Dagadu Shyamrao Mate And Others vs The State Of Maharashtra And ...
2021 Latest Caselaw 10571 Bom

                                                                 14-wp-6115-2018.odt
                                        (1)

           IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                      BENCH AT AURANGABAD

                     14 WRIT PETITION NO.6115 OF 2018
                     WITH CA/1276/2021 IN WP/6115/2018

                DAGADU SHYAMRAO MATE AND OTHERS
                                   VERSUS
              THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS
                                       ...

Advocate for Petitioners : Mr. Palodkar Devdatt P. AGP for Respondents/State : Mr. S.B. Yawalkar Advocate for Respondent Nos.2 & 3 : Mr. S.V. Adwant Advocate for Respondent No.4 : Mr. V.H. Dighe h/f Mr. D.R. Kale Patil ...

CORAM : RAVINDRA V. GHUGE & S.G. MEHARE, J.J.

DATED : 09th AUGUST, 2021

PER COURT:-

1. The petitioner has put-forth prayer clause (B), (C) and (D) as

under:

"B) The Hon'ble High Court may be pleased to issue writ of certiorari or any other appropriate writ or order or direction in the nature of writ and thereby quash and set aside order dated 03.05.2018 passed by respondent no.3 (Annexure-"D") and respondent No.3 may be directed to pay the amount of compensation in respect of acquisition of well situated in Gut No.287 of village Jaipur Tal. and District Aurangabad in favour of the petitioners.

C) By way of Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or directions in the like nature, the respondent No.3 may be directed to refer the dispute arose in the present case in respect of entitlement of amount of compensation in respect of acquisition of well situated in Gut No.287 of village Jaipur Tal. and District Aurangabad in favour of the petitioners. to the Principal Civil Court, Aurangabad for adjudication as per Sec.19 C (iv) of the

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Maharashtra Highways Act, 1955.

D) By way of Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or directions in the like nature, the respondent Nos.3 and 4 may be directed to deposit the amount received from respondent No.2 in respect of acquisition in respect of acquisition of well situated in Gut No.287 of village Jaipur Tal. and District Aurangabad in favour of the petitioners."

2. We have considered the strenuous submissions of the

learned counsel for the respective sides. With their assistance, we have

gone through the petition paper book and the afdavits in reply fled by

them, threadbare. We have also perused the record and the colour

photographs that have been placed before us, appended to the Civil

Application No.1276 of 2021.

3. Considering the order that we are passing in this petition, we

are not required to advert to the entire submissions of the learned counsel

for the respective sides.

4. Section 19C (1 to 6) of the Maharashtra Highways Act,

reads thus:

"19C.

(1) The amount determined under section 19B shall be deposited by the State Government, in the prescribed manner, with the Land Acquisition Ofcer before taking possession of the land.

(2) As soon as may be after the amount has been deposited under sub-section (1), the Land Acquisition Ofcer shall on behalf of the State Government pay the amount to the person or persons entitled thereto.

(3) Where several persons claim to be interested in the

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amount deposited under sub-section (1), the Land Acquisition Ofcer shall determine the persons who in his opinion are entitled to receive the amount payable to each of them. (4) If any dispute arises as to the apportionment of the amount or any part thereof or to any person to whom the same or any part thereof is payable, the Land Acquisition Ofcer shall refer the dispute to the decision of the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within the limits of whose jurisdiction the land is situated.

(5) Where the amount determined under sub-section (8) of section 19B by the arbitrator is in excess of the amount determined by the Land Acquisition Ofcer, the arbitrator may award interest at nine per cent. per annum on such excess amount from the date of taking possession under section 19 till the date of the actual deposit thereof. (6) Where the amount determined by the arbitrator is in excess of the amount determined by the Land Acquisition Ofcer, the excess amount together with an interest, if any, awarded under sub-section (5), shall be deposited by the State Government, in the prescribed manner, with the Land Acquisition Ofcer and the provisions of sub-sections (2) to (4) shall apply to such deposit."

5. The impugned order dated 03.05.2018 carries a semblance

of a judicial order passed by the competent authority under Section 19C

(4). The said authority, while entertaining the dispute between the

petitioners and respondent no.4 - Jaipur Gram Panchayat, ventured into

assessing the merits of the documents placed before it so as to conclude

as to whether the well at issue belongs to the petitioners or to the gram

panchayat. Eventually, it concluded that the objections of these

petitioners are without merit and the well appears to be belonging to the

gram panchayat and hence the compensation amount deserves to be

apportioned to the gram panchayat.

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6. By order dated 20.06.2018, passed by this Court, status-quo

as existing then was directed to be maintained. On the date of passing of

this order, there was no apportionment of money. Shri Adwant, the

learned advocate for the acquiring body fairly states that the body is

interested in disbursing/apportioning the amount of compensation to the

rightful person.

7. Considering the import and meaning of Section 19-C (4), if

there is any dispute of the nature as like the one before us, the competent

authority should be referring the dispute for decision to the Principal Civil

Court of Original Jurisdiction within the limits of whose jurisdiction, the

land is situated. Shri Adwant informs us that considering the exparte ad-

interim order passed by this Court on 20.06.2018, which was continued

even thereafter, the amount has still not been disbursed.

8. We also fnd from a judgment delivered by the learned Single

Judge of this Court in the matter of Shrikant R. Sankanwar and Ors Vs.

Krishna Balu Naukudkar, 2003 (3) BomCR 45, wherein it has been

held that mutation entries and the entries in the 7/12 extracts are purely

for fscal purposes. They do not decide the right, title or interest of any

person in the land at issue or in the immovable property at issue.

9. In view of the above, this petition is partly allowed. The

impugned order dated 03.05.2018 is modifed with a direction to the

competent authority to refer the dispute to the learned Principal Civil Court

of Original Jurisdiction at Aurangabad, on or before 31.08.2021. The

amount of compensation deposited with the competent authority by the

acquiring body, shall also be transmitted to the said Court. The learned

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Court would deposit the said amount in a fxed deposit receipt with a

nationalized bank, until the dispute is resolved. We expect the learned

Court to decide the said dispute as expeditiously as possible and

preferably on or before the 31st day of December 2022.

10. The pending civil application would not survive and stands

disposed of.

11. We make it clear that if the learned Court comes to a

conclusion that either of the parties have attempted to play mischief to

delay the apportionment of the compensation amount, it shall be at liberty

to impose cost of Rs.50,000/- on each such person who is found to have

played a mischievous role in this matter.

   (S.G. MEHARE. J)                         (RAVINDRA V. GHUGE, J)




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