Gujarat High Court
Nilknth Vikram Trivedi vs State Of Gujarat on 5 August, 2025
Author: Sunita Agarwal
Bench: Sunita Agarwal
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 5504 of 2015
With
CIVIL APPLICATION (FOR INTERIM RELIEF) NO. 1 of 2016
In R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 5504 of 2015
With
CIVIL APPLICATION (FOR ORDERS) NO. 1 of 2023
In R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 5504 of 2015
With
CIVIL APPLICATION (FOR AMENDMENT) NO. 2 of 2016
In R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 5504 of 2015
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NILKNTH VIKRAM TRIVEDI & ANR.
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR YH VYAS(1001) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2
MS. HETAL PATEL, AGP for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2
MR JINESH H KAPADIA(5601) for the Respondent(s) No. 4,5
MRS KRISHNA G RAWAL(1315) for the Respondent(s) No. 3
RULE SERVED BY DS for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2,6,7
MR. MAULIK NANAVATI, ADVOCATE WITH MR. MANVI DAMPLE FOR
RESPONDENT NO.7
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CORAM:HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE
SUNITA AGARWAL
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D.N.RAY
Date : 05/08/2025
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL)
1. The present petition has been filed by two persons namely petitioner no. 1, Nilkanth Vikram Trivedi and petitioner no. 2, Subhashbhai Rambai Amin through the power of attorney holder namely, Shri Vikram Manubhai Trivedi.
2. The main prayers made in the writ petition are:- Page 1 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025 undefined "(A) Quash and set aside the impunged order dated 10/3/2015 passed by respondent No.2 at annexture-L and Direct the respondent no. 2 to decide the claim of the petitioners pending before him under Sec. 3H(3) of the Act and pass appropriate order within two weeks in the interest of justice;
(B) Direct the respondent no. 2 to deposit the entire amount of compensation of Rs. 48,00,443/- payable to the petitioner no.1 with 12% interest from 16/11/2013 till date in the registry of this Hon'ble Court within 7 days from date of order;
(C) Pending admission, hearing and final disposal of this petition, by way of interim relief or ad-interim relief direct the respondent no. 2 to deposit entire amount of compensation of Rs.48,00,443/-along with interest and permit the petitioners to withdraw the amount from the Registry on submitting undertaking that in case any adverse order in the petition, petitioners will return the amount with interest;
(D) Such other and further order which deems fit in the facts and circumstances of the case may be passed the interest of justice;"
3. By the way of amendment, the following prayers have been added:-
"15.(F) Quash and set aside the appointment of Respondent No.6 as an arbitrator vide order no. NHAI/LA/RR/2001/9/1 dated 12/10/2011 issued by the first Respondent Central Govt. u/s 3G(5) of the National Highway Act-1956, and restrain him from working as arbitrator in Arbitration case of Petitioner No.1 immediately and to direct him to hand over the case papers to the arbitrator appointed by this Hon'ble High Court in the interest of justice;
(G) Appoint any Hon'ble former judge of High court of Gujarat as an arbitrator to carry out arbitration work u/s 3G (5) of the National Highway Act-1956 between Petitioner No.1 and central govt. in accordance with the provisions of The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and in accordance Page 2 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025 undefined with law;
(H) Declare the Sec. 3G (5) of the NH Act, 1956 is discriminatory, and violative to an extent of its contravention with Article 14 of The Constitution of India and is ultra vires and void.
(I) Declare that Sec.3J of the National Highway, 1956 is ultra vires the constitution, inoperative and provisions of The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (Act 30 of 2013) applies to the acquisition of Petitioner No. 1 lands acquired as per Annexure-'Z' to the petition and declare that the Petitioner No.1 is entitled to get complete package of compensation and all the tax benefits which are extended to Land Acquisition under "RFCTLARR Act" and be pleased to pass appropriate orders to pay the same to the Petitioner No.1, in the interest of justice;
(J) Declare that the entire amount of compensation as per the calculation under "RFCTLARR Act" which is payable to the Petitioner No.1 is fully 100% Income Tax free as has been provided in Sec. 96 of the "RFCTLARR Act" be paid to the Petitioner No.1 and he is not liable to pay any tax on the entire amount of compensation and any other enhanced amount determined at higher stage of determination in the interest of justice;
(K) Direct the Respondent No.6 to deposit the entire amount of compensation under "RFCTLARR Act" which is payable to the Petitioner No.1, in the Registry of this Hon'ble High Court within 15 days from the order of the Hon'ble High Court in the interest of Justice;
(L) Direct the respondent no.2 to rectify his mistake in Award about the valuation of the Jantri value / market value of the N.A. lands of the petitioner no.1 and pass supplementary Award incorporating the enhancement in the valuation in the interest of justice;
(M) Declare the Sec. 3D(2) and Sec. 3G(7) (a) of N.H. Act, 1956 as ultra vires, unconstitutional and hence void and be pleased to declare that vesting of the petitioner no.1's lands with the Central Government took place on 19/05/2015, a day on which the possession from the petitioner was taken and market value is required to be determined keeping this date in consideration in the interest of justice;Page 3 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025 undefined (N) Pending admission, hearing and final disposal of this petition, by way of interim relief or ad-interim relief restrain the respondent no 6 from acting as an arbitrator in the arbitration case of petitioner pending before him in the interest of justice;"
4. Pertinent is to note that in Paragraph No.3.22 of the writ petition, it is stated that, on 31.05.2007, petitioner no. 2 sold six survey numbers by registered sale deed and handed over the possession of the property to petitioner no. 1, and presently, the petitioner no.1 is the owner and occupier of all the properties in question. Pertinent is to note that by the order dated 10.03.2015, passed by the competent authority, namely respondent no.2 herein, noticing that there was a dispute with regard to right, title and interest in the land in question subject matter of acquisition, matter was referred to the Civil court invoking section 3H(3) of the National Highways Act, 1956. The order dated 10.03.2015, subject matter of challenge originally, thus, was the order making reference of the dispute to the Civil court in the proceedings for disbursement of compensation, by the competent authority.
5. Mr. Maulik G. Nanavati, learned advocate appearing for Page 4 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025 undefined the respondent-NHAI has placed before us the order dated 28.07.2025, passed by us in Special Civil Application No.14130 of 2015 filed by the same petitioners. The judgment and order dated 28.07.2025 of disposal of the aforesaid petition reads as under:-
"1. The present petition has been filed essentially challenging the judgment and decree dated 07.08.2015 passed by the Civil Court on a reference made under Section 3H(3) of the National Highways Act' 1956, wherein claim of several persons interested in the lands in question for the purposes of disbursement of compensation determined under the award passed under the National Highways Act in accordance with Section 3H(1) has been adjudicated. The added prayers made in the writ petition about challenging the vires of Sections 3J, 3D(2) and 3G(7)
(a) have been given by the learned counsel for the petitioner, at the outset. It is sought to be submitted in the writ petition that all throughout the proceedings, the original owner namely Subhash Rambhai Amin namely respondent No.2, who is represented through his Power of Attorney holder namely Vikram Manubhai Trivedi have never claimed any part of compensation as the land was already sold to the petitioner namely Nilkanth Vikram Trivedi by way of registered sale deed long ago and possession of the entire property lie with the petitioner.
2. Be that as it may, the challenge in the present petition is tot the validity of the judgment and decree dated 07.08.2015 on various statement of facts, which are sought to be disputed before us. As no factual inquiry can be made within the scope of Article 227 of the Constitution of India, we do not find it a fit case to adjudicate.
3. At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner be permitted to Page 5 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025 undefined withdraw the present petition in its entirety, inasmuch as, he proposes to avail the appropriate remedy to assail the judgment and decree dated 07.08.2015 in Land Reference Case No.2 of 2015 passed by the Court of Principal Civil Judge (Senior Division), Nadiad.
4. In view of the above statement made by Mr.Y. H. Vyas,the learned counsel for the petitioner during the course of arguments, the present petition is dismissed as withdrawn. Interim relief(s), if any, stand(s) discharged. Pending civil application stands disposed of."
6. It is also pertinent to note that, as per own submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners, the petitioner no.2, Subhashbhai Rambai Amin, who was represented through the power of attorney holder namely Shri Vikram Manubhai Trivedi, is not alive. The writ petition, thus, cannot be survived on behalf of petitioner no.
2. In so far as the petitioner no. 1 is concerned, he claims to be the purchaser of the lands in question on the basis of the sale deed executed by the petitioner no. 2 through the power of attorney holder namely Shri Vikram Manubhai Trivedi.
7. A perusal of the order dated 28.07.2025 of disposal of the Writ Petition No. 14130 of 2015 indicates that the dispute referred to the Civil Court had been adjudicated by Page 6 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025 undefined the judgment and decree dated 07.08.2015 in the reference which was made vide order dated 10.03.2015, subject matter of challenge herein. It may also be noted that the claim of the several persons interested in the land in question for the purposes of the disbursement of compensation has been determined under the judgment and decree dated 07.08.2015. Noticing the contention of the petitioner in the aforesaid writ petition that the petitioner proposes to challenge the validity of the judgment and decree dated 07.08.2015 on various statement of fact, which cannot be adjudicated within the scope of Article 227 of the Constitution of India, we permitted the petitioner to withdraw the said writ petition in its entirety, leaving it open for him to approach the competent forum/court to challenge the validity and correctness of the judgment and decree dated 07.08.2015 in the Land reference No. 2 of 2015 passed by the Court of Principal Civil Judge (Senior Division), Nadiad.
8. In view of the judgment and order dated 28.07.2015, whereby the petitioner has been permitted to withdraw the writ petition to approach the competent court of Page 7 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/5504/2015 ORDER DATED: 05/08/2025 undefined jurisdiction, the present petition wherein the main challenge is to the order of reference dated 10.03.2015, cannot survive. As the main relief in the writ petition does not survive, we do not find any reason to deliberate on the issue of the validity of the various statutory provisions of the National Highways Act, 1956, which prayers have been added by way of an amendment during pendency of the writ petition, namely Special Civil Application No. 14130 of 2015 decided on 20.07.2025. The present petition is, thus, rendered as infructuous and dismissed as such. Interim relief(s), if any, stand(s) discharged. Rule is discharged. Consequently, the Civil Applications stand disposed of.
(SUNITA AGARWAL, CJ ) (D.N.RAY,J) BINA SHAH Page 8 of 8 Uploaded by BINA SHAH(HC00353) on Mon Aug 11 2025 Downloaded on : Mon Aug 11 21:56:45 IST 2025