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Orissa High Court
S. K. RAY, AND S. ACHARYA, JJ.
Titagarh Paper Mills Co. Ltd. - Appellant
Versus
State of Orissa - Respondents
O. J. C. No. 510 of 1971
Decided On : 29 April 1974
LAND ACQUISITION - VALIDATION ACT - LOCUS STANDI - WRIT OF CERTIORARI - JURISDICTION - LACHES - ALTERNATIVE REMEDY - AMENDMENT - COMPANY - INTEREST - ARBITRATION - WRIT OF MANDAMUS - LEGAL RIGHT - PUBLIC PURPOSE.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a company, sought to acquire land for a paper mill. The government issued notifications under the Orissa Development of Industries Irrigation, Agriculture, Capital Construction and Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948 (Act 18 of 1948) (the Act) to acquire the land. However, a writ petition was filed challenging the vires of the notification issued under Section 2 (c) of the Act, and the notification was declared ultra vires. To validate the acquisition proceedings, the Legislature of the State of Orissa passed the Land Acquisition (Orissa Amendment and Validation) Act, 1959 (the Validation Act). The Validation Act validated all the acquisitions made under the Act and deemed them to have been made under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (the Central Act). The petitioner and the government entered into an agreement, whereby the petitioner agreed to pay the entire cost of acquiring the land, including compensation, damages, costs, charges, and expenses, and to refer all disputes or differences to arbitration.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the petitioner had no locus standi to challenge the order passed in the proceeding under Section 5 (i) of the Orissa Estates Abolition Act or the award passed under the Land Acquisition Act. The court further held that the petitioner was guilty of laches in filing the writ application and that it had an alternative remedy of arbitration. The court also rejected the petitioner's petition for amendment.
Issues: 1. Whether the petitioner had locus standi to challenge the order passed in the proceeding under Section 5 (i) of the Orissa Estates Abolition Act and the award passed under the Land Acquisition Act? 2. Whether the petitioner was guilty of laches in filing the writ application? 3. Whether the petitioner had an alternative remedy of arbitration? 4. Whether the petitioner's petition for amendment should be allowed?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The petitioner had no locus standi to challenge the order passed in the proceeding under Section 5 (i) of the Orissa Estates Abolition Act because it was not a party to that proceeding and its legal rights were not infringed by the order. The petitioner also had no locus standi to challenge the award passed under the Land Acquisition Act because it had no interest in the land that was acquired and its legal rights were not infringed by the award. 2. The petitioner was guilty of laches in filing the writ application because it waited for 8 years after the order under Section 5 (i) of the Orissa Estates Abolition Act was passed and 4 years after the award was made to file the writ application. The petitioner did not offer any satisfactory explanation for the delay. 3. The petitioner had an alternative remedy of arbitration because it had entered into an agreement with the government to refer all disputes or differences to arbitration. The question of liability to pay interest was an arbitrable issue. 4. The petitioner's petition for amendment was rejected because it was filed at a late stage, after the hearing of the writ application had been concluded. Allowing the amendment would have raised fresh issues of fact requiring fresh counter and fresh hearing, which would have caused hardship to the opposite parties.
Final Decision: The writ application was dismissed with costs.
Judgement
S. K. RAY, J. :- The petitioner is a Company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1913. Its main business is manufacture of paper. It wanted to set up a Paper Mill at Chaudwar and needed land for that purpose. So it applied to the Government of Orissa for land and the latter agreed to acquire land for it and took recourse to the provisions of the Orissa Development of Industries Irrigation, Agriculture, Capital Construction and Resettlement of Displaced Persons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948 (Act 18 of 1948) (hereinafter called the Act) for speedy acquisition of land by issuing a notification under Section 2 (c) of the Act declaring the project of setting up of a Paper Mill at Chaudwar to be included within the expression "Development of Industries", for the purpose of invoking the provisions of the Act. The Government in the Revenue Department then issued a Notification No. 5873-XVII-209/ 55-D dated the 19th August, 1955 under Section 3 (1) of the Act stating that 541.05 acres were required to be acquired speedily for the Company for development of Industries, namely, for establishment of a Paper Mill as Chaudwar, (Annexure-1). By another notification No. 6940-XVII-205/ 55-Dev. dated 11-10-55 (Annexure-2) also issued u/s. 3 (1) of the Act further 17.64 acres were stated to be necessary to be acquired speedily for the same purpose for the Company. Then notices were issued under Section 4 (1) of the Act on 12-10-1955, upon which all the lands notified for acquisition vested in the Government free from all encumbrances with effect from the date when those notices under Section 4 (1) of the Central Act were served or published in the Gazette. Government thereupon took possession of all the lands and handed over the same to the Company on 13-3-1956. Since then the Company came into possession of those lands.
2. One Satrughan Sahu, whose land had also been notified for acquisition under Annexure-2 filed a writ application questioning the vires of the notification issued under Section 2 (c) of the Act. He succeeded and the decision is reported in (1958) 24 Cut LT 191 : (AIR 1958 Orissa 187) where it was held that the said notification was ultra vires the Constitution outside the scope of Section 2 (c) of the Act. Accordingly, all proceedings, taken in pursuance of that notification were declared to be invalid. This decision also, affected the validity of the acquisition, proceedings commenced under Annexure-1.
3. To validate these acquisition proceedings the Legislature of the State of Orissa passed the Land Acquisition (Orissa Amendment and Validation) Act, 1959 (hereinafter called the Validation Act). By Section 4 of the Validation Act all the acquisitions made under the Act were validated. The result was that all notifications published under Section 3 (1) of the Act were deemed to be notifications issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as the Central Act) to the effect that the lands specified in the notifications were needed for a public purpose and for the petitioner-company and that they were to have the same force and effect as if the lands notified in those notifications had been declared under Section 6 of the Central Act, to be needed for the Company, and all steps taken, things done, notices issued and procedure followed under the Act were deemed to have been taken, done, issued and followed under Sections 5, 7 and 8 of the Central Act. Since the acquired lands had vested in the State Government and had been taken possession of, pursuant to service of notice under Section 4 of the Act, such vesting was deemed to have taken place and possession deemed to have been taken in pursuance of Section 17 of the Central Act provided that the Collector called upon the owner, occupier and persons interested in the lands for purposes specified in sub-section (3) of Section 9 and Section 10 of the Central Act within 30 days of the date of commencement of the Validation Act and, so
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