IMPORTANT POINT
Where land owner/claimant had expired prior to reference petition coming into existence and death had not taken place during pendency of reference petition, provisions of Order 22 CPC are not attracted and provisions of Order 1, Rule 10 CPC will be attracted

Vivek Singh Thakur, J.—This appeal has been preferred against the impugned order passed on 28.3.2011 by learned Additional District Judge, Mandi, whereby name of Chamaru Ram, predecessor-in-interest of appellants, has been ordered to be deleted on the ground that said Chamaru Ram had expired on 01.06.1999 prior to receipt of the reference petition in Court on 19.2.2003.

2. Relevant facts for adjudication of present appeal are that the respondent/State had acquired land in village Piyun, Sub Tehsil Aut, District Mandi for construction of Aut-Takoli-Parashar road by completing the process under Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter to be referred to as ‘the Act’) after issuance of notification under Section 4 of the Act published in Rajpatra on 2.3.1991. Land Acquisition Collector had passed award under Section 11 of the Act determining the compensation payable to the land owners/claimants.

3. Being aggrieved by inadequacy of compensation awarded, land owners including deceased Chamaru Ram along-with co-sharers had preferred applications to the Land Acquisition Collector to make reference under Section 18 of the Act for enhancement of compensation. The said applications were preferred on 8.7.1997. In one of the applications, Chamaru Ram was also one of ten co-sharer land owners, who along-with other co-sharers had preferred joint applications for land reference. Land Acquisition Collector had referred these applications including the one preferred by deceased Chamaru Ram and his coowners to District Court on 19.2.2003. But prior to that, Chamaru Ram had expired on 1.6.1999.

4. On noticing about death of deceased Chamaru Ram, learned counsel representing the cosharer land owners in reference petition(s) before learned Additional District Judge, had preferred an application under Order 22, Rule 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure (for short ‘CPC’) through legal representatives of deceased Chamaru for their substitution in place of Chamaru Ram. The said application was taken for consideration by learned Additional District Judge on 28.3.2011.

5. After knowing that deceased Chamaru Ram had expired on 1.6.1999, prior to receiving the reference petition by the Court from Land Acquisition Collector, his name was ordered to be deleted with finding that dead person was not competent to approach the Court.

6. Feeling aggrieved by said order, the legal representatives of deceased Chamaru Ram have filed present appeal. During interregnum, land references preferred by other co-owners, amongst whom Chamaru Ram was also one of claimant, were decided by learned Additional District Judge on 28.9.2011.

7. Proceedings of the land reference petition under Land Acquisition Act are unique in nature where referring authority i.e. Land Acquisition Collector is also respondent who is represented in the Court through Government Advocate even prior to issuance of notice to the claimants, who is under obligation to give the necessary information, including names of persons whom he has reason to think interested in such land as provided under Section 19 of the Act, to the Court at the time of making reference.Notices to applicant/claimant and others are issued only after registration of reference by Court and the proceedings start only when the Court takes cognizance of the reference by registering it.

8. Scheme of the Act provides that land owner/claimant cannot approach the Court directly under Section 18 of the Act for making land reference to the District Judge. On dissatisfying and being aggrieved by award of the Land Acquisition Collector, the land owner/claimant has a right to submit an application to the Land Acquisition Collector with its grounds for making reference to the District Judge within the time prescribed under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act and on the basis of such application, as provided under the Act, Land Acquisition Collector has to make references, whereupon the District Judge shall make an award as provided under th