Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The Petitioner Nos.1 & 2, who are the bhumidar/owner of the land measuring 0 Bigha 9 biswa (450 Sq. Yds.) each out of Khasra No.29/5/2 and Petitioner Nos. 3 & 4, who are the bhumidar/owner of the land measuring 1 bigha 06 biswa (1300 Sq. Yds.) each out of Khasra No.30/1/1 located in urbanized Village – Nagli Sakrawati, Delhi, have filed the present petition challenging the impugned orders dated 12th September, 2017 and 13th September, 2017 passed by the LAC/ADM (South West), Kapashera, New Delhi.

3. Vide the impugned orders, the reference petitions under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (hereinafter the ‘Act’) filed by the Petitioners had been rejected as being barred by time.

4. The background of the case is that a notification u/s 4 of the Act dated 7th April, 2006 was issued for the acquisition of the subject land. Thereafter, a notification u/s 6 of the Act was issued on 4th April, 2007, declaring the acquisition of the land of the Petitioners for public purpose.

5. Vide award no. 13/2008- 09/SW dated 30th March, 2009, the land of the Petitioners was acquired and compensation was assessed by the LAC. The said compensation was also received by the Petitioners on 8th November, 2011 and 17th November, 2011.

6. Before this Court, the submissions of Mr. Rout, ld. Counsel appearing for the Petitioners are two-fold. Firstly, that the notice issued by the Respondent under Section 12(2) of the Act, notifying them of the award dated 30th March, 2009 was issued at the wrong address and the Petitioners did not receive the same. This is despite the Department having the correct address of the Petitioner.

7. Secondly, it is stated that immediately upon the compensation being received by the Petitioners on 8th November, 2011 and 17th November, 2011, the reference petition u/s 18 of the Act was filed on 19th December, 2011. Hence, the same could not have been held to be time barred.

8. On behalf of the Petitioners, it is also submitted that the reference petition u/s 18 of the Act could not be dismissed by the LAC and ought to have been sent to ld. District Judge itself.

9. On behalf of the LAC, Mr. Jha, ld. Counsel submits that in terms of Section 18(2)(b) of the Act, the award in this case was passed on 30th March, 2009 and reference petition was filed only on 19th December, 2011, which is beyond the six months period prescribed in the said provision.

10. The Court has considered the matter. No counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Respondent in this matter.

11. Reliance has been placed by the Petitioners on a similar case in W.P.(C) 7817/2017 titled Chet Singh Rana v. Union of India where the Division Bench of this Court, vide order dated 5th September, 2017, has held that in any event, the Petitioner ought to be forwarded to the concerned District Judge, who would also decide the issue of limitation u/s 18 of the Act. The said order dated 5th September, 2017 is extracted below:

“Issue notice. Sh. Yeeshu Jain, Advocate accepts notice.

The limited relief claimed in this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution is to set-aside an order of the respondent/LAC dated 31.01.2017, declining to forward the reference under Section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 [hereafter “the 1894 Act”].

The Award in this case was made on 01.02.2012. The petitioner in this case requested for a reference on 15.01.2014. It was stated that the petitioner received the compensation on 28.11.2014 and he was in the dark till the impugned order, as to whether the reference had been forwarded to the competent court.

The LAC in the impugned order expressed the opinion that the application under Section 18 of the 1894 Act is time-barred and that in so saying he relied upon the provisions of Section 12(2) of the 1894 Act.

The respondent’s counsel argued that the impugned order should not be interfered with given the mandate of the law and the fact that t