A company for whose benefit the land is acquired, can be impleaded as a party in the court of the District Judge, in a reference preferred under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

S.S.SANDHAWALIA, J.

1. Whether a company for whose benefit land is acquired under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 can be impleaded as a party in the Court of the District Judge in a reference preferred under Section 18 of the Act aforesaid is the meaningful issue which has necessitated this reference to the Full Bench.

2. Undoubtedly there was a sharp divergence of judicial opinion on the aforesaid issue. However, it appears in me that a recent judgment of their Lordships in Himalaya Tiles and Marble (P.) Ltd. V/s. Francis Victor Coutinha, AIR. 1980 SC 1118, to which a detailed reference follows hereinafter has now, cut the Gordian knot cleanly in favour of the petitioner-company.

3. For an issue so pristinely legal, the particular facts would ultimately pale into insignificance. However, it is apt to briefly outline the matrix thereof which has given rise to these twelve revision petitions now before us. Learned counsel for the parties are agreed that the issue being identical, this judgment would govern all of them.

4. The State of Haryana initiated the acquisition proceedings under Ss.4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act (hereinafter called the Act) for the public purpose of setting up a wrist watch manufacturing factory by the petitioner-company of M/s. Indo Swiss Time Ltd., in village Dundahara. A sum of Rs. 100 was to be contributed by the State and the rest of the compensation money was to be paid by the company. The possession of the land was taken and handed over to the company after acquisition. Subsequent to the award of the Collector the landowners-claimants preferred a reference for the enhancement of the compensation in the Court of the District Judge, Gurgaon. The matter ultimately came up before the learned Addl. District Judge, Gurgaon, before whom an application was preferred by the petitioner-Company under Section 52 of the Act read with O.1, R.10, Civil P.C., seeking expressly to be impleaded as a respondent to defend the case for the purpose of determination of the amount of compensation. The learned Additional District Judge rejected the prayer of the petitioner-Company for being impleaded as a party but allowed a limited relief to them of appearing and adducing evidence for the determination of the compensation amount.

5. Aggrieved by the aforesaid order, the petitioner-Company preferred these civil revisions which came up for hearing before my learned brother P.C, Jain J., who referred the matter for decision by a larger Bench.

6. Now the weighty and meaningful contention of Mr. M.L. Sarin, learned counsel for the petitioner-Company is that it is directly and vitally interested in the compensation to be awarded to the land-holders and consequently, even if not a necessary party, it can certainly claim to be impleaded as a party in the proceedings. The stand is that the petitioner-Company is plainly a person interested under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter called the Act). The basic reliance of the counsel is, first, on the definition of a person interested in S.3 (b) of the Act, and later reference thereto in S.18 (1) and S.20(b) of the Act.

7. It appears to me that in examining the aforesaid contention, it would now be wasteful to digress into a long discussion on principle because the issue (as has already been noticed) seems to be directly covered by the binding precedent. Therefore, it would suffice to mention that the inclusive definition of a "person interested" is in the following terms in S.3 (b) of the Act:-

"the expression "person interested" includes all persons claiming an interest in compensation to be made on account of the acquisition of land under this Act; and a person shall be deemed to be interested in land if he is interested in an easement affecting the land;"

S.18 (1) then expressly confers the right to claim a reference to the court against the award of the Collector by any person interested, who has not accepted the same. S.20 (b) then enjoins