The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement to follow the procedures of the Land Acquisition Act for the acquisition of land and the assessment of compensation and interest in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

JUDGMENT

R.S. Garg, J.

1. Smt. Draupadi Goswami had filed M.P. 4894/1992 against the State Government submitting inter alia that the petitioner's land situated in Ward No. 1, Municipal Area of Baraseoni recorded as Khasra No. 899/1 area 17835 sqft was taken possession of by the State Government for construction of Baraseoni-Nagpur road. She stated before the Court that neither proceedings under Land Acquisition Act were drawn nor the possession was taken under any negotiation. It was submitted before the learned single Judge that without acquiring the land for purposes of construction of the road the respondents dispossessed and utilized the aforesaid land for the construction of the road.

2. The respondents filed their return wherein it was stated that the land was acquired by private negotiation in accordance with the instructions contained in P.W.D. Manual para 2.113 which provides acquisition of land by private negotiation. The respondents also stated that they offered compensation to the petitioners and intimated them to appear in the office but the petitioners did not appear in the office nor accepted the compensation.

3. After hearing learned Counsel for the parties the learned single Judge came to the conclusion that it was not in dispute before him that the land of the petitioner was utilized for construction of Baraseoni-Nagpur road and part of the aforesaid land is still in possession of the respondents even after constructions of the road, that the respondents took the specific objection that the land was acquired by private negotiation. However, the fact was denied by the petitioners. The learned single Judge observed that:

But in this case, neither such procedure was followed nor form prescribed in appendix X was filled up by the officer of the P.W.D. or by the petitioners. In absence of this, the respondents were not entitled to take the possession of the land without any acquisition proceedings. But the fact remains that the land of the petitioners after taking possession has been utilized for the public purpose, which is Baraseoni Nagpur road.

The learned single Judge after observing that the procedure adopted for private negotiation was not followed however, disposed of the petition with the following directions:

1. The petitioners may file an application to the Land Acquistion Officer, Baraseoni for adjudication of due compensation to the petitioners.

2. The petitioners in the aforesaid application may claim compensation and the interest under Section 34 of the Land Acquisition Act.

3. The Land Acquisition Officer on filing of the aforesaid application shall cause a notice to the respondents and thereafter after ascertaining how much of the land of the petitioners was taken into the possession for the constructions of the road and thereafter shall assess the compensation in accordance with the provisions of Section 23 of the Land Acquisition Act.

4. To ascertain the compensation, the L.A.O shall take into consideration the date on which the petitioners were dispossessed from the land and assess the compensation as on the date on which the petitioners were dispossessed.

5. As the petitioners were dispossessed, the petitioners shall be entitled for special interest as provided under Section 34 of the Act. While passing the award, the LAO shall also direct payment of interest in accordance with provisions of Section 34 of the act to the petitioners as the petitioners were dispossessed long back and were deprived with the lands.

6. After assessment, the LAO shall pass an award. If the petitioners feel dissatisfied with the aforesaid award shall be entitled to seek reference under Section 18 of the act and if such prayer is made, the Collector shall make a statement of the case under Section 19 of the Act to the Civil Court for due adjudication of the compensation in accordance with law.

The petitioners being aggrieved by the said order are before us.

4. It is submitted by Shri Arya, learned senior Counsel, that the learned si