Bombay High Court
Chandrakant Baburao Taware vs The Union Of India And Ors on 1 March, 2023
Bench: R.D. Dhanuka, M. M. Sathaye
Yugandhara Patil
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO. 2086 OF 2023
Santosh Soma Dakve ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2088 OF 2023
Jayant Vitthal Sutar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2089 OF 2023
Chandrakant Baburao Taware ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2090 OF 2023
Vilas Bhagoji Sangale ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2091 OF 2023
Prajwalal Vinesh Goasvi ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2093 OF 2023
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Piraji M. Naukudkar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2094 OF 2023
Aditi Mahendra Sangale ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2590 OF 2023
Mr. Pramod Kirshnakant Tiwari ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2608 OF 2023
Mrs. Sangeeta Praful Tikam ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2591 OF 2023
Mr. Sachin Sadanand Ramane ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2609 OF 2023
Mrs. Shobha Shivaji Kshirsagar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
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WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2610 OF 2023
Mrs. Shalini Raghunath Mhatre
(Deceased) thr. Legal Heirs ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2611 OF 2023
Mr. Manoj Keshav Maladkar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2592 OF 2023
Mrs. Reshma Vilas Shigwan ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2612 OF 2023
Entraj Baldev Bind ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2593 OF 2023
Mr. Sandip Nathu Dhonde ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2594 OF 2023
Mr. Parshuram Madhukar Kamat ..Petitioner
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V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2595 OF 2023
Mr. Jayram Arjun Tovaskar
(since Medically Unfit) thr. Lrs. ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2596 OF 2023
Mr. Rajesh Prabhakar Gaikwad ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2597 OF 2023
Ishwar Buddhadas Ingle ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2598 OF 2023
Bablu Dani Mishra ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2599 OF 2023
Shashikant Parasnath Mourya ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
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WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2600 OF 2023
Mr. Sandesh Gangaram Sangle ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2601 OF 2023
Mr. Pundlik Subhash Gaonkar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2602 OF 2023
Mr. Dashrath Subhash Gaonkar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2603 OF 2023
Mrs. Prabhavati Devi ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2604 OF 2023
Sunil Dayaram Sharma ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2605 OF 2023
Ravindra Laxman Nakti ..Petitioner
V/s.
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The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2606 OF 2023
Omprakash Vasant Nesvankar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 2607 OF 2023
Suvarna Omprakash Nesvankar ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 5765 OF 2023
(Not on board)
Ramanaiah Ramesaram Mothadi ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO. 5827 OF 2023
(Not on board)
Vaibhav Parshu Ghevade ..Petitioner
V/s.
The Union of India and Ors. ..Respondents
********
Mr. V.A. Gangal a/w Mr. A.R. Kulkarni, Ms. Shweta Parab for the
Petitioners.
Mr. R.V. Govilkar Senior Advocate a/w Ms. Leena Patil for
Respondent No. 1-Union of India in all Wps.
Ms. Pradyna R. Bansode for the Respondent No. 2 in all Wps.
Mrs. M.S. Bane AGP for Respondent Nos. 3 and 4 in all Wps.
*******
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CORAM : R.D.DHANUKA, AND
M.M.SATHAYE, JJ.
DATE : 1st MARCH 2023
P.C.
1. Rule. Mr. Govilkar, learned Senior Counsel for Respondent No.
1 waives service. Ms. Bansode, for Respondent No. 2 waives service.
Mrs. M.S. Bane, learned AGP waives service for all Respondent Nos.
3 and 4. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent of the parties,
the matters are taken up for final hearing.
2. Issues arising in all these bunch of Petitions are identical and
therefore, they are disposed of by the common Order.
3. Petitioners have impugned the notice dated 27 th January 2023,
calling upon the Petitioners to vacate their respective tenements.
Petitioners have also prayed for directions against Respondent Nos.
2 and 3 not to take possession of Petitioners room unless and until
compensation is determined for tenements in their possession as
described in prayer clause (b) of the Petitions.
4. Mr. Gangal, learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioners has
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relied upon draft supplementary award made on 6 th May 2017,
determining the compensation in respect of some of the structures
possessed by the Petitioners.
5. Learned Counsel also placed reliance on Judgment delivered
by this Court on 3rd August,2020 in Writ Petition (St.) No. 2511 of
2020 in case of Premier Limited Vs. Union of India and others,
directing that Respondent Nos. 3 and 4 therein shall pay due
compensation to the Petitioner and such other persons who may
lodge claim thereto as per award No. 54 of 2015 from the period of
six weeks from the date of receipt of said order with interest at the
rate of 6 per cent per annum, on the compensation amount to be
paid to the Petitioners, from the date of deposit of the award amount
by the Central Government till the date of payment to the
Petitioners.
6. This Court also directed the competent authority to issue
notice in the writing to the Petitioners and such other persons who
may be found in possession of the land in question to surrender or
hand over possession to the competent authority within 60 days
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from the date of receipt of said notice and in the event of refusal or
failure to comply with directions of the competent authority,
Respondent No. 3 shall take appropriate action in terms of Section
20-I(2) of the Indian Railways Act,1989.(hereinafter referred to as
"the Act")
7. It is case of the Petitioners that notices are however now
issued calling upon the Petitioners to vacate their respective
structures without paying any compensation. Learned Counsel states
that though in the draft supplementary award, the competent
authority has determined some compensation, eligibility of the
Petitioners is not yet decided.
8. Learned Counsel for Respondent No. 2 on the other hand
opposed these Petitions on the ground that Petitioners have carried
out construction to their respective tenements much after the period
of second notification issued by the competent authority and were
not found in possession when the joint measurement was taken by
the competent authority. According to Respondent No.2, the
Petitioners are in unauthorised occupation and have carried out
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unauthorised construction on the land under acquisition. She
submitted that insofar as compensation in respect of land in question
is concerned, compensation has been already paid by Respondent
No.2 to the owner of the land i.e.Premier Limited and thus nothing is
payable to the Petitioners.
9. Mr. Govilkar, learned counsel for Respondent No. 1 for Union
of India, on the other hand, submitted that there is no provision for
preparation of any supplementary award under the provisions of
Railways Act and thus no cognizance of such supplementary award
can been taken. He submitted that, in any event,the compensation
already paid to Premier Limited by Respondent No. 2, would cover
compensation, not only payable to the Premier Limited but also
payable to the Petitioners, if any.
10. Learned AGP for Respondent Nos. 3 and 4 relied upon the said
draft supplementary award and submitted that since Respondent No.
2 has not approved the said draft supplementary award as far back
as on 2017, the draft supplementary award could not be made final
and could not be released by competent authority.
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11. At this stage, we do not propose to go into the issue whether
such draft supplementary award could have been already prepared
by the competent authority or not in respect of the structures
possessed by the Petitioners, if any.
12. A perusal of the Order passed by Division Bench of this Court
on 3rd August 2020 and more particularly paragraph nos. 46, 50 and
52 would clearly indicate that this Court has taken cognizance of the
structures having been constructed on the land under acquisition.
This Court accordingly directed competent authority to pay due
compensation to the Premier Limited and also to such persons who
have lodged their claim as per award No. 54 of 2015.
13. Under Section 20-D(1) of the Act, any person interested in the
land is entitled to raise any objection within the time prescribed
under the said provisions. In this case, no notices were given by the
competent authority in compliance with the order passed by this
Court on 3rd August 2020. Be that as it may. The possession of
Petitioners, in respect of some of the structures, having been
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constructed on the land under acquisition, is not disputed.
14. The eligibility of these Petitioners to claim compensation in
respect of structures in their possession, if any, has not been decided
till date. Under Section 20-F of the Railways Act, 1989, the amount
payable as compensation can be determined by an order of the
Competent Authority.
15. Mr. Gangal, learned counsel for the Petitioners on instructions
state that his clients would file requisite documents with the
competent authority within a period of one week from today without
fail with a copy to be served upon Respondent No. 2. Upon filing of
such documents, competent authority would decide the issue of
eligibility within four weeks thereafter in accordance with Section
20-F of the Indian Railways Act, 1989. Further steps shall be taken
by the competent authority upon determination of amount payable
as compensation in accordance with the provisions of the Indian
Railways Act, 1989.
16. Under Section 20-H(3) of the Act, where several persons claim
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to be interested in the amount deposited, the competent authority
shall determine the persons who in its opinion are entitled to receive
the amount payable to each of them. As soon as the amount is
deposited, the competent authority shall on behalf of the Central
Government pay the amount to the persons entitled thereto. The
amount determined has to be deposited by the Central Government
in the said manner as prescribed by the State Government before
taking possession of the land.
17. It is made clear that upon depositing of the amount if any,
payable under the order that would be passed by the competent
authority under Section 20-F of the Act, the competent authority
would be at liberty to ask for possession of their respective structures
from Petitioners in compliance with Section 20-I of the Act. The
competent authority thereafter shall follow procedure under Section
20-I(1) of the Act.
18. Upon determination of the compensation and upon depositing
the amount, if any, the Petitioners to hand over vacant possession of
their respective structures to the competent authority within the time
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prescribed.
19. Writ Petitions are disposed of in the aforesaid terms. No order
as to costs. It is made clear that during this period, Petitioners shall
not create any third party right in respect of the structures in their
possession and shall not carry out any further constructions without
permission of Respondent No. 2 or Municipal Corporation, as the
case may be. It is made clear that this Court has not expressed any
views on the merits of the claim of eligibility made by the Petitioners.
All contentions of all the parties are kept open. Respondent No. 2
shall not take any coercive steps against Petitioners in respect of the
structures in question during this period.
[M.M.SATHAYE,J.] [R. D. DHANUKA, J.]
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