Sattar Mohammad & Ors. vs Govt. Of Nct Of Delhi & Ors.
2015 Latest Caselaw 721 Del

$~52
*       IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
%                                      Judgment delivered on: 27.01.2015

+       W.P.(C) 7600/2014 & CM 17908/2014
SATTAR MOHAMMAD & ORS.                                       .... Petitioners
                                       versus
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS.                                 ..... Respondents

Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner  : Mr Vishal Maan, Advocate.
For the Respondents : Mr Yeeshu Jain with Ms Jyoti Tyagi, Advocates for
                      L&B/LAC.
                    Mr Dhanesh Relan with Mr Arush Bhandari, Advocate for
                    DDA.
CORAM:-
HON'BLE MR JUSTICE BADAR DURREZ AHMED
HON'BLE MR JUSTICE SANJEEV SACHDEVA

                                  JUDGMENT

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J (ORAL)

1. The petitioners seek the benefit of Section 24(2) of the Right to

Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation

and Resettlement Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 2013 Act')

which came into effect on 01.01.2014. A declaration is sought to the

effect that the acquisition proceeding initiated under the Land Acquisition

Act, 1894 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 1894 Act') in respect of which

Award No.10/87-88 dated 14.05.1987 was made, inter alia, in respect of

the petitioners' land comprised in Khasra Nos.457(4-16), 458/2 (2-08)

measuring 7 bighas 4 biswas in all in village Sayoorpur shall be deemed

to have lapsed.

2. Though the respondents claimed that possession of the said land

was taken on 14.07.1987, the petitioners dispute this and maintain that

physical possession has not been taken. However, insofar as the

compensation is concerned, it is the case of the petitioner that the same

has not been paid to them whereas it is the case of the respondents that

the said compensation was deposited in court in C.M.(Main) 1407/2013

passed on 30.12.2013. By virtue of that order, the said C.M.(Main),

amongst others, was disposed of by recording that without prejudice to

the rights and contentions of the land holders the cheque tendered in each

petition would be treated as tendered to the court of the learned

Additional District Judge, Delhi as of that date i.e. 30.12.2013.

According to the respondents this amounts to payment of compensation.

However, this issue has already been settled by a decision of this court in

Gyanender Singh & Ors v. Union of India & Ors. WPC 1393/2014

decided on 23.09.2014 wherein this court held that unless and until the

compensation was tendered to the persons interested, mere deposit of the

compensation in court would not be sufficient. The compensation cannot

be regarded as having been paid merely on the deposit of the same in

court unless and until it has first been offered to the person interested and

he has refused to accept the same. In the present case, it is an admitted

position that the compensation amount was tendered in this court in the

said C.M (Main) 1407/2013 without first being offered to the petitioner

herein. Therefore the same, following the decision in Gyanender Singh

(supra), cannot be regarded as compensation having been paid to the

petitioner.

3. Without going into the controversy of physical possession, this

much is clear that the Award was made more than five years prior to the

commencement of the 2013 Act and the compensation has also not been

paid. The necessary ingredients for the application of Section 24(2) of

the 2013 Act as interpreted by the Supreme Court and this Court in the

following cases stand satisfied:-

(1) Pune Municipal Corporation and Anr v. Harakchand Misirimal Solanki and Ors: (2014) 3 SCC 183;

(2) Union of India and Ors v. Shiv Raj and Ors: (2014) 6 SCC 564;

(3) Sree Balaji Nagar Residential Association v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors: Civil Appeal No. 8700/2013 decided on 10.09.2014;

(4) Surender Singh v. Union of India & Others: WP(C) 2294/2014 decided on 12.09.2014 by this Court; and

(5) Girish Chhabra v. Lt. Governor of Delhi and Ors:

WP(C) 2759/2014 decided on 12.09.2014 by this Court.

4. The learned counsel for the respondents, however, places reliance

on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land

Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance,

2014, which came into effect on 31.12.2014 whereby the second Proviso

has been added to sub-section 2 to Section 24 of the 2013 Act. The said

plea, however, is no longer available to the respondents in view of the

decision of the Supreme Court in the case of M/s Radiance Fincap (P) &

Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. decided on 12.01.2015 in Civil Appeal

No.4283/2011 wherein the Supreme Court has held as under:

"The right conferred to the land holders/owners of the acquired land under Section 24(2) of the Act is the statutory right and, therefore, the said right cannot be taken away by an Ordinance by inserting proviso to the abovesaid sub-section without giving retrospective effect to the same."

The same view has also been reiterated in Kernail Kaur & Ors v. State of

Punjab & Ors, Civil Appeal No. 7424/2013 decided by the Supreme

Court on 22.01.2015.

5. It is evident from the above that the Ordinance is prospective and

rights created in favour of the petitioners as on 01.01.2014 are

undisturbed by the virtue of the said Ordinance.

6. As a result, the petitioners are entitled to a declaration that the said

acquisition proceedings initiated under the 1894 Act in respect of the

subject land are deemed to have lapsed. It is so declared.

7. The writ petition is allowed to the aforesaid extent. There shall be

no order as to costs.

                                          BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J



JANUARY 27, 2015                           SANJEEV SACHDEVA, J
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