that as per National Highways Authority of India, it has utilized certain land belonging to the Government of Himachal Pradesh for the purpose of construction of National Highway in issue. The petitioners on the other hand claim that as this land was in their possession as cultivators thereof in terms of the revenue record, therefore, they have a right to be compensated in terms of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter to be referred as ‘the 2013 Act’ for short).

5. Learned Counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners have filed a suit for declaration that they have become owners in possession of the land in issue by way of adverse possession, which is still pending adjudication. He submitted that the petitioners had constructed houses over said piece of land, which were part of the survey conducted by CALA as is evident from Annexure P-2. He further submitted that by virtue of notification of the Central Government, as mentioned in para 9 and 10 of the petition, the petitioners were entitled to ex-gratia payment for the structures built and they be also treated as interested parties for the purpose of the payment of compensation under the NHAI Act and 2013 Act.

6. As already observed hereinabove, in terms of impugned order, learned Additional District Judge-1, Kangra, has dismissed the application by observing that as the petitioners were claiming their right over the property in issue by way of adverse possession, which right of theirs was still to be determined and as there was no award in favour of the petitioners, therefore, application under Section 64 of the 2013 Act was not maintainable.

7. Having carefully gone through the impugned order as well as other record of the case and after hearing learned Counsel for the parties at length, this Court is of the considered view that there is no infirmity in the order impugned and therefore, this petition has no merit.

8. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 has been brought into force in place of the earlier existing Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for land acquisition for industrialization, development of essential infrastructural facilities and provide just and fair compensation to the affected families whose land has been acquired or proposed to be acquired or are affected by such acquisition and made adequate provisions for such affected persons for their rehabilitation and resettlement and for ensuring that the cumulative outcome of compulsory acqui