Gujarat High Court
Rajeshbhai Bhikhabhai Alias ... vs The State Of Gujarat on 18 October, 2022
Bench: A.S. Supehia
C/FA/4153/2022 ORDER DATED: 18/10/2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 4153 of 2022
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RAJESHBHAI BHIKHABHAI ALIAS BHOLABHAI
Versus
THE STATE OF GUJARAT & 2 other(s)
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Appearance:
MR KRUSHNAKANT D PATEL(10632) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
MR TEJAS P SATTA(3149) for the Appellant(s) No. 1
for the Defendant(s) No. 2,3
MS ASMITA PATEL, AGP for the Defendant(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.S. SUPEHIA
Date : 18/10/2022
ORAL ORDER
1. Admit. Learned AGP waives service of notice of admission for the
opponent no.1.
2. At the outset, learned advocate Mr.Satta has submitted that the
issue is covered by the judgment and order dated 29.06.2022 passed by
the Coordinate Bench of this Court in First Appeal No.862 of 2022 and
allied matters. It is submitted that in the present case also, the impugned
judgment and order rejecting the reference proceedings by the reference
Court has been passed only on the ground that the claimant was unable to
adduce any evidence, even after affording ample opportunities to them. It
is submitted that a last opportunity may be given to the appellant-
claimant to adduce evidence before the Court below and as per the
observations made by this Court vide order dated 29.06.2022, for
intervening period i.e. from the date of judgment till passing of the order
of this Court, in the present appeal also, the appellant-claimant will not
claim any interest.
3. Learned AGP on the contrary, has submitted that the order passed
by the Court below is appropriate since the same reflects that despite
C/FA/4153/2022 ORDER DATED: 18/10/2022
giving ample opportunities to the claimant, the appellant did not adduce
any evidence and the issues were framed below Exh.5. It is submitted that
the burden is raised on the appellant-claimant to prove their case in the
case of claiming the compensation and hence, no order may be passed.
4. Heard the learned advocates for the respective parties and also
perused the documents as pointed out by them.
5. The appellant has placed reliance on the order dated 29.06.2022
passed by the Coordinate Bench of this Court in First Appeal No.862 of
2022 and allied matters, on the similar issue, whereby the reference Court
has rejected the reference application on the ground that the appellant-
claimant did not produce any evidence despite giving ample opportunities
to them. The Coordinate Bench of this Court has observed thus:
"6. In view of above, this Court is of the opinion that in the land
reference cases, it is the duty of the learned reference Court to go into
the issue of awarding compensation and to assess the same for its
adequacy in the background that the claimants have lost possession of
their land. In the present case, no such exercise has been undertaken by
the learned reference Court. In the premise, the impugned judgment and
orders are hereby set aside and the matters are remanded back to the
learned reference Court for determining the entitlement of the land
owners to just, reasonable and adequate compensation, which can be
determined only after examining the evidence adduced by the parties. In
the interest of justice, the present appellants deserve an opportunity to
produce additional evidence in respect of their entitlement to adequate
compensation.
6.1 Accordingly, all the First Appeals are hereby allowed. The
impugned common judgment and order is hereby quashed and set aside
and the matter is remanded to the learned reference Court for fresh
consideration in accordance with law with a liberty in favour of the
parties to adduce oral as well as documentary evidence in support of
their case.
6.2 The parties are directed to adduce their evidence within 6 weeks
from the date of first appearance before the learned reference Court.
C/FA/4153/2022 ORDER DATED: 18/10/2022
The reference Court is also directed to decide the reference cases as
expeditiously as possible and not later than 31.12.2022.
6.3 It is also seen from the record that the learned reference Court had
granted number of opportunities to the appellants with respect to
production of evidence, however, they remained negligent. Therefore,
this Court is of the opinion that if any enhancement is made by the
learned reference Court in the remand proceedings, the appellants shall
not be entitled to any interest from the date of impugned judgment till
today, i.e. from 17.3.2018 to 29.6.2022.
6.4 The parties are directed to cooperate with the learned reference
Court in early disposal of the reference cases. Present First Appeals are
allowed for the aforesaid reasons and accordingly stand disposed of.
There shall be no order as to costs."
6. This Court has observed that the appellant-claimant shall not be
entitled for any interest for the intervening period i.e. from the date of
impugned judgment till the order passed by this Court.
7. Under the circumstances, and in light of the aforesaid order passed
by this Court, it is directed that the parties shall adduce their evidence
within a period of six weeks from the date of first appearance before the
reference Court. The reference Court is also directed to decide the
reference cases as expeditiously as possible and not later than 31.12.2022.
It is also directed that the appellant-claimant shall not be entitled for any
interest from the date of the impugned judgment i.e. 06.07.2018 till today
i.e. 18.10.2022. The parties are directed to cooperate with the reference
Court for early disposal of the reference cases.
8. The matter stands allowed for the aforesaid reasons and
accordingly stand disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs.
(A. S. SUPEHIA, J)
ABHISHEK/27
