Harjibhai Parbatbhai vs Deputy Collector
2023 Latest Caselaw 6715 Guj

                                                                              NEUTRAL CITATION




     C/FA/3357/2023                           ORDER DATED: 12/09/2023

                                                                              undefined




           IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
                   R/FIRST APPEAL NO. 3357 of 2023
==========================================================
                      HARJIBHAI PARBATBHAI
                             Versus
                       DEPUTY COLLECTOR
==========================================================
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
MR ADITYA DAWDA AGP ADVANCE COPY SERVED TO GOVERNMENT
PLEADER/PP for the Defendant(s) No. 1
==========================================================
 CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE J. C. DOSHI

                          Date : 12/09/2023

                           ORAL ORDER

Learned Advocate for the petitioner Mr.Tejas Satta has invited the attention of this Court to an order dated 27/09/2022 passed in First Appeal No.3625 of 2022 and allied matters and submits that in the present case also the impugned judgment and order rejecting the reference has been passed only on the ground that the claimants were unable to adduce any evidence even after affording ample opportunity. He has further submitted that one more opportunity may be given to the petitioner to adduce the evidence as per the observations made in paragraph 5 of the said order. He further submits that for intervening period i.e. from the date of judgement till passing of this order by this Court, in the present appeal also, the appellants-claimants will not claim any interest. He has also submitted that similar such order was passed in same group of matters by this Court in First Appeal No.3541 of 2023 and allied matters on 23/08/2023.

2. Learned AGPs on the contrary, have submitted that the order passed by the Court below is appropriate since the same

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/FA/3357/2023 ORDER DATED: 12/09/2023

undefined

reflects that despite giving ample opportunities to the claimants, the appellants did not adduce any evidence until the issues were framed and right to evidence was closed. It is submitted that the burden is raised on the appellants/claimants to prove their case in the case of claiming the compensation and hence, no order may be passed.

3. Heard the learned advocates for the respective parties and also perused the documents as pointed out by them.

4. In paragraph 5, the co-ordinate Bench has made following observations:

"5. The appellants have 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 appellants-claimants 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

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/FA/3357/2023 ORDER DATED: 12/09/2023

undefined

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. 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

NEUTRAL CITATION

C/FA/3357/2023 ORDER DATED: 12/09/2023

undefined

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."

5. The above observations stipulates that the appellant- claimant shall not be entitled for any interest for the intervening period i.e. from the date of impugned judgement till the order passed by this Court.

6. Under the circumstances, and in light of the aforesaid order passed by this Court, the impugned judgment and award passed in the captioned appeal is quashed and set aside. 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 within a period of one year from the date of the receipt of the writ of this order. It is also directed that the appellants-claimants shall not be entitled for any interest from the date of the impugned judgement till the date of passing of this order. The parties are directed to cooperate with the reference Court for early disposal of the reference cases.

7. With the aforesaid observations and directions, present appeal stands disposed of.

(J. C. DOSHI,J) sompura