Gujarat High Court
Dharmendra Jagjivanbhai Chandra vs Union Of India on 28 January, 2025
Author: Sunita Agarwal
Bench: Sunita Agarwal
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/1006/2025 ORDER DATED: 28/01/2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 1006 of 2025
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DHARMENDRA JAGJIVANBHAI CHANDRA & ANR.
Versus
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR ANAND M RANPARA(10976) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2
MS. HETAL PATEL, AGP for the Respondent(s) No. 2,3,4
MR. MAULIK G. NANAVATI, ADVOCATE FOR NANAVATI & CO.(7105) for the
Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE
SUNITA AGARWAL
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI
Date : 28/01/2025
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL) [1] Heard learned counsels for the parties and perused the record. [2] By means of the present petition, the petitioners seek the following reliefs:-
"9. (B) This Honourable Court will be pleased to issue the writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus, directing the respondents authorities to pay the amount of interest at the rate of 12% per annum compound interest on the amount of compensation awarded to the present petitioners from the date of deposit i.e. 31.05.2020 till the date of payment i.e. 27.05.2024.;
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(C) Pending admission hearing and till the final disposal of the present petition, this Honourable Court will be pleased to direct the respondent authorities to calculate the amount of interest payable to the petitioners herein and deposit the said amount before this Honourable Court;"
[3] The only prayer made in the writ petition is to pay interest at the rate of 12% per annum (compound interest) on the compensation awarded to the petitioners under the award dated 30.01.2020, from the date of deposit of the compensation by NHAI, i.e., 31.05.2020 till the date of payment, i.e., 27.05.2024.
[4] The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners is that after the award was declared on 30.01.2020, the notice under Section 3E(1) of the National Highways Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act, 1956) was issued by the competent authority on 28.01.2022 asking the land holders / petitioners to remain present before the competent authority to submit the papers pertaining to their entitlement for compensation. The possession of the land in question had been taken over on 31.05.2022. The petitioners were making representations before the competent authority for payment of compensation even after possession was taken on 31.05.2022 and when nothing was done, a writ petition, namely Special Civil Application No.6060 of 2024 was filed with the reliefs as under:- Page 2 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Fri Feb 07 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Feb 07 23:37:43 IST 2025
NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/1006/2025 ORDER DATED: 28/01/2025 undefined "9 (B) This Honourable Court will be pleased to issue the writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing the respondents authorities to pay the amount of compensation to the present petitioners as determined by the award dated 30.01.2020 passed by the respondent no. 2 authority in acquisition of land for widening and expansion of National Highway no. 151(a);
(C) This Honourable Court will pleased to issue appropriate writ, order or direction to the respondent authorities directing them to pay the interest over the amount of compensation at the rate of 12% from the date of award till the date of realisation to the present petitioners;
(D) Pending admission hearing and till the final disposal of the present petition, this Honourable Court will be pleased to direct the respondent authorities to deposit the amount payable to the present petitioners before this Honourable Court;"
[5] The contention of the learned counsel for the petitioners is that the prayer for award of interest over the amount of compensation at the rate of 12% from the date of award till the date of realization was already made before this Court in the previous round of litigation and on the presentation of the writ petition, the same was disposed of vide judgment and order dated 18.04.2024 granting liberty to the Page 3 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Fri Feb 07 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Feb 07 23:37:43 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/1006/2025 ORDER DATED: 28/01/2025 undefined petitioners to raise the issues by making a representation, without entering into the claim of the petitioners. The submission, thus, is that pursuant to the directions contained in the judgment and order dated 18.04.2024, when the petitioners realized that interest at the rate of 12% has not been paid to them from the date of determination under the award dated 30.01.2020 till the date of payment, i.e., 27.05.2024, they have filed the present petition seeking for interest on the delayed payment of compensation on the part of the competent authority.
[6] The submission, thus, is that the present petition has been filed with the specific prayer to award interest on the delayed payment from the date of deposit till the date of payment, i.e., 27.04.2024 to which the petitioners herein are entitled to. [7] Considering the said submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners, we may record that on determination of the amount of compensation under the award passed under Section 3G(1) of the Act, 1956, the NHAI is required to make the deposit under Section 3H(1) of the Act, 1956, which was made admittedly in this case on 31.05.2020, i.e., within a period of four months from the date of making of the award. The NHAI being the acquiring body, Page 4 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Fri Feb 07 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Feb 07 23:37:43 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/1006/2025 ORDER DATED: 28/01/2025 undefined could have taken possession of the land in question after deposit of the compensation amount under Section 3H(1) of the Act, 1956. Admittedly, in the instant case, the possession of the land in question was taken on 31.05.2022 by the NHAI after completion of the necessary formalities. There is, thus, no question for payment of interest for the period from the date of deposit, i.e., 31.05.2020 till the date of taking over possession, i.e., 31.05.2022. [8] With regard to any delay on the part of the competent authority in disbursement of compensation as alleged in the writ petition, we may record that the notice under Section 3E(1) of the Act, 1956, after the deposits were made by the NHAI under Section 3H(1) of the Act, 1956 was issued by the competent authority and only after the receipt of the papers of the land holders with regard to their entitlement of compensation, possession was delivered to the NHAI.
[9] As regards the delay in making payment to the petitioners after 31.05.2022 till 27.05.2024, for a period of approximately two years, suffice it to note that in the previous writ petition, though the petitioners made a prayer for payment of interest over and above the amount of compensation at the rate of 12%, but there is no such Page 5 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Fri Feb 07 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Feb 07 23:37:43 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/1006/2025 ORDER DATED: 28/01/2025 undefined provision in the Act for payment of interest over and above the amount deposited by the NHAI which is 31.05.2020. The compensation amount is required to be disbursed on completion of the procedure prescribed in Section 3H of the Act, 1956, which has been done in the instant case.
[10] As noted hereinbefore, in the previous round of litigation, no specific direction has been given by this Court for grant of interest to the petitioners. It seems that the occasion for filing the present petition arose on account of the fact that this Court had not entered into the merits of the claim of the petitioners and relegated the petitioners to approach the competent authority by making a proper representation.
[11] Be that as it may, it is a matter of compulsory acquisition of the land in question which is guided by the provisions of the Act, 1956 and in absence of any provision for award of interest over and above the amount deposited by the NHAI under the award dated 30.01.2020, which was computed by the competent authority by including statutory interest, we cannot grant the prayer made in the writ petition. As regard the NHAI, as noted hereinabove, there is no delay on the part of the NHAI in making the deposits. It is, Page 6 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Fri Feb 07 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Feb 07 23:37:43 IST 2025 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/1006/2025 ORDER DATED: 28/01/2025 undefined therefore, not possible for us to issue any direction for payment of interest over and above the amount of compensation computed under the award dated 30.01.2020, which includes statutory interest payable under the Act, 1956. The disbursement of compensation was at the end of the competent authority. The writ petition, therefore, deserves to be dismissed being devoid of merits. The writ petition stands dismissed.
(SUNITA AGARWAL, C.J.) (PRANAV TRIVEDI, J.) DHARMENDRA KUMAR Page 7 of 7 Uploaded by DHARMENDRA KUMAR(HC01071) on Fri Feb 07 2025 Downloaded on : Fri Feb 07 23:37:43 IST 2025