( 1 ) THE following question has been referred to a Full Bench by two of us :

"whether the District Judge, in a reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, can go into a question that the application for reference was not made to the Collector within the time prescribed in Section 18 (2) of the Land Acquisition Act : and if so, can it refuse to entertain the reference if it finds it to be time-barred?"

The question arises in an appeal from a decree passed by a District Judge on a reference made to him under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act. The respondent, who was the owner of the land acquired, claimed a certain amount of compensation in proceedings before the Collector under Section 11. On 23-11-1950 the Collectoi decided that the owners of the land be given compensation of Rs. 20,000/- and odd and that an award be prepared accordingly. The respondent was not present when the decision was given and it is not known on what date the award was actually prepared by the Collector and signed by him, if at all. Under Section 11 a collector is required to inquire into an objection by an owner of the land acquired and to "make an award under his hand of. . . . . that compensation which in his opinion should be allowed for the land" and "the apportionment of the said compensation among all the persons known or believed to be interested in the land". "such award shall be filed in the Collectors office" and"the Collector shall give immediate! notice of his award to such of the persons interested as are not present personally or by their representative when the award is made, vide Section 12. Section 18 reads as follows : (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. . . . . 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 Collectors award;

(b) in other cases, within six weeks of the receipt of the notice from the Collector under Section 12, Sub-section (2), or within six months from the date of the Collectors award, whichever shall first expire. " on or about 25-8-1951 the respondent applied to the Collector under Section 18 (1) for referring the matter to the court. He filed an affidavit in support of his application affirming that he did not receive any information about the Collectors decision dated 23-11-1950. The Collector referred the matter to the District Judge in accordance with the provisions of Section 19, which are to the effect that in making the reference the Collector shall state for the information of the court certain matters and shall attach a schedule to the statement" giving the particulars of the notices served upon, and of the statements in writing made or delivered by the parties interested respectively". Section zo provides that the Court "shall thereupon cause a notice specifying the day on which the Court will proceed to determine the objection" and directing appearance before it on a certain day of the applicant, the Collector, etc. to be given. The learned District Judge on receiving the reference by the Collector issued a notice calling upon the respondent and the collector to appear before him. The Collector appeared and filed a written statement pleading inter alia that the respondents application under Section 18 (1) having been filed more than six months from the date of the award the reference by himself was barred by limitation. He did not state what was the date of his award. Since he pleaded that the application was time-barred because it was made more than six months after the date of the award, he accepted that the respondent was not present or represented before him at the time when he made his award, that proviso (b) governed the question of limitation and that if he had given